
Class. 



Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



THE 



RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS 



THE UNITED STATES : 



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ACCURATELY SET FORTH IN FIFTY CAREFULLY-PREPARED ARTICLES, 



WRITTEN BY EMINENT CLERICAL AND LAY AUTHORS ' 

CONNECTED WITH THE RESPECTIVE PERSUASIONS. / - .?> 



v r a Mo./ 
COMPLETE AND WELL-DIGESTED STATISTICS. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A HISTORICAL SUMMARY 

OF 

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 



fflii\ ifanunms f artait |Itastotto, 



PHILADELPHIA: 
CHARLES DESILVER, 

No. 714 CHESTNUT STREET (OPPOSITE THE MASONIC HALL). 
1859. 



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4 



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Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

CHARLES DESILVER, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

PRINTED BY SMITH & PETERS. 



PREFACE 



The numerous complaints made by clergymen, and members of different denomi- 
nations, that the Histories of Religions heretofore published had done them injustice, 
ogether with a careful examination of such books, induced the projector and 
ompiler of this work to believe that a truthful History was not only very desirable, 
I ut also much needed. The plan having occurred to him of procuring a sketch 
f the origin, progress, faith, and practice of each denomination from some one of 
its most eminent professors or ministers, he sought to obtain the views of distinguished 
divines and laymen connected with the various sects in the United States, before 
engaging in the undertaking. From all whom he consulted, he received a full and 
decided approval of the project; and many at once consented to aid the work, by 
writing the necessary articles, or procuring them to be written by others. 

Each sect having been afforded an opportunity of presenting its own history, all 
danger of misrepresentation is thereby completely avoided; and the public may rely 
upon having a "History of Religious Denominations" which is free from the objec- 
tions usually urged against books of this character. 

The contributors to this work are too favorably known to the members of their 
own religious faith to require any endorsement here ; and their names, prefixed to 
their respective contributions, are an ample guarantee that justice has been done to 
all, so far as the projector has been enabled to secure it. No writer can have had 
any motive for wilfully misstating the doctrines of his own particular sect; though a 
natural bias may have led some to present the beauties of their own religion in 
glowing language — but for this, the reader will, doubtless, make all due allowance. 

The history, and, more especially, the creeds of the different denominations, will 
furnish the unprejudiced reader with ample material for reflection, and will well 
repay a careful investigation. Though truth and error may possibly be commingled, 
still the free inquirer can have nothing to fear from a perusal of these pages. Each 
religious body having had an opportunity of telling the story of its past and present 
in its own way, a liberal and discerning public have now an opportunity of forming 
an opinion of the merits of all. 



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PUBLISHER'S NOTICE 



In presenting to the public this new edition of " The Religious Denominations 
in the United States," and " History of Religious Denominations in Eng- 
land and Scotland," the publisher desires to direct attention to the fact, that it has 
been thoroughly revised, and the present condition of all the denominations in the 
United States given, as far as it was possible to obtain them. Several articles have 
been emended by competent hands : as the " History of the Ger. Ref. Church," by 
Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, D.D., Phila.; of the "Ref. Prot. Dutch Church," by Rev. 
W. J. R. Taylor, also of Philadelphia; and of the Unitarians, by Rev. Henry A. 
Miles, D.D., Boston. The sketch of the "Associate Presbyterian Church" has been 
substituted by an entirely new one from the pen of the Rev. Thomas H. Beveridge, 
Philadelphia, who also kindly furnished that of the " United Presbyterian Church," 
formed by a union of the Associate and Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches. 

The publisher has likewise taken great pains to have the statistics of the leading 
denominations in the United States collected and arranged in tabular form. All 
would have been given could they have been obtained, and no effort has been spared 
to secure them ; but, owing to the omission on the part of many sects to examine 
into their condition from year to year, it is found impossible to do so at present ; 
though the hope is entertained that the time is not far distant when the historian will 
be enabled to state the exact numerical strength of each religious denomination in 
the United States. Full returns are presented of the Regular Baptists, Freewill 
Baptists, Old School or Anti-Mission Baptists, Six Principle Baptists, German 
Baptists or Brethren, Seventh-day Baptists, Church of God Baptists, Disciples of 
Christ, and Mennonites ; of the Roman Catholics, Congrcgationalists, Episcopalians, j 
Evangelical Lutherans, German Reformed Church, Israelites, Methodists (North and 
South), Wesleyan Methodists, Presbyterians (Old and New School), Reformed Pro- 
testant Dutch Church, United Presbyterians, and Universalists. The statistics of 
some of these have been compiled from Almanacs, published annually by different 
denominations ; and acknowledgments are here made to these sources for much of the 
matter presented in relation to the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, 
Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Universalists. 

The publisher has also, at considerable expense, procured new engravings, from 
truthful portraits, of distinguished men in different denominations. These cannot 
be surpassed for correctness and artistic execution, and will challenge comparison 
with any others extant of the same individuals. 

Yery convenient Analytical Indexes, and also Synoptical Views of each article, are 
prefixed to both Parts, by means of which any subject connected with the History, 
Faith, or Practice of the various denominations may be easily found. In many cases 
these will be found of great advantage. 



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CONTENTS 



ANALYTICAL INDEX ~ .Pag® 9 

SYNOPTICAL VIEW OF EACH ARTICLE , 10 

INTRODUCTION. 13 

ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH By Rev. Thos. H. Beveridge 17 

ASSOCIATE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. « Rev. John Forsyth, D.D 24 

ADVENTISTS „ " Elder Josiah Litch 37 

BAPTISTS.. « Elder Joseph Belcher, D.D 42 

BAPTISTS, FREE WILL « Rev. Porter S. Burbank 74 

BAPTISTS, FREE COMMUNION " Rev. A. D. Williams „ 82 

BAPTISTS, OLD SCHOOL " Elder S. Trott 86 

BAPTISTS, SIX PRINCIPLE " Rev. A. D. Williams 88 

BAPTISTS, GERMAN, OR BRETHREN « Rev. P. Boyle 91 

BAPTISTS, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY « W. P. Gillett 95 

BAPTISTS, GERMAN SEVENTH-DAY " William M. Fahnestock, M.D>_. 109 

BIBLE CHRISTIANS « Rev. William Metcalfe ... 123 

CATHOLIC CHURCH, ROMAN '« Prof. W. J. Walters 130 

CHRISTIAN CONNEXION " Rev. D.Millard and J.Williamson 164 

CHURCH OF GOD « John Winebrenner, V.D.M 170 

CONGREGATIONALISTS " Rev. E. W. Andrews 188 

DUTCH CHURCH, REFORMED PROTESTANT " W. C. Brownlee, D.D. Revised by 

Rev. W. J. R. Taylor 205 

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST " Prof. R. Richardson 223 

EPISCOPAL CHURCH " Rev. A. B. Chapin 236 

EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION " Revs.W.W.ORWiGandA.ETTiNGER 274 

FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS " Thomas Evans 279 

FRIENDS « William Gibbons, M.D. 290 

GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH « Lewis Mayer, D.D 298 

JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION . « Rev. Isaac Leeser 307 



(&) 



q CONTENTS. 



LUTHERAN CHURCH By S. S. Schmucker, D.D 319 

LATTER-DAY SAINTS, OR MORMONS " Joseph Smith 344 

MORAVIANS " E. D. Yon Schweinitz 350 

METHODIST SOCIETY " Rev. W. M. Stelwell 357 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH " Rev. N. Bangs, D.D 358 

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH " Rev. J. R. Williams 380 

METHODIST, REFORMED CHURCH " Rev. Wesley Bailey 383 

METHODIST, TRUE WESLEYAN CHURCH " Rev. J. Timberman 321 

METHODIST AFRICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH " Rev. D. A. Payne 396 

METHODIST AFRICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH " Rev. John J. Moore 399 

MENNONITES " Bishop Christian Herr 406 

MENNONITES, REFORMED " Bishop John Herr 416 

NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH " N. F. Cabell, of Nelson County, Va. 421 

OMISH " Shem Zook 457 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, OLD SCHOOL " Rev. John Krebs, D.D 459 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW SCHOOL " Rev. Joel Parker, D.D 485 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CUMBERLAND " Rev. H. S. Porter 499 

PRESBYTERIANS, REFORMED " Rev. R. Hijtcheson 521 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, REFORMED " Rev. J. N. McLeod, D.D 531 

RESTORATIONISTS " Hon. Charles Hudson 538 

RIVER BRETHREN « a Familiar Friend 550 

SCHWENKFELDERS " Isaac Schultz 557 

UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST " Rev. W. Hanby 560 

UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS, OR SHAKERS... " Seth Wells and Calvin Green... 567 

UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS « Rev. A. Lamson 579 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH " Rev. Thos. H. Beveridge 589 

UNIVERSALISTS " Rev. A. B. Grosh 593 

STATISTICS OF THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA 603 



PART II. 



HISTORY AND STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN ENGLAND 

AND SCOTLAND. 



PORTRAIT ILLUSTRATIONS 



WILLIAM BLISS To pace page 13 

JOHN M. MASON, D.D 24 

ROGER WILLIAMS 42 

DAVID MARKS 74 

POPE PIUS IX 130 

DAVID MILLARD 164 

J. WINEBRENNER 170 

COTTON MATHER, D.D 188 

JOHN H. LIVINGSTON, D.D , 205 

A. CAMPBELL 223 

WILLIAM WHITE, D.D 236 

GEORGE FOX 279 

ELIAS HICKS 290 

ULRICH ZWINGLI 298 

MARTIN LUTHER 319 

NICOLAS LEWIS (COUNT ZINZENDORF) 350 

REV. JOHN WESLEY, D.D 358 

REV. RICHARD ALLEN 396 

MENNO SIMON , 406 

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 421 

REV. HENRY A. BOARDMAN, D.D 459 

ALBERT BARNES 485 

DR. WM. E. CHANNING 579 

REV. HOSEA BALLOU..... 593 



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ANALYTICAL INDEX 

AT? 


THE FIRST PART. 




Adam, original state of, 24, 100, 240 


Faith, condition of salvation, 90, 254 


Penance, 147 


Adoption, 251 


Faith. (See Doctrines.) 


Periodicals, 87, 91, 306, 604, 608, 613, 


Adventists, 37 


Fast days, 179 


614, 617, 621 


Agents, moral, 168, 177, 277, 369 


Fall of man, 176, 240, 408 


Pictures and images, 156 


Assembly, General, 476, 514 


Feet washing, 178, 412, 555, 562 


Polity, 169, 202, 352, 385, 395 


Atonement, 101, 303, 339, 512 


Free will, or freedom of man, 168, 177, 


Pope, 158 


Baptism, 88, 90, 101, 111, 129, 147, 176, 


277, 369, 394, 418 


Prayer, 129 


178, 191, 226, 250, 278, 348, 370, 403, 


Gospel, 27, 410 


Predestination, 251, 301, 303 


410, 519, 562 


God, manifested in the flesh, 426, 455 


Presbyterians, 459 


Baptists, 42, 74, 82, 88, 226 


Good works, 154 


Presbytery, 468, 506 


Bible, the word of God, 101, 110, 129, 


Government, 41, 60, 80, 221, 275, 304, 


Priests or Presbyters, 260 


141, 235, 238, 2W, 234, 315, 348, 369, 


333, 357, 371, 381, 404, 415, 462, 487, 


Proselytism, 153 


393, 455, 530, 562 


562 


Providence, 27 


Believers. (See Churcb.) 


Guilt of sin, 100 


Publications. (See Periodicals.) 


Bishops, 93, 136, 159, 174, 372, 486, 554 


Holy Ghost, 126, 140, 177, 230, 242, 


Punishment, 279 


Burghers, 25 


247, 269, 393, 512 


Purgatory, 155, 370 


Ceremonies, 157 


History, 19, 37, 52, 74, 82, 125, 264, 


Redemption, 139, 179, 241, 254, 289, 


Christ's death for the elect, 27 


317, 465, 548, 562, 583, 596 


409, 418 


Christ's Divinity, 110, 167, 283, 337, 


Holy orders, 151 


Regeneration, 177, 243, 253. 481 


426, 562 


Holiness, 338 


Repentance, 90, 403, 410, 456 


Church, 101, 142, 170, 174, 191, 248, 


Humiliation of Christ, 101, 126, 409, 


Restorationists, 538 


277, 370, 410, 457, 512 


418 


Resurrection, 101, 169, 180, 277, 269, 


Colleges, 196, 216, 605, 607, 608,- 610, 


Illumination, 291 


393, 414, 420, 431, 457, 512 


613, 614, 616, 620 


Inclinations evil, origin of, 100 


Revivals,- 171, 199, 486, 501, 553, 569 


Colony, 21, 24, 97, 131, 192, 350 


Indulgences, 150 


Revelation, necessity of, 524 


Confession of sins, 148 


Infallibility, 145 


Rewards and punishments, 181, 279 


Conference, 82, 84, 279, 363, 367, 383, 


Integration, 132, 190, 195, 210 


Righteousness of Christ, 27 


402, 555, 562 


Intermediate state, 155, 245, 572 


Sabbath, 95, 101, 103, 110, 178, 185, 


Confirmation, 147 


Invocation, 153 


191 


Confession of Faith. (See Doctrines.) 

Congregationalists, 188 
Conscience, 485 


Jesus, Deity of. (See Christ's Divinity.) 

Jews, 40, 307 

Judgment, general, 102, 279, 395, 414 


Sacraments, 146, 250, 278, 338, 370, 457, 

488 
Saints, 174 


Constitution, 183, 381, 507 


Justification, 140, 147, 252, 337, 369, 


Saints, invocation of, 153 


Conversion. (See Regeneration.) 


394, 512 


Salvation, conditions of, 110, 236 


Convention, 380, 398 


Kingdom of Christ, 420, 512, 539 


Sanctification, 177, 403 


Creation and preservation, 408 


Knowledge of God, 426 


Satisfaction for sins, 150, 278, 371 


Creed. (See Doctrines.) 


Law of nature, 28 


Satisfaction rejected, 293 


Deacons, 93, 260, 372, 411 


Law of God, 602 


Saving faith, 480 


Dead, resurrection of. (See Resurrec- 
tion.) 
Death, 431, 457 


Literary institutions, 69, 81, 99, 474, 
Localities, 17, 87, 89, 93, 97, 125, 228, 


Scriptures. (See Bible.) 

Seceders, 26, 225 

Sins after justification, 277, 370, 394 


Debates, 227 


356, 389 


Solemn League and Covenant, 527 


Divine decrees, 203 


Lord's Supper (see also Eucharist), 111, 


Son of God, 166, 276, 369, 393, 429 


Depravity of man, 176, 337, 403, 456, 


130, 178, 255, 278, 287, 370, 394, 412, 


Soul, doctrine concerning, 181 


512, 583 


419, 555 


Spirit, Holy. (See Holy Ghost.) 


Divinity of Christ. (See Christ's Di- 


Lutherans, 320 


Synod, 330, 469, 510 


vinity.) 


Man, origin of, 100, 602 


Tenets. (See Doctrines.) 


Discipline, 19, 129, 282, 333, 561 


Man's primitive state, 240, 512 


Temperance, 185 


Doctrines, 18, 37, 49, 78, 87, 91. 94,115, 


Mass, 152 


Theological Seminaries, 31, 204, 221, 


125, 138, 166, 176, 181, 218, 228, 240, 


Matrimony, 151 


306, 330, 605, 608, 609, 613, 614, 617, 


277, 284, 291, 303, 315, 334, 348, 351, 


Means of grace, 230, 235, 246 


620 


368, 384, 391, 403, 408, 417, 455, 458, 


Mediation, 489 


Toleration, 132 


459, 485, 512, 534, 538, 553, 563, 571, 


Mediator, 523, 601 


Tradition, 141 


579, 589, 593 


Members of church. (See Church.) 


Transubstantiation, 152, 370 


Education, 85, 184, 276, 306, 374, 399, 


Mennonites, 406, 421 


Trinity, 125, 139, 176, 276, 337, 369, 393, 


498 


Methodists, 357, 405 


403, 512, 562, 581 


Elders, 147, 191, 372, 486 


Millennium, 38, 180 


Trinity discarded, 293 


Elect, 512 


Ministers of the Gospel, 256, 259 


Truth of God, 239 


Election, 236, 251 


Missionaries, 26, 71, 135, 357, 362, 484, 


Unitarians, 199 


Eldership, 172, 182 


522, 612, 614 


Vestments, 157 


End of the world, 181 


Moral law, 101 


Will, original, 512 ' 


Episcopalians, 236 


Oaths, 413, 527 


Works, good ones, 154, 277, 369, 457, 


Eucharist, 152, 255, 337 


Offices of Christ, 174, 191 


512 


Excommunication, 413, 420 


Old Testament, 315, 348 


World, end of, 181 


Extreme unction, 151 

.... 


Original sin, 100, 176, 337, 369, 394 





in 



SYNOPTICAL VIEW OF EACH ARTICLE. 



Associate Presbyterian Church. 

Date of its origin, 17 ; causes of the secession from the 
Established Church of Scotland, 17-19 ; institution of the 
first Synod, 20; dissensions about the burgess oath, and 
division into Burghers and Anti-Burghers, 20; reunion 
of both branches after a separation of seventy years, 20 ; 
introduction of the Associate Church into the Colonies of 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, 20, 21 ; attempted union of 
the different branches of the Presbyterian Church in 
America, 21 ; negotiations for a union with the Reformed 
Presbytery, 21 ; united under the title of " The Associate 
Reformed Church," 21 ; protest against it by some mem- 
bers of the Associate Presbytery, and appeal to Scotch 
Synod, 21 ; institution of the ''Associate Synod of North 
America," 21; unsuccessful negotiations for a union of 
the Associate and Associate Reformed Synods, 22 ; union 
of the Reformed Dissenting Presbytery with the Associate 
Church, 22; history of the formation of the "True Asso- 
ciate Synod of North America," and its reunion with the 
parent' body in 1854, 22; foreign missions, 22; negotiations 
for a union of the Associate, Associate Reformed, and Re- 
formed Presbyterian Churches, result in a coalescence of 
the two first in 1858, 23; condition of the Associate 
Church at the time of union, 23. Statistics (see U. Presb.) 

Associate Reformed Church. 
Colony in South Carolina, 24; missionaries sent to this 
country, 24; origin of the A. P. Church, 24; division 
thereof, 25; dispute between the Burghers and Anti- 
Burghers, 25 ; division of the Burghers, 25 ; dispute re- 
specting the Solemn League and Covenant, 26; division 
of the Anti-Burghers, 26; four bodies of Seceders — Old 
and New Light Burghers, and Old and New Light Anti- 
Burghers, 26; union between the New Light Burghers 
and the Anti-Burghers, 26 ; union between the Old Light 
Burghers and Established Church, 26 ; first missionaries 
to America, 26, 27 ; union between the Burgher and Anti- 
Burgher bodies, 27 ; division of the Old Pa. Presbytery, 
27 ; origin of the Associate Reformed Synod, 27 ; basis of 
the union between the two Presbyteries, 28 ; account of 
the leading men who effected this union, 28 ; early local- 
ities of the Church, 29 ; synod, constitution, and standards 
of the Church, 30, 31 ; division of the Church into four 
provincial synods, 31; establishment of a theological 
seminary, 31; John M. Mason first professor, 31; charac- 
ter and writings of Dr. Mason, 32. Statistics (see U. Presb.) 

Adventists. 

Their name and rise, 37 ; peculiarities, 37 ; points of dif- 
ference between Adventists and other bodies, 37 ; proofs 
of Christ's pre-millennial Advent, 38 ; nature of the mil- 
lennium, 38, 39; views and proofs of the return of the 
Jews to the land of Palestine, 40 ; condensed viewof their 
former arguments in favor of the second advent of Christ 
about the year 1843, and of their present reasons for be- 
lieving the advent near, 40; their associated action or 
church polity, 41. 

Baptists. 

Principles on which their views rest, 42 ; mode of bap- 
tism, 43 ; peculiarity as to the subjects of baptism, 45 ; tes- 
timonies of Psedobaptists on the subject, 46; arguments 
for the perpetuity of baptism, 47 ; confession of faith, 49 ; 
origin of the Baptists, 52; introduction of baptism into 
Britain, 53 ; decline and revival of religion, 54 ; reigns of 
Henry, Edward, Elizabeth, and Mary, 55; the Puritan 
Fathers and Roger Williams, 56; eulogiums by Magoon, 
Hopkins, and Channing, 56; influence of Baptists on 
freedom, 57 ; testimony of Washington, 58 ; eminent men, 
59; attachment of Baptists to the government, 59; New 
Hampshire church covenant, 60; advantages of Baptist 
polity, 60; councils, associations, and conventions, 61; 
union with other denominations, 62; the Puritan Fathers 
and the Baptists, 62 ; Baptists in Wales and England, 64 ; 
Baptist literature in England, 65; peculiarities of English 
Baptists, 66 ; influence of Baptist zeal on prosperity, 67 ; 
Dr. Judson, 69; benevolent associations, 71; statistical 
tables, 603. 

Freewill Baptists. 

Origin and history, 74-76 ; notice of Elder David Marks, 
74; doctrine and usages, 78; ordinances and officers, 79; 
government, 80; benevolent and literary institutions, 81; 
statistics, 81, 604. 



Free Communion Baptists. 

Origin of F. C. Baptists, 82 ; Groton Union Conference, 
82; church in Westerly, R. I., 82; history, 82; first min- 
isters and churches, 82; first conference, 83; increase and 
localities, 83; Pennsylvania Conference, 84; Northern 
and Southern Conference in N. Y., 84: General Confer- 
ence, 84; Quarterly Meetings, 84; statistics, education, 
and benevolent exertions, 85; doctrine and polity, 85; 
union with Freewill Baptists, 86 

Old School Baptists. 

Distinction between Mission and Anti-Mission Baptists, 
86; opposition to human inventions, 87; doctrine, name, 
localities, and periodicals, 87 ; statistics, 604. 

Six-Principle Baptists. 

Author's reasons for writing this article; origin of their 
tenets, notice of Roger Williams, his baptism, &c, 88; 
number of Baptists in Rhode Island in 1730, 88; first 
yearly meeting, 89 ; localities, 89; doctrines and govern- 
ment, 90 ; paper and principal ministers, 91 ; statistics, 604. 

German Baptists. 

Origin and emigration of G. B. to America, 92 ; Martin 
Edwards' account of them, 91 ; E. Winchester's account, 
92; localities; manner of choosing and ordaining minis- 
ters; duties of bishops; duties of deacons; manner of 
public worship; annual meeting, 93 ; general view of doc- 
trine, 94; statistics, 604. 

English Seventh-day Baptists. 

Antiquity of Seventh-day Baptists' principles, 95; iden- 
tity with primitive Christians; controversy on the Sab- 
bath in 1650; persecution of the S. D. Baptists, 96; first 
settlement in America; Wm. Hiscox first pastor; oppres- 
sion from civil laws, 97 : localities, 97-99; church officers; 
organ of the church; institutions and societies, 99; con- 
fession of faith, 100, 101 ; views of baptism. 102 ; the Sab- 
bath, 103, 108 ; statistics, 604. 

German Seventh-day Baptists. 

Rise in Germany, and emigration and settlement in 
America; Conrad Beissel, and his change of views on the 
Sabbath, 109 ; formation of a monastic society at Ephrata, 
Lancaster Co., Pa., 110; principles of the society, 110, 111 ; 
manner of worship, 112; Gordon's account of the society, 
113; character of C. Beissel, 114; peculiar doctrines and 
practices, 114, 115; literary and Sabbath schools; decline 
of the society in 1777, 115; settlements in other places, 
116, 117 ; position, and appeal to the government for reli- 
gious freedom, and exemption from the restrictions and 
penalties of the laws respecting the Sabbath. 117 ; statis- 
tics, 604. 

Bible Christians. 

The Church an ancient and heavenly institution ; origin 
of the Bible Christians; account of Wm. Cowherd, their 
founder, 123; emigration to America, 124; locality and 
history in Philadelphia, 125; creed or religious views, 
125 ; discipline and order of worship, 129. 

Roman Catholic Church. 

History of the Catholic Church in the United States ; 
outline of Maryland colony, 131 ; Catholic toleration and 
Protestant intolerance, 132; Catholic missionaries and 
first bishop, 135 ; explanation of the name " Roman Cath- 
olic Church," 137; dogmas of Catholic faith, 138-159; 
prejudice and persecution against Catholics, 160; statis- 
tics, 615. 

Christian Church. 

Origin of the Christians, 164 ; brief view of their reli- 
gious tenets, 166 ; divinity of Christ, 166 ; church polity, 
169. 

Church of God. 

Origin and name of the Church of God, 170 : history of 
the church in America, 171 ; formation of the first elder- 
ship, 172; form and attributes of the Church, 173; import 
of the word Church ; government, &c, 174 ; attributes of 
the Church, 175; faith and practice, 176-181; polity, 181; 
annual and general elderships, 182 ; constitution of gene- 
ral eldership, 183, 184 ; resolutions on Bible cause, educa- 



(10) 



SYNOPTICAL VIEW OF EACH ARTICLE. 



11 



tion, church property, book concern, Lord's day, and tem- 
perance, 184, 185; formation and constitution of a mis- 
sionary society; boundaries of annual elderships, 186; 
publications, 187; statistics, 604. 

Congregationalists. 

Origin of Congregationalism, 188; church formed by 
Robert Brown, and his opinion of church polity, 189; 
Thacher and Cokking first martyrs to these principles, 
189; act of intolerance passed in 1592, and enforcement 
of conformity, 190; John Robinson the father of Congre- 
gationalism; persecutions against Congregationalists, 
their flight to Holland, and settlement at Leyden, 191; 
principles of the Church at Leyden, removal to America, 
and settlement at Plymouth. 192; spread of Puritan prin- 
ciples, 194; banishment of Roger Williams, 195; Antino- 
mian controversy, 195; Harvard College founded, 196; 
Virginia and New England intoleration acts, 196; Cam- 
bridge Platform settled, 197; banishment of Baptists and 
Quakers. 197 ; debates respecting proper subjects of bap- 
tism, 198; prevalency of the half-way covenant, 198; 
Savoy confession of faith and Saybrook Platform estab- 
lished, 199; great revival in New England, and rise of 
Unitarian principles, 199; disjunction of Church and 
State, 200; plan of union between Presbyterians and 
Congregationalists, 201; abrogation of this plan. Congre- 
gational church polity, church councils and officers, 202; 
manner of ordaining church officers, 203; different sys- 
tems of State organizations, 203, 204; theological semina- 
ries and periodicals, 204 ; statistics, 204, 620. 

Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. 

Name, whence derived, 205; historical sketch of the 
Reformed Church of Holland, 206 ; historical sketch of 
the Reformed Dutch Church in North America, 206 ; dif- 
ferences and contentions between the Coetus and Confe- 
rence parties, 207; unchristian conduct of the two oppo- 
site factions, 209; appeal of the Conference party to the 
Classisof Amsterdam, 210; opposition to the introduction 
of English preaching, 210; schemes of union proposed, 
212: union convention assembled in 1771, 213; adoption 
of a/ plan of union in 1772, 214: Gov. Fletcher places the 
Episcopal Churoh on a civil establishment, 216, 217 ; doc- 
trines of the Reformed Dutch Church, 218; church go- 
vernment, 219; institutions of the Church, 221 : relation 
to other ecclesiastical bodies, 223 ; origin of the noonday 
prayer meetings in the United States, 223 ; statistics, 614. 

Disciples of Christ. 
Origin of the Disciples, 223; proposition for Christian 
union, 224; rejection of overture by the seceders, 225; 
formation of first congregation of Disciples in 1810, 225; 
baptism of first Disciples in 1812, 226; connection with 
Redstone Baptist Association in 1813. and afterwards with 
the Mahoning. 226; A. Campbell's debate with J. Walker 
in 1820, and with Mr. M'Calla in 1823, 227 ; Disciples cut 
off from the Baptists, 227 ; Campbell's debate with Owen 
iu 1829. 228; increase and localities, 228; faith and prac- 
tice, 228, 229; supplement, 231-236; statistics, 604. 

Protestant Episcopal Church. 

The writer's difficulties in giving an accurate account 
of the rise, progress, faith, and practice of the P. E. 
Church, 236; his plan and intentions, 236: three different 
existing theories in regard to man's connection with the 
first and second Adam, 237; doctrinal system of the 
Church and the Scriptures, 238 ; of doctrine, man's primi- 
tive state, consequences of the fall, man's ability to repent, 
redemption, incarnation of the Word, conditions of re- 
demption, office of the Holy Ghost, the nature of man's 
change, perpetuity of the change, the use of means, 
240-246; order of service and festivals, 246; of the 
Church, 248; the sacraments, 250; baptism, 250; the 
Lord's Supper, 255; the ministry, 256; orders of the min- 
istry, 259; the laity, 261; legislature of the Church, 262; 
relation to other religious bodies, 263; general history, 
264; particular history in the individual States, 266-274; 
statistics, 607. 

Evangelical Association. 

Origin of this society, 275; localities and statistics, 275; 
government of the association, 275 ; salaries of preachers, 
275 ; funds of the Church, book concern, and education, 
276; articles of faith, 277, 278; conferences, 279. 

Friends or Quakers. 

Rise of Society of Friends, 279; account of George Fox, 
279, 280; rapid spread of Quaker principles, 281; first 



settlements in America, 282; government and discipline 
of the society, 282, 283; statistics and doctrines, 284; tes- 
timony against war, litigation, and conformity to the 
world, 288, 289; division of the society in 1827, 289. 

Society of Friends. 

Origin of the society, 290; doctrines, 291-294; testimony 
against a hireling ministry, war, oaths, law-suits, super- 
fluity and vain amusements, 295 ; discipline and govern- 
ment of the society, 295-298. 

German Reformed Church. 

Import of the name, 298; notice of Ulrich Zwingli, the 
founder of the Church, 298, 299; difference between Lu- 
therans and Reformed, 299; sketch of John Calvin, 300; 
difference between Calvin and Zwingli, 301 ; form of go- 
vernment, conformation, and doctrinal system, 302; origin 
of the Church in America, 303 ; Heidelberg Catechism her 
symbolical book, 303; form of declaration in ordination, 
304: government of the Church, 304; spread in the U. 
States, 305: Eastern Synod, 305; Western Synod, 306; 
theological institutions, 306: educational institutions, 306; 
periodical publications, 306; statistics, 613. 

Jews and their Religion. 

Origin of civilization, 307; Bible the rule of life, 307; 
origin and history of the Jews, 308, 309; Moses and the 
Mosaic state, 309 : Heathen and Christian prejudice, 309, 
310; doctrine or belief of the Jews touching the Messiah 
of the Christians, 311, 312; their rejection of Christ, 313; 
unity and identity of the Jews, 315; history of the Jews 
iu the United States, 317, 318; statistics, 612. 

Lutheran Church. 

Founder and name of Lutheran Church, 320; character 
of the Germans, 320; origin of Reformation, 321; opposi- 
tion from Church and State, 322; division among the re- 
formers, 322; death of Luther, sanguinary conflicts, treaty 
of Passau, and diet of Augsburg, 323; Lutheran popula- 
tion, and first settlements in America, 324-327 ; character 
and labors of Muhlenberg and others, 327. 328; story of 
an Indian massacre, 328; effects of the American revolu- 
tion, 329; formation of the general synod, and a general 
organization, 330 ; theological seminary and Pennsylvania 
college at Gettysburg. Pa., 330, 331: other institutions, 
331; government and discipline, 333; doctrinal views, 
334-337 ; forms of worship and church order, 338-341 ; 
Luther's Calvinism, 342; statistics, 608. 

Latter-day Saints. 

Biography of Joseph Smith, his visions and revelations, 
344; account of the Book of Mormon, 345; first organiza- 
tion of the Church, 346; Mormon settlements formed, 
346; Nauvoo city, their increase and statistics, 347 ; their 
doctrinal views, 348 ; note by the editor, 348, 349. 

Moravians. 

Their origin, first colony, and brotherly agreement, 350 ; 
Christian principles and polity, 351, 352; missionary and 
educational economy, 353, sketch of manner of living in 
brethren's, sisters', and widows' houses, 354; account of 
their public worship and peculiarities, 355; localities and 
statistics, 356; establishments in the United States, and 
settlements in England, 356 ; missions among heathen, 357. 

Methodist Society. 

Origin of the society, 357 ; progress and government, 
357 ; secession of ministers, 358. 

Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Sketch of the founder of Methodism, 358; general rules 
of Methodist societies, 359 ; rise and progress of Methodism 
in America, 360, 361 ; Wesley Chapel and first mission- 
aries to this country, 362; Asbury and Wright sent to 
America; first conference in Philadelphia in 1773; spread 
of Methodism, &c, 363; persecution and malcontents, 364; 
Dr. Coke and Asbury appointed superintendents. 365 ; pro- 
priety and validity of their ordination, 366; first general 
conference and rapid increase, 367; extent and general 
statistics, secessions, and doctrines, 368-371 ; government, 
371-373; funds, book concern, education, 374, 375 ; bene- 
volent enterprises, 878 ; statistics, 608. 

Methodist Protestant Church. 

Statistics, 380 ; first general convention, 380 ; basis of 
government. 380 ; constitution and elementary principles, 
381 ; sketch of government and discipline. 381, 382 ; points 
of difference between the M. E. and M. P. churches, 382. 



12 



SYNOPTICAL VIEW OF EACH ARTICLE. 



Reformed Methodist Church, 
Origin of the R. M. Church, 383; first conference, 383; 
doctrines and government, 384; distinguishing point of 
faith, 384 ; conditions of membership, polity of the Church, 
385; progress and leading men, 386, 387; statistics and 
community project, 388; localities and church order, 389; 
account of secessions and peculiarities in faith and disci- 
pline, 390. 

Wesleyan Methodist Church. 

Wesley's arbitrary authority over the first Methodist 
societies, 391 ; peculiarities of Wesleyan Methodism, 392 ; 
elementary principles, 392; articles of religion, 393, 394; 
statistics, 612. 

African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Origin of the African Church, 396; cause of separation 
from the M. E. Charcb, 396; opposition by white Metho- 
dists, 397 ; general convention in 1816, and points of differ- 
ence between white and African Methodists, 398; book 
concern, education, &c, 399. 

African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Origin and progress of the Church, 399, 400 ; cause of 
separation from the white Methodists, 401 ; organization 
of the Church and first conference, 402; doctrines of the 
Church, 403; rules regulating moral conduct, 404; church 
government, 404, 405 ; conventional department, 405. 

Mennonites. 

Character, travels, and labors of Menno Simon, 406; 
persecution of the Mennonites in Europe, and their first 
settlements in America, 407 ; leading articles of the Dor- 
trecht confession of faith. 408-414; government and 
localities, 415 ; statistics, 604. 

Reformed Mennonite Society. 

First Mennonites, and origin of the reformed society, 
116 ; sketch of John Herr, its founder, 417 ; chief articles 
of their Christian faith, 417-420. 

New Jerusalem Church. 

Swedenborg's writings, 421; confession of faith, 421; 
biography of E. Swedenborg, 422 ; sketch of the distracted 
state of the religious world, 422-424; progressive Chris- 
tianity, 425; character of the Deity, 426; character and 
work of the Saviour, 427 ; origin and nature of sin, 428 ; 
identity of Father and Son, 429 ; work of redemption, 430 ; 
doctrine of resurrection and future state, 431 ; canonical 
books, 431 ; Wm. Mason's opinion of Swedenborg, 432-434 ; 
tirade against modern sects, 435 ; Swedenborg's high pre- 
tensions, 436 ; coup d'ceil of the New Church tenets, and 
of various authors, 438-441 ; persecutions against New- 
churchmen, 442, 443 ; writings of Swedenborg, 444, 445 ; 
localities of New Church, 446 ; society formed in London, 
447 ; doctrines of Swedenborg introduced into the United 
States, 448 ; statistics and church polity, 449 ; sketch of 
publications, 451, 452 ; points of casuistry, 453 ; summary 
of doctrines or religious creed, 455-457. 

Ornish Church. 

Identity with Mennonites, 457 ; their government and 
mode of worship, 458; their faith, 458. 

Presbyterian Church. (0. S.) 

Doctrines or confession of faith, 459 ; forms of worship, 
460, 461 ; church government, 462-465 ; history of Pres- 
byterianism, 465-467 ; first churches established in Ame- 
rica, and first presbytery formed, 468; first synod held, 
469 ; difficulties between synods of Philadelphia and New 
York, 470, 471 ; state of the Church during the Revolu- 
tion, 473 ; literary institutions, education, and marriages, 
474, 475 ; first General Assembly in 1789, and great revival 
in the West, 476, 477 ; origin and cause of the division in 
the Church, 478, 479 ; doings of the convention in Phila- 
delphia in 1837, 480; account of the division in the As- 
sembly in 1838, 481 ; statistics, 606. 

Presbyterian Church. (N. S.) 

Principles and government of the Church, 485-487; 
forms of public worship, 488; her Calvinistic doctrines, 
489 ; genius and character of the Church, 490 ; union of 
N. York and Philadelphia synods ; also between the Pres- 
byterians and Congregationalists, 491 ; plan of union, with 
other difficulties, occasion a split in the Presbyterian 
Church, 493 ; formation and success of the American Home 
Missionary Society, 494, 495 ; acts and doings of General 
Assembly in 1837, 496 ; suit in court, its result and with- 
drawal, 496, 497 ; statistics, 605. 



Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

Origin of the C. P. Church, 499 ; great revival and oppo- 
sition to Cumberland presbytery, 501, 502; presbytery 
charged, tried, and a part silenced, 504 ; excision of the 
presbytery, 505 ; formation of a new Cumberland presby- 
tery, 506 ; its constitution, 507 ; sketch of Finis Ewing, 
507 ; great trials and opposition, 508 ; success and pulpit 
oratory, 509; first synod established, 510; confession of 
faith, 512 ; peculiarities, motto, and difficulties, 513 ; gene- 
ral assembly formed, 514; literary institutions and peri- 
odicals, 515; introduction and spread of the gospel in 
Texas, 516; benevolent institutions, 517; ministerial edu- 
cation, 518 ; present condition, 520. 

Reformed Presbyterians or Covenanters. 

Origin and localities of the Covenanters, 521 ; first mis- 
sionaries, and organization of the Church in America, 
522; union between Seceders and Covenanters, and origin 
of the Associate Ref. Church, 522 ; fresh supply of mission- 
aries from Scotland and Ireland, and reorganization of the 
Church in this country, 522; distinctive features of the 
Church, 523, 524; objections to the Constitution of the 
United States, 525; division of the Church in 1833, 526; 
solemn league and covenant, 527-529. 

Reformed Presbyterian Church. 

Origin and early history, 531 ; test period, era of solemn 
league and covenant, and first settlements in America, 
532 ; establishment of the Church, union between the As- 
sociate and Reformed Churches, and rise of the Associate 
Ref. Church, 533 ; reorganization of the Ref. Presbyterian 
Church, doctrines, and peculiar opinions, 534; psalmody, 
sacramental communion, civil government, and ordinance 
of public social covenanting, 535, 536. 

Restorationists. 

Religious faith of the Restorationists, 538 ; nature, de- 
sign, and extent of Christ's kingdom, 539; proofs and 
arguments in support of their peculiar -views, 540-544; 
criticisms on a few words and phrases, 545 ; objections an- 
swered, 546-548; history of Restorationism, 548; condition 
of the society, 549 ; points of difference between Restora- 
tionism and Universalism, 549. 

River Brethren. 

Many Germans and others immigrate to America to 
escape European intolerance, 550 ; account of Alex. Mack 
and others, 551; origin of Ger. S. D. Baptists, 552; great 
revivals of religion, and origin of River Brethren, 553 : 
condition, faith, and practice, 553-554; peculiar views, 
annual conferences, and general character, 555, 556. 

Schwenkf elders. 

Sketch of Caspar Schwenkfeld, and three points of dif- 
ference with Luther and others, 557 ; Schwenkfeld's cha- 
racter as a writer, persecution of his followers, their flight 
to Denmark, Holland, and Pennsylvania, 558 ; their first 
settlements, present localities and condition, 559; their 
peculiar practice with regard to infants, 560. 

United Brethren in Christ. 
Origin and leading men, 560 ; first conference, formation 
of a discipline, and sketch of W. Otterbein, 561 ; doctrines, 
government, and conferences, 562; church officers and sta- 
tistics, 563. 

United Society of Believers. 

Rise and progress, 567, 568 ; eastern localities and sta- 
tistics, 566; revival in Kentucky, mission to the west, and 
establishment of a society in Ohio, 569 ; western localities 
and statistics, 570 ; mode of worship and religious tenets, 
571-574;: faith and principles of society at New Lebanon, 
574 ; reception of members and government, 575 ; order 
and arrangement of the society, 576-578. 

Unitarians. 

Doctrines, 579; peculiar views of Christ, and Trinitarian 
views, 581 ; views of character and offices of Christ, 582 ; 
views of Holy Spirit, of depravity, of new birth, of retri- 
bution, of the Bible, and of human reason, 583, 584; his- 
tory, ancient and modern, 585 ; statistics, 587, 588. 

United Presbyterian Church. 

History, 589; subordinate standards of the union, 589; 
basis of the union, 589-591; resolutions of the united 
synods, 591 ; statistics, 619. 

Universalists. 

Name and history, 593-595 ; historical sketch, 596-599; 
remarks on their views, and statement of several import- 
ant doctrines, 601, 602; statistics, 621. 



INTRODUCTION 



The Editor of this work deems it appro- 
priate, by way of introduction, to notice some 
sects that formerly existed in the United 
States, and, also, to give a. passing notice of 
others still in existence, whose history is not 
embraced in the history of the denominations 
given in the body of the work. These notices 
are designedly brief. 

In 1691, George Keith, an eminent preacher 
of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, for 
many years, who had written and published 
treatises in defence of their religious principles, 
seceded from them, and a number of Quakers 
joined him. However, in a few years after- 
wards, the major part of those who had sepa- 
rated themselves, returned again to the So- 
ciety.* This seceding party were styled 
KEITHIANS. They practised baptism and 
the Lord's Supper. They were also called 
Quaker Baptists, because they immersed and 
retained the language, dress and manner of the 
Quakers. 

Keith was, says Proud, a man of quick, 
natural parts, and considerable literary abili- 
ties ; acute in argument, and very ready and 
able in logical disputations, and nice distinc- 
tions on theological subjects; but said to be 
if a brittle temper and overbearing disposition 
of mind ; not sufficiently tempered and quali- 
fied with that Christian moderation and char- 
ity, which give command over the human 
passions, the distinguishing characteristic of 
true Christianity ; of which he himself not only 
made high professions, but also in his younger 
years, as appears by his writings, had a good 
understanding. This great confidence in his 
own superior abilities, seems to have been 
one, if not the chief, introductory cause of the 
unhappy dispute with the Friends. When 
men set too high a value on themselves, and 
others will not own up to their price, then they 
are discontented. He is said to have had too 
much life in argument and disputation on 
religious points of controversy, and sometimes 
to have exhibited an unbecoming vanity on 
victory, thereby obtained over his opponents, 
even prior to the schism between him and his 
friends. For, having, some time before, been 
on a visit to New England, he is represented 
as having indulged his natural propensity in 
this way, among the preachers and inhabitants 
there, in a very extravagant manner ; which 
disposition of mind, from that time forward, 
appeared to have so far got the ascendency 
over him, that, on his return, he began to ex- 
hibit the same, even among his friends, begin- 



* Proud's Pa. I. p. 363-377. 



ning with finding fault, proposing and urging 
new regulations in the society, in respect to 
the discipline of it, and complaining, "There 
was too great a slackness therein.' 7 Upon his 
friends not -readily joining with him and his 
proposals, in the manner he expected, he be- 
came still more captious, and more disposed 
to seek matters of reproach and offence against 
divers in the Society, and to make the worst 
of them; charging some of his friends, who 
were generally esteemed and approved minis- 
ters, with preaching false doctrines ; and, it is 
said, even in points contrary to what he him- 
self had formerly held and declared in his 
writings, in defiance of the Quakers, and their 
cardinal principles. He denied, in particular, 
the sufficiency to salvation of the Holy Spirit, 
without the aid of the gospel; and with a 
fanaticism which struck at the root of the 
Proprietary power of William Penn, he de- 
clared it unlawful for Quakers to engage in 
the administration of government, and more 
especially of the penal law. To his brethren 
he was captious and supercilious ; treating 
their remonstrances with contumely, and as- 
sailing their persons and church with indeco- 
rous epithets. 

His conduct induced the society to expel 
him, although he and his adherents claimed to 
be the true church, and the others were the 
apostates. Having been expelled and disowned 
by the Quakers, Keith became a violent ene- 
my, took orders in England, whither he went, 
in the established church, and returned to 
America as missionary. He officiated in his 
new functions for about twelve months ; and, 
having given the Quakers all the trouble in 
his power, he returned again to England, by 
way of Virginia. In England he wrote against 
the Quakers. But, it is said, that on his 
death-bed he said, "7 wish I had died when 1 
was a Quaker,- for then I am sure it would have 
been well with my soul. 

The NEW BORN, was a sect that originated 
in Oley township, Philadelphia, (now Berks 
county, Pa.,) in the early part of the last cen- | 
tury. This sect had one Mathias Bowman for 
some years as leader. He was a native of 
Lamsheim, Palatinate Germany; having heard 
of the shepherdless few of his faith in this 
country, he embarked for America in 1719. 
The peculiar tenets of Bowman and his 
friends, can only be gathered from detached 
fragments gleaned some years ago, from let- 
ters and other manuscripts still extant, the 
Hallische Nachrichten, Colonial Records of 
Pennsylvania, and Chronica Ephratensis. 

Bowman, it appears, was honest and sin- 



14 



INTRODUCTION. 



cere : not solicitous to accumulate wealth ; but 
that could not be said of all his followers, 
among whom were Peter Kuehlweit,* Yot- 
xer, and others — these loved the things' of the 
world inordinately. They professed sinless 
perfection — boasted that they were sent of God 
to confound others. They, in their zeal to 
proselyte, even annoyed the retired Sieben 
Taeger, at Ephrata, by intruding themselves 
upon their notice, in their hermitage. Their 
disputations were also frequently heard in the 
market places of Philadelphia, among the 
quiet Friends. A cotemporary, the venerable 
John Peter Mieier, says, that Bowman pro- 
posed to the sceptic Philadelphians to prove to 
them that his doctrines were divine, by walk- 
ing across the Delaware river on the water. 
Bowman died in 1 727 ; but traces of the ex- 
istence of New Born are found twenty or 
more years after his death. In the Hallische 
Nachrichten, p. 226, June 10, 1747, the Rev. Dr. 
Muhlenberg says : " I started from New Hano- 
ver, and eight miles from here, called to see 
an old person of the so-called New Born, 
who had married a widow some twenty years 
ago ; with her he had five children. The old 
man says he was New Born in the Palatinate. 
The evidences, however, of his having been 
New Born are simply these : according to his 
own often repeated declaration, he had seceded 
from the Reformed Church — denounced the 
sacraments — had refused to take the oath of 
fealty to the then reigning election, that he and 
others were imprisoned — and, according to his 
opinion, had thus suffered on account of Christ 
and the truth. 

" He will not listen to reasonable counsel — 
he rejects all revealed truth — he will not suffer 
to be taught — he is obstinately selfish — a man 
of turbulent passions. After he had arrived 
in this country, he united with the so-called 
New Born. They feign having received the 
new hirth through mediate inspiration, appa- 
ritions, dreams, and the like. One thus re- 
generated, fancies himself to be like God and 
Christ himself, and can henceforth sin no 
more ! Hence the New Born use not the 
word of God as a means of salvation. They 
scoff at the holy sacraments." 

In a letter dated Oley Township, May 14, 
1718, written by Maria Be Turk, to her rela- 
tives in Germany, she says : " Menschen 
ruehmen sieh Christen, und wissen nicht wasz 
die Neugeburt ist. Die Neugeburt ist der neue 
Stein das Niemand weisz was er ist, als der 
ihn bekommt ;" i. e. Men boast of being Chris- 
tians, and do not know what the New birth is. 
The New birth is that New Stone that none 
knoweth but he that receiveth it. In the con 
elusion of her letter, she says : " Teachers 
and hearers — none of them are Christians; 
for they are sinners ; but Christ came to des- 
troy sin. He that is not absolved from sin ; 
for him Christ has not appeared in this world. 



* Colonial Records, III. 349. 



All the teachers in the world, not freed from 
sin, and not in an impeccable state, are false 
teachers, be they devout or not. In the king- 
dom of Christ, none but Christ prevails. He 
that has not him is none of his ; and where 
he is, there man is set free from sin." 

The WILKINSONIANS were followers 
of a certain Jemima Wilkinson, extensively 
known, by reputation, as a religious fanatic, 
in the western part of New York. Her house, 
in Yates county, New York, is still occupied 
by a few persons, the sole remnant of her fol- 
lowers. Jemima was born in Rhode Island in 
1753, and educated a Quaker. In October, 
1776, on recovering from a fit of sickness, 
during which she had fallen into a syncope, so 
that she was apparently dead. She announced 
that she had been raised from the dead, and 
had received a divine commission as a reli- 
gious teacher. Having made some proselytes, 
she removed them to Yates County, New York, 
and settled between Seneca Lake and Crooked 
Lake, about eighteen miles from Geneva, at 
Bluff Point, and called her village New Jeru- 
salem, where she lived for many years, in very 
elegant style. It is said she inculcated po- 
verty, but was careful to be the owner of 
lands, purchased in the name of her com- 
panion, Rachel Miller. She professed to be 
able to work miracles, and offered to demon- 
strate it by' walking on the water in imitation 
of Christ : accordingly a frame was con- 
structed for the purpose on the banks of the 
Seneca Lake, at Rapelyea's ferry, ten miles 
south of Dresden. At the appointed time, 
having approached within a few hundred 
yards of the lake shore, she alighted from her 
carriage, the road being strewed by her fol- 
lowers, with white handkerchiefs. She walked 
to the platform, and having announced her 
intention of walking across the lake on water, 
she addressed the multitude, inquiring whether 
or not they had/a*7A that she could pass over, 
or if otherwise, she could not ; and on re- 
ceiving an affirmative answer, returned, to her 
carriage, declaring as they believed in her 
power, it was unnecessary to display it. 

When she preached, she stood in the door 
of her bed-chamber, wearing a waistcoat, a 
stock, and a white silk cravat. Her religious 
tenets were a singular medley. She declared 
she had an immediate revelation for all she 
delivered, and had attained to a state of abso- 
lute perfection. She pretended to foretell 
future events, to discern the secrets of the 
heart, and to have the power of healing dis- 
eases. She asserted that those who refused to 
believe these exalted things of her, rejected 
the counsel of God against themselves. She 
actually professed to be Christ in his second 
appearing.* She assumed the title of the 



* Thayendanegea, or Joseph Brant, once met with her, 
and very adroitly discomfitted her, as she professed to 
be Christ in his second appearing. Brant tested her by 
speaking in different Indian languages, none of which 
she understood. He then disclosed her imposture, 



universal friend of mankind; hence her fol- 
lowers distinguish themselves by the name of 
Friends. She died in 1819, at the age of 
sixty-sixyears. 

SEPARATISTS; several communities of 
these have settled in various parts of the 
United States. This sect, if such it may be 
called, originated in Germany, in the early 
part of the last century. It is maintained that 
the Brownists of England gave cause to the 
rise of the Separatists of Germany.* The 
principal communities of the Separatists in 
this country, are the following : — The Harmony 
Society, The Zoarites, and German Ebenezer 
Society. 

The founder of the Harmony Society, was 
George Rapp, born Oct. 28, 1757, in the town 
of Iptinger Oberant Maulbronn, iii the king- 
dom of Wurtemberg, Europe. Rapp was a 
Lutheran. At the age of twenty-five he with- 
drew from that church, and commenced 
"speaking his religious sentiments to a few 
friends in his private dwelling, but never 
ceased contributing to the church and state 
that which the law required. He soon had a 
number of adherents, and as they increased, 
persecutions waxed strong against them." To 
avoid being persecuted, they concluded to seek 
an asylum in the United States. Rapp, in 
company with three friends, came to America, 
in 1803, and purchased lands in Butler co., Pa. 
In 1804, and 1805, about one hundred and 
twenty-five families followed. In the latter 
year, an association was organized conform- 
ably to that of the first church at Jerusalem, 
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, chap. 
it. 34, 35. In 1815, they sold their property in 
Butler County, and located in Posey county, 
Indiana. Here they remained only two years, 
when they removed to Beaver co. Pa., where 
they built up a third town, their present lo- 
cality, called Economy, a name characteristic 
of the people themselves. Agriculture, manu- 
factures, and commerce, give employment to 
all — branches of industry in which they excel. 
First of all, the wants of the members are 
supplied, then the surplus of their products 
are sold. 

"A written contract, or articles Of associa- 
tion, contain the basis of membership, which 
every one signs upon admission, after first 
undergoing a probation of one year, during 
which period the applicant has ample time 
and opportunity to examine and decide, 
whether the conditions are such as he thinks 
he can comply with, and whether the internal 
and external advantages he appears to enjoy, 
are such as to outweigh the advantages of his 
prior position. The neophyte, in surrendering 
his property to this community, does not even 
reserve his own person. He becomes the 
property of the whole, as well as any thing 



simply by declaring that Jesus Christ must, of course, 
understand all languages, one as well as the other.— 
Stone's Life of Sapoyewalha, p. 121. 
* Ehrenfried's Handworterbuch, Article Separatisten. 



else; hence all singleness ceases to exist. It 
is dissolved into one great body, of which one 
lives for all, and all for one." They number 
about four thousand souls. 

Their venerable founder and spiritual guide, 
George Rapp, died, August 7th, 1847. Imme- 
diately after his death, the Society appointed a 
board of elders of nine members, seven of 
which attend to the interior concerns, and R. 
L. Baker, and Jacob Henrici, to the exterior. 
Jacob Henrici, aided by others, attends to the 
Spiritual department. A vote of six of the 
nine elders is binding. They can remove any 
one of the nine, and fill all vacancies. 

The ZOARITES, risiding in Tuscarawas, 
are also a secession from the Lutheran 
Church. They came to this country from 
Germany, about thirty years ago. This so- 
ciety is under the government of a patriarch, 
and chooses its own officers. They number at 
present about four hundred. They were at 
first poor, purchased their lands on credit, 
which they have long since paid for, and 
added a thousand acres more to their first 
possessions. They are tenants in common; 
each seeks to advance his own interest by 
promoting that of the whole community. 

THE GERMAN EBENEZER SOCIETY, 
located six or seven miles east of Buffalo, N. 
Y., came to America several years since. 
They are Prussian Lutheran dissenters. They 
number about eight hundred souls. Their 
spiritual wants are in charge of pastor Graban, 
who, it is said, rules them with an iron rod. 
Their property is held in common. Religion, 
says one who lately visited them, seems to be 
the governing and inspiring element in this 
community ; each day's labor is preceded by 
a season of devotional exercises in their 
several families, and after the close of labor 
at night, they assemble by neighborhoods, 
and spend an hour in prayer and praise. The 
afternoon of Wednesday and Saturday, is de- 
voted to religious improvement. The Sabbath 
is strictly observed by an omission of all 
secular business, and by various religious 
exercises, both in their families and public 
assemblies. Thus far all has been charac- 
terized by perfect peace and harmony. * 

There are several other small bodies or 
communities of Dissenters or Separatists, of 
which a mere passing notice can be given in 
this connection. These are the Lutherans of 
Saxony, Norway, Sweden, &c, under the gui- 
dance of the Rev. Stephan, who settled in Mis- 
souri, and some in Wisconsin, attached to the 
famous Krause. 

RATIONALISTS.— Of these, congregations 
are to be found in Baltimore, Philadelphia, 
New York, and Buffalo. They publish a 
periodical, devoted to the promulgation of their 
peculiar sentiments. Die Fackel, i.e., The 
Torch, edited by a certain Ludwig, is published 
in New York, and has, it is said, an extensive 
circulation, principally, however, among im- 
migrant Germans. 



16 



INTRODUCTION. 



COMEOUTERS.— There are to be found a 
considerable number of persons in the north- 
ern, and principally in the eastern States, who 
have recently seceded from various religious 
denominations, to whom the name Comeout- 
ers is applied. This is, however, no distinctive 
name assumed by themselves, as they do not 
intend to organize a sect. They maintain, as 
their creed, that every one should hold such 
opinions on religious subjects, as he pleases, 
without being amenable to his fellow. 

They hold, consequently, a diversity of opi- 
nion on some points. In the main, they agree, 
by common consent, that Jesus Christ was a 
divinely inspired teacher, and his religion, a 
revelation of eternal truth. They regard Jesus 
as the only authorized expositor of his own 
religion, and believe that to apply in practice 
its principles as promulgated by him, and ex- 
emplified in his life, is all that is essential to 
constitute a Christian, according to the testi- 
mony of Jesus, Matt. vii. 24 — "Whosoever 
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, 
I will liken him unto a wise man which built 
his house upon a rock, &c." Hence they be- 
lieve, that to make it essential to Christianity 
to assent to all the opinions expressed by cer- 
tain men, good men though they were, who 
wrote either before or after his time, involves 
a denial of Christ. They believe that accord- 
ing to his teachings, true religion consists in 
purity of heart, holiness of life, and not in 
opinions ; that Christianity, as it existed in the 
mind of Christ, is a life rather than belief 

They also agree in opinion, that he only is 
a Christian, who has the spirit of Christ ; that 
all such as these are members of his church, 
and that it is composed of none others ; there- 
fore, that membership in the Christian church 
is not, and cannot, in the nature of things, be 
determined by human authority. Hence they 
deem all attempts to render the church identi- 
cal with any outward organization, as utterly 
futile, not warranted by Christ himself, and 
incompatible with its spiritual character. 
Having no organized society, they have no 
stations of authority or superiority, which they 
believe to be inconsistent with the Christian 
idea, Matt, xxiii. 18, " But be not called Rabbi: 
for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye 
are brethren." • Matt, xx, 25, 26, "Ye know 
that the princes of the Gentiles exercise domi- 
nion over them, and they that are great exer- 
cise authority upon them. But it shall not be 
so among you" 

They discard outward ordinances as having 
no place in spiritual religion, the design of 
which is to purify the heart, and the extent of 
whose influence is to be estimated by its legiti- 
mate effects in producing a life of practical 
righteousness, and not by any mere arbitrary 
sign, which cannot be regarded as a certain 
mdication of the degree of spiritual life, and 



must consequently be inefficient and unneces- 
sary. Their views of worship correspond, as 
they believe, with the spiritual nature of the 
religion they profess. They believe that true 
Christian worship is independent of time and 
place ; that it has no connection with forms, 
ceremonies, and external arrangements, any 
further than these are exponents of a divine 
life ; that it is spontaneous ; in short, they 
regard the terms Christian worship and Chris- 
tian obedience, as synonymous, believing that 
he gives the highest and only conclusive evi- 
dence of worshipping the Creator, who exhi- 
bits in his life the most perfect obedience to 
his will. These views, they consider in per- 
fect harmony with the teachings of Jesus, par- 
ticularly in his memorable conversation with 
the woman of Samaria. They also agree that 
the religion of Christ asserts the equality of 
all men before God ; that it confers upon no 
man, or class of men, a monopoly of heaven's 
favors ; neither does it give to a portion of his 
children any means of knowing his will not 
common to the race. 

They believe the laws of the soul are so 
plain that they may be easily comprehended 
by all who sincerely seek to know them, with- 
out the intervention of any human teacher or 
expounder. Hence they regard no teaching as 
authoritative but that of the Spirit of God. They 
believe that every one whose soul is imbued 
with a knowledge of the truth, is qualified to 
be its minister, and it becomes his duty and 
his pleasure, by his every word and action, to 
preach it to the world. It follows, then, that as 
Christ prepares and appoints his own minis- 
ters, and as they receive their commission 
only from him, they are accountable to him 
alone for their exercise, and not to any human 
authority whatsoever. They therefore reject 
all human ordinations, appointments, or con- 
trol, or any designation by man of an order of 
men to preach the gospel, as invasions on his 
rightful prerogative. 

They hold meetings in various places, on 
the Lord's day, which they conduct in accord- 
ance with their views of Christian freedom 
and equality. They meet professedly to pro- 
mote each other's spiritual welfare. To this 
end, a free interchange of sentiments on reli- 
gious subjects is encouraged, without any re- 
straint or formality. They have no prescribed 
exercises, but every one is left at liberty to 
utter his thoughts as he may feel inclined — 
even those who differ from them in opinion, 
are not only at liberty, but are invited, to give 
expression to their thoughts. This they be- 
lieve to be the only true mode of holding re- 
ligious meetings, consistent with the genius 
of their religion. They refer to the primitive 
Christians' meetings to support them in their 
practices. 




WILLIAM BLISS. 



HISTORY 

OF 

THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

[See United Presbyterian Church, p. 589.] 
ABRIDGED FROM AN ARTICLE BY REV. THOMAS BEVERIDGE, D.D., 

PROFESSOR OP CHURCH HISTORY, BIBLICAL CRITICISM, &C, IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, AT 

XENIA, OHIO. 

BY REV. THOS. H. BEVERIDGE, PHILADELPHIA. 



The Associate Presbyterian Church ori- 
ginated in a secession from the Established 
Church of Scotland, in the year 1733. 
The grounds of this secession were corrup- 
tions in the doctrines of the Church, and 
tyranny in the administration of her go- 
vernment. At what was called the Revo- 
lution settlement in 1688, when the last 
of the Stuarts was driven from the throne 
of England, and Presbyterianism restored 
in Scotland, after nearly thirty years of 
bitter persecution, hundreds of the Epis- 
copal incumbents who had been thrust 
upon the people were retained in their 
charges. They were ignorant, unsound, 
and worthless men. Bishop Burnet, who 
cannot be suspected of any groundless 
prejudice against them, says : u They were 
the worst preachers I ever heard; they 
were ignorant to a reproach, and many of 
them were clearly vicious. They were a 
disgrace to their orders, and were indeed 
the dregs and the refuse of the northern 
parts. Those of them that rose above 
contempt and scandal, were men of such 
violent tempers that they were as much 
hated as the others were despised." Yet 
such was the anxiety of the Church for 
peace, that a reluctant consent was yielded 
to the wishes of the government, and these 
men were allowed to retain their places, 
on the condition of submission to that 
Presbyterian system which they had been 
uniting with the persecutors to overthrow. 
In this way the leaven of corruption was 
introduced, and spread itself through the 
Church, till many of the people, and a 
majority of the ministers were infected. 



The evangelical system of doctrine taught 
in the Westminster Confession was aban- 
doned, and a kind of heathen morality or 
virtue was substituted in the room of the 
gospel, the doctrine which is according to 
godliness. People were taught to forsake 
their sins in order to their coming to 
Christ, and the contrary doctrine was con- 
demned as unsound and dangerous. Mr. 
Simson, Professor of Divinity in the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow, was convicted, in 1717, 
of teaching some of the worst errors of 
Pelagianism ; yet no censure was inflicted. 
This lenity encouraged him to persevere 
in teaching the same doctrines, and to im- 
prove upon his system till he openly denied 
the necessary existence and Supreme Deity 
of the Son of God. Yet even when con- 
victed of such gross heresy in the Assem- 
bly of 1726, he was merely suspended 
from office, and the case remitted to the 
inferior judicatories, to obtain their opinion 
in time for the next Assembly. But 
though a majority of Presbyteries gave 
it as their judgment that he should be 
deposed, he was merely continued under 
suspension from office, and allowed to enjoy 
its emoluments and the communion of the 
Church. A similar lenity was shown to 
Mr. Campbell, Professor of Ecclesiastical 
History, whose errors were in several re- 
spects the same as Professor Simson's. 

The Church of Scotland being estab- 
lished by law, the settlement of ministers 
was not by election of the people, but by 
patronage. In other words, the right of 
presenting a minister to a vacant congre- 
gation was in the possession of the crown, 

(17) 



or some of the nobility, and there was no 
necessity of consulting the wishes of the 
people on the subject. As the corrupt 
party of the Church increased in num- 
ber and power, instead of striving to shield 
the people from oppression, they sought 
to bind this yoke upon them. In cases 
where the patron neglected to present a 
minister to a congregation after six months' 
vacancy, according to what was called the 
jus devolutum, the right of presentation 
came into the hands of the Presbytery, 
which could yield the choice to the people. 
But the General Assembly of 1731 or- 
dained that in such cases the minister 
should be chosen by a majority of the 
heritors (landholders) and elders, if Pro- 
testants. These heritors might be non- 
residents, Episcopalians — anything but 
Romanists. By this act they deprived the 
great majority of the members of the 
Church of any right to choose their own 
pastors. 

The corrupt majority (called Moderates) 
carried their measures in the most arbi- 
trary manner. They refused to regard the 
opposition of the people to the worthless 
ministers who were intruded upon them ; 
and when Presbyteries were unwilling to 
take part in the sacrilegious act of intro- 
ducing them to their charges, they ap- 
pointed a commission of other ministers, 
whose consciences were more pliant, to 
induct the presentee. They enjoined upon 
the reluctant Presbyteries, under the pain 
of severe censure, to enrol these hirelings 
among their members, and treat them as 
the Lord's servants. They refused to 
neighboring ministers the right to grant 
the privileges of the Church to such of 
the people as fled to them for refuge from 
these hirelings, without first obtaining their 
consent. Things had proceeded to such 
a length that, in cases of great obstinacy 
on the part of the people, ministers were 
inducted into their charges by the aid of 
bands of soldiers. The Presbytery and 
presentee were sometimes escorted to the 
place of worship on the Sabbath by a troop 
of dragoons, preceded by military music, 
flourishing their swords, and striking with 
them at the women and others who had 
come to gaze on these booted evangelists 
guarding the apostles of the establishment. 

Dissents against these and other high- 
handed measures were refused a place upon 



the records of the Church. Remonstrants 
were frequently refused a hearing ; or, if 
heard, were treated as offenders. This 
last was the case particularly in a long 
controversy which arose about certain doc- 
trines taught, or supposed to be taught, in 
a book called " The Marrow of Modern 
Divinity." * This work, by Edward Fisher, 
of England, was written to defend the 
true gospel from the extremes of legalism 
and antinomianism. The evangelical min- 
isters of Scotland, regarding it as pecu- 
liarly seasonable to check the tendency to 
legal doctrines so prevalent in the Church, 
had it republished. This enraged the 
majority, who, in the Assembly of 1720, 
carried an act condemning (directly or in- 
directly) the following propositions, con- 
tained in "The Marrow:" — That in the 
gospel, strictly understood, there are no 
precepts; That there is in the gospel a 
free and full gift of Christ to sinners as 
such ; That all who hear the gospel are 
warranted and bound forthwith to accept 
of Christ, without waiting for any qualifi- 
cations, or fulfilling any conditions ; That 
believers are delivered from the law as a 
covenant of works ; That holiness is not a 
federal means or condition of our salvation. 
Against this act Messrs. James Hog, Tho- 
mas Boston, John Bonar, John William- 
son, James Kid, Gabriel Wilson, Ebenezer 
Erskine, Ralph Erskine, James Wardlaw, 
Henry Davidson, John Bathgate, and Wm. 
Hunter (men whose names deserve to be 
held in everlasting remembrance), pre- 
sented an able and faithful, but most re- 
spectful representation. This was pre- 
sented in 1721, but no action was taken 
upon it at that meeting. At the meeting 
of the Commission in November, they 
were treated as culprits j and, in ludicrous 
allusion to their number, twelve queries 
were proposed to them; to which they 
gave a clear and convincing reply. The 
Assembly of 1722 passed another act con- 
demnatory of the " Marrow doctrines/' 
and "strictly prohibited and discharged 
all the ministers of the Church to use, by 
writing, printing, preaching, catechising, 
or otherwise teaching, either publicly or 
privately, the positions condemned, or 



* Lately republished by the Presbyterian 
Board of Publication, No. 821 Chestnut street, 
Philadelphia. 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



19 



what may be equivalent to them, or of 
like tendency, under pain of the censures 
of the Church, conformed to the merit of 
their offence." They also appointed their 
Moderator in their name to rebuke and 
admonish the twelve, which was done ac- 
cordingly. While such severity was em- 
ployed against the friends of evangelical 
truth, it was deservedly noticed, as in sin- 
gular contrast, that those who were charged 
with the most grievous errors, as has been 
already stated, were treated with the ut- 
most leniency. 

As dissents and protests could not be 
recorded, as petitions and remonstrances 
were disregarded, and as evangelical books 
could not be circulated or recommended, 
there was no resource but the pulpit. But 
attempts began to be made to drive free- 
dom even from this her last refuge. Pro- 
cess was commenced against the Rev. 
Ebenezer Erskine, minister of Stirling, for 
a sermon preached by him as Moderator 
at the meeting of the Synod of Perth and 
Stirling, Oct. 18, 1732. His text was, 
" The stone which the builders refused is 
become the head-stone of the corner." 
Some things were said about the Jewish 
builders, which appeared not very compli- 
mentary to some of the builders before 
him. He was called to account for what 
were considered injurious reflections, and, 
after a warm discussion of three days, by 
a majority of six, was appointed to be re- 
buked. From this sentence he and his 
son-in-law, the Rev. James Fisher, ap- 
pealed to the Assembly. Fourteen others 
dissented and protested, among whom were 
Rev. Alex. Moncrieff and Rev. Wm. Wil- 
son, who appeared with Mr. Erskine before 
the bar of the Assembly, in May, 1733. 
Messrs. Moncrieff, Wilson and Fisher were 
denied a hearing. Mr. Erskine was heard 
in a brief but triumphant defence of his 
appeal. Nevertheless, the Assembly sus- 
tained the decision of the Synod, and ap- 
pointed Mr. Erskine to be rebuked at their 
own bar. He submitted to the rebuke, 
but presented a protest against the censure, 
as importing that he had, in his sermon, 
departed from the Word of God and the 
standard of the Church j claiming " liberty 
to preach the same truths of God, and to 
testify against the same or like defections 
of his Church, upon all proper occasions." 



In this protest he was joined by Messrs. 
Wilson, Moncrieff, and Fisher. 

The paper was refused a hearing ; but 
having fallen on the floor, it was picked 
up and read by one of the members, who, 
characterizing it as insufferably insulting, 
called upon the Assembly to take some 
notice of it. It was then publicly read, 
and called forth a great burst of indigna- 
tion. The four brethren were dealt with 
by a Committee to withdraw their protest, 
but refusing to do so, were directed to 
appear before the Commission in August, 
"and there show their sorrow for their 
conduct and misbehavior in offering to 
protest (!), and in giving in to the Assem- 
bly the paper by them subscribed, and 
that they then retract the same." Still 
refusing to do so, the Commission, August, 
1733, " suspended them from the exercise 
of the ministerial functions, and all the 
parts thereof." 

In November, the Commission, finding 
that the four brethren continued to exer- 
cise their ministry, agreed to " loose the 
relation of the said four ministers to their 
several charges, and declare them no longer 
members of this Church, and to prohibit 
all ministers of this Church to employ 
them in any ministerial function." These 
brethren then handed in a paper declaring 
themselves under the necessity of sece- 
ding from the Church. They soon after- 
wards met as a Presbytery, and published 
their " Extra-judicial Testimony;" defend- 
ing their secession on the ground of the 
many evils existing in the Church, taken 
in connection with the fact that they were 
not allowed to testify against these evils. 
They declined to act judicially for about 
three years, hoping for such a reform in 
the Church that they could consistently 
return. But being disappointed in this 
respect, they proceeded to judicial acts, 
and near the close of 1736 issued their 
"Judicial Testimony." They were suf- 
fered to occupy their churches till the 
year 1740, when, being summoned before 
the Assembly to answer for their seces- 
sion, &c, they appeared (now eight in 
number) as a constituted Presbytery, and 
formally declined the authority of the 
Assembly. The next year, being deposed 
by act of Assembly, they were violently 
thrust out of their churches. 



20 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



In 1744, they had increased so rapidly 
that they constituted a Synod, consisting 
of three Presbyteries. They had at this 
time twenty-six settled ministers. Soon 
after this the controversy arose about the 
propriety of taking the Burgess oath, one 
clause of which was, " Here I protest be- 
fore God and your lordships, that I profess 
and allow with my heart the true religion 
presently professed within this realm, and 
authorized by the laws thereof. I shall 
abide thereat, and defend the same to my 
life's end ; renouncing the Roman religion 
called papistry." The Synod was nearly 
equally divided on this point, and after 
about two years' sharp contention, a breach 
took place in 1747, and two distinct 
Synods were formed — the General Asso- 
ciate (or Antiburgher) Synod, and the 
Associate (or Burgher) Synod. These 
two branches, after a separation of more 
than seventy years, were re-united, Sept. 
8, 1820. 

In the year 1736, the Associate Presby- 
tery received a letter from Londonderry 
(now Oxford), Chester county, Pennsyl- 
vania, requesting supply of preaching, and 
promising to defray all the expenses of the 
mission. A friendly reply was returned, 
but owing to the numerous and urgent 
demands made upon them from necessitous 
districts in their own neighborhood, they 
could do nothing yet for America. In 

1750 further petitions were sent to the 
Antiburgher Synod, from some of the 
Scotch and Irish settlers in the south- 
eastern counties of Pennsylvania. In 

1751 an urgent application was again 
made to them from Mr. Alex. Craighead,* 
minister at Middle Octorara, Lancaster 
county, Pa., and from a number of other 
persons in that neighborhood. The Synod 
accordingly appointed Messrs. James 
Hume and John Jamieson to be ordained 
and sent as missionaries to Pennsylvania. 
Both of them, however, were called and 
settled in congregations at home. So 
intent were the Synod upon complying 
with the repeated calls from America for 
missionaries, that in August, 1752, they 
directed Presbyteries to require of young 
men, previous to giving them license, an 



* Further information in relation to Mr. 
Craighead may be obtained from Webster's 
History of Presbyterianism, Philadelphia, 1857. 



engagement to submit to any missionary 
appointment which might be given them 
by the church courts, unless they had 
such objections to offer as should be found 
relevant; and those young men who 
showed an aversion to submit were no 
longer to be acknowledged in the capacity 
of students. Soon after passing this act, 
Messrs. Alexander Gellatly and An- 
drew Bunyan were ordered to be licensed 
without delay, that they might be set 
apart to this important work. Mr. Bun- 
yan, after receiving license, refusing to 
go, his license was recalled ; though after- 
wards, on his making acknowledgments 
and submitting to an admonition, it was 
restored. Mr. Gellatly complied with the 
appointment given him, and has the honor 
of being the first missionary of the Asso- 
ciate Church in this country. Mr. Andrew 
Arnot, minister at Midholm, was sent with 
him, with liberty to remain or return at 
the end of a year. They set sail in the 
summer of 1753, and arrived before the 
close of that year. Mr. Arnot returned 
at the end of the year, after constituting 
with Mr. Gellatly the Associate Pres- 
bytery op Pennsylvania, subordinate 
to the Associate (Antiburgher) Synod in 
Scotland. Mr. James Proudfoot (or Proud- 
fit) was sent, in 1754, to supply his place; 
and was settled in Pequa, Lancaster Co. 

These brethren found here an extensive 
field of labor, and many more demands 
were made on them, and on those who 
succeeded them, than could possibly be 
satisfied. Opposition was made to them 
by the Presbytery of Newcastle (subordi- 
nate to what is now the General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Church), who issued 
a Warning against them, as schismatics 
and separatists, and as heretical on the 
subject of the gospel offer, the nature of 
faith, &c. They also, at the same time, 
republished, at Lancaster, Pa., a book 
written by one Mr. Delap, in Ireland, at- 
tacking the Associate Synod. These pub- 
lications were answered by Mr. Gellatly 
in a book called "A Detection of Injurious 
Reasonings and Unjust Representations," 
also published at Lancaster, pp. 240. An 
answer to this work soon appeared, by 
Messrs. S. Finley and R. Smith, entitled 
" The Detection Detected." Mr. Gellatly 
replied to this in a book of 203 pages, 
called "Some Observations upon a late 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



21 



piece entitled ' The Detection Detected/ " 
&c* It is said that one of his opponents, 
in the course of the controversy, became 
a convert to Mr. Grellatly's views of faith, 
and published a sermon vindicating the 
doctrines he formerly opposed. 

Mr. Grellatly was settled in Octorara and 
Oxford, in Lancaster and Chester counties, 
where he labored until his death, March 
12, 1761, in the 42d year of his age. In 
1758 Mr. Matthew Henderson arrived as 
a missionary from Scotland, and was after- 
wards settled in Oxford, and in Pencader, 
in the Welch tract, near Newark, Dela- 
ware. About this time arrived Mr. John 
Mason (father of the celebrated Dr. John 
Mason), who settled in New York, where 
he remained until his death. Two proba- 
tioners, Messrs. Robert Annan and John 
Smart, came with him ; the latter of whom 
soon returned. Petitions for supply be- 
ginning to pour in from Eastern and 
Western Pennsylvania, New York, Vir- 
ginia, and the Carolinas, urgent applica- 
tions were made to the Synod in Scotland 
for more missionaries. No less than five 
were appointed in 1762 ; but of these Mr. 
Wm. Marshall was the only one who came. 
He was at first settled in Deep Run and 
Neshaminy, in Bucks county, but after- 
wards became the pastor of the first church 
of Philadelphia, where he remained until 
his death in 1802. He was followed by 
Messrs. Thomas Clark, M. D. (who settled 
in Salem, N. Y.), John Roger, and John 
Smith. 

In 1769 an attempt was made to bring 
about a union of the different branches of 
the Presbyterian Church. The celebrated 
Dr. Witherspoon (who was son-in-law to 
Mr. Marshall, of Philadelphia), was chair- 
man of the committee to whom the matter 
was entrusted. Negotiations were carried 
on until 1772, but without avail. 

In 1776, several more missionaries hav- 
ing arrived, two Presbyteries were consti- 
tuted: the Presbytery of Pennsylvania, 
consisting of Messrs. James Proudfit, 
Matthew Henderson, William Marshall, 
John Roger, John Smith, James Clarkson, 
William Logan, John Murray, James 
Martin, and Andrew Patton; and the 
Presbytery of New York, consisting of 



* Several of the works here referred to are 
in the Philadelphia Library. 



Messrs. John Mason, Thomas Clark, and 
Robert Annan. These Presbyteries were 
co-ordinate, and not subject to any com- 
mon court in this country, both being sub- 
ordinate to the Synod of Edinburgh. 

In 1777 negotiations were commenced 
with a view to a union with the Reformed 
Presbytery, or Covenanters, consisting at 
this time of three ministers, Messrs. John 
Cuthbertson, William Lind, and Alex- 
ander Dobbin. These negotiations were 
continued, with ever varying prospects, 
for about six years. The union was finally 
consummated in 1782. Various exceptions 
were taken to the basis by Messrs. Mar- 
shall and Clarkson. The matter was de- 
cided by the casting vote of the Mode- 
rator. The union was unanimous on the 
part of the Reformed Presbytery; but, 
on the other side, Messrs. Marshall and 
Clarkson, ministers, Robert Hunter, James 
Thompson, and Alexander Moor, ruling 
elders, refused to acquiesce, and withdrew, 
claiming to be the true Associate Presby- 
tery of Pennsylvania. The united body 
took to themselves the name of The As- 
sociate Reformed Church; a history of 
which will be found at page 24, et seq. 

The Associate Presbytery protested 
against the conduct of their brethren, and 
appealed to the Synod in Scotland. Their 
appeal was considered, and their course 
approved. Missionaries were sent to their 
aid; among whom may be mentioned 
Messrs. John Anderson, Thomas Beve- 
ridge, David Groodwillie, John Cree, Robt. 
Laing, John Banks, Robert Armstrong, 
and Andrew Fulton. Messrs. Matthew 
Henderson and John Smith, who had 
gone into the union, became dissatisfied, 
and returned to the Presbytery. 

In 1794 the first Protestant Theological 
Seminary on the Western Continent was 
established by the Associate Presbytery, 
at Service, Beaver county, Pa., of which 
the celebrated Dr. John Anderson (author 
of "Alexander and Rufus," "Precious 
Truth/' of treatises on Faith, Psalmody, 
&c.) continued to be sole professor till 
1819, when, owing to the infirmities of 
age, he resigned. 

On May 20, 1801, in the city of Phila- 
delphia, the Associate Synod of North 
America was constituted, consisting of 
the Presbyteries of Philadelphia, Cam- 
bridge, Chartiers, and Kentucky (after- 



22 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



wards Miami). The names of seventeen 
ministers appear on the roll at the first 
meeting. 

At the meeting of Synod in May, 1820, 
it was agreed to establish two Theological 
Seminaries; one at Philadelphia, under 
the care of Rev. John Banks, D. D.; and 
a second at Canonsburg, Pa., under the 
care of Rev. James Ramsey, D. D. On 
the death of Dr. Banks, May 10th, 1826, 
the two Seminaries were united at Can- 
onsburg, under the care of Dr. Ramsey. 
In 1835 an additional professor, Rev. 
Thomas Beveridge, D. D., was chosen. 
On the resignation of Dr. Ramsey, in 1811, 
Rev. James Martin, D. D., was chosen his 
successor. Dr. Martin dying in 1816, the 
vacancy was filled in 1847 by the election 
of Rev. Abraham Anderson, D. D. On 
the death of Dr. Anderson, in 1855, the 
whole charge of the Seminary devolved, 
for a time, on the remaining professor, 
Dr. Beveridge. At the meeting of Synod 
in May, 1856, it was agreed to remove the 
Seminary to Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, 
which was accordingly done at the com- 
mencement of the fall session; and the 
vacant chair was rilled by the election of 
Rev. Samuel Wilson, D. D. 

In the year 1820 negotiations were com- 
menced for the purpose of effecting a 
union between the Associate Synod and 
the Associate Reformed Synod of the 
West ; but after two or three years these 
negotiations were broken off. 

In the year 1851 a communication was 
received from the brethren of the Re- 
formed Dissenting Presbytery, proposing 
a union with the Associate Church. In 
consequence of the action of the Synod 
upon their paper, they subsequently, with 
one exception, connected themselves with 
the Synod. 

Another union was effected at the meet- 
ing of the Synod at Albany, May, 1854. 
Certain difficulties had agitated, for a 
number of years, the Presbyteries of Cam- 
bridge, Albany, and Vermont, and to a 
limited extent, some other portions of the 
Church. In 1831 three anonymous pam- 
phlets appeared in succession, animad- 
verting with severity upon the proceedings 
of some of the church courts, and the 
character of some individuals. No judi- 
cial notice was taken of these publications 
till the year 1836, when some circum- 



stances occurred which were thought to 
require the bringing of their reputed au- 
thor to trial. AVithout attempting a his- 
tory of the proceedings in this case, it 
will be sufficient to state that between the 
years 1838 and 1840, they resulted in a 
division of the Presbyteries of Albany 
and Cambridge, and the withdrawal of all 
the ministers in the Presbytery of Ver- 
mont. These constituted themselves into 
a Synod, claiming to be the true Associate 
Synod of North America. As the cause 
of this division was not difference of doc- 
trine, but the dissatisfaction of a minority 
with the administration of discipline, hopes 
were entertained that the breach might 
be healed; and a correspondence was com- 
menced in May, 1850, which resulted in 
a re-union in 1854. 

In May, ]843, the Synod agreed to 
establish a mission on the island of Trin- 
idad, and appointed Rev. Joseph Banks 
and Rev. David Gordon as missionaries. 
Messrs. Banks and Gordon, together with 
Mrs. Gordon and her niece, Miss Margaret 
Ann Beveridge, sailed for that island on 
the 14th of July. They chose Savanna 
Grande as the place of their operations. 
Mr. Gordon died in December, 1844. He 
was succeeded in 1845, by Rev. John 
Scott, who soon afterwards returned. A 
few years afterwards Mr. Banks was com- 
pelled, by ill health, to return home ; and 
the station was left in charge of Rev. 
Francis Church, missionary of the Free 
Church of Scotland in San Fernando, 
seven miles from Savanna Grande. In 
June, 1851, Rev. W. H. Andrew, wife, 
and sister-in-law, sailed for Trinidad, but 
returned in October of the same year, 
leaving the mission again in the hands of 
Mr. Church; and by the action of the 
Synod in 1853, the mission was continued 
in the care of this brother till some time 
in the following year, when he came to 
the United States, leaving the mission 
under the care of Rev. George Brodie, 
missionary of the United Presbyterian 
Church of Scotland in Port of Spain. In 
November, 1856, the Associate Synod 
united with the Free Church of Scotland 
in sending Rev. George Brown, of Scot- 
land, to this island, promising to contri- 
bute $400 annually to his support. This 
brother is now (1859) occupying the mis- 
sion station of the Associate Church at 



Savanna Grande. This mission has been 
an exceedingly expensive one to the As- 
sociate Synod. It has met with many 
reverses, and experienced many severe 
trials, but it is believed to have exerted a 
most happy influence, and has not been 
without special tokens of the divine favor. 

Rev. James C. Herron was appointed 
as missionary to California in 1852 ; sailed 
Feb. 19th, 1853, and arrived at San Fran- 
cisco on the 20th of March. He finally 
settled in Napa, about 50 miles from that 
city, where he gathered a congregation, 
and secured the erection of a comfortable 
church. Here he remained till January 
17th, 1858, when, in consequence of his 
opposition to the introduction of instru- 
mental music in the worship of God, the 
relation between him and his charge was 
dissolved, by what the Board regard as an 
illegal vote of the congregation. They 
have since gone into the Old School Pres- 
byterian Church. Mr. Herron is still 
preaching in that vicinity. 

In 1853 the Synod agreed to establish 
a mission to Northern India ; and in com- 
pliance with their appointment, Rev. An- 
drew Gordon, with his wife, and his sister, 
Miss Elizabeth Gordon, sailed on the last 
Thursday of September, 1854, for Cal : 
cutta, arriving on the 13th of February, 
1855, whence they proceeded to Saharan- 
i pur. In August they established them- 
selves in Sealkote, a city of the Punjaub, 
in Northern India, with a population of 
about 20,000, and within a mile of the 
military cantonments, containing a native 
population of more than 19.000. On the 
22d of August, 1855, Rev. E. H. Ste- 
venson and Rev. R. H. Hill, with their 
wives, sailed for Calcutta, and arrived 
Jan. 22d, 1856, proceeding thence to 
Northern India. On the 18th of Decem- 
ber they were constituted into a Presby- 



tery, called the Presbytery of Sealkote. 
They have a congregation of 15 members, 
five of them natives. They have a school, 
where seventy scholars are receiving daily 
religious instruction. They have seven 
orphan children entirely under their con- 
trol. Two young natives, after undergoing 
the necessary instructions, have been 
licensed to preach the gospel. Their 
names are Geo. W. Scott and E. P. Swift. 

Negotiations for a union of the Asso- 
ciate, Associate Reformed, and Reformed 
Presbyterian Churches, were commenced 
in 1838, which were carried on with va- 
rying results until May, 1858, when they 
terminated in the consummation of a union 
between the two first-named bodies. A 
further account of this union, and of the 
doctrines of the Church, will be found in 
the sketch of the United Presbyterian 
Church, which is the name of the united 
body. (See p. 589, post.) 

At the time of the union, the Associate 
Church consisted of 21 Presbyteries, 231 
ministers and licentiates, 293 congrega- 
tions, 16,621 families, and 23,505 mem- 
bers. These are chiefly to be found in 
the States of New York, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. There 
are two congregations in Tennessee and 
one in Baltimore. All her congregations 
in the South, with these exceptions (and 
she had a number of flourishing congre- 
gations in Virginia, Kentucky, and the 
Carolinas), have been lost to her by the 
passage of an act excluding all slaveholders 
from her communion. Her members in 
the South either gave up their slaves and 
came North, or retained them and joined 
some other body. There are congregations 
also in both the Canadas, in Michigan, 
Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
New Jersey, Wisconsin, Oregon, and 
Kansas. 



24 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



HISTORY 



OP 



THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 

[See United Presbyterian Church, p. 589.] 
BY THE REV. JOHN FORSYTH, D. D., 

PROFESSOR IN THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED SEMINARY, OF NEWBURG, N. Y. 



Of the earliest Scots' Presbyterian 
Churches in this country, we have no very 
certain accounts, with the exception of a 
few in South Carolina. In 1680, Lord 
Cardron took measures for the establish- 
ment of a Colony in South Carolina, with 
the view to afford a place of refuge to his 
persecuted Presbyterian brethren. This 
was formed at Port Royal, and the minis- 
ter of it was the Rev. Dr. Dunlop, after- 
wards Principal of the University of Glas- 
gow. An invasion by the Spaniards, and 
the English Revolution of 1688, which af- 
forded the exiles an opportunity of return- 
ing to their native land, led to the aban- 
donment of the colony. Numbers of pri- 
vate persons, however, remained in Caro- 
lina, who were gathered into congregations 
under the care of a Presbytery, which con- 
tinued to exist until about the close of the 
last century. Of these churches, only one 
now remains, the Old Scots' Church of 
Charleston. 

During that dark period of Scottish his- 
tory, from 1660 to 1688, numbers of Pres- 
byterians were transported to the American 
plantations, and sold as slaves. Wodrow 
sets the number down at 3000. They 
were for the most part sent to Virginia, 
Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. To a con- 
gregation formed of these exiles, in New 
Jersey, Fraser, the author of the work on 
Sanctification, for some years preached; 
he afterwards removed to New England, 
and from thence returned to Scotland. It 
is much to be lamented that the accounts 
of these Scottish Churches are so exceed- 
ingly scanty, inasmuch as their history 



is connected with that of the American 
Presbyterian and the Associate Reformed 
Churches.* 

The earliest application to the Secession 
Church of Scotland for ministerial aid, was 
made very soon after the secession took 
place. In 1736, the Associate Presbytery 
received a letter from a number of persons 
in Londonderry, Chester county, Penn., 
requesting that an ordained minister, or a 
probationer might be sent to them, and 
promising that all the expenses of the mis- 
sion should be defrayed by themselves. 
The condition of the Presbytery, however, 
was such, the demand for laborers at home 
was so great, as to render it impossible to 
do more than send to the people of Lon- 
donderry a friendly letter. (McKerrow's 
Hist. Secess. i. 230.) The first minister sent 
out to America by the Secession Church, 
was the Rev. Alex. Gellatly, who arrived 
in 1751, and after a laborious ministry of 
eight years, finished his course at Octora- 
ra, Penn. The Covenanters, or Reformed 
Presbyterians, sent out the Rev. Mr. Cuth- 
bertson in 1751 ; he was followed, in 1774, 
by Rev. Messrs. Lind and Dobbin. As 
the.Associate Reformed Church was made 
up of these denominations, a very brief 
survey of their history will not be out of 
place. 

Of the Reformed Presbytery, it is only 



* Wodrow, the historian, corresponded with many 
of them for a long series of years ; his correspondence, 
now in course of publication by the Wodrow So- 
ciety, it is to be hoped will throw much light upon 
this early period of American Presbyterian history. 




JOHST M. MASON, D.D. 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



25 



necessary to observe, that it originally con- 
sisted of those who objected to the terms 
on which the Presbyterian Church of Scot- 
land was re-established at the Revolution 
of 1668; they considered that she had 
fallen from the attainments she had made, 
especially about the year 1646, and to 
which she was bound by solemn cove- 
nants. While they professed to' rejoice in 
the blessings secured to Britain by the 
banishment of the house of Stuart, they still 
regarded the constitution both of Church 
and State as imperfect, and hence, while 
they refused to become members of the 
former, they at the same time* declined to 
recognise the legality of the latter. Their 
most distinguishing principles, are those 
which relate to civil government. As these 
will be fully explained by a member of 
that communion, it is not necessary to 
state them in this place. 

The Secession originated in 1733, and 
was occasioned by a sermon preached by 
the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, in which he 
strongly inveighed against certain recent 
acts of the Assembly having reference to 
the settlement of ministers. For this ser- 
mon (preached at the opening of the Synod 
of Perth and Sterling) he was immediately 
called to account, but refused to submit to 
the censure imposed, appealing from the 
sentence of the Synod to the General As- 
sembly. The result was the secession from 
the Establishment of Mr. Erskine, together 
with his brother Ralph of Dunfermline, 
Mr. Wilson of Perth, and Mr. Moncrief of 
Abernethy, and the formation of a body 
known as the Associate Presbytery. Im- 
mediately upon constituting themselves in- 
to a Presbytery, tbey emitted a Testimony, 
in which they declared that they had not 
separated from the Church of Scotland, but 
only seceded from " the prevailing party;" 
they appealed to the "first free reforming 
assembly " for an adjudication of their case, 
they declared their faithful adherence to all 
the Canons and Confessions of the church, 
and they particularly and strongly testified 
against the unsound doctrines, as well as 
the mal-practices which, for some years 
previous, had been creeping into the church. 
This testimony they required all who after- 
wards joined with them to approve ; a step 
this, eminently injudicious, inasmuch as it 
was a large addition to the ancient terms 



of communion — bred among them a spirit 
of High Church exclusiveness, and was 
the remote cause of their subsequent un- 
happy divisions. In 1746 a dispute arose 
among the Seceders relative to the Bur- 
ghers' Oath. By this time the Presbytery 
had reached the dignity of a Synod, num- 
bering about forty ministers, and as many 
congregations. The point in debate was 
a clause in the oath required of those ad- 
mitted to the freedom of the Royal Burghs, 
to this effect, that they professed the true 
religion as then professed in the kingdom, 
and " renounced the Romish religion, called 
Papistry." One party maintained that the 
taking this oath was inconsistent with the 
position occupied by Seceders ; the other 
party held that there was no such incon- 
sistency, inasmuch as the oath was no 
more than a recognition of the Protestant 
faith, as held forth in the standards of the 
Reformed Church of Scotland. The former 
were called Anti-burghers, and insisted 
upon making abstinence from the oath a 
term of communion, the latter were termed 
Burghers, and opposed any such restric- 
tion. The dispute, which was carried on 
with much vehemence and animosity, 
produced a division of the Synod into two 
distinct bodies, each claiming the name 
and the succession of the Associate Sy- 
nod ; but they were popularly known by 
the names just mentioned. The numbers 
were about equal at the time of the sepa- 
ration, and the growth of the two bodies 
in succeeding years was very nearly 
equal. The first effect of this breach was 
a change in the old Testimony to meet 
the new condition of things. There were, 
thus, in 1747, two Secession bodies, each 
having its own distinctive Testimony. In 
this state the Secession body continued 
until 1796, when the Burghers were again 
divided by a dispute respecting the power 
of the civil magistrate circa sacra. The 
subject had been in discussion for some 
years, one party (a very small one) hold- 
ing that the magistrate was bound not 
only to profess the true religion, but also 
to maintain it at the expense and by the 
power of the state ; the other, forming 
the large majority of the Burgher Synod, 
approached, in their views, very nearly 
to what has since been termed the volun- 
tary principle, though they did not abso- 



^J 



26 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



lutely condemn the principle of a civil 
establishment of religion. Connected 
with this question, was another respecting 
the binding obligatian of the Solemn 
League and Covenant ; the former party- 
asserting the obligation of these ancient 
instruments upon posterity, in the strong- 
est manner, the latter admitting it only in 
a very modified sense. This dispute re- 
sulted in the separation of a small party 
from the Synod, in 1796. They were 
called the Old Light Burghers ; while the 
majority were known as the New Lights. 
In 1806, the Anti-burgher branch of the 
Secession was agitated by the same ques- 
tions, and a small body, headed by Prof. 
Bruce, of Whitburn, and the late Dr. Mc 
Crie, the eminent historian, seceded from 
the Synod, in consequence of a change 
in the Testimony on the subject of the 
covenants, and the magistrate's power, 
and formed themselves into a body called 
the Constitutional Presbytery ; but the 
two parties were popularly known as the 
Old and New Light Anti-burghers. There 
were thus fouV distinct bodies of Seceders, 
all equally strenuous advocates of Pres- 
byterian government and order ; all ob- 
serving the same forms of worship ; and 
the ministry in each branch being equally 
distinguished for evangelical sentiment. 
Yet each had its own Testimony, an ap- 
probation of which was demanded as a 
term of communion. 

To finish this brief sketch : in 1820, 
the two principle branches of the Seces- 
sion, viz : the New Light Burghers and 
Anti-burghers, united themselves into one 
body under the name of the United Se- 
cession Church. The two Synods con- 
tained at this time about 150 ministers, 
each ; their reunion took place just seventy 
years after the breach, and in the same 
building, Bristo Street Church, Edin- 
burgh, where the division had occurred. 
Into this union the Burghers entered unan- 
imously ; but a small party of the Anti- 
burghers, with Professor Paxton at their 
head, refused to go with their brethren. 
These dissenters in 1827, joined the Old 
Lights, (Dr. McCrie's party.) While in 
1837, the Old Light Burghers returned to 
the communion of the Established Church, 
thus leaving at the present time but two 
branches of the Secession, viz : the United 



Synod, numbering some 400 churches, 
and the Old Light Anti-burghers with 40 
or 50. 

The earliest missions to this country, 
were sent out by the Anti-burgher Synod. 
Having received in 1751, a very earnest 
application from Rev. Mr. Alexander 
Craighead, of Octorara, for ministerial 
aid, the Synod appointed Messrs. James 
Harne, and John Jamieson, to proceed as 
missionaries to America. These appoint- 
ments having not been fulfilled, the Sy- 
nod in 1752, passed a very stringent "act 
concerning young men appointed to mis- 
sions in distant places," to the effect that 
if unwilling to go wherever the Synod 
might choose to send, they should no 
longer be recognised as theological stu- 
dents. In 1760, this act was extended to 
probationers, and it was enacted that pro- 
bationers refusing to be sent to North 
America, by the Synod, should be de- 
prived of their license ; and in 1763, it 
was farther enacted, that no probationer, 
under appointment to North America, 
could be proposed as a candidate in the 
moderation of any call in Scotland. In 
our day, this would be deemed ecclesias- 
tical tyranny of a high order; still it shows 
the exceeding earnestness of the Synod 
to answer the American call for help. 

In 1752, Messrs. Gellatly and Arnot 
arrived ; the former as a permanent la- 
borer here ; the latter being a settled min- 
ister in Scotland, and having been sent 
out for a. special purpose, soon returned 
home. These brethren were charged by 
the Synod, to constitute themselves into a 
Presbytery, immediately on their arrival 
in Pennsylvania, which they did under 
the name of the Associate Presbytery of 
Pennsylvania. In 1753, the Rev. James 
Proudfit was sent, and after laboring as 
an itinerant for some years, was settled 
at Pequa, Pennsylvania. The hands of 
the Presbytery were strengthened in 1753, 
by the arrival of Rev. Mr. Matthew Hen- 
derson ; and 1761, by the arrival of Rev. 
Messrs. John Mason, (afterwards of New 
York,) Robert Annon, and John Smart ; 
in 1762, by that of Rev. William Mar- 
shall. In 1770, Messrs John Roger and 
John Smith arrived, with instructions in 
reference to a subject which shall pre- 
sently be mentioned. 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



27 



The Burgher Synod received in 1751, 
a very earnest application for a minister 
from a number of persons resident in 
Philadelphia; this request was renewed 
in the year following, (1752,) with the 
promise of defraying all the charges of 
the mission. In consequence of repeated 
and earnest applications, the Synod re- 
solved, in 1754, upon establishing a mis- 
sion in America, and they appointed the 
Rev. Thomas Clark, minister of Bally- 
bay, in Ireland, to proceed to Pennsylva- 
nia ; but he was prevented from fulfilling 
the appointment at that time. However, 
in 1764, Mr. Clark, in company with the 
major part of his congregation, emigrated 
to America, and settled the town of Salem, 
Washington County, New York. He was 
followed in 1766, by the Rev. Messrs. 
Telfair and Kinloch. Mr. Telfair became 
the minister of the Burgher Congregation, 
in Shippen Street, Philadelphia.* Mr. 
Kinloch, ultimately returned to Scotland, 
and was settled in Paisley. In 1770, he 
was called by the Old Church in Cam- 
bridge, Washington County, New York, 
but the call was declined. 

The Burgher ministers appear to have 
had no desire to keep up a separate or- 
ganization on this side of the Atlantic ; 
they accordingly united, very soon after 
their arrival, with their brethren ; but the 
union was disturbed by the refusal of the 
Scottish Synod to approve of it. In 1776, 
the old Presbytery of Pennsylvania was 
divided into two ; the one bearing the 
old name, the other called the Presbytery 
of New York ; this procedure was also 
condemned by the Scottish Synod, but no 
attention was paid to their order to re- 
scind the act of division. 

An attempt was made in 1765, to unite 
the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylva- 
nia to the Synod of Philadelphia and New 
York ; the minutes of the conference 
held by the joint committee, of which Dr. 
Witherspoon and Dr. Mason, were mem- 
bers, are now before the writer, but they 
are too long for insertion. The chief 



* It may be here stated that the Shippen Street 
congregation, united with the old Scot's Church, in 
Spruce street, about the year 1783 or 1784. The 
ground in Shippen Street, is we telieve, still used as 
a burial ground. 



points of discussion were the ground and 
extent of the Gospel offer, the divine 
right of Presbyterian government, and 
the qualifications for the ministry. This 
attempt at union might perhaps have been 
successful, but for the animosities excited 
by a foolish publication of the Newcastle 
Presbytery, against the first secession 
ministers who came to this country.* 

The Revolution of 1776, may, in one 
sense, be regarded as the cause of the 
union which produced the Associate Re- 
formed Church. The importance of union 
among the divided Scots' Presbyterian 
churches in this country, had indeed been 
felt long before it was actually accom- 
plished. The weakness of the congrega- 
tions of the several sects showed the need 
of united effort ; and the consciousness 
of this gradually excited and increased 
the desire for it, until the independence 
of the colonies, in the judgment of many, 
removed the ancient causes of disunion. 
During the progress of the war, several 
conventions were held between the mem- 
bers of the Associate and the Reformed 
Presbyteries, with the view to attain this 
desirable end. A detailed account of these 
conventions would be of little use, even 
if we had ampler materials for giving it 
than we actually possess. It will suffice 
to say, that the three Presbyteries sat in 
Philadelphia in October, 1782, and formed 
themselves into a Synod, under the name 
of the Associate Reformed Synod of 
North America, on a basis consisting of 
the following articles, viz. : 

1. That Jesus Christ died for the elect. 

2. That there is an appropriation in the 
nature of faith. 

3. That the Gospel is addressed indis- 
criminately to sinners of mankind. 

4. That the righteousness of Christ is 
the alone condition of the covenant of 
works. 

5. That civil government originates 
with God the Creator, and not with Christ 
the Mediator. 

6. The administration of the kingdom 
of Providence is given into the hand of 
Jesus Christ the Mediator ; and magistra- 
cy, the ordinance appointed by the Moral 



• For fuller details, see McKerrow's History, voi. 1. 



28 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



Governor of the world to be the prop of 
civil order among men, as well as other 
things, is rendered subservient by the Me- 
diator to the welfare of his spiritual king- 
dom, the Church, and has sanctified the 
use of it and of every common benefit, 
through the grace of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

7. That the law of nature and the 
moral law revealed in the Scriptures are 
substantially the same, although the latter 
expresses the will of God more evidently 
and clearly than the former, and therefore 
magistrates among Christians ought to be 
regulated by the general directory of the 
Word as to the execution of their office. 

8. That the qualifications of justice, 
veracity, &c. required in the law of nature 
for the being of a magistrate, are also more 
explicitly revealed as necessary in the Holy 
Scriptures. But a religious test, any fur- 
ther than an oath of fidelity, can never be 
essentially necessary for the being of a 
magistrate, except where the people make 
it a condition of government. 

9. That both parties when united shall 
adhere to the Westminster Confession of 
Faith, the Catechisms, the Directory for 
Worship, and propositions concerning 
church government. 

10. That they shall claim the full exer- 
cise of church discipline without depend- 
ence upon foreign judicatories. 

Upon this basis all the members of the 
Reformed Presbytery, and all the Asso- 
ciate ministers, with the exception of two 
members of the Presbytery of Pennsylva- 
nia, (Messrs. Marshall and Clarkson,) 
united. A small minority of the people 
in the two communions also declined to 
enter into it. From these minorities have 
sprung the Covenanter denomination on 
the one hand, and the Associate on the 
other. The limits of this article preclude 
any extended comment upon this basis ; 
it will be sufficient to observe, that at this 
distance of time it is difficult to discover 
the reason for inserting some of its arti- 
cles. In reference to the extent of the 
atonement, the nature of faith, and the 
extent of the Gospel offer, there had never 
been any difference of opinion among 
these parties ; and it is therefore somewhat 
surprising that these topics are mentioned. 
There had been a dispute about common 



benefits, i. e. whether the common blessings 
of life were derived to mankind in virtue 
of Christ's mediation, or were merely be- 
stowed by God as Creator. But a calm 
and candid perusal of the pamphlets be- 
gotten by this controversy — once deemed 
a' very vital one — will convince any one 
that it was a dispute about words rather 
than things. Most of the articles, it will 
be perceived, relate to the subject of ma- 
gistracy, and this was the grand topic of 
difference, viz. the essential qualifications 
of the civil magistrate, and the extent of 
his power circa sacra. On these last 
points, it must be confessed, that the lan- 
guage of the basis is by no means clear, 
yet it is perhaps as much so as its authors 
intended, and as much so as the subject 
admits. It should be borne in mind that 
each of these bodies held to the Westmin- 
ster Confession, their catechisms were the 
same, -their government, forms of worship 
and mode of administering the sacraments 
identical ; their views of Gospel doctrine, 
and even the style of preaching prevalent 
among them, were quite similar. Their 
differences had grown out of acts of dis- 
cipline, rather than points of- doctrine. 

Here it may not be out of place to give 
some brief notices of the leading persons 
who were active in effecting this union. 
The Rev. Thomas Clark was one. Per- 
haps no minister of his day was " in labors 
more abundant" than he ; and many inter- 
esting traditions are still in existence res- 
pecting him in various parts of the coun- 
try. His public ministrations were marked 
by some eccentricities, so that he usually 
attracted large crowds to hear him. But 
he was a man eninently given to prayer, 
laborious, zealous, of a most catholic 
spirit, and he had many seals of his min- 
istry, not only by his labors in the pulpit, 
but also by his private faithfulness, with 
all sorts of persons, at home and abroad. 
He longed for the salvation of souls ; in 
season and out of season, he made full 
proof of his ministry. After a most 
laborious ministry of about thirty years 
(in this country,) he died suddenly at 
Long Cane, in South Carolina, in 1796. 
He was the founder and first minister of 
the church at Salem, New York. 

The Rev. Dr. John Mason, of New 
York, was one of the most accomplished 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



29 



preachers and pastors of his age. He 
" was a man of a sound strong mind, of 
extensive learning, and of unusually fer- 
vent piety. His scholarship was rare. 
He had so habituated himself to classical 
studies, that at the age of twenty, he spoke 
the Latin language on all the higher sub- 
jects of discourse, with equal ease and 
greater elegance, than his mother tongue. 
In Greek his proficiency was but little 
inferior ; and he was familiar with Hebrew. 
At the age of twenty-four, he taught logic 
and moral philosophy in the seminary of 
the Anti-burghers at Abernethy. His 
lectures were in Latin. As a preacher he 
was uncommonly judicious and instruc- 
tive ; as a pastor singularly faithful and 
diligent, and as a friend and companion he 
displayed an assemblage of excellencies 
rarely found in so great a degree in one 
person. Few ministers have ever lived in 
New York, in so high esteem, or died so 
deeply and generally lamented." — The 
following testimony of regard is from the 
pen of the late Dr. Linn, who knew Dr. 
Mason well : — '" He had prudence without 
cunning, cheerfulness without levity, dig- 
nity without pride, friendship without cere- 
mony, charity without undue latitude, and 
religion without ostentation."* For thirty 
years he was minister of the Old Scots' 
Church, (Cedar Street,) New York; he 
died in 1792, and was succeeded by his 
distinguished son, Dr. John M. Mason. 
He is said to have written in connection 
with Gov. Livingston of New Jersey, 
some powerful political papers, during the 
discussions that preceded the Revolution. 
Banished in common with other Presbyte- 
rians from the city during its occupancy 
by the British army, he acted as a chap- 
lain to the American forces, and was very 
warmly esteemed by Washington. 

The Rev. Robert Annan had been a fel- 
low student with Dr. Mason, and they 
came to this country about the same time. 
He was first settled at Neelytown, in 
Orange county, New York ; and during 
the early years of the Revolution he was 
a very active promoter of the Whig cause. 
About the close of the war he was called 
to the charge of a newly formed Scots' 
church in Boston but finding himself 



* Miller's Life of Rogers, p. 1 64. 



unable to carry out the discipline of the 
Presbyterian Church, he removed to Phil- 
adelphia, and for some years was minister 
of the Spruce Street Church. He after- 
wards accepted of a call from a congrega- 
tion in Baltimore. In this his last fixed 
charge he continued about six years, when 
he demittgd it in favor of the present pas- 
tor, Dr. John M. Duncan. He died in 
1818. He wrote (with some slight aid 
from Dr. Mason) a short but very excel- 
lent exposition of the Westminster Con- 
fession ; a narrative of the steps which 
led to the union ; a tract on Universalism ; 
one on civil government ; and while resi- 
dent at Philadelphia, he engaged in a dis- 
cussion with the late Dr. Rush on the 
subject of capital punishment. He was a 
man of superior eloquence, an able, though 
a rather bitter controversialist ; he seems 
to have been better fitted to lay the foun- 
dations of a congregation, than to carry 
up the superstructure. 

The Rev. James JProudjit was also edu- 
cated for the ministry at Abernethy. His 
first settlement was at Pequa, Pennsylva- 
nia. After laboring here upwards of 
twenty years, he was called to Salem, as 
the successor of Mr. Clark, where he re- 
mained until his decease, in 1802. For 
some years before his death, his son, the 
Rev. Dr. Alex. Proudfit, was associated with 
him in the pastoral charge. He was one 
of the first Presbyterian ministers settled 
north of Troy, and for many years he 
was abundant in labors over a wide extent 
of country ; not a few of the largest con- 
gregations in Washington county having 
been founded by him. He published no- 
thing, but he was eminent for his holiness. 
A brother minister who had long known 
him, once said to his son, that " he was 
the holiest man he ever knew." So great 
was his acquaintance with the Bible, that 
he was often called by his friends the 
concordance. Of the Covenanting bre- 
thren, Messrs. Dobbin, Land, and Cuth- 
bertson, we regret that we are unable to 
give any certain information. 

In this connection it may not be out of 
place to give a few notices respecting the 
principal localities of the Associate Re- 
formed Church, in these early days of her 
history. The earliest settlements were in 
Pennsylvania, within the Cumberland 



30 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



Valley. From these, colonies went forth 
to various parts of the United States. 
Numbers emigrated to West Pennsylvania, 
but in what year, we are unable to state, 
— we only know that these emigrants 
formed some of the earliest Presbyterian 
churches west of the Alleghany mountains. 
Some of the first settlers in Pennsylvania 
remained but a short time, and then re- 
moved to the upper parts of South Caro- 
lina and Georgia. The Old Church in 
Philadelphia, was formed by a few pious 
Scotsmen, who at first met together as a 
praying society. The Old Church in 
New York was formed by the sepa- 
ration of the Scottish members from the 
Wall Street Church in 1751, in conse- 
quence of changes in the forms of wor- 
ship, and the neglect of Presbyterian 
order. In Orange county, a colony of 
Irish Presbyterians was established under 
the auspices of Col. Clinton, the founder 
of the Clinton family, so early as 1734 ; 
from these have sprung the various Asso- 
ciate Reformed churches in that county. 
Others were induced to settle on the Col- 
den and Campbell patents. The first 
settlement in Washington county, was 
made by Dr. Clark ; his congregation 
emigrated from Ireland about the year 
1760 : one part going to Carolina, another 
portion accompanying him to Washington 
county. To this day, this county is emi- 
nently Scottish in its religious peculiari- 
ties. It may be added, that the Associate 
Reformed Church was one of the first to 
plant the standard of the Gospel in the 
State of Kentucky ; and at the close of 
the last century the prospect of increase 
in that commonwealth was highly pro- 
mising. These prospects were, however, 
soon darkened and destroyed by dissen- 
sions among the ministers. At the begin- 
ning of the present century, the Lexing- 
ton Academy was founded under the aus- 
pices of the Associate Reformed Church. 
It was incorporated by the legislature of 
the State, and received from the same 
source the very handsome endowment of 
4000 acres of land. Had the affairs of 
this institution, and of the church, been 
managed with ordinary prudence, there 
can be little doubt that it would now have 
been among the best colleges in the great 
valley of the West. But the opportunity 



was madly thrown away, and now it is 
irrecoverably gone. All the subsequent 
efforts of the church to extend herself in 
Kentucky, have been attended by no en- 
couraging results. 

In addition to these early settlements 
of the church, in the States of New York, 
Pennsylvania, Carolina, and Kentucky, it 
should be mentioned that there were some 
in New Hampshire and Maine. Mr. 
Greenleaf gives some notices of them in 
his Ecclesiastical History of Maine. They 
were associated under the name of the 
Presbytery of Londonderry. The region, 
however, was unfavorable to the growth 
of Presbyterianism ; so soon as the older 
generation was removed, their descendants 
became " like the people of the land," and 
degenerated into independency, though 
the name of Presbytery was still kept up. 
The consequence was, that the Synod in 
1802 passed the harsh and unwise act, 
declaring this Presbytery no longer a por- 
tion of the Associate Reformed Church. 

We now resume the history of the 
Synod. As before stated, it was constitu- 
ted at Philadelphia, in 1782, and was then 
composed of three Presbyteries, and num- 
bered in all fourteen ministers. One of 
the first acts of the Synod, after its or- 
ganization, was, the adoption of a series 
of articles, which were afterwards pub- 
lished under the very unsuitable name of 
the Constitution of the Associate Reformed 
Church : among the people it was known 
as " the Little Constitution." These arti- 
cles were vehemently attacked both by 
the Covenanters (in Scotland) and the 
Seceders here ; yet they deserve attention 
as showing the ardent attachment of the 
men of that day to " the truth and 
peace ;" they furnish striking evidence 
that they possessed a truly catholic spirit, 
and were eminently free from that mean 
and narrow sectarian temper which has 
often been displayed by those who make 
the loudest professions of universal char- 
ity. Our limits forbid the insertion of 
these articles ; and we shall only say in 
reference to them, that the spirit of char- 
ity and moderation which they breathe, 
has been characteristic of the Associate 
Reformed Church from that day to this : 
in no case has she attempted to profit by 
the dissensions of her neighbors, and witii 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



31 



the single and noble exception of the Mo- 
ravians, no other denomination in this 
country has ever displayed less sectarian- 
ism than she. Whether these articles 
were designed to serve only a tempo- 
rary purpose or not, can hardly be deter- 
mined at this distance of time ; the fact, 
however, is, that they were ultimately 
laid aside for a fuller exposition of the 
church's faith — a measure that was pro- 
bably owing to the uneasiness created in 
the minds of some weak but sincere per- 
sons, by the incessant and virulent attacks 
of the enemies of the union. The final 
result was, that the Westminster Confes- 
sion and the Catechism, after a careful 
revision, at several successive meetings 
of Synod, in the articles relating to the 
power of the magistrate, were published 
in one volume, in 1799, under the title of 
" The Constitution and Standards of the 
Associate Reformed Church in North 
America," and they have continued to be 
such, down to the present day. 

The ground occupied by the United 
Church was the same as that held by the 
Church of Scotland. The testimonies of 
Covenanters and Seceders were approved 
so far as they did not conflict ; but the 
simple standards of the Church of Scot- 
land were adopted as the standards of the 
church in the United States, only with a 
slight change of their language on the 
subject before named. And even this 
change amounted to no more than the in- 
corporation in the Confession of the very 
sentiments expressed by the Church of 
Scotland on this head, in her adopting act 
of 1646. The Directory for Worship 
and the Propositions of Church Govern- 
ment remained unchanged ; the Rules of 
Discipline and Forms of Process were 
not so much altered as drawn out into a 
regular system, the want of which the 
Church of Scotland has long felt .; instead 
of rules she has only precedents for her 
guide in matters of discipline. In this 
connection it may be mentioned, that va- 
rious doctrinal acts were passed by the 
Synod, which were intended to oppose 
particular errors prevalent at the time. 
Of these, the acts on Faith and Justifica- 
tion, written by the late Dr. John M. 
Mason ; on Original Sin, by the Rev. 
Robert Forrest, and on the Atonement, 



by Dr. Robert Proudfit, are very valuable 
expositions of Scripture truth, and have 
long been highly prized. 

For twenty years after the union, the 
growth of the church was very rapid ; in 
fact, the demand for laborers in all parts 
of the land, New England excepted, was 
far greater than the Synod could possibly 
supply. This rapidity of increase led 
the church, in 1803, to adopt a measure 
— under the influence of Dr. Mason, of 
New York — which was altogether pre- 
mature, and ultimately exerted a most 
disastrous influence upon her fortunes ; 
this was the division of the church into 
four Provincial Synods of New York, 
Pennsylvania, Scioto, and the Carolinas, 
under a representative General Synod. 
The size of the denomination did not 
warrant this measure ; the provincial 
Synods, held at great expense and trou- 
ble, found that they had no business to 
transact worth the name, and in a few 
years ceased to assemble ; the affairs of 
the church fell into the hands of a few, 
and thus jealousies were engendered, the 
evil effects of which are felt to this day. 

In 1800 it was resolved to take steps 
for the establishment of a Theological 
Seminary, as the only means of supplying 
the increasing demand for ministers ; and 
in the meantime an effort was to be made 
to obtain a supply of ministers from Scot- 
land. For these purposes, Dr. John M. 
Mason was sent as the agent of the 
church to Great Britain in 1802 ; he suc- 
ceeded in obtaining funds to the amount 
of about 86000, the largest part of which 
was expended in the purchase of a most 
valuable library; and on his return he 
was accompanied by five Scottish minis- i 
ters, several of whom still survive. At 
the meeting of Synod in 1804, the plan 
of the Seminary was carefully framed ; 
Dr. Mason was chosen Professor of The- 
ology ; and the sessions of the Seminary 
began in the autumn of the same year, in 
the city of New York. This was the 
first Seminary established in the United 
States, and for many years the most 
famous seat of theological learning in our 
country. The chief credit of its founda- 
tion, and especially of the admirable plan 
on which it was based, belongs to Dr. 
Mason. It is the model according to 



32 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



which all the other Seminaries of the As- 
sociate Reformed Church have since been 
framed. Of the character of Dr. Mason, 
his unrivalled eloquence, his rich and va- 
ried scholarship, his immense popularity, 
it is hardly necessary to speak. He is 
one of the very few American clergymen, 
whose fame is as bright in Britain as in 
the United States. Yet it is melancholy 
to reflect that his fame, once so great, is 
rapidly passing away, for he has left no 
durable monument behind him. The 
Seminary might have been such, but he, 
unfortunately for it, as well as for himself, 
undertook too much, and besides, lacked 
that indomitable perseverance which never 
rests until it has fully attained its objects. 
The Seminary which he founded, exists 
indeed in another place, but on the spot 
of its nativity it is now almost unknown. 
Dr. Mason's writings deserve a high 
rank in the theological literature of this 
country; but we have reason to believe 
that they are in no respect what they 
would have been, had the energies of his 
mind been concentrated upon his duties as 
a theological professor. His earliest 
work, which was published about five 
years after his admission to the min- 
istry, was upon the subject of Frequent 
Communion. For many years, in fact 
since the days of prelatic persecution, the 
Scottish churches were accustomed to 
observe the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 
per not more than twice a year, and in 
some cases only once. Besides the usual 
preparation sermon, the sacrament Sab- 
bath was invariably preceded by a fast 
day on the Thursday, and succeeded by 
a thanksgiving day upon the Monday. 
Palpably opposed as this was to the spirit 
of the Directory, which declares that 
" the Lord's Supper is frequently to be 
observed," the church had become so 
wedded to these " days," that it was 
deemed by many almost a profanation of 
the sacrament to celebrate it without 
them. Dr. Mason set himself to oppose 
these additions to the New Testament 
Passover, as he well knew that its fre- 
quent observance was impossible so long 
as they were continued; his "Letters," 
addressed to the members of the Associate 
Reformed Church, were the means of 
working the desired, change in many con- 



gregations, though in some parts of the 
church " the days" are observed even to 
the present time. But the great work of 
Dr. Mason is his masterly treatise on 
" Catholic Communion," published in 
1816. The circumstances which gave 
rise to this important work are given in 
the work itself, and need not be here 
repeated. It is a singular coincidence 
that its appearance was contemporaneous 
with that of the treatise of Mr. Robert 
Hall of Leicester on the same subject, and 
in which substantially the same principles 
are defended. Previous to the appearance 
of Dr. Mason's work, the practice of the 
Associate Reformed Church, in common 
with the other branches of the Scottish 
Church in this country, had been that of 
exclusive communion. We say that such 
was her practice, and it furnished a sad 
illustration how the practice of a church 
which glories in her orthodoxy, may be 
in palpable contradiction to her own stand- 
ards. In the days of the Westminster 
Assembly the doctrine of exclusive com- 
munion was condemned, especially by 
Baillie and Rutherford, two of the greatest 
lights of their age, as one of the peculiar 
errors of the Independents, who would 
neither commune with other Christians, 
nor allow others to commune with them. 
The Confession of the Scottish Church 
asserts in the plainest terms the duty of 
communing with all, in every place, who 
call on the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, as God in his providence gives the 
opportunity. But at an early period in 
the history of the Scottish Secession an 
unchristian spirit of exclusiveness began to 
manifest itself; new terms of commimion 
were framed, which had never before been 
heard of in the Christian church ; they 
assumed ground which was a virtual un- 
churching of all other denominations of 
Christians ; and they were forced to put 
a construction upon the language of their 
own Confession relative to the communion 
of saints, at war with the well known 
sentiments of the Westminster divines, 
and almost too absurd to need refutation. 
The great aim of Dr. Mason's work, was 
to expound and defend the doctrine of the 
church on this subject, and to bring the 
practice of the church into a correspond- 
ence with her own authorized standards. 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



33 



On this account, as well as for the influ- 
ence which it was the means of exerting, 
it deserves an honorable notice in the his- 
tory of the church. The appearance of 
this work gave great offence to those in 
our own and some other denominations, 
who either could not or would not see the 
difference between catholic communion 
and promiscuous communion, and an 
attempt was made to answer it ; still it 
was the means of producing a happy 
change in the practice of a considerable 
portion of the church of which its author 
was a member. But candor requires the 
statement, that in some other parts of the 
church, the doctrine of exclusive commu- 
nion is taught and practised. The dis- 
cussion of this subject, connected as it 
was in point of time with an attempt to 
introduce a new version of the Psalter, 
greatly helped to increase those sectional 
jealousies which had existed for some 
years before. All the great interests of 
the church languished ; the Seminary was 
becoming involved in pecuniary difficulties 
— a fact however no way surprising, when 
it is considered how sadly its pecuniary 
affairs were mismanaged. The ministers 
in the western States made loud com- 
plaints against what they deemed innova- 
tions on the ancient order of the church ; 
these proving — as might have been ex- 
pected from the very manner in which 
they were made — ineffectual, the entire 
Synod of Scioto at length, in 1820, with- 
drew from the superintendence of the 
General Synod. This was a step in pal- 
pable violation of the essential principles 
of Presbyterianism ; it was a causeless 
dismemberment of the church. Those 
who adopted it did not pretend that the 
General Synod had sanctioned heresy ; 
they could not pretend that their interests 
were neglected, for quite as large a num- 
ber of those educated in the seminary at 
New York were settled in the western 
States, as in any other portion of the 
country. The only thing which furnished 
them with a show of complaint was the 
act of the General Synod allowing the 
use of a different version of the Psalms 
from that which had been in use in the 
Associate Reformed Church. But no at- 
tempt was made to force a new version 
upon unwilling congregations. Now it 



must be manifest to all that if secession, 
or, in other words, the dismemberment of 
a denomination, be warrantable on such 
grounds, the foundation of such a body 
must be exceedingly insecure. All the 
old and sound Presbyterian writers, as 
Rutherford, Durham and Baillie, are 
agreed in maintaining, that the only pro- 
per grounds of separation are, the author- 
itative sanctioning of gross heresy, or the 
positive interference with the rights of 
conscience ; nor will even these justify it, 
until faithful though unavailing efforts 
have been made to remove the grievance. 
The eminent writers whose names have 
been given, unite in declaring, that to 
secede merely because the supreme judica- 
tory tolerates something which one party 
deems to be an evil, while perfect freedom 
is allowed to testify against it, is to be 
guilty of schism. The truth is, that the 
schism of which we have spoken is to be 
traced to that absurd longing after an 
absolute uniformity in the mere externals 
of Divine worship, which Scottish Pres- 
byterianism derived from the Westminster 
Assembly ; this, we are persuaded, more 
than any other cause, has cramped the |, 
energies and hindered the advancement \ 
of the Associate Reformed Church in the 
United States. 

In 1821, the Synod of the Carolinas 
petitioned the General Synod to be erected 
into an independent Synod. The ground 
on which it was made was the great dis- 
tance of the Synod from the place at 
which the General Synod usually assem- 
bled, and the consequent impossibility of 
their being represented in the supreme 
council of the church. The request was 
granted. For many years after that 
event, the Southern Synod could hardly 
be said to have grown j but within the 
last few years a more enterprising spirit 
has been diffused among its members, and 
the prospects of increase are more pro- 
mising than at any previous period. The 
increase of the Western Synod may be 
said to have kept pace with the rapid 
strides with which the Western States 
have advanced in population and in 
wealth. At the time of their separation 
in 1820, the number of ministers did not 
exceed twenty ; now it is more than one 
hundred. The details of their statistics 



34 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



we shall leave to the close of our article. 
Both the ministers and membership of the 
Western Synod are very strenuous advo- 
cates of what they denominate a " Scrip- 
tural Psalmody," by which they under- 
stand not merely a psalmody based upon 
the Scriptures, but the Book of Psalms, 
to the exclusion of all imitations such as 
that of Dr. Watts, and even of all trans- 
lations of other portions of the Sacred 
Word. Not only are their congregations 
confined to the use of the Scots' version 
(as it is sometimes called) in the worship 
of God, but their ministers also are com- 
pelled to use this version when called to 
officiate in the pulpits of other denomina- 
tions. Whether this subject does not 
receive an undue prominence among them, 
is a question which it might be deemed 
improper for one to determine, who is in 
a great measure unacquainted with the 
circumstances of that branch of the 
church. However this may be, it is very 
certain that psalmody forms the standing 
topic of discussion in all the periodicals 
connected with the Western Synod, and 
is the theme of not a few sermons. They 
are also very strongly opposed to the doc- 
trine of catholic communion ; though it 
would probably be doing many of them 
injustice to affirm that they hold to the 
doctrine of exclusive communion in the 
strongest sense of the phrase. We are 
not indeed aware that the Synod, as such, 
has ever given forth any positive deliver- 
ance upon the subject of communion ; but 
there can be no doubt that the practical 
sentiment of the majority of ministers and 
members is in favor of the exclusive sys- 
tem. Of late years the Synod has also 
taken very decided ground against slave- 
ry ; in many of the congregations, we 
are informed, that, not only are actual 
slaveholders excluded from their commu- 
nion, but even those who have ceased to 
be such, are refused, unless they express 
sorrow for their past gin in the matter. 
These remarks apply to the southern 
branch of the church also, except in rela- 
tion to the subject of slavery. In the 
Northern Synod, on the other hand, while 
there are some who entertain the views just 
expressed on the subjects of psalmody and 
communion, yet the majority of its mem- 
bers hold to a more liberal way of thinking. 



About the time of the separation of the 
Western Synod, a proposal was made to 
unite the Associate Reformed and the Re- 
formed Dutch Churches, under the name 
of " Tho Reformed Protestant Church of 
North America." The cause of the fai- 
lure of this projected union has never 
been very satisfactorily explained. In the 
report of the committee of the Associate 
Reformed Church, the coldness with 
which the proposal was received by some 
few of the classes of the Dutch Church, 
is given as the reason for their recom- 
mendation not to prosecute the business. 
But there must have been some more po- 
tent agency than this at work ; it is well 
known that the pride of one very distin- 
guished member of the committee of the 
Associate reformed Church was, in some 
way, wounded in the prosecution of the 
affair, and there are those who ascribe to 
this circumstance — whether properly or 
not the writer cannot positively determine 
— the unhappy termination of the project. 
At the very same meeting of General Sy- 
nod at which it was resolved to be inex- 
pedient to prosecute the attempt at union 
with the Dutch Church, on account of the 
coldness of a few of her classes, a pro- 
position of union was received from the 
General Assembly. A joint committee 
was immediately appointed, and a basis 
of union was very hastily framed, and it 
having received the approval of the two 
bodies, was sent down to their respective 
Presbyteries for their action. Those un- 
der the care of the Assembly do not ap- 
pear to have ever had the thing before them ; 
at all events they never acted upon it. 

At the next meeting of the General 
Synod, in 1822, it appeared that a large 
majority of the Presbyteries and Congre- 
gations were most decidedly opposed 
to the projected union. Yet, strange, 
to relate, those very men whose con- 
sciences had been so scrupulous about 
the coldness of a few of the Dutch clas- 
ses, as to deem it necessary to drop the 
project of union (a union be it observed 
worthy of the name) with that church, 
had got so completely rid of their scru- 
ples, that they resolved to proceed with 
another proposal of union, in the face of 
the expressed negatives of a majority of 
their own Presbyteries. The subject was 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



35 



ceeding is not to be found 
of the American Church. 



debated for some days ; when the vote 
was taken, there were for union seven, 
against it six, and silent Jour. The ma- 
jority immediately declared the Synod 
dissolved; and in palpable violation of 
the constitution of the Presbyterian 
Church, they were at once admitted as 
members of an Assembly to which they 
had never been chosen. Within a week 
after this secession from the Associate 
Reformed Church, her valuable library 
was with singular expedition removed 
from New York to Princeton. We ven- 
ture to affirm that a more disgraceful pro- 
in the annals 
The actors in 
this scene, besides having the expressed 
mind of the church of which they were 
the representatives, knew that their scheme 
would have been completely frustrated if 
all the delegates to the Synod had been 
present ; they knew, at the very time the 
vote was taken, that several of these de- 
legates from a distant part of the church 
were on their way. The indecent haste 
with which the library was removed from 
New York, and the silent manner in 
which it was effected, proved that these 
seceders were themselves conscious that 
their doings would not bear investigation. 
It is deeply to be lamented that the pro- 
posed union of 1822, was managed in the 
manner described. To an unprejudiced 
mind there appears no reason, on the 
score of principle, why these two branches 
of the Presbyterian Church should main- 
tain a separate existence ; their standards, 
their government, and their discipline are 
the same, and while there is a difference 
in some of their forms of worship, yet, 
as this would be no just cause for origina- 
ting a separation, it cannot be a just rea- 
son for continuing it. Had the proper 
preparatory steps been taken, had due 
time been allowed the ministers and con- 
gregations of the Associate Reformed 
Church to consider the subject : the wri- 
ter believes that within a few years a 
happy union of the two bodies might have 
been effected. But managed as the busi- 
ness was, they were only placed wider 
apart than ever. Such, however, was 
the end of the General Synod, for it never 
met again ; — ill advised in its origin, un- 
prosperous through its whole existence, 

li— ... 



and miserable in its termination, it began 
in pride and ended in plunder. 

The Synod of New York now re- 
sumed its ordinary meetings, and took the 
place of the General Synod as the su- 
preme judicatory of the church in the 
northern States. But its members, unfor- 
tunately, wanted the vigor requisite in the 
existing circumstances of the church ; the 
consequence was the irrecoverable loss of 
the old congregations in the city of New 
York. They even went so far as to di- 
rect their students of theology to attend 
the seminaries of other denominations, 
instead of appointing a professor of their 
own ; the result was, just that which 
might have been anticipated, the loss of 
the greater part of these candidates for 
the ministry. At length, in 1829, the 
Synod awoke from this long and singular 
sleep ; it was resolved to revive the Semi- 
nary, whose operations had been sus- 
pended in 1821, and to establish it at 
Newburgh, under the care of the Rev. 
Joseph McCarroll, D. D., who was at the 
same time chosen Professor of Theology. 
Steps were taken to recover the library 
transferred to Princeton in 1822 : a re- 
presentation of the case, marked by great 
moderation, was presented to the Assem- 
bly in 1830, which having proved unavail- 
ing, legal measures were adopted, and after 
a protracted suit, the library was obtained 
and removed to the Seminary at Newburgh. 

From the preceding statement it will 
be perceived that the Associate Reformed 
Church, since 1822, has existed in three 
independent divisions, at the North, the 
West, and the South. An ineffectual at- 
tempt was made, in 1827, to revive *he 
General Synod on the old footing ; this 
failure was not produced by any of the 
old causes of disunion, for by this time, 
there was a uniform practice in all the 
details of Divine worship throughout the 
several divisions of the church ; but it 
arose from the conviction which had been 
created in many minds, that in a country 
of such vast extent as ours, and with so 
many peculiarities of local interests and 
feelings, the affairs of the church will be 
much better managed by particular Sy- 
nods, than by a representative General 
Synod or Assembly, having appellate ju- 
risdiction. This sentiment, the truth of 



36 



HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 



which is very remarkably established by 
the history of the Associate Reformed 
Church for the last twenty years, is gain- 
ing ground both at the North and the 
West; and we do not believe that any 
considerable portion of our church will 
ever consent to the erection of such a 
Synod, having appellate jurisdiction over 
the whole United States. This is, in fact, 
to carry the principle of Presbyterianism 
to an unwarrantable length ; all the argu- 
ments adduced to prove the necessity of 
such Synods or Assemblies, if worth any 
thing, prove the necessity of a permanent 
Ecumenical Synod or Assembly. Recent 
events, especially the increasing agitation 
on the subject of slavery, convince us 
that the day is not very distant, when the 
other and larger branches of the Presby- 
terian Church in the United States, will 
be compelled to take the same position, 
on this subject, with the Associate Re- 
formed Church. 

It only remains to add to this historical 
sketch, that for the last five or six years 
a correspondence has been going on be- 
tween the Associate Reformed, the Asso- 
ciate, and the Reformed Presbyterian 
Churches, with a view to their amalgama- 
tion into one body. Among persons of 
right Christian feelings, and of enlarged 
minds, there can be but one opinion, as 
to the desirableness of such a union ; but 
we are sorry to say, that at the present 
time, the prospect of its accomplishment 
is by no means flattering. Still, the par- 
ties concerned are acting with great cau- 
tion, and experience proves that in all 
attempts at union, the dictate of true wis- 
dom, is " festina lente." The great de- 
liberation by which this movement has 
been distinguished, may at least inspire 
the hope that when the union does take 
place, it will be a union that deserves the 
name. And yet, if it were speedily ef- 
fected, while we should greatly rejoice, 
the question would force itself upon us — 
why should the united Scottish Church 
maintain a separate existence in America? 
We confess that we should look upon this 
as a step towards a yet more blessed con- 
summation. We should look upon it as 
the harbinger of that day, when Presby- 
I terians, so long divided and alienated, 
| though one in their confession and gov- 



ernment, forgetful of their ancient animos- 
ities, shall unite their hearts and their 
energies against that common and mighty 
foe which is every day putting on renewed 
strength, that deadly foe by which in other 
days so many of our Presbyterian fathers 
were sent to join and increase " the goodly 
company of martyrs." 

We shall conclude the article with the 
statistics of the church. 

I. The Synod of New York, contains 
four Presbyteries, viz : New York, Sara- 
toga, Washington, and Caledonia. The 
whole number of ministers is 34 ; and of 
congregations, settled and vacant, about 
43. The Theological Seminary is at 
Newburgh, Rev. Joseph McCarroll, D. D., 
Professor of Theology ; the Professorship 
of Church History is at present vacant. 

II. The Synod of the West, about four 
years since, was turned into a General 
Synod, having under its care the follow- 
ing particular ones, viz : 

1. The East Sub-Synod, containing the 
following Presbyteries : Big Spring, Mo- 
nongahela, The Lakes, Mansfield, Steu- 
benville, Blairsville, Second Ohio. The 
East Synod, contains about 60 ministers, 
and about 100 congregations, settled and 
vacant. The Theological Seminary is 
established at Alleghany, near Pittsburg, 
under the care of Rev. John T. Pressley, 
D. D., Professor of Theology ; Rev. James 
L. Dinwiddie, Professor of Biblical Criti- 
cism ; the Professorship of Church His- 
tory is vacant. 

2. The West Sub-Synod, contains the 
following Presbyteries : First Ohio, Chili- 
cothe, Springfield, Kentucky, Indiana, Il- 
linois, Michigan. It numbers about 40 
ministers, and 70 or 80 congregations, 
settled and vacant. The Theological Sem- 
inary is established at Oxford, Ohio, under 
the care of the Rev. Joseph Claybaugh, 
D. D., Professor of Theology. 

III. The Synod of the South, contains 
the following Presbyteries : First Carolina, 
Second Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. 
The number of ministers is about 25, and 
of congregations 40. They have a Lite- 
rary and Theologica 1 In stitution , calle d the 
Clarke and Erskine College, in Abbeville 
District. The names of the Professors we 
are unable to give, though we understand 
the College is in a flourishing condition. 



HISTORY OF THE ADVENTISTS. 



37 



HISTORY 



OP 



THE ADVENTISTS. 



BY JOSIAH LITCH, OF PHILADELPHIA. 



Adventists are so called from the 
prominence which they give to the doc- 
trine of the near and personal coming of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. They have no 
new views of truth, and base their belief 
entirely on the testimony of the holy 
Scriptures, as understood by the church 
in its best and purest ages. 

As a body they have arisen under the 
labors of Wm. Miller, of Low Hampton, 
N. Y., and others who looked to the com- 
ing of the Lord, about A. D. 1843. 

Wm. Miller commenced lecturing in 
1833, and his views were published about 
the same time in the Vermont Telegraph. 
To meet the calls for information on his 
views, he collected these articles in a 
pamphlet, which he distributed gratui- 
tously. One edition of his lectures was 
published in 1836. Early in 1840, Joshua 
V. Himes, a minister in the Christian Con- 
nexion, became a believer in these views, 
and commenced the publication of a paper 
called " the Signs of the Times, and Ex- 
position of Prophecy," issuing it for 
nearly two years, only once in two weeks. 
Since that time it has been published 
weekly, and has reached the fourteenth 
Volume. It is now called " The Advent 
Herald." It was commenced without 
subscribers or funds, but its circulation 
gradually increased, so that it is widely 
circulated in our own country, and is sent 
to Canada, England and the West Indies. 

PECULIARITIES OF ADVENTISTS. 

Advent believers are not distinguished 



as a body by any dissent from the great 
leading doctrines of the Evangelical por- 
tion of the Christian Church, such as the 
Divinity of Christ, His Sacrifice and 
Atonement for sin, the doctrine of future 
and eternal rewards and punishment, &c. 
On all these points they receive the plain 
literal testimony of the Bible, in its most 
obvious import, without attempting to ex- 
plain it away. 

THEY DO DIFFER FROM MOST BODIES 
OF CHRISTIANS. 

On the personal, Premillennial Advent 
of Christ, and his personal, bodily reign 
on the earth with his Resurrected and 
glorified saints. 

They cannot see, if, according to Isa. 
vii. 14, Christ was fortold to be born of a 
virgin, and it came to pass ; Matth. i. 
18— 25;— If, as foretold Micah. v. 2. 
Christ was literally born in Bethlehem, 
Matth. ii. 1 : — And that according to Dan. 
ix. 26, Messiah came at the expiration 
of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, 
Mark i. 15 ; and if after the sixty-two 
weeks, Messiah was literally cut off: — 
If, as foretold by Isa. liii. 8, 9, he was 
cut off out of the land of the living for 
the transgression of his people ; — And 
made his grave with the wicked and with 
the rich in his death ; — If according to 
Ps. xvi. 10, Christ's soul was not left in 
hell (hades) nor did his flesh see corrup- 
tion ; — If according to Ps. ex. I , Christ 
did sit on the right hand of God, and is 
to sit there till his enemies be made his 



38 



HISTORY OF THE ADVENTISTS. 



footstool : — -If all these predictions have 
literally come to pass, and they have ; — 
Then the Adventists cannot see ground 
for doubting that the same rule will be 
observed in the fulfilment of all other 
prophecies relating to Christ. 

Thus, prophecy foretels Christ as the 
seed of Abraham, in whom all the fami- 
lies of the earth shall be blessed ; Gen. 
xxii. 18. It also promises to the seed of 
Abraham, all the land of Canaan, for an 
Everlasting possession, in connection 
with Abraham himself, Gen. xvii. 8. 
Hence the land is called Isa. viii. 8, 
Emanuel's land. But when Christ was 
on earth he had not where to lay his 
head : — Therefore, he must return per- 
sonally to inherit it. 

Christ is the predicted Son of David, 
who is to sit forever on David's throne ; 
he is the Son of David according to the 
flesh, Ps. cxxxii. 11. But while on earth 
he never sat on David's throne. He went 
to Jerusalem as foretold, on an ass' colt ; 
claimed his rights, was proclaimed king 
by the children, but rejected by the 
Rulers ; Matth. xxi. Hence, he must return 
to earth to enjoy his kingdom and " reign 
over the house of Jacob forever." Luke 
i. 32, 33. 

Christ has the promise of the uttermost 
parts of the earth for his possession ; but 
he never yet had it. Ps. ii. 8. Therefore, 
he must come back to earth, to possess it. 

Prophecy points out the coming of 
Christ to receive his kingdom and domin- 
ion over all nations, to be in " the Clouds 
of Heaven." Dan. vii. 13, 14. But he 
never yet came thus : — He must, there- 
fore, fulfil the prediction in futurity, at 
his Second Advent. He cannot have uni- 
versal dominion till he does. 

Christ rose from the dead in the iden- 
tical body in which he was crucified and 
buried, and was so identified; John xx. 
24 — 31. Those who thus identified his 
person, of flesh and bones, saw him go 
from earth up into heaven, and a cloud 
received him out of their sight. They 
were told by divine messengers, that this 
same Jesus, whom they saw go into 
heaven, " Shall so come again in like 
manner." Acts i. 2 — 11. — 

That the Second Advent of Our Lord 



will be pre-millennial, tJiey conclude from 
various considerations. 

1 . The Millennial Reign is placed after 
the first Resurrection, Rev. xx. 1 — 6, 
which cannot be till the Second Advent 
of Christ. 

Those who have part in the first resur- 
rection are Saints, and will live forever. 
The Second death has no power on them. 
But they that are Christ's, are to be raised 
at his coming ; and that is the order of 
the resurrection to follow Christ's resur- 
rection. 1 Cor. xv. 23. Christ's coming, 
and the resurrection of the just, must 
therefore, precede the millennial reign. 

Again : — The Millennial period, follows 
the casting the beast and false prophet 
into the lake of fire, and shutting up the 
devil in the Abyss or bottomless pit. Rev. 
xix. 20; and xx. 1 — 3. Thus, before the 
Millennium, all the great anti-christian 
powers are put down. The man of Sin^ 
however, the Son of perdition, is only to 
be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's 
coming-. 2 Thess. ii. 8. The coming of 
Christ, for his destruction must, therefore, 
be pre-millennial. 

It will be seen by the foregoing, that 
they believe there will be two distinct re- 
surrections, a thousand years apart ; " the 
first resurrection ;" " the resurrection of 
life ;" " the resurrection of the just ;" — 
and the resurrection of " the rest of the 
dead ;" " the resurrection of damnation ;" 
" the resurrection of the unjust." The 
separating period is only named in Rev. 
xx, but the distinction in the resurrection 
is frequently made. 

THE NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

The general view entertained by the 
Church that the millennium will be a 
thousand years of peace, and be intro- 
duced by the conversion of the world to 
Christ, and consist in his universal Spi- 
ritual reign; together with theMillenna- 
rian or Literalist view, that although 
Christ will come and reign personally on 
earth during the Millennium, yet* that 
period will be a period of probation, in 
which the heathen who never heard the 
Gospel, and the Jews who have been cut 
off during the christian dispensation, will 
have the gospel preached to them and be 



HISTORY OF THE ADVEJST1STS. 



39 



converted, are both unscriptural and not 
to be received. 

The Adventists cannot receive the first, 
because both the general and specific 
teachings of the bible are against it. 

Throughout the bible the descriptions 
given of the moral and political state of 
the world, show the utter impossibility of 
the triumph of righteousness till the es- 
tablishment of the eternal kingdom of 
God, in all the earth, and under the whole 
heaven. Thus the dream of Nebuchad- 
nezar, Dan. ii, foretels four universal 
empires, which are to fill up the period 
from then, till the everlasting Kingdom 
of God comes and destroys them and fills 
the whole earth. But there can be no 
everlasting kingdom without immortality, 
which cannot be till the resurrection at 
the Second Advent of Christ. 

The Seventh Chapter of Daniel, presents 
in vision the same four empires, with the 
divisions and successions of the fourth 
empire, which only end (see verses 13, 
14) when the son of man comes in the 
clouds of Heaven, to receive his everlast- 
ing dominion, which is also universal. 
Till the judgment, the little blasphemous 
horn wears out the saints, and prevails 
against them. 

So likewise in the 24th of Matthew ; the 
course of events from the time of Christ, 
to the Second coming of Christ and end 
of the world, is given. There were to be 
wars, famines, pestilence, persecution of 
the saints, false prophets, false Christ's, 
abominations, great tribulation, mourning 
of all the tribes of the earth, the preach- 
ing of this gospel of the kingdom in all 
the world, for a witness to all nations, and 
then the end shall come ; and they shall 
see the son of man coming in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory. 
There is n,o peace in the prediction, till he 
comes. Therefore, he will come personally 
to judge the world and reign ; and not 
spiritually to convert and save the world. 

Once more; — The tares and wheat, 
(righteous and wicked) are to grow to- 
gether till the end of the world or age. 
And then the one be cast off and punished, 
the other glorified in the kingdom of God. 
Matth. xiii. 24 — 43. For these and many 
other reasons they cannot believe in the 



conversion of the world before the Second 
Advent of our Saviour. 

They also find equal difficulty, in re- 
ceiving the Millennarian theory of the 
conversion of the heathen and Jews, after 
the Second Advent of Christ, and during 
the Millennium. For they regard the 
thousand years as being rather a day of 

JUDGMENT than Of PROBATION. 

For they read in the second Psalm, that 
when the heathen are given to Christ for 
his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of 
the earth for his possession, that he is to 
break them, or rule them (Rev. xii. 5. and 
ii. 27.) with a rod of iron, and dash them 
in pieces like a potters vessel. Such a 
description they consider to be any thing 
else beside conversion. They also learn 
from the cxlix. Psalm, that all the saints 
will have the honor to " bind their kings 
with chains, and their nobles with fetters 
of iron, and to execute upon them the 
judgments written." From the lx, of 
Isa. and xiv, of Zech. they learn that the 
worship and service of the heathen, will 
be compulsory service. 

That neither Jew or Gentile will be con- 
verted after the Second coming of Christ, 
they think the xxv, chapter of Matth. and 
xiii, of Luke, plainly teach. The first of 
these texts expressly declare that final and 
eternal retribution will be awarded to all 
nations, when the Son of man comes in 
his glory. There is no exception of any 
one nation. They will some of them plead, 
but in vain, for a Change of doom. There 
are but two classes ; one of them enters 
the kingdom of God ; the other goes away 
into everlasting punishment. There is no 
middle class, who will have another pro- 
bation. 

Luke xiii, teaches still more expressly 
that the unbelieving Jews will seek to en- 
ter the kingdom of God or be saved, after 
the master of the house is risen up, and 
hath shut the door, " but shall not be 
able." They will see the patriarch's there, 
with some from the east, west, north and 
south, but they thrust out in outer dark- 
ness. Paul asserts, Rom. ii. 9, 10, 16, 
that God will render, Glory, honor, peace, 
to every soul of man who doeth good, 
Jew and Gentile; but indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish on every 
soul of man that doeth evil, Jew and Gen- 



40 



HISTORY OF THE ADVENTISTS. 



tile, in the day when God shall judge the 
secrets of men by Christ Jesus. This is 
not probation. 

THE JEWS. 

On the subject of the return of the Jews 
to the land of Palestine, they differ from 
most others. They hold that the promises 
made to Israel, of a yet future and final 
gathering to the land of Canaan, will be 
literally accomplished; and that Israel 
will forever dwell there in peace. But 
then they cannot think such a promise 
can be fulfilled before the resurrection of 
the just, when the believing remnant of 
Israel, of every generation, including 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will be raised 
from the dead, and restored to their own 
land. This, Ezekiel, xxxvii. chapter, de- 
clares will be the way the whole house of 
Israel will be restored. " I will open your 
graves, and bring you up out of your 
graves, and bring you into your own land." 

The resurrection, according to Paul, is 
" the hope of Israel." But if the resur- 
rected and glorified Israel are to have the 
land and dwell there forever, the Jews in 
flesh and blood, as a nation cannot have 
it forever. All the promises, however, 
of a future return, promise an everlasting 
possession of the land. But mortal Jews 
cannot possess it forever. Glorified and 
immortal ones can ; therefore, they are 
the heirs of promise. 

A distinguishing feature of the faith of 
Adventists, was their confidence in the ter- 
mination of the prophetic periods, and the 
second advent of Christ, about 1843. 

The main argument on which they 
rested, was that relative to the termination 
of the 2300 days in Dan. viii. 14, which 
they regarded as years. And then they 
considered the period of 70 weeks named 
in Dan. ix. 24, as the key to the date of 
the 2300 days of the preceding chapter. 
Dating the periods B. C. 457, when Ar- 
taxerxes, king of Persia, sent up Ezra 
from his captivity, to restore the Jewish 
polity at Jerusalem, (see Ezra, 7th chap.) 
and ending the 70 weeks as commenta- 
tors generally do, in A. D. 33, with the 
crucifixion of Christ ; they found the re- 
mainder of the 2300 days, which was 
1810, would end in 1843. The argu- 
ment, many beside Adventists thought a 



reasonable one, but the result has proved 
it erroneous. Since 1844, many have 
adopted the views of the English Liter- 
alists, which ended the 2300 days in 
1847, instead of 1843. But as a general 
thing they adopt a waiting position, and 
wait for more light on the import and 
dates of the prophetic periods, which they 
still firmly believe are of Divine origin, 
and to be understood by the church in 
God's own appointed time. For they 
cannot think any portion of Revelation 
has been given in vain. 

They regard the coming of the Lord to 
be at the door, for various reasons : 

1 . The four great empires are to be suc- 
ceeded by the everlasting kingdom of 
God ; and it is very manifest that the last, 
the Roman government, has passed its 
predicted divisions and must soon end. 

2. The waneing of the Ottoman or 
Mahommedan power, is regarded as an- 
other index that the kingdom of Christ 
will soon come. 

3. The universal movements and agita- 
tions, with the famines, pestilences, and 
earthquakes, together with the signs in the 
sun, moon and stars, &c, &c, they con- 
sider conclusive evidence of the speedy 
coming of Christ. 

This gospel of the kingdom which was 
to be preached in all the world for a wit- 
ness to all nations, is now completing its 
work. 

They likewise consider the study of the 
prophetic Scriptures an important but 
greatly neglected duty of the church ; and 
being fully convinced that the coming of 
Christ is at hand, they feel constrained to 
make it a prominent theme in their public 
ministrations and writing; that thus they 
may supply, in some measure, the lack 
of service of other denominations, in this 
department of religious truth. They feel 
in a great measure compensated' for their 
disappointment in relation to time, by wit- 
nessing the great change which has taken 
place in the public mind since this discus- 
sion came up, on the subject of the per- 
sonal advent and reign of Christ on earth 
with his saints. They still labor for the 
extension of these principles over the 
world, by every lawful means in their 
power ; being fully persuaded that their 
sentiments are those of the primitive 



HISTORY OF THE ADVENTISTS. 



41 



church for the first three hundred years, 
and that they will be restored, as the de- 
ceptions of the great apostacy yield to the 
word of God. 

There are at present, as near as the 
number can be arrived at, in the United 
States and Canada, between fifteen and 
twenty thousand believers identified with 
the body. These are scattered over 
nearly all the States in the Union. There 
are also prosperous missions in England, 
Scotland, and the West Indies. In this 
estimate, those in the different churches 
are not included. But they are numerous. 

As in all great religious movements, 
fanatics and imposters have availed them- 
selves of the deep interest felt on this 
great subject, to lead away disciples after 
them, and introduce fanatical doctrines 
and practices. These have been uniformly 
resisted and exposed when detected. As 
a body, Adventists give no countenance 
to fanaticism. 

Although contrary to the original design 
and wish of those who commenced this 
movement, yet circumstances which they 
could not control, rendered it necessary to 
adopt some form of associated church 
action. The Mutual Conference of Ad- 
ventists held in Albany, N. Y., April 29th, 
1845, thus briefly express themselves on 
this subject. 

ASSOCIATED ACTION. 

Order is heaven's first law. All things 
emanating from God, are constituted on 
principles of- perfect order. The New 
Testament rules for the government of the 
Church, we regard as binding on the 
whole brotherhood of Christ. No circum- 
stances can justify us in departing from 
the usages established by Christ and his 
Apostles. 

We regard any congregation of be- 
lievers who habitually assemble for the 



worship of God, and the due observance 
of the Gospel ordinances, as a Church of 
Christ. As such, it is an independent 
body, accountable only to the great Head 
of the Church. To all such we recom- 
mend a careful examination of the Scrip- 
tures, and the adoption of such principles 
of association and order, as are in accord- 
ance therewith, that they may enjoy the 
advantages of that Church relation which 
Chrich has instituted. 

In accordance with the foreging recom- 
mendation, the Second Advent believers 
generally throughout the country, have 
united in Church fellowship, with no other 
creed or form of discipline than the writ- 
ten word of God, which they believe is a 
sufficient rule both of faith and duty. 

Second Advent conferences are held as 
often as it is deemed necessary, for the 
consideration and discussion of such sub- 
jects and measures as the interests of the 
cause may demand ; they are constituted 
of both ministerial and lay members, from 
all portions of the country. This body 
is purely voluntary and advisory, and 
claims to exercise no authority over the 
conscience of any. 

They look upon the Advent doctrine, 
embracing as it does, the resurrection of 
the body, the personal and visible appear- 
ance and reign of Christ on earth, the 
restitution of the heavens and earth to 
their paradisical state as the eternal inher- 
itance of the saints, &c., as the only view 
which will explain and harmonize the 
word of God. 

They believe the Second Advent of 
Christ to judge the world, to be near at 
hand ; and, that is the great practical 
doctrine set forth and used by the apostles 
as a motive to holiness. It was to them 
and their suffering brethren the great 
source of comfort, and the hope of the 
whole Israel of God. 



42 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE BAPTISTS. 

BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D.D., 

PASTOR OF THE MOUNT TABOR BAPTIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, 



As the Baptists claim to have by far the 
largest number of adherents in the United 
States, it cannot be unimportant to become 
acquainted with their Principles, Histo- 
ry, and Present State. No denomina- 
tion of Christians has been more constant 
in its attachment to religious freedom, and 
conflict for it ; none exposed to so hot and 
incessant persecutions ; nor any which has 
more entirely resembled the ancient Is- 
raelites in Egypt, who, the more they 
were oppressed, the more they grew. 

The name of Baptists originated not 
with the parties so called, but with their 
opponents. Formerly they were called 
Ana-baptists, or Re-baptizers, which 
they rejected as involving what they 
deemed a misrepresentation ; because, in 
their view, none are baptized but the parties 
mentioned in the scriptural law relating to 
the subject, and to whom it is admin- 
istered in the only prescribed mode. As, 
however, the main differences between 
the members of this body and their fellow 
Christians centre in the ordinance of Bap- 
tism, it may be important briefly to state 
their views, and the foundations on which 
they rest. 

The general principles on which they 
construct their arguments have been thus 
stated : — 

1st. Professors of religion, in general, 
consider baptism as a duty ; and that it 
ought to be attended to in some way or 
other. 



2d. Baptism is a positive institution^ 
and therefore we must have some plain 
precept, or example, to direct us ; both 
with respect to the persons who are to be 
baptized, and the manner in which the or- 
dinance must be administered. 

3d. If we proceed in this ordinance, or 
in any other, without authority from 
Scripture, God will reject our services 
with, "Who hath required this at your 
hands V " In vain do ye worship me ; 
teaching for doctrines the commandments 
of men." 

4th. Baptism is an ordinance peculiar 
to the Gospel dispensation ; and therefore 
the rule of our duty must be sought in the 
New Testament, and not in the Old. 

5th. The law which enjoins Baptism 
may be found in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. It 
enjoins a duty, durable as the unchanging 
dispensation to which it belongs — to 
charge the command with obscurity is a 
daring impeachment of Divine Wisdom 
and Love — to suppose the Apostles did 
not understand it is highly absurd ; they 
certainly must understand it right, and 
their practice must be the best comment 
upon it. 

6th. If by searching sacred history we 
can learn how the Apostles attended to 
Baptism, we are bound to follow their ex- 
ample ; nor can any circumstances what- 
ever justify us in departing from the Di- 
vine law. 

In addition to these principles, we may 




BOGER WILLIAMS. 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



43 



transcribe the following statement from 
an English writer : — 

" It is a distinguishing tenet with them, 
to admit of nothing as an article of faith, 
rr of duty, in the worship of God, xvhich 
•s not sanctioned by apostolic precept, or 
approved example; and conceiving that 
the New Testament furnishes neither the 
one nor the other for administering the 
ordinance of baptism to infants, or for the 
substitution of sprinkling and pouring for 
dipping, they regard these practices in the 
light of mere human inventions, and dis- 
claim them. 

"They contend that, since baptism is 
not a duty of itself, but is made so by the 
positive institution of Christ, Matt, xxviii. 
19, Mark xvi. 15, 16, — and, like all simi- 
lar duties, has no foundation, with regard 
to us, but the will of the Institutor, — it 
cai have no other rule ; and that, if we 
depart from his directions, we do not ob- 
serve his institution, but change it into an 
institution of our oivn. For this reason, 
the Baptists appeal exclusively, on the 
subject of baptism, to the will of Christ, 
as made known by express precepts or 
approved examples in his word." 

In reference to the mode of baptism, the 
Baptists maintain that it is dipping, or im- 
mersion ; that the Greek word used by the 
inspired writers, of which the words bap- 
tize and baptism are an anglicised form, 
moans immersion ; and consequently that 
the command to baptize is a command to 
immerse, and can be fulfilled in no other 
way than by immersion. In proof of 
this they appeal to the use of the term 
throughout the whole scope of Greek lite- 
rature, and are sustained by the testimony 
of almost all who have been celebrated for 
their knowledge of that tongue. Among 
the modern Greeks, the term has the same 
meaning. The Baptists also appeal to the 
circumstances attending its administration 
as recorded in the New Testament. They 
remark that persons were "baptized in 
Jordan," Matt. iii. 6; Mark i. 9: Hn the 
river Jordan," Mark i. 5; that baptize 
cannot therefore mean to pour, because to 
pour applies to the element, not to the per- 
son; and in that case the water would be 
said to be poured upon the person, not the 
person poured in or into the water; nor 
can it mean to sprinkle, for it is evidently 



needless to place a person in a river to 
sprinkle a little water upon him, nor is it 
ever done by those who maintain that 
sprinkling is baptism. The Baptists also 
remark that Jesus, after having been bap- 
tized, " went up straightway out of the 
water," Matt. iii. 16; that "both Philip 
and the eunuch went down into the water ;" 
that the latter was baptized while there, 
and that they both came " up out of the 
water," Acts viii. 38, 39 ; circumstances 
which plainly show that to baptize is to 
dip under water; they also refer to the 
expression, " buried with Christ by bap- 
tism," as implying that in baptism persons 
were " buried" in the water ; and that 
when the gift of the Spirit on the day of 
Pentecost, Acts i. 5, is called a baptism, 
and our Lord says, of his last agony, " I 
have a baptism to be baptized with," Luke 
xii. 20 ; there is an evident allusion to the 
fulness of that gift, and the depth of those 
sufferings, both of which find an emblem 
in immersion, but none in the use of a little 
water, as in pouring or sprinkling. 

But as it regards the mode of baptism, 
this body of Christians contend that they 
are not distinguished from the vast mass 
of the Christian world. They appeal to 
the testimonies of eminent divines, not of 
their own body, and to the practices of 
the Catholic, the old English Episcopal 
church, and to the Greek and Armenian 
churches of the present day. The fol- 
lowing may be regarded as a specimen of 
such psedobaptist evidence on the subject : 
"They (the primitive Christians) led them 
into the water, and with no other gar- 
ments but what might serve to cover na- 
ture, they at first laid them down in the 
water as a man might be laid in a grave, 
and then they said these words, l I baptize 
or wash thee in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' j 
Then they raised them up again, and clean 
garments were put on them : from whence 
came the phrases of being baptized into 
Chrisfs death; of being buried with him 
by baptism into death; of our being risen 
with Christ, and of our putting on the 
Lord Jesus Christ; of putting off the old 
man and putting on the new. — Rom. vi. 
3 — 5; Col. ii. 12, iii. 1 — 10 ; Rom. xiii. 
14." — Bishop Burnet, Ex. xxxix. Art., 
p. 374. " To baptize signifies to plunge, 



44 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



as is granted by all the world." — Bishop 
Bossuet. " The word baptize signifies to 
immerse, and the rite of immersion was 
observed by the ancient church ; and from 
these words it may be inferred, that bap- 
tism was administered by plunging the 
whole body under water." — Calvin. Obs. 
on John hi. 23. " The custom of the an- 
cient churches was not sprinkling, but im- 
mersion." — Bishop Taylor. Duct, dubit. B. 
hi. " The person baptized went down into 
the water, and was, as it were, buried under 
it." — Bishop Pearce. Note on 1 Cor. xv. 
29. " We grant that baptism, then, (in the 
primitive times,) was by washing the whole 
body. Though we have thought it lawful 
to disuse the manner of dipping, and to use 
less water, yet we presume not to change 
the use and signification of it." — Bax- 
ter. On Matt. iii. 6. The same writer 
says, " Therefore, in our baptism, we are 
dipped under water, as signifying we are 
dead and buried to sin." — On Rom. vi. 4. 
" It being so expressly declared here 
(Rom. vi. 4, and Col. ii. 12) that we are 
buried with Christ in baptism, by being 
buried under water, and the argument to 
oblige us to a conformity to his death by 
dying to sin being taken hence, and this 
immersion being religiously observed by 
all Christians for thirteen centu- 
ries, and approved by our church, and 
the change of it into sprinkling, even with- 
out any allowance from the Author of the 
institution, or any license from any coun- 
cil of the church, being that which the 
Romanist still urgeth to justify his refusal 
of the cup to the laity, it were to be wished 
that this custom might again be of general 
use." — Whitby. Note on Rom. vi. 4. 
" In England, of late years, I ever thought 
the parson baptized his own fingers, rather 
than the child." — Selden. " It is certain, 
that in the words of Rom. vi. 3, 4, there 
is an allusion to the manner of baptism, 
which was by immersion." — Whitefield. 
Eighteen sermons. " 'Buried with him in 
baptism.' It seems the part of candor to con- 
fess that here is an allusion to the manner 
of baptizing by immersion, as most usual 
in those early times." — Doddridge. The 
same excellent writer, noticing the case of 
Philip and the eunuch, says, " It would 
be very unnatural to suppose, that they 
went down into the water, merely that 



Philip might take up a little water in his 
hand to pour on the eunuch." " Mary 
Welsh, aged eleven days, was baptized, 
according to the first church, and the rule 
of the Church of England, by immersion" 
— Wesley. Journal of the time he passed 
in Georgia. 

It would be exceedingly easy to add to 
these statements multitudes of similar tes- 
timonies ; such as that of 

Beza. — " Christ commanded us to be 
baptized, by which word it is certain, im- 
mersion is signified ;" — or, 

Vitringa. — " The act of baptizing is 
the immersion of believers in water ; this 
expresses the force of the word ; thus also 
it was performed by Christ and his apos- 
tles ;" — or, 

Salmasius. — " Baptism is immersion, 
and was administered in ancient times ac- 
cording to the force and meaning of the 
word ;" — or, 

Archbishop Tillotson. — " Anciently, 
those who were baptized were immersed 
and buried in the water, to represent their 
death to sin, and then did rise up again 
out of the water, to signify their entrance 
upon a new life, and to these customs the 
apostle alludes, Romans vi. 2-6 ;" — or, 

Dr. Campbell. — " The word baptize, 
both in sacred writers and classical, signi- 
fies to dip, to plunge, to immerse." 

But perhaps nothing of this kind of tes- 
timony can exceed that of the very emi- 
nent Dr. Wall, on whom the University 
of Oxford conferred the degree of D. D. 
for his " History op Infant Baptism ;" 
he thus writes : — 

" This (immersion) is so plain and clear, 
by an infinite number of passages, that 
as one cannot but pity the weak endea- 
vors of such Pcedobaptists as would main- 
tain the negative of it, so also we ought to 
disown, and show a dislike of the profane 
scoffs which some people give to the Eng- 
lish Baptist's merely for their use of dip- 
ping. 

" 'Tis one thing to maintain that that 
circumstance is not absolutely necessary 
to the essence of baptism ; and another to 
go about to represent it as ridiculous and 
foolish, or as shameful and indecent, when 
it was, in all probability, the way by which 
our blessed Saviour, and for certain was 
fhe most usual and ordinary way by which 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



45 



the ancient Christians did receive their 
baptism. 'Tis a great want of prudence, 
as well as of honesty, to refuse to grant to 
an adversary what is certainly true and 
may be proved so : it creates a jealousy 
of all the rest that one says. 

" The Greek church, in all the branches 
of it, does still use immersion, and so do 
all other Christians in the world, except 
the Latins. All other Christians in the 
world who never owned the pope's usurp- 
ed power, do, and ever did, dip — in the 
ordinary use ; and if we take the division 
of the world, from the three main parts of 
it, all the Christians in Asia, all in Africa, 
and about one-third part of Europe, in 
which are comprehended the Christians of 
Grecia, Thracia, Servia, Bulgaria, Rascia, 
Wallachia, Moldavia, Russia, Negra, and 
so on, and even the Muscovites, who, if 
coldness of country will excuse, might 
plead for a dispensation with the most 
reason of any." 

He also affirms that the burial of the 
body in water is much more solemn ; and 
asks how a clergyman can answer to our 
Saviour, whose command is not to sprinkle 
a drop or two of, but to bury the whole 
body in, water. We might then ask, 
with the most respectful firmness, by 
what authority can the ordinance be 
changed ? 

If it were desirable to extend the list 
of human testimonies, which, however, as 
authorities, the Baptists entirely disown, 
they might with advantage quote the dis- 
tinguished Maktin Luther, who says, 
" I could wish that such as are to be bap- 
tized should be completely immersed into 
water, according to the meaning of the 
word, and the signification of the ordi- 
nance ; not because I think it necessary, 
but it would be beautiful to have a full and 
perfect sign of so perfect and full a thing ; 
i as also, without doubt, it was instituted by 
Christ." 

But the distinguishing peculiarity of the 
Baptists is, that they require a personal 
profession of faith in Christ as an indis- 
pensable requisite to the drdinance. One 
of their writers says : — 

" This question is of high importance, 
not only in reference to the fulfilment of 
the positive command of our Lord, but 
also as it respects the constitution of his 



Church, and the very nature of Religion. 
For Religion is wholly personal, having 
its commencement in the new birth, and 
uniformly manifesting itself by repent- 
ance, faith, love, and obedience. The 
Church of Christ at large is composed of 
all those, and those only, who are re- 
newed by his Spirit, who believe in his 
name, and who, from a principle of love 
to him, keep his commandments. The 
new birth alone, with its certain results, 
faith, hope, and love, forms the line of 
distinction between the Church and the 
world. 

" Can it be pleasing to God, or bene- 
ficial to men, to teach them to esteem any 
circumstance or service, previous to the 
new birth, as constituting a part, or par- 
taking of the nature of the religion of 
our Lord Jesus Christ? and ought the 
profession of Christianity to be a matter 
of mere imposition, or a matter of free 
conviction and choice ? And if religion 
be personal, all religious acts and ordi- 
nances must be so. It is plain, that acts 
or ordinances of a different description, 
would be out of harmony with the cha- 
racter of religion itself. 

" The ordinances of Christianity then, 
like its duties, are enjoined, and enjoined 
only upon those who are capable of re- 
garding them. Infants are, therefore, ex- 
cepted, because they cannot perform the 
duties or observe the ordinances of our 
holy and spiritual religion. 

" Believers, and believers only, who 
have been convinced by the Word and 
Spirit of God, that they are in a sinful 
and dangerous condition, and who have 
been guided by the same Word and Spirit 
to the Lord Jesus Christ, as a Redeemer 
able and willing to forgive, and sanctify, 
and save them ; these, and these only, are 
the proper subjects for the significant and 
solemn ordinance of Christian baptism." 

The view they take of the ordinance 
itself, necessarily confines it to those who 
profess faith in the Holy Redeemer. They 
say: — 

Christian Baptism is a personal pro- 
fession 6f repentance towards God, and 
faith in Jesus Christ ; and therefore is not 
to be administered to any but believers. 
What is required of persons to be bap- 
tized? Repentance, whereby they for- 



46 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



sake sin, and faith, whereby they stead- 
fastly believe the promises of God, made 
to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and obey him. 

Christian baptism represents that the 
sin of the candidate has been washed 
away in the blood of Christ ; and there- 
fore is to be administered to those only 
who personally profess to have experienced 
this spiritual cleansing. 

Christian baptism is the answer of a 
good conscience toward God to the person 
baptized, and therefore ought to be admi- 
nistered to those only who are capable of 
enjoying a good conscience. — 1 Peter 
iii. 21. 

Christian baptism is a public sign by 
which the disciples of Christ are known 
to each other and to the world, and there- 
fore is to be administered to none but the 
disciples of Christ. " And whosoever 
doth not bear his cross, and come after 
me, cannot be my disciple." — Luke xiv. 
27. 

Christian baptism is an outward and 
visible sign of an inward and spiritual 
grace ; and therefore is to be administered 
to those only who have received the Holy 
Ghost.— Acts x. 47. 

The various instances of baptism as re- 
corded in the New Testament, in their 
view, amply confirm the principles thus 
laid down. They refer their friends to 
the inspired oracles, and say that — 

Those baptized by John confessed their 
sins. — Matt. iii. 6. 

The Lord Jesus Christ gave the com- 
mand to teach and baptize. — Matt, xxviii. 
19. Mark xvi. 15. 16. 

At the day of Pentecost, they who 
gladly received the ivord were baptized, 
and they afterwards continued steadfastly 
in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship. — 
Acts ii. 41, 42, 47. 

At Samaria, those who believed were 
baptized, both men and women. — Acts 
viii. 12. 

The eunuch openly avowed his faith, 
(in reply to Philip's statement, — If thou 
believest with all thine heart thou mayest,) 
and went down into the water and was 
baptized. — Acts viii. 35, 39. 

Saul of Tarsus, after his sight was re- 
stored, and he had received the Holy 



Ghost, arose and was baptized. — Acts ix. 
17, 18. 

Cornelius and his friends heard Peter, 
received the Holy Ghost, and were bap- 
tized. — Acts x. 44 — 48. 

Lydia heard Paul and Silas ; the Lord 
opened her heart, and she was baptized, 
and her household. — Paul afterwards went 
to her house, and comforted the brethren. 
— Acts xvi. 14, 15, 40. 

The jailor, and aH his house, heard the 
word, and were baptized, believing and 
rejoicing in God. — Acts xvi. 32, 34. 

Crispus, and all his house, and many 
Corinthians, heard, believed, and were 
baptized. — Acts xviii. 8. 

The disciples at Ephesus heard and 
were baptized. — Acts xix. 5. 

The household of Stephanus, baptized 
by Paul, were the first-fruits of Achaia, 
and addicted themselves to the ministry 
of the saints. — 1 Cor. i. 16; xvi. 15. 

Neither is there any difficulty in the 
Baptists showing, were it necessary, or if 
the opinions of others were matters of im- 
portance in religion, that not a few of 
those who have lived and died in the prac- 
tice of other principles, have in theory 
agreed with them. Thus write some of 
the most eminent psedobaptists : — 

" The subject of baptism, to whom it is 
to be administered, is a believer." — Lim- 
borch. " I think that illumination, as well 
as regeneration, in the most important and 
scriptural sense of the words, was regu- 
larly to precede the administration of that 
ordinance," i. e. baptism. — Doddridge, on 
Heb. vi. 4. " Faith and repentance were ! 
the great things required of those that 
were admitted to baptism : this was the 
practice of John; this the practice of the 
Apostles in their ministry." — Watts, Berry 
St. Sermons. " By the first preaching or 
making of disciples that must go before 
baptism, is to be meant, the convincing 
the world that Jesus is the Christ, and 
sent to be the Saviour and Redeemer of 
the world, and when any were brought to 
acknowledge this, then they were to bap- 
tize them, to initiate them in his religion." 
— Bislwp Burnet, Expos, xxxix. Artie. 
" Go and teach or disciple all nations, and 
so on, where there are two teachings, the 
one before, and the other after baptism." — 
Bishop Patrick, Discourse on the Lord's 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



47 



$upper. " Go disciple me all nations, 
baptizing them. This is not like some 
occasional historical mention of baptism, 
but it is the very commission of Christ to 
his Apostles, for preaching and baptizing, 
and purposely expresseth their several 
places and order. Their first task is, by 
teaching, to make disciples, which are by 
Mark called believers ; the second work 
is to baptize them, whereto is annexed the 
promise of their salvation ; the third work 
is to teach them all other things, which 
are afterwards to be learned in the school 
of Christ. To contemn this order is to 
renounce all rules of order ; for where 
can we expect to find it if not here ? I 
profess my conscience is fully satisfied 
from this text, that it is one sort of faith, 
even saving, that must go before baptism, 
and the profession whereof the minister 
must expect." — Baxter, Disput. of Right 
to Sac. p. 149, 150. "Because Christ 
requires teaching, before baptizing, and 
will have believers only admitted to bap- 
tism ; baptism does not seem rightly ad- 
ministered, except faith precede." — Cal- 
vin, in Harm. Evan, in Matt, xxviii. 19. 

One of the most modern testimonies of 
this kind, and one which will weigh much 
with many persons, is the distinguished 
German Ecclesiastical Historian, Nean- 
der, who, in his " History of the 
Planting and Training op the Chris- 
tian Church by the Apostles," says : 
" The words of Peter (on the day of 
Pentecost) deeply impressed many, who 
anxiously asked, * What must we do V 
Peter called upon them to repent of their 
sins, to believe in Jesus as the Messiah 
who could impart to them forgiveness of 
sins and freedom from sin, — in this faith 
to be baptized, and thus outwardly to join 
the communion of the Messiah. 

" Since baptism marked the entrance 
into communion with Christ, it resulted 
from the nature of the rite that a confes- 
sion of faith in Jesus as the Redeemer 
would be made by the person to be bap- 
tized ; and in the latter part of the apos- 
tolic age we may find indications of the 
existence of such a practice. As baptism 
was closely united with a conscious en- 
trance on Christian communion, faith and 
baptism were always connected with one 
another ; and thus it is in the highest de- 



gree probable that baptism was performed 
only in instances where both could meet 
together, and that the practice of infant 
baptism was unknown at this period. We 
cannot infer the existence of infant bap- 
tism from the instance of the baptism of 
whole families ; for the passage in 1 Cor. 
xvi. 15, shows the fallacy of such a con- 
clusion, as from that it appears that the 
whole family of Stephanus, who were bap- 
tized by Paul, consisted of adults. That 
not till so late a period as (at least certainly 
not earlier than) Irenseus, a trace of infant 
baptism appears, and that it first became 
recognised as an apostolic tradition in 
the course of the third century, is evidence 
rather against than for the admission of 
its apostolic origin. If we wish to ascer- 
tain from whom such an institution origi- 
nated, we should say, certainly not imme- 
diately from Christ himself. 

" Baptism denotes the confession of de- 
pendence on Christ, and the entrance into 
communion with him, and hence, the ap- 
propriation of all which Christ promises 
to those who stand in such a relation to 
him ; it is the putting on Christ, in whose 
name baptism is administered, an expres- 
sion which includes in it all we have said. 
Gal. iii. 27. Paul might have said, All 
of you who have believed in Christ ; but 
he said, instead of this, * As many of you 
as have been baptized unto Christ? since 
he viewed baptism as the objective sign 
and seal of the relation to Christ into 
which men entered by faith." 

In the present day there are not a few 
persons who deny the perpetuity of the 
ordinance of baptism. But the Baptists 
maintain that it is as binding now, as at 
any former period ; and present in favor 
of their views the following arguments : — 

1 . That baptism was divinely instituted 
as an ordinance of the Christian religion, 
and administered by inspired apostles to 
both Jews and Gentiles, is plain from the 
preceding remarks. 

2. There is no intimation that the law 
of baptism was designed to be restricted 
to any nation, or limited to any period of 
time. It is a general law, without any 
restriction, except that which refers to 
character — " he that believeth." 

3. A divine law must continue obliga- 
tory until it is repealed by divine author- 



48 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



ity. There is no intimation in the Scrip- 
tures that the law of baptism has been re- 
pealed, and therefore there is no reason 
to suppose its obligation has ceased. 

4. The permanent duration of the ordi- 
nance is plainly implied in the promise: 
"Lo, I am with you always, even to the 
end of the world." Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 
This important promise was given at the 
time the ordinance was instituted, and it 
plainly supposes the continuance of bap- 
tism " even to the end of the world." 

5. Baptism is connected with the most 
important doctrines, duties, and privileges 
of the gospel. The Saviour connects it 
with the doctrine of the Trinity ; preach- 
ing and believing the gospel ; fulfilling all 
righteousness ; and the promise of salva- 
tion. Matt. Hi. 15; xxviii. 19. Mark xvi. 16. 
Paul connects it with the death, burial and 
resurrection of Christ ; with the believer's 
dying unto sin, living unto God, and put- 
ting on Christ. Rom. vi. 3, 4. Gal. hi. 
27. He connects it also with " one body, 
one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, 
one God and Father of all." Eph. iv. 4- 
6. Peter connects it with the " remission 
of -sins." Acts ii. 38. And also, with 
salvation, and a good conscience. 1 Peter 
hi. 21. To discontinue the ordinance 
would be to dissolve its connection with all 
these doctrines, duties and privileges. And 
who, without authority from the divine 
Author of the institution, can do this with 
impunity ? 

6. Baptism answers all the purposes at 
this day which it answered in the first age 
of Christianity, and these are as needful 
now as they were then. No reason can 
be assigned for the observance of the ordi- 
nance in the apostles' days, which will not 
apply in all its force to believers in every 
age of the Christian church. 

7. The above considerations afford in- 
contestible proof of the perpetuity of Chris- 
tian baptism, and show that its observance 
is as obligatory at present as it was in the 
days of the apostles ; and that it will con- 
tinue to be as obligatory until the con- 
summation of all things. 

8. It being thus evident from the Scrip- 
tures that baptism is designed by the Head 
of the church to tie co-existent with the 
gospel system, as a constituent part of it, 
and co-extensive with repentance toward 



God and faith toward the Lord Jesus 
Christ; it is manifestly a great error to 
imagine that the obligation to baptism has 
ceased. There is not the slightest foun- 
dation for such opinion ; against it there is 
the strongest evidence. Should this fall 
into the hands of any who dispute this 
statement, we would entreat them seriously 
to consider, whether they are not, through 
their mistaken opinions regarding the per- 
petuity of water baptism, doing great dis- 
honor to the Saviour by disobeying his 
command, and to the Holy Spirit by re- 
jecting his written will, in setting aside 
what the Scriptures so plainly teach to be 
binding on all believers to the end of the 
world. 

9. To suppose that the necessity of 
water baptism is superseded by the bap- 
tism of the Holy Ghost, is manifestly er- 
roneous on two accounts : — 

First: — There is now, in the scriptural 
sense of the words, no baptism of the 
Spirit. No miraculous gift, no convert- 
ing ^operation, no sanctifying influence of 
the Spirit, is ever, by the inspired writers, 
called the baptism of the Holy Ghost, ex- 
cept what took place on. the day of Pente- 
cost, and at the first calling of the Gen- 
tiles in the house of Cornelius. On these 
two occasions the promise of baptism in 
the Holy Ghost was fulfilled, and in refer- 
ence to no other events do the sacred 
writers speak of the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost. The bestowment of the Spirit on 
these two occasions is quite different from 
every former and every subsequent be- 
stowment of the Spirit, so far as our know- 
ledge extends. As the word of God men- 
tions no other baptism in the Holy Ghost, 
than what took place at Pentecost, and in 
the house of Cornelius, we have no war- 
rant to expect the scriptural baptism of the 
Spirit in the present day. We may, in- 
deed, experience the converting and sanc- 
tifying influences of the Holy Spirit, but 
these influences are not the scriptural bap- 
tism of the Spirit, nor ought we to call 
them the baptism of the Spirit. But if 
there is noiv, in the scriptural sense, no 
baptism of the Spirit, how can we reason- 
ably suppose that baptism in water is ren- 
dered unnecessary by our being baptized 
in the Spirit ? 

Secondly: — But supposing every be- 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



49 



liever was as truly baptized in the Holy 
Ghost as Cornelius was, this would in no 
wise diminish his obligations to be bap- 
tized in water. Did not the apostle Peter 
command the Pentecostal converts to be 
baptized? And is it not expressly re- 
corded that they were baptized ? Did not 
the same inspired apostle command Cor- 
nelius and his friends to be baptized in 
water, and assign their being baptized in 
the Holy Ghost as a reason for their being 
baptized in water ? "Can any man forbid 
water, that these should not be baptized, 
who have received the Holy Ghost as well 
as we ?" Ts it not passing strange, that 
what an inspired apostle urged as a rea- 
son for the observance of water baptism, 
should be adduced by some professing 
Christians as a reason for their neglect of 
that baptism ? If the inspired apostle is 
right, those who argue in direct opposition 
to him must be wrong. And is it not to 
insult, rather than to honor the Spirit, to 
suppose that any influence from him, call 
it what we will, can justify our neglect of 
his commands? Surely it must grieve 
him, if we suppose that disobedience to 
God's word is a fruit of the Spirit ? Can 
that within us which leads us to walk con- 
trary to the light of Revelation, be the 
light of God's Holy Spirit ? " To the law 
and to the testimony : if they speak not 
according to this ivord, it is because there 
is no light in them." Isa. viii. 20. 

Mr. Wesley justly observes on this pas- 
sage, Peter " does not say, they have the 
baptism of the Spirit, therefore, they do 
not need baptism with water ; but just 
the contrary. 'If they have received the 
Spirit, then baptize them with water.' " 

Having thus fully stated the leading 
arguments by which what are usually re- 
garded the peculiarities of the Baptists 
are sustained, we introduce the following 
as a declaration of their faith on the lead- 
ing doctrines of Christianity. It is im- 
portant, however, that it should be well 
understood, that nowhere do the churches 
of this denomination require subscriptions 
to this or any other human creed as a term 
of fellowship. They adhere rigidly to the 
New Testament as the sole standard of 
Christianity. But as in England, in 1642, 
1677, and 1689, our forefathers published 
to the world the views they generally en- 



tertained of the doctrines and discipline of 
the New Testament, so, in the year 1742, 
the churches of the Philadelphia Baptist. 
Association adopted their Confession of 
1689, and in 1837, published an abstract 
of it, in which the Baptist Churches of the 
United States would, probably, more ge- 
nerally agree than in any other similar 
document. 

CONFESSION OF FAITH. 

1. Holy Scripture. 

The Holy Scripture is the only suffi- 
cient, certain, and infallible rule of all 
saving knowledge, faith and obedience ; 
the supreme judge by which all contro- 
versies of religion are to be determined, 
and all decrees of councils, opinions of 
ancient writers, doctrines of men, and 
private spirits are to be examined, and in 
whose sentence we are to rest. (2 Tim. hi. 
15, 16, 17; Ps. xix. 7; 2 Peter i. 19, 20, 
21.) 

2. God the Trinity. 

The Lord our God is but one only 
living and true God, infinite in being and 
perfection. In this divine and infinite 
being, there are three subsistencies, the 
Father, the Word, (or Son,) and Holy 
Spirit, of one substance, power and eter- 
nity. (1 Cor. viii. 6; Deut. vi. 4; Jer. x. 
10; Mat. xx viii. 19; 1 John v. 7; John 
xiv. 10, 11.) 

3. God's Decree. 

Those of mankind that are predesti- 
nated to life, God, before the foundation of 
the world was laid, according to his eter- 
nal and immutable purpose, and the se- 
cret counsel and good pleasure of his will, 
hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting 
glory, out of his mere free grace and 
love ; without any other thing in the crea- 
ture as a condition or cause moving him 
thereunto. 

As God hath appointed the elect unto 
glory, so he hath by the eternal and most 
free purpose of his will, foreordained all 
the means thereunto ; wherefore they who 
are elected, being fallen in Adam, are 
redeemed by Christ, are effectually called 
unto faith in Christ, by his Spirit working 
in due season, are justified, adopted, sanc- 
tified, and kept by his power through faith 



50 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



unto salvation. (Eph. i. 4, 5,11; John 
xiii. 18; Rom. viii. 29, 30; Eph. ii. 8; 
2 Thess. ii. 13; John xvii. 17, 19.) 

4. The Fall of Man and Sin. 

Although God created man upright and 
perfect, and gave to him a righteous law, 
yet he did not long abide in this honor, 
but did wilfully transgress the command 
given unto him in eating the forbidden 
fruit ; which God was pleased, according 
to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, 
having purposed to order it to his own 
glory. Our first parents, by this sin, fell 
from their original righteousness and com- 
munion with God, whereby death came 
upon all ; all becoming dead in sin, and 
wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts 
of soul and body. They being the root, 
corrupted nature was conveyed to all their 
posterity, descending from them by ordi- 
nary generation, being now conceived in 
sin, and by nature children of wrath. 
(Gen. ii. 16, 17 ; iii. 11, 12, 13 ; Rom. v. 
12, 13, 14 ; Jer. xvii. 9 ; Ps. Ii. 5 ; Eph. 
ii. 3.) 

5. God's Covenant. 

Man having brought himself under the 
curse of the law by his fall, it pleased the 
Lord to reveal the Covenant of Grace, 
wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life 
and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring 
of them faith in him, that they might be 
saved ; and promising to give unto all 
those that are ordained unto eternal life, 
his Holy Spirit to make them willing and 
able to believe. (Gal. iii. 10 ; John iii. 15, 
16 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 27 ; John vi. 44, 45 ; 
Ps. ex. 3.) 

6. Christ the Mediator. 

The Son of God, the second person in 
the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal 
God, the brightness of the Father's glory, 
of one substance, and equal with him, 
who made the world, who upholdeth and 
governeth all things he hath made ; u'id, 
when the fulness of time was come, take 
upon him man's nature, with all the essen- 
tial properties and common infirmities 
thereof, yet without sin : so that two 
whole, perfect, and distinct natures were 
inseparably joined together in one person, 
which person is very God and very man, 



yet one Christ, the only Mediator between 
God and man. (John i. 14; Gal. iv. 4; 
Rom. viii. 3 ; Heb. iv. 15 ; 1 Tim. ii. 5.) 

7. Redemption. 

The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obe- 
dience and sacrifice of himself, which he 
through the eternal Spirit once offered up 
unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice 
of God, procured reconciliation, and pur- 
chased an everlasting inheritance in the 
kingdom of heaven, for all those whom 
the Father hath given unto him. 

To all those for whom Christ hath ob- 
tained eternal redemption, he doth cer- 
tainly and effectually apply and commu- 
nicate the same ; making intercession for 
them ; uniting them to himself by his 
Spirit ; revealing unto them, in and by 
the word, the mystery of salvation ; per- 
suading them to believe and obey ; go- 
verning their hearts by his word and 
Spirit, and overcoming all their enemies 
by his almighty power and wisdom ; in 
such •manner and ways as are most con- 
sonant to his wonderful and unsearchable 
dispensation : and all of free and absolute 
grace, without any condition foreseen in 
them to procure it. (Heb. x. 14 ; Rom. iii. 
25, 26 ; John xvii. 2 ; Heb. ix. 15 ; John 
vii. 27 ; xvii. 9 ; Rom. viii. 9, 14 ; 1 Cor. 
xv. 25, 26 ; John iii. 8.) 

8. The Will. 

Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath 
wholly lost all will to any spiritual good 
accompanying salvation ; so as a natural 
man, being altogether averse from that 
good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his 
own strength, to convert himself, or to 
prepare himself thereunto. 

When God converts a sinner, and trans- 
lates him into the state of grace, he freeth 
him from his natural bondage under sin, 
and by his grace alone, enables him freely 
to will and do that which is spiritually 
good. (Rom. viii. 7, 8 ; John vi. 44 ; Col. 
i. 13, 14; John viii. 36; Rom. viii. 2; 
Eph. ii. 8; 2 Tim. i. 9.) 

9. Effectual Calling. 

Those whom God hath predestinated 
unto life, he is pleased in his appointed 
and accepted time effectually to call by 
his Word and Spirit, out of that state of 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



51 



sin and death, in which they are by na- 
ture, to grace of salvation by Jesus Christ. 
(Rom. viii. 30 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14 : Eph. 
i. 4, 5.) 

10. Justification. 

Those whom God effectually calleth, 
he also freely justifieth, accounting and 
accepting their persons as righteous ; not 
for any thing wrought in them, or done 
by them, but for Christ's sake alone. 
(Rom. iii. 24 ; viii. 30; v. 17, 18, 19.) 

11. Adoption. 

All those that are justified, God vouch- 
safed, in and for the sake of his only Son, 
Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the 
grace of adoption : by which they are 
taken into the number, and enjoy the li- 
berties and privileges of children of God. 
(Ephes. i. 5. Galat. iv. 5, 6. Ephes. ii. 
19. Rom. viii. 15.) 

12. Sanctification. 

They who are united to Christ, effectu- 
ally called, and regenerated, having a new 
heart and a new spirit created in them, 
through the virtue of Christ's death and 
resurrection ; are also further sanctified, 
really and personally, through the same 
virtue, by his word and Spirit dwelling in 
them. (John xviii. 17, 18, 19. Ephes. 
iii. 16—19.) 

13. Saving Faith. 

The grace of faith, whereby the elect 
are enabled to believe to the saving of 
their souls, is the work of the Spirit of 
Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily 
wrought by the ministry of the word. 
(2 Cor. iv. 13. Rom. x. 14, 17.) 

14. Repentance. 

Saving repentance is an evangelical 
grace, whereby a person, being by the 
Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold 
evils of his sin, doth, by faith in Christ, 
humble himself for it, with godly sorrow, 
detestation of it and self-abhorrency. (2 
Cor. vii. 9, 10, 11. Ezek. xxxvi.*31.) 

15. Good Works. 

Good works, done in obedience to God's 
commandments, are the fruits and evi- 
dences of a true and lively faith. (James 
ii. 17—24. Heb. xi. 3—6.) 



16. Perseverance. 
Those whom God hath accepted in the 
Beloved, effectually called and sanctified 
by his Spirit, shall certainly persevere 
therein to the end, and be eternally saved. 
(John x. 28, 29. Phil. i. 6. 1 John 
ii. 19.) 

17. Moral Law. 

The moral law doth forever bind all, 
as well justified persons as others, to the 
obedience thereof, and that not only in re- 
gard to the matter contained in it, but also 
in respect of the authority of God the 
Creator who gave it ; neither doth Christ 
in the gospel any way dissolve, but much 
strengthen this obligation. (Rom. xiii. 8, 
9, 10. James ii. 10, 11. Matt. v. 17—19.) 

18. The Sabbath. 

God, by his word, in a positive, moral 
and perpetual commandment, binding all 
men, in all ages, hath particularly ap- 
pointed one day in seven for a Sabbath 
to be kept holy unto him, which, from the 
beginning of the world, to the resurrection 
of Christ, was the last day of the week ; 
and from the resurrection of Christ, was 
changed into the first day of the week, 
which is called the Lord's day. (Ex. xx. 
8. 1 Cor. xvi. 2. Acts xx. 7. Rev. i. 10.) 

19. The Church. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of 
the Church, in whom, by the appointment 
of the Father, all power -for the calling, 
institution, order, or government of the 
church, is invested in a supreme and sove- 
reign manner. In the execution of this 
power, the Lord Jesus calleth out of the 
world unto himself, through the ministry 
of his word, by his Spirit, those that are 
given unto him by his Father, that they 
may walk before him in all the ways of 
obedience, which he prescribeth to them 
in his word. (Col. i. 18. John x. 16. 
Matt, xxviii. 20.) 

20. Church Officers. 
A particular church gathered, and com- 
pletely organized according to the mind 
of Christ, consists of officers and mem- 
bers : and the officers appointed by Christ 
to be chosen and set apart by the church 
are bishops, or elders, and deacons. (Acts 
I xx. 17, 28. Phil i. 1. Acts xiv. 23.) 



52 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



21. Ministers — their duty and support. 

The work of pastors being constantly 
to attend the service of Christ, in his 
churches, in the ministry of the word, and 
prayer, with watching for their souls, as 
they that must give an account to him : it 
is incumbent on the churches to whom 
they minister, not only to give them all 
due respect, but also to communicate to 
them of all their good things, according 
to their ability. (Acts vi. 4. Heb. xiii. 
17. 1 Tim. v. 17, 18. Gal. vi. 6.) 

22. Baptism. 

Baptism is an ordinance of the New 
Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to 
be unto the party baptized, a sign of his 
fellowship with him in his death and re- 
surrection ; of his being engrafted into 
him ; of remission of sins ; and of his 
giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, 
to live and walk in newness of life. 

Those who do actually profess repent- 
ance towards God, and obedience to our 
Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects 
of this ordinance. 

The outward element to be used in this 
ordinance is water, wherein the party is 
to be immersed, in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
(Rom. vi. 3, 4, 5. Colos. ii. 12. Gal. 
iii. 27. Mark i. 4 ; xvi. 16. Acts viii. 
37, 38. Acts viii. 38. John iii. 23. Matt. 
iii. 16.) 

23. Lord's Supper. 

The supper of the Lord Jesus was in- 
stituted by him, the same night wherein 
he was betrayed, to be observed in his 
churches unto the end of the world, for 
the perpetual remembrance and showing 
forth the sacrifice of himself in his death. 
(1 Cor. xi. 23—26.) 

24. The Resurrection. 

The bodies of men after death return 
to dust, and see corruption; but their 
souls, which neither die nor sleep, having 
an immortal subsistence, immediately re- 
turn to God who gave them : the souls of 
the righteous being then made perfect in 
holiness, are received into paradise, where 
they are with Christ, and behold the face 
of God, in light and glory, waiting for the 
full redemption of their bodies ; and the 



souls of the wicked are cast into hell, 
where they remain in torment and utter 
darkness, reserved to the judgment of the 
great day. (Genesis iii. 19. Acts xiii. 
36. Eccles. xii. 7. Luke xxiii. 43 Jude 
6, 7. Luke xvi. 23, 24.) 

25. The Judgment. 

God hath appointed a day wherein he 
will judge the world in righteousness, by 
Jesus Christ ; to whom all power and 
judgment is given of the Father ; then 
shall the righteous go into everlasting life, 
and receive that fulness of joy and glory, 
with everlasting reward, in the presence 
of the Lord : but the wicked who know 
not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus' 
Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, 
and punished with everlasting destruction, 
from the presence of the Lord, and from 
the glory of his power. (Acts xvii. 31. 
Matt. xxv. 31, 34, 41. 46. 2 Thess. i. 9.) 

In proceeding to sketch the general 
history of the Baptists, we may remark 
that they have often been represented as 
unknown before the sixteenth century, 
and some historians are still so disinge- 
nuous as to ascribe their origin to the 
"Anabaptists of Munster." The term 
" Anabaptist," or rebaptist, has been ap- 
plied to all who baptize those whom others 
believe to be baptized already, but more 
especially to those who deny the validity 
of infant baptism. Some of the enthu- 
siasts of Munster did so, and they have, 
on that account, been called " Anabap- 
tists." But this peculiarity has existed 
in connection with almost every shade of 
religious faith and practice ; and some- 
times, as in the case of the Anabaptists 
of Munster, with fanaticism and wicked- 
ness. It does not appear, that in any 
thing but the rejection of infant baptism, 
did the Anabaptists of Munster bear any 
resemblance to the present Baptists, and 
their agreement with them in this is but 
an accidental coincidence. In Scripture 
there is no mention of the baptism of in- 
fants, nor even of adults, except as peni- 
tents, believing on Jesus for the forgive- 
ness of their sins. And since then there 
have been in every age great numbers, 
who, like the present Baptists, believed 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



53 



baptism to be immersion, and immersed 
none but penitent believers. 

It will be seen, then, that the Baptists 
claim the high antiquity of the commence- 
ment of the Christian church. They can 
trace a succession of those who have be- 
lieved the same doctrines, and adminis- 
tered the same ordinances, directly up to 
the apostolic age. They have never 
sought, nor ever had alliance with the 
state, or support from it ; they have never 
interfered with the disputes of those whom 
they regarded as antichristian, in their 
struggles for power. They were equally 
unknown as Protestants at Spires, and as 
the Reformers, who yet sought union with 
the king as head of the church, in the 
days of Henry VIII., of England. Whe- 
ther in the plains of Judea, the valleys of 
the Vaudois, the villages of Britain, or the 
wilderness of our own loved land, they 
have steadily sought the glory of their 
Lord, the purity of his laws, and the con- 
quest of men to his government. 

The historian Mosheim, a psedobaptist, 
says, that the " true origin of that sect 
which acquired the denomination of Ana- 
baptists, is hidden in the depths of anti- 
quity;" and Cardinal Hosius, Chairman 
at the Council of Trent, 1555, says, " If 
the truth of religion were to be judged of 
by the readiness and cheerfulness which 
a man of any sect shows in suffering, 
then the opinions and persuasions of no 
sect can be truer or surer than those of 
the Anabaptists ; since there have been 
none, for twelve hundred years past, that 
have been more grievously punished." 

The best accounts seem to show that 
Christianity was introduced into Britain 
about the year 63, by Claudia, a Welsh 
lady, converted under the ministry of 
Paul at Rome. Bishop Burgess tells us 
that the early British churches bore a strik- 
ing resemblance to the model institution 
at Jerusalem. " No persons were admit- 
ted to baptism," says Mosheim, " but such 
as had been previously instructed in the 
principal points of Christianity, and had 
also given satisfactory proofs of pious dis- 
positions and upright intentions." 

The gospel is said to have made con- 
siderable r-ogress in Britain about the 
year 167, and the churches there planted 
were long preserved from the errors which 



so greatly prevailed in the East. Their 
steadfastness was severely tried in the 
fourth century, by the edicts of Diocle- 
tion ; but while opposed by the civil power, 
they maintained their Christian simplicity. 
When, however, Constantine began to 
smile upon them, they became worldly 
and corrupt, and soon the errors of Pela- 
gius rent the land. Two divines, who are 
said to be Welshmen, but who had resided 
on the continent of Europe, returned, and 
succeeded in reclaiming many of the 
wanderers, who were re-baptized in the 
river Allen, near Chester, about 410. 
Thirty years after this, such was the pre- 
valence of immortality in Britain, that the 
pious retired to the woods, and the old 
corrupt professors of Christianity, says 
Warner, united their system with that of 
the Druids. Dr. Thomas Fuller tells us 
that the body of the Christian church was 
now in Wales. 

This was the awful state of things 
when Austin, the Romish monk, reached 
Britain. By various representations, he 
succeeded in drawing over to that church 
ten thousand persons, who were baptized 
in the river Swale, near York, on Christ- 
mas day, 598. In this business there 
ivas no compulsion ; each one was left to 
act voluntarily. Austin sent into Wales 
to the original pastors and churches, but 
after conferences with him, they declined 
his proposal " to baptize young children," 
(rather minors.) In less than two years, 
many of the Welsh churches, which had 
maintained their apostolic character, were 
destroyed by military force. A fierce 
controversy followed, not as to doctrine, 
but baptism, between the ancient British 
Christians, and Augustine's converts, 
which lasted about a century. This de- 
bate was not on the number of . im- 
mersions, says Dupin, since one or three 
dippings were equally valid at Rome ; not 
on the mode, because all immersed in 
rivers, ponds, &c; but on the subjects. 
At this period, A. D. 600, baptism in the 
Roman church had descended to minors 
of seven years of age, (all minors, as is 
shown by Mabillion and Robinson, were 
called infants,) where it stayed for centu- 
ries. Conformity to this custom was re- 
quired, and refused. The ancient British 
church, says the Encyclopedias Metropoli- 



54 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



tanss, did not practise immersion of minors. 
Their conformity to the " mother church," 
Acts ii. 41, forbade it. Neither Constan- 
tine the Great, who was born in Britain, 
was baptized in childhood, though his 
mother Helena was a zealous Christian, 
and his father favorable to Christianity, if 
not a professor of it, nor were Sex ted 
and Seward, sons of Sebert, the Christian 
king of the East Saxons. " Men were 
first to be instructed into the knowledge 
of the truth," says Bede, " then to be bap- 
tized, as Christ hath taught, because with- 
out faith it is impossible to please God." 
In the first baptisms of Austin, none were 
compelled, but the multitude was with 
faith to go into the water two-and- 
two, says Camden, and, in the name of 
the Trinity, to dip one another. Bede's 
history of the first baptism in England is 
an exact counterpart of the histories of 
baptisms in the East ; the first teachers 
made disciples, and immersed in rivers or 
the sea. There is no proof in Gildas or 
Bede of infant baptism for the first six 
centuries. 

We soon after this find Saxon Chris- 
tianity little better than Paganism, and 
Milton tells us the British Christians 
ceased to hold communion with the Saxon 
inhabitants of the land. But, after an 
awful darkness of three centuries, the 
Baptists again rose from obscurity. Col- 
lier tells us that the confused state of the 
country allowed some of the Waldenses 
or Albigenses of the eleventh century to 
visit it. They were so successful among 
all classes, that William the Conqueror 
became alarmed, and decreed, says New- 
ton, " that those who denied the pope 
should not trade with his subjects." 

Another colony of people, belonging to 
a numerous sect of fanatics, says Lingard, 
" who infested the north of Italy, Gaul, and 
Germany, and who were called puritans," 
is said to have come into England. Usher 
calls them Waldenses, from Aquitain ; 
Spelman calls them Publicans, (Pauli- 
cians,) but says they were the same as 
the Waldenses. They gained ground, 
and spread themselves and their doctrines 
all over Europe. They labored to win 
souls to Christ, and were guided only by 
the word of God. They rejected all the 
Roman ceremonies, refused to baptize in- 



fants, and preached against the pope, 
Thirty of these were put to death near 
Oxford. The remainder of them wor- 
shipped in private, until Henry II. came 
to the throne, in 1158, when, from tie 
mildness of his measures, they appeared 
again publicly. It was now discovered 
that these people had several houses of 
the Albigensian order in England. Collier 
observes, wherever this heresy prevailed, 
the churches were either scandalously 
neglected or pulled down. Infants, Hove- 
den tells us, were not baptized by them. 
The conflicts between the sovereigns of 
this kingdom and the archbishops, during 
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, per- 
mitted the Baptists to propagate their sen- 
timents very extensively, unmolested. The 
sword not being in the hand of the clergy, 
they employed the friars to preach down 
heresy ; but their conduct disgusted the 
people. 

The English Baptists were much revived 
and increased by the visit of Walter Lol- 
lard, a Dutchman. " He was remarkable," 
says Mosheim, " for his eloquence and 
writings." He was an eminent barb or 
pastor among the Begherds, in Germany, 
who, Dr. Wall says, baptized anew all 
who came over to their party. He was 
in sentiment the same as Peter de Bruis. 
About this period, 1338, colonies of 
weavers, Waldenses, came into the county 
of Norfolk. These people made little 
noise, though they existed in almost all 
the countries of Europe. Although the 
same in religious views as the Paterines, 
Picards, and Waldenses, they were now, 
says Hallam, called Lollards. There had 
appeared in England, up to this time, about 
twenty good men, preachers of the gospel, 
so that the soil was prepared, Sir James 
Mackintosh says, for after reformers. 
The Baptists now adopted a plan of 
dropping their written sentiments against 
popery in the way of the members of 
Parliament. In 1368, thirty errors in 
matters of religion were charged on the 
people in the neighborhood of Canterbury ; 
one was, Du Pin tells us, that children 
could be saved without water baptism ; 
but none, says Fox, gave baptism to 
children at this time but for salvation. 

Their numbers and decided hostility to 
the hierarchy aroused their adversaries to 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



55 



adopt severe measures ; and in 1400, a 
law was passed, sentencing Lollards to 
be burned to ' death. In Norfolk they 
abounded, and there they suffered se- 
verely. Bonner asked where the church 
was before Luther? Fox says, the an- 
swer might have been, " Among the Lol- 
lards in the diocese of Norwich." The 
first martyr under this law was Sir 
William Sawtre, who was of Baptist sen- 
timents. Still the Bible-men increased, 
and became dangerous to the church. It 
is said they amounted to one hundred 
thousand. 

The printing of the Scriptures called 
forth Colet, Latimer, and others, to preach 
publicly, which aided the Bible-men, and 
led the way to the changes made by 
Henry VIIL Tyndale's New Testament 
threw a flood of light upon the English 
nation. The king's misunderstanding 
with the pope led him to relieve and 
encourage the Lollards everywhere ; and 
their brethren, with foreigners of every 
sentiment, flocked into England to enjoy 
liberty, and strengthen true religion. A 
book of the Lollards, entitled " The Sum 
of the Scriptures," was examined by the 
archbishop; he condemned the party who 
circulated it, for denying the baptism of 
the church. Fourteen Mennonite brethren 
suffered death cheerfully ; and the re- 
proach of anabaptism now supplanted 
that of the word Lollardism. These mar- 
tyrdoms did not check their sentiments, 
but rather led men to investigate them ; 
and such was the alarm of the clergy, 
that a convocation was called, seventy-six 
of their alleged errors condemned, and 
measures devised for their suppression. 

Under Edward, the penal laws were 
repealed ; the prisons were thrown open ; 
and many who had expatriated themselves 
returned. The island was now divided 
into three religious sections, the Baptists, 
the Episcopalians of Rome, and the rigid 
Reformers from Geneva ; these all had 
liberty to speak and print. The Baptists 
were soon charged with proselyting ; and 
they became, Bishop Burnet says, very 
numerous in England. The clergy, not 
having the control of the sword, published 
their views on baptism ; but the Baptists 
replied, " Children are of Christ's king- 
dom without water," Luke xviii. 16. So 



numerous were the Baptists, that in one 
town five hundred were said to live ; and, 
as books did not answer the intended pur- 
pose, a commission was intrusted to 
Cranmer for their suppression, which 
entailed sufferings on many. The general 
pardon of 1550 again excepted the Bap- 
tists ; the churches in Kent were dis- 
turbed, and some eminent men suffered. 

On Queen Mary's accession to the 
throne, all statutes in favor of the Pro- 
testant religion were repealed. Many 
nonconformists left the kingdom, but some 
exposed, to use Calvin's language, the 
fopperies of the hierarchy of England, 
which awakened the revenge of Mary's 
council. Measures were devised to stay 
Anabaptism ; these brethren, notwith- 
standing, boldly declared, 1st, — That in- 
fant baptism was antiscriptural. 2d, — 
That it originated with popery; and, 3d, 
— That Christ commanded teaching to go 
before baptism. Mary's anger spent itself 
more particularly on the reformers. 

Elizabeth's reign promised liberty, but 
the conflicting opinions of the nation on 
the subject of religion reflected, she 
thought, on her prerogative. Not having 
succeeded in silencing the Baptists by 
proclamation, she commanded all Ana- 
baptists to depart out of the kingdom 
within twenty-one days. 

On Queen Elizabeth's demise, James, 
king of Scotland, was welcomed, to the 
throne. In Scotland he had experienced 
interruptions in his councils from the 
national clergy ; and in his new situation 
many of these refused subscription to his 
articles of religion. To these indomitable 
spirits, James observed, " Your scruples 
have a strong tincture of Anabaptism." 
The king subsequently refused all con- 
cessions to nonconformists. 

The misrepresentations by which the 
psedobaptists assailed the sentiments of 
the Baptists at this period in reference to 
infant salvation were well calculated to 
prejudice their cause. The Mennonite 
brethren, or family of love, who had for 
half a century maintained their position 
in the kingdom, memorialized the king on 
these misrepresentations, hoping, from his 
inaugural declaration, to obtain protection ; 
but their prayer was disregarded, and 
their situation became increasingly critical. 



56 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



Mr. Wightman, a Baptist was convicted 
of divers heresies, Dec. 14, 1611, and was 
burnt soon after. Thus the first and the 
last martyrs in England were Baptists. 
Mr. Smyth, a leading minister among the 
Baptists, and his brethren, were the first 
to publish a work against persecution. It 
was entitled, " Persecution Judged and 
Condemned." This book was dedicated 
" to all that truly wish Jerusalem's pros- 
perity and Babylon's destruction." It is 
well written : it mentions the long and 
harassing sufferings which the Baptists 
had been exposed to, and the patience with 
which they had endured them. In further 
vindication of their views, a Dutch work 
was translated, entitled " A plain and 
well-grounded Treatise concerning Bap- 
tism." The contents of this little book 
occasioned considerable alarm, and the 
council was prevailed on to issue a pro- 
clamation against the Baptists and their 
books. They once more appealed to the 
king ; avowed nobly their peculiarities, 
represented the hardships and grievances 
they had endured under his government, 
! and entreated some mitigation of his mea- 
sures. Their appeal, however, proved of 
no avail. 

We have now arrived at a period of in- 
tense interests to the Baptists of the United 
States. Charles the first, in 1625, suc- 
ceeded to the throne of his father. Many 
Baptists, among others, who are usually 
denominated The Puritan fathers, had 
already left England, and laid the founda- 
tion of our country's freedom and hap- 
piness. 

" Early in the sixteenth century," 
writes Mr. Magoon, one of our own au- 
thors, " in England, Sir Edward Coke, 
being in church, where lawyers went in 
those early times, he one day discovered 
a lad taking notes during service. Being 
pleased with the modest worth of the lad, 
he asked his parents to permit him to edu- 
cate their emulative son. Coke sent him 
to Oxford University. He drank from 
the fountains of knowledge, and in those 
draughts he found 

' The sober certainty of waking bliss.' 

11 ' As the hart panteth for the water 
brooks,' he longed for the wisdom that 



rouses the might which so often and so 
long slumbers in a peasant's arm. He 
communed with the past and with his own 
startling thoughts. He summoned around 
him the venerable sages of antiquity, and 
in their presence made a feast of fat 
things. 

« A perpetual feast of nectared sweets, 
Where no rude surfeit reigns.' 

" At the fount of holiest instruction he 
cleared his vision ; and, from the mount, 
of contemplation, breathed in worlds to 
which the heaven of heavens is but a veil. 

" But his soul was too free for the 
peace of his sycophantic associates ; his 
principles were too philanthropic for the 
selfishness of that age ; the doctrines 
which he scorned to disavow, were too 
noble for Old England, — and he sought 
an asylum among the icy rocks of this 
wilderness world. He came, and was 
driven from the society of white men, 
through wintry storms and savages more 
lenient than interested factions, to plant 
the first free colony in America. That 
boy was the founder of Rhode Island ; 
that man was the patriot who stooped his 
anointed head as low as death for uni- 
versal rights, and ever 

1 Fought to protect, and conquered but to bless ;' 

that Christian was Roger Williams, the 
first who pleaded for liberty of conscience 
in this country, and who became the pio- 
neer of religious liberty for the world." — 

Governor Hopkins, every way qualified 
to speak on this subject, says : — 

" Roger Williams justly claims the 
honor of having been the first legislator 
in the world, in its latter ages, that fully 
and effectually provided for and esta- 
blished a full, free, and absolute li- 
berty of conscience." 

As there are to be found in our coun- 
try, even now, some who would depreciate 
this eminent man, we may be pardoned if 
we extract from the late Dr. W. E. Chan- 
ning the following eulogium upon him • 

"Other communities have taken pride 
in tracing their origin to heroes and con- 
querors. I boast more of Roger Williams, 
the founder of my native state. The 
triumph which he gained over the preju- 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



57 



dices of his age was, in the view of rea- 
son, more glorious than the bloody victo- 
ries which stain almost every page of his- 
tory ; and his more generous exposition of 
the rights of conscience, of the indepen- 
dence of religion on the magistrate, than 
had been adopted before his time, gives 
him a rank among the lights and benefac- 
tors of the world. When I think of him 
as penetrating the wilderness, not only 
that he might worship God according to 
his own convictions of truth and duty, 
but that he might prepare an asylum 
where the persecuted of all sects might 
enjoy the same religious freedom, I see 
in him as perfect an example of the spirit 
of liberty as any age has furnished. 

" Venerable confessor in the cause of 
freedom and truth ! May his name be 
precious and immortal ! May his spirit 
never die in the community which he 
founded ! May the obscurest individual, 
and the most unpopular sect or party, 
never be denied those rights of free inves- 
tigation, of free utterance of their convic- 
tions, on which this state is established !" 

The reader, even if he should possibly 
have been ignorant till the present moment 
of Roger Williams, will soon see ground 
for these encomiums, and take a lively in- 
terest in the details we have to give. We 
shall be forgiven, if we now leave the 
English Baptists, and turn to our own 
fathers in the wilderness. Sympathizing, 
as we must do, in the trials of the Chris- 
tians in England, we must be interested 
still more in the struggles of America ; 
believing as we do, that the testimony of 
Hume as to the English puritans, is at 
least equally applicable to the first Bap- 
tists of this country ; nor can we hesitate 
to say, " that by these alone the precious 
spark of liberty was kindled ; and to these 
America owes the whole freedom of her 
constitution." 

Roger Williams was born in Wales, 
about the year 1599, of humble parentage. 
His education, under the patronage of Sir 
Edward Coke, has been already referred 
to ; he received ordination in the Church 
of England, but having embraced Puritan 
principles, and therefore become opposed 
to all ecclesiastical tyranny, he sailed with 
his wife to this country, Dec. 1, 1630, 
and arrived at Nantasket, Feb. 5th fol- 



lowing. He was soon after invited to be- 
come an assistant minister at Salem, and 
commenced his ministry in that town. 

It is not possible for us here to detail 
the conduct of Mr. Williams and the per- 
secutions to which he was exposed, when 
it became known that he had embraced 
the views of the Baptists. Suffice it to say, 
that he was banished ; and sought from 
the Indians the rights denied to him by 
Christians. With the origin of the State 
of Rhode Island and the city of Provi- 
dence, our readers are, no doubt, well ac- 
quainted. Here he established the first 
State in the world founded on the broad 
principles of full religious freedom. He 
had been previously accused of " embrac- 
ing principles which tended to ana-bap- 
tism ;" and in March, 1639, he was bap- 
tized by one of his brethren, and then he 
baptized about ten more. Here was form- 
ed the first Baptist church in America. 
In 1663, the Church now worshipping at 
Swansea was formed by the Rev. John 
Myles, an ejected clergyman from Eng- 
land; in 1701 was formed the Church of 
Welshtract, now in the State of Delaware; 
in 1714, the first church in Virginia, in 
Prince George county; in 1741, the first 
church in the State of New York, at 
Oyster Bay, on Long Island ; in 1762, 
the first in New York city, under the mi- 
nistry of John Gano. A very large num- 
ber of other churches have originated by 
ministers and others emigrating from Eng- 
land, Ireland, Wales and Holland, who 
had belonged to Baptist communities in 
their native land. From these humble 
beginnings "what hath God wrought !"' 

This appears a proper place in which 
to introduce two or three paragraphs from 
an able article in the third volume of the 
Christian Review. The object of the 
writer is to show the influence exerted by 
the Baptist denomination on the extension 
of religious liberty. Having shown the 
intolerance of very many of the first Puri- 
tan fathers, the nature of the charter 
which Williams obtained for Rhode Island, 
and the noble course of conduct which the 
early inhabitants of that state pursued, he 
goes on to say : — 

" In February, 1785, a law for the es- 
tablishment and support of religion was 
passed in Georgia, through the influence 



8 



58 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



of the Episcopalians. It embraced all de- 
nominations, and gave all equal privileges ; 
but in May, the Baptists remonstrated 
against it, — sent two messengers to the 
Legislature, and the next session it was 
repealed. In both ministers and members, 
they were much more numerous than any 
other denomination. Their preachers 
might have occupied every neighborhood, 
and lived upon the public treasury ; but 
no, — they knew that Christ's " kingdom 
is not of this world," and believed that 
any dependence on the civil power for its 
support tends to corrupt the purity and 
pristine loveliness of religion. They there- 
fore preferred to pine in poverty, as many 
of them did, and prevent an unholy mar- 
riage between the church of Christ and 
the civil authority. The overthrow of all 
the above-named odious laws is to be at- 
tributed to their unremitting efforts : they 
generally struck the first blow, and thus 
inspired the other sects with their own in- 
trepidity. It is owing to their sentiments, 
chiefly, as the friends of religious liberty, 
that no law abridging the freedom of 
thought or opinion, touching religious wor- 
ship, is now in force to disgrace our sta- 
tute books. It is not here asserted, that 
but for their efforts, a system of persecu- 
cution, cruel and relentless as that of 
Mary of England, or Catherine de Medicis 
of France, would now have obtained in 
these United States ; but it is asserted, that 
the Baptists have successfully propagated 
their sentiments on the subject of religious 
liberty, at the cost of suffering in property, 
in person, in limb, and in life. Let the 
sacrifice be ever so great, they have al- 
ways freely made it, in testimony of their 
indignation against laws which would 
fetter the conscience. Their opposition to 
tyranny was implacable, and it mattered 
not whether the intention was to tax the 
people without representation, or to give 
to the civil magistrate authority to settle 
religious questions by the sword. In either 
case, it met in every Baptist an irrecon- 
cilable foe. 

"The question may be asked, how should 
this denomination, in its sentiments of re- 
ligious liberty, be so much in advance of 
the age ? The form of church govern- 
ment established by the Puritans, was a 
pure democracy, and essentially that of 



the Baptists. True ; but in the reception 
of members, the two denominations differ 
widely : while a large portion of the for- 
mer come into the church by birth, the 
latter enter on their own responsibility. 
They feel that they have rights, and prize 
them. One feature in the polity of the 
former renders it a kind of parental go- 
vernment, authorized to mould the opinions 
of its subjects before they are able to dis- 
cern them. But from the first, the Bap- 
tists seem to have perceived the truth on 
this subject. Whether they derived it from 
particular texts, or from the general prin- 
ciples of the Bible, it is not now for us to 
inquire. Their knowledge on this subject 
is coeval with their existence as a distinct 
people. Religious liberty is a Baptist 
watchword, a kind of talisman, which ope- 
rates like a charm, and nerves every man 
for action." 

Every thing relating to the History of 
the Baptists, in every portion of the United 
States, justified the testimony of Washing- 
ton, in his reply to a letter from the Vir- 
ginia Baptists in 1789, that the denomina- 
tion " have been throughout America uni- 
formly, and almost unanimously, the firm 
friends of civil liberty, and the persevering 
promoters of our glorious Revolution." 

" Involuntary respect goes forth to the 
man who brings to light some great and 
useful truth in the sciences or in the arts. 
Such was the discovery of the art of 
printing, — the power and uses of steam, — 
the true theory of the solar system: but 
what are these in comparison with the 
great moral truth which the Baptists have 
held forth before the public eye for cen- 
turies ? — a truth without'which life would 
be a burden, and civil liberty but a 
mockery. Nor is this all. While the 
Baptists have always defended the prin- 
ciples of religious liberty, they have never 
violated them. They have had but one 
opportunity of forming a system of civil 
government, and they so formed it as to 
create an era in the history of civilization. 
In the little Baptist State of Rhode Island 
was the experiment first attempted of leav- 
ing religion wholly to herself, unprotected 
and unsustained by the civil arm. The 
principles which were here first planted, 
have taken root in other lands, and have 
borne abundant fruit. The world is 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



59 



coming nearer to the opinions of Roger 
Williams : and so universally are his 
sentiments now adopted in this country, 
that, like other successful philosophers, 
he is likely himself to be lost in the blaze 
of his own discovery." 

It is impossible for us, within the limits 
to which we are necessarily confined, to 
detail the labors, the persecutions, or the 
successes of our venerated fathers and 
brethren. Suffice it to say, that every suc- 
cessive year has brought with it new bless- 
ings, and has shown the labors of our body 
in extending the pure doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, securing the freedom of our coun- 
try on its only firm basis, the doctrines 
of the New Testament, in preparing a 
constantly improving ministry, adequate 
to the progressive character of the times, 
and in the employment of the press to 
perfect the labors of the pulpit. It is a 
matter for devout gratitude that we have 
never, as a body, been called to deplore a 
retrograde movement ; we have never 
been rent asunder by internal doctrinal 
dissensions : but have ever maintained 
" one Lord, one faith, one baptism ;" nor 
has the world ever before witnessed so 
rapid and so vast an increase to any one 
section of the Christian church. If we 
have been called to weep over the graves 
of many ministers and other Christians of 
eminence, we have been constrained to 
thank the Great Head of the Church for 
their piety and usefulness, and to rejoice 
that they have passed from their labor to 
their reward. 

It would indeed be pleasant to describe 
the times and the actions of Bunyan and 
Milton ; to furnish the biographies of Gill 
and of Gale, of the Stennetts and the Ry- 
lands, of Pearce and many others of the 
mother country : and to represent the lite- 
rary labors or Bible and missionary enter- 
prise of Fuller and Carey, of Hughes and 
Hall, of Carson and Gregory, and a multi- 
tude of others of modern date • or to speak 
of the excellences of Baldwin and Stillman, 
of Staughton and Mercer, of Maxcy and 
Gano, and a vast cloud of other witnesses 
who have borne testimony to the doctrines 
of the cross in our own favored land. But 
for all this we are compelled to direct our 
readers to other sources of information. 
We can do no more at present than add 



to this rapid sketch a very brief view of 
the present state of the Baptist denomi- 
nation throughout the world. 

Mr. Benedict says, " The increase of 
Baptists in this country, I have found far 
beyond my most enlarged conceptions. 
Somewhere between one-fourth and one- 
fifth of the whole population of the United 
States is unquestionably identified with 
Baptist principles and institutions, and by I 
far the greater part of them are of the as- 
sociated connection." 

It would be altogether unnecessary in 
this place to assert the cordial attachment 
of the Baptists to the institutions of our 
country. They never persecuted any for 
holding sentiments different from their 
own. The people who could furnish such 
men as Roger Williams, a man who could 
persuade even Charles I. to favor tolera- 
tion, and to charter entire freedom ; who 
could furnish a General Harrison to Crom- 
well's army, and induce Baxter to tell us 
" the anabaptists were Oliver's favorites 
in conflict, and they are a godly set of 
men;" — who could provide one of their 
members to give, in the British House of 
Commons, the casting vote which sent for 
William III. of Orange, and thus pro- 
duced the Revolution of 1688 ; — and as 
the Baptist congregation who gave to Jef- 
ferson the idea of the mode of governing 
these United States, — can never be likely 
to be otherwise than the friends of liberty, 
civil and religious. Indeed, happily for 
us, no one of our enemies ever charged us 
1 with intolerance ; while our principles, 
' our history, and indeed our interest, all 
bind us to claim freedom for ourselves, 
and to secure it, in all its fulness, to others. 
Let the history of Rhode Island, and of 
Baptists in every part of the world, bear 
witness as to this matter. Those who con- 
sider religion as entirely a personal affair, 
can never wish to bring each other under 
bondage. Of the Baptists wrote Bailey, 
a bitter opponent of our fathers, two cen- 
turies ago, — and the sons diner not. from 
their sires, — "They are a people very 
fond of religious liberty, and very unwill- 
ing to be brought under the bondage of 
the judgment of any other." 

It is generally known, that every church 
among the Baptists is considered in itself 
a complete ecclesiastical body, over which 



60 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



no person or class of persons can exercise 
any degree of authority. The relation- 
ship is entirely of a voluntary character, 
resting only on their agreement as to the 
truths and ordinances of Christianity. 
They usually, however, have a written 
church covenant, to which, on admission 
into the body, persons give their assent. 
The following is a document of this kind, 
published a few years since by 'the Bap- 
tist Convention of New Hampshire, and 
which probably agrees in substance with 
thousands of others. 

" Having been, as we trust, brought by 
divine grace, to embrace the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and to give up ourselves wholly to 
him : we do now solemnly and joyfully 
covenant with each other, to walk together 
in him with brotherly love, to his glory as 
our common Lord. We do, therefore, in 
his strength, engage, 

" That we will exercise a mutual care, 
as members one of another, to promote the 
growth of the whole body in Christian 
knowledge, holiness and comfort ; to the 
end that we may stand perfect and com- 
plete in all the will of God. 

" That to promote and secure this ob- 
ject, we will uphold the public worship of 
God and the ordinances of his house : and 
hold constant communion with each other 
therein ; that we will cheerfully contribute 
of our property for the support of the 
poor, and for the maintenance of a faith- 
ful ministry of the gospel among us. 

" That we will not omit closet and fami- 
ly religion at home, nor allow ourselves 
in the too common neglect of religiously 
training up our children, and those under 
our care, with a view to the service of 
Christ and the enjoyment of heaven. 

" That we will walk circumspectly in 
the world, that we may win their souls ; 
remembering that God has not given us a 
spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, 
and of a sound mind ; that we are the 
light of the world, and the salt of the 
earth, and that a city set on a hill cannot 
be hid. 

" That we will frequently exhort, and 
if occasion shall require, admonish one 
another, according to Matthew xviii., in 
the spirit of meekness ; considering our- 
selves, lest we also be tempted ; and that, 
as in baptism we have been buried with 



Christ, and raised again ; so there is on 
us a special obligation henceforth to walk 
in newness of life. 

"And may the God of Peace, who 
brought again from the dead our Lord 
Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
through the blood of the everlasting cove- 
nant, make us perfect in every good work 
to do his will ; working in us that which 
is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus 
Christ, to whom be glory for ever and 
ever. Amen." 

The churches thus formed elect their 
own pastors, to preach to them the gospel 
of Christ, and to govern them according 
to his word. They also appoint deacons, 
who transact the temporal affairs of the 
church in general ; but having a special 
reference to the temporal support of the 
pastor, and to the relief of poor members 
of the body. As the office of deacon is 
highly important, and much of the welfare 
of the church depends on its proper dis- 
charge, the choice of these officers is 
usually conducted with great care and 
solemnity. 

The reader will be fully prepared for 
the statement that the Baptists believe that 
no church has power to make laws, even 
for its own government. They regard 
the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Law- 
giver in his Church, and they dare impose 
no terms of fellowship which he has not 
enjoined, nor insist on any practices but 
those which he has approved. The New 
Testament is their only statute-book ; their 
business is administrative, and not legis- 
lative. They consider that incalculable 
mischief has been done by Christians 
making laws for the government of 
Messiah's kingdom, and thus carefully 
avoid falling into the evil. 

It is a grand advantage connected with 
Baptist polity, that when, by any means, 
they have fallen into a mistake in doc* 
trine or practice, they can at once correct j 
it. They have no appeal to make to any 
class of persons apart from themselves. 
The error detected, the infallible Word 
teaches how it may be removed, and the 
church becomes at once harmonious and 
happy. 

The Baptists are, and always have 
been, exceedingly careful as to the intro- 
duction of proper persons into the minis- 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



61 



try. With them, no college, or council, 
or any other body apart from the church, 
can either authorize a man to preach, or 
place him as a pastor or bishop over any 
part of the flock of Christ. The usual 
order of proceedings in the former of these 
cases, is, that a young man, a member of 
the church, having given indications, not 
only of a good degree of piety, but of the 
possession of talents adapted to edifica- 
tion, is encouraged to deliver, among his 
brethren, a few familiar addresses ; and 
when the members of the church to which 
he belongs are satisfied of his talents and 
correct views of truth, they license him, 
as it is termed, to preach the gospel 
wherever the providence of God may call 
him. Of this they give him a written 
testimonial. This, however, confers on 
him no authority to administer ordinances, 
or to preach in any other church, till 
called by them to do so. Should he be 
elected by any recognised church as their 
pastor, ministerial brethren of standing 
and reputation are assembled, who ex- 
amine his credentials, inquire as to his 
moral and religious character, his Chris- 
tian experience, and his views of divine 
truth ; and should all these prove satis- 
factory, they ordain him by prayer and 
laying on of hands, to the work of the 
Christian pastorate. 

An impression appears to exist in some 
quarters, that the Baptist body are not so 
desirous of an educated ministry as some 
other denominations ; this, however, is a 
mistaken view of the matter. It would be 
easy to show from their history, both in 
Europe and in this country, that their 
attention was very early directed to this 
subject, and that their colleges have al- 
ways been numerous and respectable, both 
in their professors, and in their courses 
of study. It is quite true that the Bap- 
tists have never insisted on classical 
attainments as essential to an introduction 
to the ministry ; neither have they been 
anxious, when a man has possessed learn- 
ing, to inquire whether he obtained it at 
the college, by the private training of 
some learned friend, or by his own inces- 
sant labor, directed only by books. Very 
many congregations can bear witness to 
the fact, that they began to exist through 
the preaching of men, who, at the outset 



of their career, knew little more than their 
Bibles directly taught them ; but who, by 
constant labor, intercourse with society, 
and prayerful study, have attained to 
respectable proficiency in scholarship ; 
while the churches of the denomination 
have had to rejoice in their Bunyans, 
Gills, Booths, Careys, Fullers, and other 
men, entirely self-taught, after they en- 
tered on their ministerial career ; but 
which some other Christian bodies would 
have kept out of the ministry altogether, 
for want of a full classical and theological 
training. 

While this denomination jealously guards 
its independence, the churches individually, 
on affairs of importance, such as licensing 
ministers, calling a pastor, or in the event 
of difficulties springing up among them, 
call together ministers and other brethren 
to act as a council; who hear their state- 
ment of facts, and give their judgment as 
to the line of duty ; but in no case has 
such council power or authority to enforce 
their decisions. Their jurisdiction is 
merely advisory, and parties act upon their 
recommendation or not, as may seem to 
them desirable ; the cases, however, are 
very few where the moderation and wis- 
dom of the council do not produce the re- 
sults they desire. 

The spirit of Christian union goes far- 
ther than this, and leads the churches in 
almost every locality to assemble annually 
in their different counties or districts for 
devotional exercises and free intercourse 
on objects of common interest. The 
business is here transacted by the pastors 
and brethren previously appointed as dele- 
gates or representatives. " The associa- 
tion" is a high Christian festival among 
the Baptists, and brings together friends 
from considerable distances, who always 
meet a cordial welcome, and almost bound- 
less hospitality. Sermons, prayers, ex- 
hortations, and the letters addressed to the 
body from the several churches are usually 
of a highly interesting character ; and 
very frequently ministers and others carry 
from their association meetings an influ- 
ence, the happy effects of which tell on the 
prosperity of the church for the whole en- 
suing year. Many delightful friendships 
originate in. these assemblies, and it would 
be almost impossible to exaggerate their 



62 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



importance. Little difficulties or jea- 
lousies which arise during the year, are 
now removed, while the younger mem- 
bers of the denomination meet and hear 
its leading members, and become happily 
acquainted with the objects and forms of 
denominational business. 

Conventions are still larger and more 
important gatherings than even associa- 
tions. The latter are usually composed 
of from probably some twenty to eighty 
churches in a comparatively small district, 
who meet exclusively to arrange plans for 
the prosperity of their own churches ; but 
a Convention is a meeting of ministers and 
delegates from churches, associations, and 
public societies of perhaps a whole state, 
and probably also from other states. It 
is properly a series of meetings for the 
transaction of business relating to the Mis- 
sionary, Bible, and Publication societies, 
as also colleges, and other educational 
institutions. Sermons, devotional exer- 
cises, and platform meetings follow each 
other in rapid succession ; and these, with 
almost innumerable committees, keep all 
hands busy for probably six or eight days. 
The advantages of such assemblies can 
i scarcely be overrated. 

For more than thirty years, besides the 
meetings already mentioned, the Baptists 
held a great Triennial Convention, by dele- 
gates from every state of the Union, pro- 
fessedly to transact the business of the 
Foreign Missions ; but, as might be ex- 
pected, all the other great national in- 
stitutions met at the same time. The vast 
extent of the country, the growth of the 
body, and other circumstances have led 
to the dissolution of this mighty body, and 
all the societies now arrange for annual 
meetings, at which each settles its own 
particular business. Every man, however, 
who has attended a "triennial convention," 
will remember how delightfully it remind- 
ed him of the great and eternal assembly 
" of the saints in light." 

While denominational meetings of this 
character are especially interesting to the 
Baptists, it must not be supposed that they 
are indifferent to the objects pursued by 
evangelical Christians in a united capacity. 
The Tract Society, the Sunday-School 
Union, and the Temperance cause all have 
the labors, the pecuniary resources, and 



the tender sympathies of the body in the 
accomplishment of their important designs. 
It may indeed be remarked that the Bap- 
tists seldom assume an antagonistic attitude 
in reference to other denominations. Even 
their controversial publications are chiefly 
defensive, and very seldom aggressive. 
They are content to publish what they 
consider to be scriptural truth, and to 
leave its results to its great Author. 

To the rising generation, the pastors 
and members of Baptist churches usually 
devote a considerable degree of attention. 
They know the importance of early and 
judicious training ; and have amply 
realized the truth of a remark of the ex- 
cellent Matthew Henry, that " though the 
grace of God does not run in the blood, it 
often runs in a line." Assuredly it has 
always been the happiness of Baptists to 
see as large a proportion of their children 
united with the church of Christ as those 
of any other denomination of believers in 
him. 

In passing over the ground of American 
Baptist History, we have said but little of 
the severities to which our fathers were 
exposed. We are led to take very high 
ground on this subject, and to believe that 
any other denomination would have been 
disposed to persecute as much as " the 
standing order," had they possessed the 
power. Paedobaptists generally, have 
been much inclined to look at the Jewish 
Church for a model, as much as at the 
Christian, and have even gone farther 
than Jewish law would allow ; for they 
have added force to the Divine command. 
Standing, as we do, on New Testament 
grounds, candor and charity are conge- 
nial, and under their influence, while we 
examine the errors that are around us by 
the searching light of the New Testament, 
we can deplore their existence, and labor 
for their removal, without the aid of a 
sectarian spirit. 

But liberal men of other denominations 
will take care that passing events shall 
sometimes lead us to reflect on the rela- 
tion which the Baptists hold to Puritanism, 
and to those who regard themselves as its 
representatives and advocates. The Rev. 
Dr. Coit, rector of the Episcopal Church 
at New Rochelle, and the author of a 
work entitled ' Puritanism,' has given a 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



63 



minute account of the injuries which the 
Baptists suffered from the old New Eng- 
land Puritans ; he has portrayed in lively- 
colors that stern, persecuting spirit which 
was the disgrace of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, and which gave occasion for the 
remark, that the Catholics of Maryland 
were more tolerant than the Protestants 
of Massachusetts. Dr. Coit proceeds to 
cite from Prof. Knowles, and other Baptist 
writers, some candid remarks on the his- 
tory of that period, containing something 
like an apology for the Puritans, and 
showing that in our judgment of them, 
we must make large allowance for the 
prevailing spirit of their times. He then 
remonstrates with the Baptists in regard 
to this tendency to treat the persecutors 
of their ancestors in this courteous man- 
ner, and calls upon them to be true to 
history, to be just to themselves, to ex- 
press their abhorrence of Puritan intole- 
rance without stint and without palliation. 
Earnestly would we press on the whole 
Christian world, that religion is a personal 
matter between God and the individual 
soul. That, justified before Jehovah, by 
the righteousness of his Son, we enjoy 
holy friendship with him, and direct ac- 
cess, without the intervention of priest or 
king; and feeling our own happy free- 
dom, .we must be intent on the same 
liberty being enjoyed by every other man. 
After this rapid sketch of the history and 
usages of the Baptist denomination, it might 
be useful and profitable, if our space would 
permit, carefully to examine its increase, 
and show how remarkably the blessing 
of God has always rested on the body. 
We have now lying before us a series of 
tables most carefully compiled by the 
Rev. J. M. Peck, of Illinois, giving much 
most important information. It appears 
that in 1791, in a population of somewhat 
less than four millions, there were in the 
United States, 891 churches; 1,156 mi- 
nisters, including licentiates ; and 65,345 
communicants ; or, including some omitted 
by the historian of that period, say 70,000 
communicants. In 1812, in a population 
not exceeding seven millions and a quar- 
ter, there were 2,164 churches; 1,605 
ministers ; and 172,973 communicants. 
In 1832, in a population of rather more 
than twelve and a half millions, there 



were 5,236 churches; 3,579 ministers; 
and 382,116 communicants. At present, 
in a population of thirty millions, there 
are 11,600 churches; 7,141 ministers; 
and 923,198 communicants. This great 
increase, so much more rapid than the 
proportionate increase of population, may 
well excite grateful emotions to the Giver 
of all good, and encourage zealous efforts 
in the advancement of his glory. 

In the present day, one grand means to 
increase in numbers, is, to keep pace with 
the increase of intelligence in the commu- 
nity. Ignorance will never perpetuate any 
cause. That the Baptists are not behind 
other denominations in their literary and 
theological institutions, will be seen by a 
reference to a subsequent table, that there 
are now (1859) in the United States thirty- 
four Colleges, and twelve Theological In- 
stitutions under their direction. This is 
double the number which were in opera- 
tion ten years since, when the sum total 
comprised fifteen of the former and seven 
of the latter. It would be gratifying, if it 
could be done, to ascertain the number 
and cost of churches and other public 
buildings connected with the body. Suffice 
it to say, that generally speaking, our 
buildings will compare with others in the 
land, which presents the best houses for 
worship in the world. 

Next to the Pulpit, the Press will be 
found to exert the mightiest influence in 
the advancement of any class of persons 
who ought to increase. And in this 
country, the character of the population, 
the means of transit, and the thirst for 
information, will, for many years to come, 
make periodical literature of vast import- 
ance. We have at present (1859) lying 
before us a list of forty-four Baptist periodi- 
cals. Of these, 2 are published quarterly, 
14 monthly, and 28 weekly. It would, 
of course, be improper to claim for every 
one of these, talent of the highest order; 
but there is no one of them that can 
awaken unpleasant feelings, and in not a 
few are articles from powerful and elegant 
pens, which must produce mighty results 
Never was the American religious press 
in general, or the Baptist in particular, 
so efficient and useful as at the present 
hour. 

We have thus seen that Baptists claim 



64 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



to.be New Testament Christians; and 
that they are separated from the world as 
much as in this imperfect state can be 
expected. To use the strong and eloquent 
language of a western preacher, " In the 
constitution of a Baptist Church, conver- 
sion is essential to membership. No 
child can be born a Baptist, and no adult 
can be admitted to commune until the 
Christian character is formed. Member- 
ship, therefore, is matter of choice. This 
unfettered freedom of judgment and will 
exists in the appointment of officers, and 
in the modes and seasons of public wor- 
ship. With these no external power can in- 
terfere ; no general standard is recognised. 
So that a wide difference is seen between 
the churches of Rome and those of Eng- 
land, and the Baptist Church. Against 
all laws and formularies, courts of inqui- 
sition, and acts of uniformity, the Baptists 
have always protested, and the Lord grant 
that they may ever contend for their an- 
cient faith ! Whether among the rocks 
of Piedmont, or hidden in the valleys of 
Wales ; whether in the death waves of 
" fair Zurich's waters," or in a cold and 
cheerless Virginia prison ; whether hunted 
down and burnt a f the stake by monks or 
archbishops, or governing the free and 
tolerant colony of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations ; whether cursed, 
hated, and anathematized by popes and 
kings, or favored only by the independent 
and magnanimous great men of the world, 
it has mattered not. Our banner has 
been unfurled to every breeze, in every 
region, where an advocate of our princi- 
ples could be found. On the one side 
has been inscribed, "One Lord, one Faith, 
one Baptism," and on the other, " God 
and Liberty." 

In proceeding to take a rapid glance at 
the present state of the Baptists in other 
parts of the world, we cannot but be 
struck with the fact, that wherever there 
exists a nationally established church, 
the adherents of this denomination are 
persecuted to a far greater extent than 
any other class of persons. It is only in 
our own favored land we can stand on a 
level with the highest. Tn Germany, 
though the Baptists have always been 
acknowledged by such writers as Luther, 
Madame de Stael, Voltaire, and Niebuhr, 



to be the warm friends of freedom, and to 
have shed their blood in its cause, they 
are persecuted, imprisoned, and heavily 
fined. In France, it only requires that 
their number be enlarged to bring out the 
strong feelings of opposition on the part 
of other and stronger parties against them ; 
and in Britain, though their privileges of 
late years have been increased, yet, still, 
they are compelled to contribute their full 
quota to the established sect, and in con- 
nection with their corporate rights, and 
even their marriage ceremonies, there is 
the imposition of shackles which, mock 
their freedom. May they never retaliate ! 
Indeed, they never can do so till they be- 
come recreant to their principles, and 
cease to believe the doctrines they now 
profess. 

The Baptists of the world must ever 
feel a lively interest in the prosperity of 
the denomination in Wales. Here the 
truth was long perpetuated, when it was 
lost almost everywhere else. Here sim- 
plicity, earnestness, and adherence to 
scriptural doctrine have ever distinguished 
our body. The world does not elsewhere 
present so large a proportion of Baptists 
in the same extent of population. This 
fact, assuredly, does not arise from their 
superior wealth, or the high education of 
their ministers, or their extensive love of 
literature. The familiarity, earnestness, 
and frequency of their preaching, have, 
probably, contributed more than all other 
things, to their great and rapid increase. 
At the annual meetings of their associa- 
tions, for instance, they will assemble in 
thousands to listen, always in the open 
air, to their favorite preachers ; and during 
two days, from twelve to fifteen sermons 
will be delivered. They are never tired 
of preaching. Their ministers will often 
itinerate, and preach three sermons a day 
for many successive days, or even weeks, 
seldom delivering more than one sermon 
in a place, for which the preacher will 
receive some twenty-five cents, and re- 
freshments, and his horse a portion of 
food. If our Welsh friends may some- 
times have rather too much preaching, 
and be somewhat too fond of excitement, 
we think we know some Christians who 
have by far too little of either. 

The settled character of England, as an 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



65 



old country, will readily suggest to the 
mind of the reader, that considerably differ- 
ent features will show themselves in many 
of its institutions. Take for instance an 
association of Baptist churches. It exists 
perhaps for a century essentially un- 
changed, except by a gradual increase of 
its churches and members. Not a few 
persons will be connected with it the whole 
of their lives, and associate with it their 
whole time, talents, and influence. Two 
or three generations will invest it with 
much that is hallowed in consistent Chris- 
tian character, holy zeal, and delightful 
success. The young think of the asso- 
ciation in connection with the holy dead, 
as well as with the living ; and love to 
speak of the history and the success of 
institutions with the origin of which their 
fathers were identified. There is more 
of what may be termed home feeling in the 
Baptists of the father-land, than can at pre- 
sent exist in comparatively but a few fami- 
lies, and in only a very few cities of the 
United States. With what feelings of plea- 
sure may the Baptists connected with the 
Northamptonshire association speak of 
their Halls and Rylands, of Fuller and 
Carey, and Sutcliff, once connected with 
them, and of the birth of the Foreign Mis- 
sions in their midst ! 

The comparatively small extent, too, of 
England, and the denseness of its popula- 
tion, combined with the oppressions 
against which they have to contend, unite 
the Baptists of that land more closely than 
they can be united in a country like this. 
Hence their Baptist Union, instituted in 
1812, now composed of more than a thou- 
sand churches, which meets annually by 
its delegates ; the objects of which are, 1st. 
To extend brotherly love and union among 
those Baptist ministers and churches who 
agree in the sentiments usually denomi- 
nated evangelical ; — 2d. To promote unity 
of exertion in whatever may best serve the 
cause of Christ in general, and the. inte- 
rests of the Baptist denomination in particu- 
lar ; — 3d. To obtain accurate statistical in- 
formation relative to Baptist churches, 
societies, institutions, colleges, &c, 
throughout the kingdom, and the world at 
large ; — 4th. To prepare for circulation an 
annual report of the proceedings of the 
Union, and the state of the denomination. 



This union has acted during the last 
fifteen years with considerable vigor, and 
has done much in uniting the churches, 
and increasing, by its influence on the go- 
vernment, the freedom of religion. It sent 
in 1835 two of its members, the Rev. Drs. 
Cox and Hoby, to this country to convey 
an expression of fraternal feelings towards 
the Baptists of America, who published a 
volume on the subject, on their return. 
Latterly they have been assiduously en- 
gaged in collecting a library, which they 
have placed in trust for the use of the 
denomination. 

It is worthy of remark that our Eng- 
lish brethren seem to embrace every op- 
portunity of making their literature con 
tribute to the advancement of the Baptist 
cause. Hence their Baptist Magazine, 
which originated in 1809, is vested in 
trustees who have appropriated from the 
profits of its sale not less than $30,000 to 
the relief of the widows of Baptist minis- 
ters. The Baptist Selection of Hymns, 
devotes annually some seven or eight 
hundred dollars to the widows and orphans 
of Baptist ministers and missionaries ; 
while the profits of the Baptist Reporter, 
a cheap monthly periodical, and of the 
Baptist Sunday Scholars' Hymn Book are 
distributed in tracts and cheap publications 
among the churches, and in neighbor- 
hoods destitute of evangelical truth. 

Perhaps this may be the proper place 
in which to state, that our brethren in Eng- 
land, in addition to their missionary socie- 
ties, foreign and domestic, have in London 
a considerable fund for sustaining feeble 
churches, supporting colleges, and supply- 
ing young ministers with books. This fund 
is furnished principally from the interest of 
legacies left for those purposes by good 
men of other days. Whether it might not 
have been better to have expended this 
money in doing present good, trusting in 
the promise and power of Christ to sustain 
his cause in future, is a question which, 
happily, we are not now called upon to 
settle. The Baptists of London, and two 
or three other large cities, liberally sub- 
scribe for the erection of new houses of 
worship, which they forward to needy 
parties without their ministers leaving 
their pulpits to collect it. Recent move- 
ments seem to indicate that the contribu- 



9 



66 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



tors to the London Building Fund will 
become simply a Loan Society. 

It is a fact well known, that the Eng- 
lish Baptists are divided into two great 
branches, Particular and General, the 
former holding the Calvinistic view of the 
particularity of the redemption of Christ, 
and the other believing it to be general 
and designed for the whole of mankind ; 
in other things their views harmonize with 
the systems they thus respectively em- 
brace. The General Baptists are again 
subdivided into the Old Connexion and the 
New. The truth is, that a century ago, 
a kind of hereditary membership, an al- 
most entire disuse of congregational in- 
dependence, and a strong inclination to- 
wards Socinianism crept in among them, 
so that vital godliness had almost disap- 
peared. In 1770, the late excellent Dan 
Taylor and a few other good men, formed 
the New Connexion on sounder scriptural 
principles ; and their piety and zeal have 
given them a good standing among their 
brethren ; still the Particular branch of the 
denomination is by far the largest. In 
the Baptist Union, in their general efforts 
for the advancement of religious freedom, 
and generally, in communion, the Par- 
ticular Baptists and the New Connexion 
are but one. The Old Connexion has al- 
most died away, and indeed, would long 
since have lost its visibility, had it not 
been sustained by endowments of which it 
has obtained unrighteous possession. The 
whole history of this branch of the body 
shows the vast importance of guarding 
against the slightest departures from the 
law of Christ, while its present state 
proves that religious errors, in the end, 
will work their own destruction. Nor are 
we less impressively taught that when the 
members of a body become generally in- 
different, and leave the truths and ordi- 
nances of Christianity in the hands of a 
few leading persons, the whole will go on 
to ruin and decay. The Old General 
Baptists, once the most numerous, learned, 
and wealthy branch of the denomination, 
now present at their u Annual Assembly" 
in the metropolis of England, some fifty 
or sixty persons, who begin and end their 
devotional exercises, sermon, reports and 
business in some three or four hours. 
Truly the glory is departed 1 



Neither in Scotland nor in Ireland are 
the Baptists as numerous as they were 
two centuries ago, though the last few 
years have opened a more, pleasing pros- 
pect of increasing prosperity. Various 
reasons might be assigned for the decline 
of the body, while a few years ago their 
increase was checked by a system which 
degraded the ministry, setting it aside as a 
separate order, refusing to support those 
who devoted themselves to its labors ; and 
by making each and all pastors in turn, 
introduced confusion and every evil work. 
Other and better influences are now ope- 
rating, and by the blessing of God there 
are " good things to come." 

There is in England, one subject as to 
which the Baptists are divided in opinion 
and practice, and in which they generally 
differ from their brethren in this country. 
We refer to the terms of communion. It 
may be information to some readers, to be 
told, that while the Free-will Baptists of 
this country admit unimmersed persons to 
the Lord's table, their brethren, the Gene- 
ral Baptists of England, universally con- 
fine this ordinance to those whom they 
consider to be scripturally baptized. On 
the other hand, while the Regular Baptists 
of the United States invariably require 
immersion as a pre-requisite to the recep- 
tion of the Lord's Supper, believing with 
the vast majority of Christians of other 
denominations, that baptism ought to pre- 
cede that ordinance, many of their breth- 
ren in Great Britain do not require obe- 
dience to that part of their Lord's will be- 
fore their reception to Christian fellowship. 

Nor is this a modern affair. The whole 
history of the body in that country has 
shown the existence of the same fact. 
This is not the place to argue either the 
one side or the other of this subject ; as 
we have only to do with the facts of the 
case. In some instances, neither Baptists 
or psedobaptists alone could sustain a 
church, and in some of these instances 
they have been driven to the exercise of 
mutual forbearance on this matter, that 
they and their families might have evan- 
gelical worship in any form ; in other 
cases, the union has taken place from 
choice. Two things have certainly been 
the result. The one is, that in the dis- 
tricts where mixed communion, as it is 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



67 



called, has prevailed for a century or two, 
the psedobaptist cause is exceedingly fee- 
ble ; and the other, that in proportion as 
the system extends, it introduces the senti- 
ments and the practice of the Baptists in 
so many instances, among the members 
of psedobaptist churches, that comparative- 
ly few of their pastors can say very much 
against the Baptists. Nor is the fact less 
certain, that in the advocacy of the pecu- 
liarities of the denomination, such as bap- 
tism itself, the most able and earnest pub- 
lications have issued from brethren who 
have advocated mixed communion, and 
by them the denominational institutions 
have been most firmly sustained. Thou- 
sands of immersed Christians are to be j 
found among Congregational, Methodist, 
and Episcopalian communicants ; while 
some of these congregations have even 
gone so far as to construct baptistries in 
their houses of worship, where the neigh- 
boring Baptist pastor is sometimes seen 
going to immerse some of the members of 
his pedobaptist brother's church. In no 
one instance has a regular Baptist church 
ever invited a psedobaptist to become its 
pastor ; while not a few Baptist ministers 
have been invited to the pastorate of paedo- 
baptist churches. In the missionary so- 
cieties, or collegiate institutions, the sub- 
ject is never made the matter of inquiry 
or debate ; nor is it ever heard that in any 
of the churches constituted on the mixed 
system the subject is matter of uneasiness. 
Whatever may be urged in argument on 
this topic, it is certain that we cannot com- 
pare the circumstances of the two coun- 
tries so as to justify or condemn the sys- 
tem. Every thing presents an aspect so 
different on the opposite sides of the At- 
lantic, that he who hastily condemns his 
brother, whichever view he may take, 
may possibly condemn himself in the thing 
that he alloweth. 

Before entirely dismissing the subject, it 
may be remarked that the strictest Bap- 
tist churches of England commune with 
immersed believers, of whatever evangeli- 
cal church they may be members ; that 
the vast majority of Baptist churches in 
Great Britain are strict in their fellow- 
ship ; and that it is believed, that every 
foreign missionary church connected with 
the body also requires baptism as a pre- 



requisite to communion at the Lord's 
table. 

In reference to the Baptist ministry of 
England, it may be remarked that it con- 
tains now, as it ever has done, men of the 
highest eminence for piety, talents, and 
learning. Six institutions are sustained 
by the body, for Jhe training of their pious 
young men for 'the pulpit ; while not a 
few are self-made men. Still, it must be 
confessed, that our brethren in that coun- 
try are generally below the standard 
which they ought to reach. The oppres- 
sion of the hierarchy, the poverty of 
many of the churches, and other causes 
compel not a few of the pastors to blend 
the school, the farm, or the store with 
their high office ; the result is the attain- 
ment of no great excellence or success. 
Little are American Christians aware of 
their privileges or obligations. 

On the whole, while in justice we are 
compelled to award the highest measure 
of excellence and prosperity to the Bap- 
tists of the United States, and while there 
are defects in our English brethren which 
we deplore, we must, nevertheless, con- 
sider them entitled to our admiration and 
sympathy. In many things they have 
acted nobly, and been blessings to the 
world ; and in their present efforts for the 
emancipation of themselves and their coun- 
try from the thraldom of an ecclesiastical 
national establishment, every American 
must wish them success. We are glad to 
see their re-publication of the writings of 
the Baptist Fathers of the best and purest 
age, their refusal of all favors and funds 
from the government, and the pecuniary 
sacrifices which not a few of them make 
for the objects in view. These prove 
them to be the worthy sons of worthy 
sires, and good examples to be imitated 
by others. 

The object of our work is instruction ; 
and our readers entirely mistake the de- 
sign of this article, and indeed, of the 
whole volume, if they do not make all its 
statements bear on their own feelings and 
practice. A good writer has said, that 
" by the help of history, a young man 
may, in a good degree, attain to the ex- 
perience of old age ;" and we think that 
the Baptists of both the old world and the 
new, have yet to learn from each other 



much that is important and valuable. 
Serving one Lord, engaged in the same 
common cause, and cherishing the same 
grand principles, may they ever " provoke 
one another to love and to good works." 



In connection with the details we have 
now presented, and those which are yet 
to follow as to the condition of our public 
.societies, there are two or three remarks 
we are anxious to bring under the careful 
consideration of the reader. The first is, 
that efforts made for the advancement of 
the cause of Jesus Christ in foreign lands, 
always produce a delightful influence at 
home. Take an instance from England. 
In reviewing their proceedings after the 
departure of the first missionaries, the 
committee of the society enumerate among 
the benefits produced in a few months by 
the society at home, in the language of 
the late Dr. A. Fuller, that " a new bond 
was furnished between distant ministers 
and churches. Some who had backslid- 
den from God were restored ; and others, 
who had long been poring over their un- 
fruitfulness, and questioning the reality 
j of their personal religion, having their at- 
I tention directed to Christ and his kingdom, 
[ lost their fears, and found that peace, 
I which, in other pursuits, they had sought 
in vain. Christians of different denomi- 
j nations discovered a common bond of 
affection ; and instead of always dwelling 
on things wherein they differed, found 
their account in uniting in those wherein 
they were agreed. In short, our hearts 
were enlarged; and, if no other good had 
arisen from the undertaking, than the 
effect produced upon our own minds, and 
the minds of Christians in our own coun- 
try, it was more than equal to the ex- 
pense." It would be exceedingly easy to 
confirm all this, and far more, in the 
United States. Indeed, we may boldly 
challenge any man to show a prosperous 
state of religion in any community where 
zeal is not cherished in sending the Gos- 
pel to the regions beyond them ; or to 
show evangelical foreign missions which 
have not brought blessings to the church 
which originated them. There is, too, 
another way in which foreign missions 



have produced a beneficial result on the 
churches at home. When did a spirit of 
zeal for the evangelization of our own 
country experience a delightful revival ; 
and by whom have domestic missions 
been most liberally supported '? We apply 
the questions either to the United States, 
or to Great Britain, at the discretion of 
the reader. The reply must be, that a 
zeal for home missions originated in for- 
eign operations, and that those who have 
done most abroad, have ever been most 
deeply and increasingly convinced of the 
necessity of evangelical labor in their own 
land. It is not always true that " charity 
begins at home :" but it is certain that she 
never long neglects it. We have always 
found that the way to make a congrega- 
tion liberal in domestic operations, and 
even in the support of their own individual 
church, has been to interest them in the 
labor of the foreign field. 

One remark more shall bring these ob- 
servations to a close. The history of 
every mission has shown the power of the 
simple teaching of the gospel. No sub- 
stitute will be accepted and blessed of 
God. This has been abundantly proved 
by our English brethren in their labor for 
Ireland. There was a period when they 
carefully sought to keep back denomina- 
tional peculiarities ; when they labored to 
oppose popery, as such ; and when they 
almost entirely confined their efforts to the 
children in the schools. They failed in 
their desires for success. Later years 
have taught them a wiser lesson. They 
now boldly and affectionately preach the 
gospel, baptize the believers, constitute 
churches, and seek in Christ's own way to 
establish his kingdom. The contest be- 
tween truth and error becomes closer and 
more vigorous ; both the contending par- 
ties feel the power of the weapons em- 
ployed; and the ultimate result can no 
longer be doubtful. We have to establish 
the truth, and that of itself will supplant 
and destroy error. No body of Christians 
has ever proved this more fully than the 
Baptists ; let them, then, walk in the good 
old ways, or, to change the figure, let 
them fight the enemy only with the naked 
" sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
of God ;" this has been tried and never 
failed. Thus may the Baptists of America 



ever act, remembering who hath said, 
" This people have I formed for myself; 
they shall show forth my praise." 



Nothing more clearly indicates the 
character of a church or denomination 
for purity and concern for the honor of 
Christ, than zealous efforts for the exten- 
sion of his cause throughout the world. 
Labor, and to a certain extent, liberal pecu- 
niary contributions have distinguished the 
Baptist body. In England their seven or 
eight institutions for the education of 
their ministry, — for sustaining their poor 
churches, — for the evangelization of Bri- 
tain and of Ireland — and for the diffusion 
of the pure word of God throughout the 
world, may well excite our admiration 
and gratiude. 

Nothing, however, in the history of the 
English Baptists has ever attracted more 
general attention than the origin and his- 
tory of their Foreign Missionary Society. 
It was their honor to originate the spirit 
of zeal in modern times, which bids fair 
at no distant period, to evangelize the 
world. Their society was formed in a 
small parlor, at Kettering, Northampton- 
shire, in 1792, by a solemn union of a few 
poor ministers and others, and a subscrip- 
tion of about sixty-five dollars. From 
this society proceeded to India the distin- 
guished Dr. Carey, and many others emi- 
nently qualified for the discharge of labors 
directly of a missionary character, and for 
translating the Holy Scriptures into the 
various languages of the East. In 1842, 
they celebrated the Jubilee of the society, 
when it appeared that the men who had 
excited no small share of ridicule and con- 
tempt, had the high gratification of report- 
ing, that up to 1841, they had translated 
the Holy Scriptures, wholly or in part, 
into forty-four languages or dialects of In- 
dia, and had printed of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures alone, nearly half a million copies ; 
that in their 204 schools they numbered 
nearly 22,000 scholars; that they had 
168 missionary stations, 191 missionaries, 
and over 25,000 members. Their annual 
income then exceeded $110,000 ; and the 
extra fund raised for important specific 
purposes, as a Jubilee gift, exceeded 



$160,000. Their income and success are 
both happily increasing. 

Nor have the Baptists of the United 
States been behind their British brethren 
in the holy enterprizes of the day. When 
it is remembered that our country is ra- 
pidly increasing, and therefore demands 
from every portion of the Christian 
church the most zealous attention to pro- 
vide for its moral necessities, it would be 
unreasonable to expect that it should rival 
older, more settled, and more wealthy 
countries in its foreign labors. The direct 
missionary efforts of the American Bap- 
tists originated in 1814, after the Rev. A. 
Judson and the Rev. L. Rice had become 
Baptists in India, and appealed to the 
denomination in the United States for aid. 

The missionary efforts of the American 
Baptists in the East Indies having been 
originated by Dr. Judson, a sketch of his 
useful life will scarcely fail to interest the 
reader. 

Dr. Judson was born at Maiden, Massa- 
chusetts, on the 9th day of August, 1788. 
His father, a Congregational clergyman, 
was a very pious and zealous man, and 
educated his son to fear and love God. 
When about nineteen years of age, Adoni- 
ram graduated at Brown University, and 
then entered a theological seminary at 
Andover, with a view of studying for the 
ministry. At the latter institution, he 
conceived the idea of devoting his life to 
the dissemination of gospel truth among 
heathen nations; and his purpose coin- 
ciding with the views of three of his 
fellow students, they resolved to band 
themselves together for the accomplish- 
ment of this noble object. There were 
then no foreign missionary societies, with 
well-filled treasuries, to aid them in their 
bold undertaking — the path they were 
about to enter on was as yet untrodden, 
and the field unexplored. While waiting 
for the organization and institution of the 
American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions, which was originated 
by the friends of the cause who were de- 
sirous of aiding them, our young mission- 
aries contracted matrimonial engagements. 
Dr. Judson was married to Miss Ann Has- 
seltine, Feb. 5, 1812. She was the first 
American lady who determined to encoun- 
ter the toils and perils of a missionary life 



70 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



in India, and noble proofs did she give of 
her heroism and conjugal devotion. In 
February, 1812, the missionaries and their 
wives embarked for Calcutta, where they 
arrived in the following June. Shortly 
after their debarkation Dr. Judson and his 
wife adopted the principles of the Bap- 
tists, and were baptized. He commenced 
his labors at Rangoon, in Burmah, where, 
notwithstanding the intolerable heat of 
the tropical climate, he toiled for forty 
years; nearly two years of which time he 
passed in a dungeon, loaded with fetters. 
His faithful wife walked two miles every 
day to visit him during the period of his 
incarceration, cooked his food, and admin- 
istered to the wants of his fellow-prisoners; 
but she did not long enjoy his society 
after his release, which took place in 
March, 1826, on the approach of the 
British army, for she died of a fever on 
the 24th of October, in the same year, 
during the absence of her husband. Dr. 
Judson married a second wife, Mrs. Sarah 
B. Boardman, after whose decease he 
espoused Miss Emily C. Chubbuck, who 
immediately accompanied him to India. 
They located their residence at Maulmain, 
in the Burman empire, where they lived 
until 1850, when Dr. Judson's health 
having failed considerably, he undertook 
a sea voyage for the purpose of recruiting 
it; but on the 11th of April, when only 
a few days at sea, his soul winged its way 
from the frail mortal tenement to a brighter 
habitation in the realms above. 

Despite of every discouragement, he 
persevered in his labors until he was sur- 
rounded by thousands of native converts, 
and also by an active and numerous corps 
of evangelists, partly Burmese and partly 
Americans. He acquired a thorough 
knowledge of the language of the Bur- 
mese, and translated into it the Bible, and 
several other books, beside compiling a 
dictionary of the language in two volumes. 
Assiduous in his labors, self-denying in 
his habits, modest and unassuming in his 
manners, he combined within himself all 
the attributes of a faithful soldier of 
Christ's army; and, having planted the 
standard of the cross on the soil of India, 
he fought the battle of the gospel under 
its folds with an energy and a hopefulness 
which knew of no defeat. Temporarily 



vanquished, yet did his indomitable cou- 
rage rise triumphant over every obstacle ; I 
and each new reverse seemed but to add 
new energy to his spirit — nerving him to 
encounter greater hazards and endure 
greater trials for the advancement of the 
glorious cause in which he had embarked. 

His last wife, Mrs. Emily C. Judson, 
gives the subjoined description of his per- 
sonal habits : 

"His predilection for neatness, uni- 
formity, and order, amounted indeed to a 
passion. Then he had an innate sort of 
refinement about him which would subject 
him to annoyance when a less sensitive 
person would only be amused — a most in- 
convenient qualification for a missionary. 
This passion for order — which I should 
rather consider an unconquerable love for 
the beautiful and elegant studiously per- 
verted — displayed itself rather oddly after 
the means for its natural gratification and 
development were cut off. Nobody ever 
luxuriated more in perfectly spotless linen, 
though partly from necessity, and partly 
because there was a suspicion among his 
friends that he would wear no other, it was 
always coarse. The tie of the narrow 
black ribbon, which he wore instead of a 
neckcloth, was perfect, and the ribbon 
itself would not have soiled the purest 
snow, though it was often limp and rusty 
from frequent washing. His general dress | 
was always clean and adjusted with scru- 
pulous exactness, though it often looked 
as if it might have belonged to some 
rustic of the last century, being of the 
plainest material, and in fashion the Ame- 
rican idea of what was proper for a mis- 
sionary, perpetuated in broad caricature 
by a bungling Bengalee tailor. Most 
people thought that he dressed oddly from 
a love of eccentricity; but the truth is, 
he was not in the least aware of an} T thing 
peculiar in his costume, never seeing him- 
self in a mirror larger than his pocket 
toilet-glass. He could see his feet, how- 
ever, and his shoes never had a spot on 
their polish, nor the long, white, carefully- 
gartered stockings a wrinkle, much less a 
stain. In the construction and arrange- 
ment of his unique studying apparatus, 
which was composed of two long narrow 
boxes, mounted on a teak table, there was 
the same mixture of plainness with neat- 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



71 



ness and order, and, what was rather con- 
spicuous in all his arrangements, a won- 
derful capacity for convenience. No one 
ever thought of invading his study corner; 
for he dusted his books and papers him- 
self, and knew so well where everything 
was placed, that he could have laid his 
hand upon the smallest article in the 
darkest night." 



The Rev. Dr. Howell thus eloquently 
speaks of the Baptist Preachers of the 
Revolutionary Era : 

"It is pretended that, as a whole, or 
even generally, their sermons were greatly 
inferior in style and elocution, and that 
their manners in the pulpit were, for that 
day, rude and unpolished? That there 
were some among them, here and there an 
individual, obnoxious to this imputation, 
and that the same was true to an equal 
extent, in proportion to numbers, of most 
of the other denominations, there can be 
no doubt. But of them as a class, it was 
far from being true. Baptist ministers 
generally, destitute of learning or elo- 
quence, rude, repulsive ! Why, then, 
gentlemen, were their discourses always 
heard by immense crowds, who were 
swayed and agitated by them, to an extent 
unprecedented ? Why were the splendid 
parish churches, whose magnificent ruins 
stand to this day, in many of the lower 
counties of Virginia, the mouldering 
monuments of colonial pride and extrava- 
gance, forsaken by their polished and 
courtly congregations, who eagerly fol- 
lowed these plebeians, hung upon their 
words with rapt and delighted attention, 
and by hundreds united with our churches ? 
By what power did they overthrow the 
triple walled citadel of the establishment; 
sever the relations between church and 
state ; carry the whole people with them ; 
and impress their doctrines irrevocably 
upon the government of the country? 
If, without their aid, and loaded besides 
with repulsiveness, they did all this, then 
of what practical value are learning, elo- 
quence, refinement, and polished manners; 
since, destitute of them all, 'the Early 



Baptists of Virginia' did more than, in any 
other age or country, ever was accom- 
plished by the great, the mighty, and the 
wise? If some of them were 'no orators,' 
and this is certainly true, where is the 
denomination every one of whose minis- 
ters is a Whitfield, a Hall, or a Chalmers ? 
Our ministers, and our people, had all the 
learning, wealth, refinement, and influence 
necessary for the accomplishment of those 
great purposes to which, in the providence 
of God, they were called. Not a few of 
them were men of amazing attainments. 
The Marshalls, the Harrises, the Wil- 
liamses, the Walkers, the Lunsfords, the 
Stranghans; these, and such as these, 
possessed an amount of mental vigor, of 
intellectual cultivation, and pulpit power, 
that justly placed them on a level with 
any other ministers of their day and 
country. Of eloquence they were the very 
chiefs." 



General Benevolent Associations. 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION, 
INAUGURATED IN 1814. 

The Annual Meeting of the Board and 
Union, was held in Philadelphia, May 
18-21, 1858. Receipts, $97,808 77 j ex- 
penditures, $97,797 64. Indebtedness of 
the Union, $58,376 16. Of the Mission- 
ary Magazine, 5000 copies, and of the 
Macedonian, 28,000 copies have been 
issued monthly. 

The total number of missions is 19. 
The Asiatic Missions have 16 stations, 
and more than 200 out-stations, the latter 
chiefly in Burmah ; the French and Ger- 
man more than 500 stations and out-sta- 
tions; and the Indian 16. The number 
of laborers, including those now in this 
country, and exclusive of Europe, is 81 
American and 246 native; of native la- 
borers in Europe, about 80. There are 
more than 300 churches. Baptisms (re- 
ports incomplete), 2500. Whole number 
of members, more than 24,000. 



72 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCI- 
ETY, INAUGURATED IN 1824. 

The Annual Meeting was held in Phila- 
delphia, May 17th, 1858. Receipts, 
$60,585 12 ; expenditures, $60,430 87. 

New publications during the year, 48 ; 
thirty-eight of which are bound volumes. 
The total number of pages printed during 
the year is equal to 28,382,000, 18mo. 
70,000 copies of the "Young Reaper," 
have been issued monthly. 

The entire number of publications now 
embraced in the Society's catalogue, is 
527; of which 240 are bound volumes. 
Of the traets, two hundred and thirty- 
eight are published in English ; fifteen in 
German ; eleven in Swedish ; and six in 
French. 

Summary of Colporteur Labor. — 
The number of Colporteurs in commission 
during the year, is 53 ; laboring in 15 
different States, in Canada, Norway and 
Sweden. 

They together have reported the fol- 
lowing labors and results for the year : — 
1445 weeks' service; 52,456 miles tra- 
velled; 20,052 volumes sold; 4996 vol- 
umes given to the poor; 187,184 pages 
of tracts distributed ; 3263 sermons 
preached; 1107 prayer meetings held; 
25,877 families visited ; 802 hopeful con- 
verts baptized ; 29 Sunday Schools formed, 
and 18 churches constituted. 



AMERICAN BAPTIST HOME MISSION SO- 
CIETY, INAUGURATED IN 1832. 

Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia, 
May 14-15, 1858. Total receipts, 
$52,093 33; expenditures, $47,634 31. 

Missionaries and Agents employed du- 
ring the year, 99 ; the number of stations 
and out-stations supplied, 247 ; baptisms, 
593 ; hopeful conversion of 408 others ; 
27 churches organized; 17 ministers or- 
dained ; 12 church edifices completed, 
and 17 others in progress. 

Sermons preached, 10,222 ; lectures and 
addresses, 1207: pastoral visits, 23,377; 
prayer and other meetings attended, 7040 ; 



miles travelled, 114,777 ; schools visited, 
288; Sabbath Schools in the churches, 
107. 

The churches aided by the Society, 
contributed $212-1 to the usual objects of 
Christian benevolence, and raised for the 
support of the gospel among themselves, 
$15,124 ; seven churches, heretofore aided 
by the Society, have become able to sup- 
port their pastors, and no longer ask aid 
from the treasury. 



AMERICAN AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCI- 
ETY, INAUGURATED IN 1838. 

Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia, 
May 13th, 1858. Receipts from all sources, 
$57,049 98; expenditures, $62,153 67. 
Treasury overdrawn, $5,013 67. 

Thirteen colporteurs have been em- 
ployed in Germany, and in this country; 
70,235 visits have been made by the 
home-Bible readers; 4521 persons have 
been induced to attend evangelical wor- 
ship ; 3075 sermons have been preached ; 
4962 prayer meetings have been held; 
and 485 individuals have been baptized. 



AMERICAN BAPTIST HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY. 

CONNECTED WITH THE A. B. PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 

The Fifth Anniversary was held in 
Philadelphia, May 17th, 1858. An inte- 
resting paper on the Life and Labors of 
Rev. John M. Peck, D. D., was read by 
Rev. R. Babcock, D. D. The Annual 
Report was read by Horatio G. Jones, 
Esq. 



AMERICAN BAPTIST FREE MISSION 
SOCIETY. 

Annual Meeting was held in Cleveland, 
Ohio, May 26-27, 1858. Receipts, 
$13,039 89; expenditures, $7,329 77. 
Balance in treasury, $5,710 12. 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



73 



SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, 
AUGURATED IN 1845. 



IN- 



Foreign Mission Board. — Annual 
Meeting was held in -Richmond, Va., 
April 14th, 1858. Receipts, $37,514 28 ; 
expenditures, $33,633 03. Balance in 
treasury, $3,881 26. 

Five missions ; 28 stations ; 56 mission- 
aries and assistants; 41 baptisms (other 
baptisms not reported). 

Domestic and Indian Mission 
Board. — Annual Meeting held at Marion, 
Ala., 1858. Total receipts, $36,345 57; 
total expenditures, $27,481 67. The num- 
ber of missionaries and agents employed 
is 138. 



SOUTHERN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SO- 
CIETY, INAUGURATED IN 1847. 

Annual Meeting was held in Hampton, 
Va., June 3d, 1858. Receipts, $9,794 25 ■ 
expenditures, $9,159 69. Balance in trea- 
sury, $634 56. 

The publications during the last year 
comprise twelve new and original works; 
together with the republication of nine 
former books issued ; making in all thirty- 
six different editions, amounting to 27,767 
volumes, containing 4,546,620 pages. 
The amount of volumes issued by the 
Society from the first, is 222,175, con- 
taining 82,775,666 pages. 



Farther information on the subjects indicated in this article, may be obtained from 
the following works : most of which have been more or less consulted in its prepa- 
ration. English Works. — Histories of the Baptists by Ivemey Mann and Taylor; 
Jones's Christian Church; Essays and Treatises on Baptism by Beeby, Craps, Winks, 
Birt, Orchard, and Carson; Rippon's Baptist Register; the Baptist Magazine, Repo- 
sitory, and Reports. American Works, — Histories by Backus, Benedict, and Hinton; 
Treatises and Essays, by Chapin, Woolsey, Frey, and Hague; also Allen's Triennial 
Register, the Christian Review, the Baptist Memorial, and " the Baptist Almanac 
and Annual Register/' issued by the American Baptist Publication Society. 



10 



74 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



BY THE REV. PORTER S. BURBANK, A. M., HAMPTON, N. H. 



From the early period in this country's 
history when Baptists came to he a dis- 
tinct branch of the Christian Church in 
America, at the banishment of Roger 
Williams from the Massachusetts Colony, 
and his settlement in Rhode Island, differ- 
ent views of the Atonement and Christian 
Theology generally, have obtained among 
them ; some inclining to Calvinistic, others 
to Arminian, sentiments. The first Bap- 
tist Church in America was of general 
views, and the Baptists in several of the 
states were Arminian long before the 
Freewill Baptist Connection arose, while 
others were Calvinistic. As Calvinism 
became more and more introduced, some 
churches of general sentiment went down, 
others went over ; • others still, were in- 
clined to the Arminian side, but co-oper- 
ated with those churches which were Cal- 
vinistic ; and generally there was but one 
denomination of Baptists in America till 
the origin of the Freewill Baptists, a little 
more than sixty years ago. This article 
on the " Freewill Baptists'''' will embrace 
summary sketches of their origin and 
history, doctrine and usages, and present 
statistics. 



I. ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 

The Freewill Baptist Connection in 
North America commenced A. D., 1780, 
: in which year its first church was organ- 
1 ized. Elder Benjamin- Randall, more 
I than any other man, in the providence of 
! God, may be regarded the founder of this 



denomination. He was born in New Cas- 
tle, N. H., in 1749, where he lived until 
of age, during which time he obtained a 
good mercantile and English education. 
From a child he was much accustomed to 
serious meditation and deep religious im- 
pressions. He did not, however, experi- 
ence a change of heart until his 22d year, 
when the distinguished George Whitefield 
was the instrument, under God, of his 
awakening and conversion. It was not 
long before he became convinced, in spite 
of his early education, that believers, and 
they only, were the proper subjects for 
Christian baptism, and that immersion was 
the only scriptural mode. He was bap- 
tized in 1776, and united with the Calvin- 
istic Baptist Church in Berwick. Very 
soon after this he commenced preaching ; 
and within the first year he saw quite a 
revival under his preaching, in his own 



* The Rev. David Marks, whose portrait is 
here given, though not one of the first, was 
nevertheless one of the most active and effici- 
ent ministers of the Freewill Baptist denomi- 
nation. He commenced preaching at fifteen 
years of age, travelled extensively, labored ex- 
cessively, and was eminently successful. Al- 
though self-educated, he managed by an ex- 
tremely rigid and systematic improvement of 
time, not only to become a thorough English 
scholar, but to make no mean proficiency in 
the classics. He was principally instrumental 
in originating and establishing the " Printing 
"Establishment" of the denomination ; and also 
compiled a small Hymn Book, and was the 
author of a treatise vindicating Free Commu- 
nion. He died Nov. 1, 1845, Aged 40, exceed- 
ingly happy and triumphant. 




DAVID MARKS. 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



75 



native town. It will be proper here to 
remark, that Mr. Randall possessed strong 
and brilliant powers of mind ; and though 
he was not liberally nor classically in- 
structed, yet with a good English educa- 
tion to set out with, by close application 
and untiring diligence, in a few years he 
came to be well informed in general know- 
ledge, and especially in biblical literature 
and practical theology ; to which may be 
added a clear knowledge of human nature, 
and deep and fervent spirituality. His 
soul also, drank deeply into the doctrine 
of a. full and free salvation. From New- 
castle and adjoining towns, where he both 
met with violent opposition and saw many 
souls converted, he extended his labors 
more into the country, and himself soon 
removed to New Durham. There a great 
revival commenced under his labors. 
The work spread also into adjacent towns. 
About this time Mr. Randall was several 
times called to account for his errors, that 
is, Anti-Calvin sentiments. In one of 
these public meetings, held July, 1779, at 
the close of the discussions, it was publicly 
announced by the leading minister, that 
he had " no fellowship with Brother Ran- 
dall in his principles." To which Mr. Ran- 
dall immediately responded : " It makes 
no difference to me, who disowns me, so 
long as I know that the Lord owns me : 
and now let that God be God, who an- 
swers by fire ; and that people be God's 
people, whom he owneth and blesseth." 
In this way was Mr. Randall pushed out, 
and forced to stand by himself alone. 
The same year the church in Loudon and 
Canterbury, with its minister, and the 
church in Strafford and minister, protested 
against Calvinism and stood independent, 
until at an early period they came into 
the new connection. By these ministers 
Mr. Randall was ordained, in March, 
1780 ; and on the 30th June, same year, 
he organized, in New Durham, the first 
Freewill Baptist Church. " This," in his 
own words 
large and extensive 
Freewill Baptists." 

The gospel which Elder Randall preach- 
ed was one of a free and full salvation ; 
and he seemed to preach it with a holy 
unction, in demonstration cf the spirit and 
in power. He believed tha. men possessed 



is the beginning of the now 
connection called 



minds free to will and to act, and that 
God's exercise of pardoning grace was 
always compatible with man's free voli- 
tion ; that the gospel invitations were to 
all men ; that the Holy Spirit enlightens 
and strives with all, and in a general 
rather than a partial atonement ; that 
Christ invites all freely to come to him 
for life, and that God commands all men 
everywhere to repent. Such were the 
views of this man of God, such are the 
Freewill Baptist sentiments now. In the 
true spirit of a faithful ambassador for 
Christ, commissioned of God rather than 
by men, he went forth into the great gos- 
pel vineyard, preaching to and pray- 
ing his fellow-men to be reconciled 
to God ; and the Lord abundantly sealed 
his ministry. For a while he went on 
to baptize, adding the converts to the 
New Durham Church ; but soon there 
were several churches associated with this. 
It will be proper here to remark, that at 
the time of the origin of the Freewill Bap- 
tists, evangelical piety and the life and 
power of godliness were at a very low 
ebb in the two leading denominations in 
this section of the country. In the Cal- 
vin Baptist — we speak generally — there 
was much of real Antinomianism ; much 
was preached of unconditional election 
and reprobation, and but little to the im- 
penitent upon immediate repentance and 
seeking religion ; — and in the Congrega- 
tionalist, experimental religion, in many 
cases, was scarcely considered a prerequi- 
site to church membership or to entering 
the ministry. Churches were in a lax 
state of discipline, and much of the 
preaching was little else than dull moral 
essays, or prosy disquisitions on abstract 
doctrines. Any reader, at all acquainted 
with the history of the Church at the 
period of which mention is here made, 
will admit the full truth of our statement ; 
while, on the other hand, we take much 
pleasure in informing the reader that these 
remarks, in our opinion, have no applica- 
tion whatever, at the present time, to these 
now truly evangelical and pious denomi- 
nations. Such then being much of the 
preaching of the times, it was to have 
been expected that the preaching of Elder 
Randall and the other pioneers with him 
in the cause of free salvation, should 



76 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



occasion much excitement; their senti- 
ments and measures he the subjects of 
frequent discussion and various opinions ; 
that some would fall in with them, while 
others would oppose and deride. All 
these results actually followed. Publish- 
ing a full atonement, and gospel salvation 
free for all to embrace, and exhorting 
their hearers immediately to turn to God, 
the Lord working with them : many ac- 
cepted the glad tidings and embraced 
religion. Revivals spread. Several min- 
isters and some churches came out from 
other denominations and united with the 
new connection ; other ministers were 
raised up and churches organized, as the 
reformation extended. One of the first 
four ministers was liberally and theologi- 
cally educated. The new sect was every 
where spoken against ; fanaticism, delu- 
sion, wildfire, was the cry ; and by their 
enemies they were variously styled, Ran- 
dallites, General Provisioners, New Lights, 
Freewillers, etc. Elder Randall had al- 
ready established large churches in Tarn- 
worth and in Strafford, in addition to those 
above named. The little vine soon ran 
over the wall — and in less than two years 
several churches were organized in the 
State of Maine, and their whole number 
was nine. In the fall of 1781, he made 
an eastern tour, and preached in several 
towns west of, and on, the Kennebec river, 
in most of which places he saw revivals 
commence, having in thirty-seven days 
preached forty-seven times, and travelled 
four hundred miles. Churches and min- 
isters continuing to multiply — for the pur- 
poses of preserving unanimity of views 
and co-operation of efforts, and for mutual 
edification, a quarterly meeting was or- 
ganized in four years from the first church 
organization. The quarterly meeting was 
held four times a year, in places which 
would best accommodate the churches, 
and its sessions continued two or three 
days. At these meetings the churches all 
represented themselves both by letters and 
delegates, all the ministers usually attend- 
ing and many of the private brethren. 
In these sessions the state of the churches 
was ascertained every three months, the 
business of the denomination was harmo- 
niously transacted, and several sermons 
preached before full assemblies. They 



were almost always the means of religious 
awakenings. In connection with the 
quarterly meeting a ministers' conference 
was held, in which doctrinal views were 
compared, Scriptures explained, and good 
instruction imparted to the younger por- 
tion of the ministry. Printed circulars 
were sent out to the churches, stirring 
them up to gospel holiness and active 
piety. These associations were found to 
be a rich blessing to the Freewill Baptist 
interest, and they have always been con- 
tinued, until, instead of one, there are 
now ninety-five quarterly meetings. 

Although the early ministers in the 
Freewill Baptist denomination had the pas- 
toral care of some church in particular, 
their services were not wholly given to 
their particular charge ; many effectual 
doors were opened to receive the gospel, 
numerous Macedonian cries for help were 
heard, and many of them travelled much. 
Elder Randall travelled extensively, and 
preached continually. At one place in 
his diary he says, " I have travelled this 
year more than twelve hundred miles in 
the service of truth, and attended above 
three hundred meetings." Stinchfield, 
Buzzell, and others also, itinerated exten- 
sively. In the first twelve years of the 
connection, Freewill Baptists had come to 
be quite numerous in New Hampshire and 
Maine, had extended into Vermont, and 
soon after Rhode Island and several other 
States. Several quarterly meetings were 
already constituted, distinct, yet acting in 
concert by messengers and correspond- 
ence. For the glory of God and the wel- 
fare of the increasing denomination, a 
yearly meeting was agreed on, which 
should embrace all the quarterly meetings 
in a general association, and present an 
opportunity for all parts of the connection 
to be directly heard from and represented 
once a year. The first yearly meeting 
was held in New Durham on the 9th, 
10th, and 11th of June, 1792 ; " a season 
of great blessing and long to be remem- 
bered." It was next held in Gorham, 
then in Parsonsfield, and so in turn at dif- 
ferent places as would best accommodate 
the Freewill Baptist community. As the 
quarterly meetings were composed of 
churches, and transacted their general 
and relative business : so the yearly meet- 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



77 



ing was composed of the several quarterly 
meetings, through their delegates, and 
transacted the general business of the de- 
nomination. This organization was also 
found to be of great advantage, and has 
been continued, there being now twenty- 
six such associations. Elder Randall died 
in 1808; his last written advice to his 
beloved connection contains much excel- 
lent instruction. At the time when God 
called from Zion's walls him who was the 
founder, and who had for so many years 
been the leading actor in the connection : 
its numbers and its ministry had greatly 
increased, and many of them were able 
ministers of the gospel of Christ, whose 
names would often come up, in a full his- 
tory of the denomination, but need not in 
our brief article. They have now ex- 
tended into several other States in the 
Union, and into Canada. No other Free- 
will Baptist minister has ever been so suc- 
cessful as an evangelist, or so extensively 
instrumental in publishing a free gospel in 
the more distant States, as Elder John 
Colby. He entered the ministry in 1809 ; 
preached a few years with great success 
in several of the eastern States, in one of 
which years he baptized three hundred. 
But the great West seemed constantly to 
rest on his mind with such impressions to 
preach the gospel of Christ in that vast 
field, as he could not well resist. Accord- 
ingly he spent much of his precious min- 
istry in several of the western States, and 
particularly in Ohio. Of the eastern 
States, Rhode Island richly shared in his 
successful labors. He died in Norfolk, 
Virginia, 1817, after an extensively useful 
ministry ; having baptized many hun- 
dreds, established and set in order numer- 
ous churches, and laid the foundation for 
several quarterly meetings in States then 
new ground to the denomination. 

It ought to be mentioned, in this con- 
nection, that the Freewill Baptist interest 
had not arisen and come down to this 
period without some internal trials. There 
obtained among them, at one time, some 
difference of sentiment in reference to the 
divinity of Christ. Some few of the 
churches and several ministers had im- 
bibed Arian or Unitarian views, to the 
great grief of the general body. Several 
ministers, who afterward figured consider- 



ably in the Christian connection, though 
Smith and some of the rest have never 
belonged to the Freewill Baptists, drew 
several of our ministers and a few 
churches into Unitarian views, and, in 
some instances, into the annihilation doc- 
trine, both of which were not regarded as 
scriptural or the sentiment of the connec- 
tion. A small secession was the result on 
the one hand, and on the other, unanimity 
of sentiment was restored. The Freewill 
Baptists have always been, and are, Trini- 
tarian. The above trial was not long 
felt, and it is presumed that others do not 
require to be mentioned in the present 
article. 

The Freewill Baptist denomination 
having now extended over a large portion 
of the country, and there being several 
yearly meetings, and the whole body 
being represented in no one of them : a 
General Conference was organized in 
1827, in which the whole connection should 
be represented. The General Conference 
was at first an annual, then a biennial, 
and now a triennial association. It is 
composed of delegates appointed by the 
twenty yearly meetings, and to it are re- 
ferred the general interests of the deno- 
mination, at home and abroad. Since 
1827, the period last mentioned, the Free- 
will Baptist interest has been constantly 
extending, and their numbers augmenting, 
not so rapidly as in some of the sister 
denominations, but in a good ratio. Of 
course for a long time they had to struggle 
with the numerous obstacles universally 
common to all new causes. From the 
first they have not, so much as older de- 
nominations, enjoyed the advantages of an 
extensive and liberal education. The 
harvest seemed truly great ; souls were 
perishing ; and many young men whom 
God called to preach, felt constrained to 
enter upon the great work without wait- 
ing a long time to acquire a regular edu- 
cation ; — they have been eminently, pious, 
the means of turning many to God, yet 
not so extensively useful as they would 
have been in the enjoyment of better early 
advantages. Intelligence, however, has 
for some years been, and is, increasing, 
both in the ministry and membership. 
From their origin the press has, more or 
less, been brought in to aid them. First, 



78 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



only their minutes and circulars, with 
occasional sermons, were published. Af- 
terward, for several years, Buzzell's Maga- 
zine, a Freewill Baptist Register, and 
other periodicals, were published ; and 
occasionally such books were printed as 
the wants of the connection demanded. 
For some twenty-two years last past the 
" Morning Star," the principal organ of 
the denomination, has made its weekly 
visits among them with an extensive cir- 
culation, and has accomplished for the 
cause a great amount of good. Though 
they regard the Holy Scriptures as their 
only rule of faith and practice, they have 
found it to their great advantage to pub- 
lish, some years ago, a Treatise of their 
Faith, which combines, summarily, the 
doctrines and usages of the connection. 
Standard hymn-books, works on the Free- 
dom of the Will, General Atonement, 
Divinity of Christ, Free Communion, 
Baptism, Ministry, etc., memoirs of Ran- 
dall, Colby, Marks, etc., have been pub- 
lished, and a complete History of the 
Freewill Baptists is now printing; and 
there is lately issued from the press a 
theological volume, by the principal of 
their Biblical School. Works and authors, 
though not numerous, are increasing 
among them. Though the Freewill Bap- 
tist ministry generally are not so learned 
as it were desirable, many of them having 
to pick up much of their biblical know- 
ledge as they preach, there is now in the 
ministry quite a number of liberally edu- 
cated men, and this number is yearly in- 
creasing. They have one Biblical School 
and several flourishing academies ; and it 
may be safely said, that their ministry is 
becoming better and better educated. 

The Freewill Baptists have arisen, essen- 
tially , by religious revivals ; by conversions 
and accessions from such as were " with- 
out," rather than by secessions from other 
denominations. Protracted meetings, and 
their quarterly and yearly associations, 
have been blessed of God, as well as the 
ordinary means of grace. In 1 841 , about 
two and a half thousands of* Free Bap- 
tists in the State of New York united with 
them. The Freewill Baptists have never 



* More generally known as Free Commu- 
nion Baptists. See succeeding article 



adopted a policy particularly calculated to 
increase their numbers. They would 
have numbered thousands of communi- 
cants more than they now do, but for their 
uncompromising anti-slavery position ; 
having withdrawn connection some years 
since from four thousand in North Caro- 
lina on account of their being slave-hold- 
ers ; and having refused, on the same 
principle, to receive into the connection 
some twelve thousand from Kentucky and 
vicinity, who sent a delegation, four years 
since, to the General Conference for that 
purpose. As a denomination, they have 
no connection whatever with the horrid 
system of slavery ; the General Confer- 
ence, Yearly, and Quarterly Meetings, 
having taken a strong and decided anti- 
slavery ground. Thence the reason why 
there are no more Freewill Baptists in the 
slave-holding states. The General Bap- 
tists of England are in their sentiments 
and usages with us, and a correspondence 
and exchange of publications, have been 
carried on for many years ; and their 
Foreign Missionaries, and ours, in Orissa, 
in part, co-operate together. Our con- 
nection have warmly espoused, and are 
zealously supporting, the various religious 
enterprises of the age. Finally — The 
Freewill Baptist denomination considers 
itself a humble branch of the great Chris- 
tian Church, a lesser tribe of the true 
Israel of God ; but purposes to do all it 
can for the salvation of immortal souls, 
and the extension of the Redeemer's king- 
dom among men. 

II. DOCTRINE AND USAGES. 

The Scriptures. — The Holy Scriptures, 
embracing the Old and New Testaments, 
were given by inspiration of God, and 
constitute the Christian's perfect rule of 
faith and practice. 

Of God. — There is only one true and 
living God, who is a spirit, self-existent, 
eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omnis- 
cient, omnipotent, independent, good, wise, 
just, and merciful ; the creator, preserver, 
and governor of the universe ; the re- 
deemer, saviour, sanctifier, and judge of 
men ; and the only proper object of divine 
worship : He exists in three persons, 
offices, distinctions or relations, — Father, 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



79 



Son, and Holy Ghost, which mode of ex- 
istence is above the understanding of finite 
men. 

Of Christ. — The Son of God possesses 
all divine perfections, which is proven from 
his titles : true God, great God, mighty 
God, God over all, etc. ; his attributes : 
eternal, unchangeable, omniscient, etc., 
and from his works. He is the only in- 
carnation of the Divine Being. 

Of the Holy Spirit. — He has the attri- 
butes of God ascribed to him in the 
Scriptures ; is the sanctifier of the souls 
of men, and is the third person in the 
Godhead. 

Of Creation. — God created the world 
and all it contains for his own glory, and 
the enjoyment of his creatures ; and the 
angels, to glorify and obey Him. 

Of man's primitive state, and his fall. 
— Our first parents were created in the 
image of God, holy and upright and free ; 
but, by yielding to temptation, fell from 
that state, and all their posterity with 
them, they then being in Adam's loins ; 
and the whole human family became ex- 
posed to temporal and eternal death. 

Of the Atonement. — As sin cannot be 
pardoned without a sacrifice, and the blood 
of beasts could never actually wash away 
sin, Christ gave himself a sacrifice for the 
sins of the world, and thus made salvation 
possible for all men. Through the re- 
demption of Christ man is placed on a 
second state of trial ; this second state so 
far differing from the first, that now men 
are naturally inclined to transgress the 
commands of God, and will not regain 
the image of God in holiness but through 
the atonement by the operation of the Holy 
Spirit. All who die short of the age of 
accountability are rendered sure of eternal 
life. Through the provisions of the atone- 
ment all are abilitated to repent of their 
sins and yield to God ; the Gospel call is 
to all, the Spirit enlightens all, and men 
are agents capable of choosing or refusing. 

Regeneration is an instantaneous reno- 
vation of the soul by the Spirit of God, 
whereby the penitent sinner, believing in 
and giving all up for Christ, receives new 
life, and becomes a child of God. This 
change is preceded by true conviction, 
repentance of, and penitential sorrow for, 
sin ; it is called in Scripture, being born 



again, born of the Spirit, passing from 
death unto life. The soul is then justified 
with God. 

Sanctif 'cation is a setting apart the 
soul and body for holy service, an entire 
consecration of all our ransomed powers 
to God; believers are to strive for this 
with all diligence. 

Perseverance. — As the regenerate are 
placed in a state of trial during life, their 
future obedience and final salvation are 
neither determined nor certain ; it is how- 
ever their duty and privilege to be stead- 
fast in the truth, to grow in grace, perse- 
vere in holiness, and make their election 
sure. 

Immediately after death, men enter a 
state of happiness or misery, according to 
their character. At some future period, 
known only to God, there will be a resur- 
rection both of the righteous and the 
wicked, when there will be a general 
judgment, when all will be judged ac- 
cording to the deeds done in the body; 
the righteous be admitted into eternal 
happiness, and the wicked assigned to 
eternal misery. 

These are the Freewill Baptist views of 
the principal points of Bible doctrine. 

The Church, Ordinances, Ministry. — 
A Christian church is an assembly of per- 
sons who believe in Christ, and worship 
the true God agreeably to his word. In 
a more general sense, it signifies the whole 
body of real Christians throughout the 
world. The church being the body of 
Christ, none but the regenerate, who obey 
the gospel, are its real members. Be- 
lievers are received into a particular 
church, on their giving evidence of faith, 
covenanting to walk according to the 
Christian rule, and being baptized. The 
ordinances % of the church are two, Bap- 



* " Washing; the Saint's feet. — At our fifth 
General Conference, held at Wilton, Me., in 
October, 1831, this subject was considered; 
and, after it had been harmoniously discussed, 
the following memorandum and agreement 
was made, viz : 

Whereas, the subject of washing the Saint's 
feet has produced no small excitement among 
Christians of our denomination, some churches 
and individual members believing that they 
have sufficient evidence from the New Testa- 
ment, to warrant the practice as an ordinance 
of the gospel, while other churches and indi- 



80 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



tism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is 
an immersion of the candidate in water, 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit ; the only proper 
candidate being one who gives evidence of 
a change of heart. Communion is a 
solemn partaking of bread and wine in 
commemoration of the death and suffer- 
ings of Christ. The Freewill Baptists are 
free communionists, extending an invita- 
tion to all members of regular standing in 
any of the evangelical denominations. 
The officers in the church are two, elders 
and deacons. The duty of elders, bishops 
or ministers, which office by either of these 
names includes pastors and evangelists, 
is to preach, administer the ordinances, 
and take the pastoral care of the church. 
Ministers are to consecrate themselves 
wholly to their calling, and to be sustained 
by the churches. No grade is acknow- 
ledged in the Christian ministry. The 
province of deacons is to attend to the 
pecuniary concerns of the churches, assist 
the minister in church labors, supply the 
communion-table, bear the elements to the 
communicants, and take the lead in social 
meetings when necessary. 

Usages of the Denomination. — Gov- 
ernment among the Freewill Baptists is 
not episcopal, but independent or residing 
in the churches. Each elects its own 
pastor, exercises discipline over its own 
members, and is not accountable to the 
Quarterly Meeting only as a church ; that 
is, Quarterly Meetings cannot discipline 
church members, but churches only. 
Churches are organized, and ministers 
ordained, by a council from a Quarterly 
Meeting ; and a minister, as such, is sub- 
ject to the discipline of the Quarterly 
Meeting to which he belongs, and not to 
the church of which he is pastor. Be- 
lievers are admitted as members of the 
church upon baptism or by letter, always 



vidual members have no evidence that satisfies 
their minds, of its having been practiced by 
the Apostles ; < Agreed, therefore, that all per- 
sons in connection with us, have a free and 
lawful right to wash their feet or not, as may 
best answer their consciences to God ; neither 
the performance or neglect of which should 
cause a breach of Christian fellowship.' Free- 
will Baptist Faith, p. 111. 

It is not now generally practised, though not 
entirely in dessuerude. 



by unanimous vote, but may be excluded 
by vote of two-thirds. Churches hold 
monthly conferences, and report once in 
three months to the Quarterly Meeting by 
letter and delegates. Though the New 
Testament is their book of discipline, they 
have usually written covenants. Some 
churches commune once in three months, 
others once in two months, others monthly. 
Quarterly Meetings are composed of 
several churches, varying in number ac- 
cording to circumstances. Their sessions 
are four times a year, continuing two and 
a half days. The members of a Quar- 
terly Meeting are ministers and such 
brethren as the churches may select. In 
these associations, preachers are appointed 
to supply, in part, destitute churches, can- 
didates for the ministry examined and 
licensed, councils appointed to .attend to 
ordinations, &c. A Ministers' Conference 
is held in connection with the Quarterly 
Meeting. Yearly Meetings are constituted 
of several Quarterly Meetings, associated 
in the same manner as churches are in 
the formation of a Quarterly Meeting. 
The Yearly Meetings do something at 
sustaining evangelists or itinerating min- 
isters ; transact the relative business of 
the Quarterly Meetings, and adopt other 
measures for the spread of the gospel. 
The General Conference is composed of 
a delegation, most of which are ministers, 
from all the Yearly Meetings in the con- 
nection. It is now held once in three 
years, its sessions continuing some nine 
or ten days. Its design is to promote unity, 
scriptural holiness, Bible doctrine, and 
discipline, throughout the whole denomi- 
nation. The General Conference has no 
powers except such as are committed to 
the delegates by those bodies which ap- 
point them. It proposes and recommends, 
but makes not laws for the connection. It 
is its proper province to deliberate on all 
such points of doctrine and practice as 
may be referred to it by the Yearly Meet- 
ings, or proposed by its own members, and 
give such advice as they think the Scrip- 
tures warrant, and the welfare of the con- 
nection requires. Also to recommend 
such measures as may promote God's 
glory and the denomination's interest ; 
such as, Home and Foreign Missionary 
Societies, book concern, and printing estab- 



HISTORY OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 



81 



lishment, seminaries of learning, and such 
other benevolent institutions as are neces- 
sary for the prosperity of the church. 

III. PRESENT STATISTICS. 

REVISED BY THE REV. A. D. WILLIAMS. 

The Freewill Baptist denomination 
now extends into most of the United 
States, Upper and Lower Canada, and the 
provinces of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- 
wick. In 1858 there were 155 Associa- 
tions, 1720 churches, 825 ordained minis- 
ters, 1500 baptisms, and 58,000 commu- 
nicants. This is, however, known to fall 
short of the real number; not including 
several conferences in the Slave States. 

Benevolent Institutions. — The " Free- 
will Baptist Foreign Mission Society" was 
organized twenty-two years ago, and has 
rendered good service. Through its mis- 
sionaries the doctrines of the gospel have 
been widely disseminated throughout Hin- 
dostan and other countries of Southern 
Asia. 

The "Freewill Baptist Home Mission 
Society" was instituted about the same 
time, and has a larger number of mission- 
aries in the field. At present it has seve- 
ral important stations in our large cities 
under its charge, as well as several mis- 
sionaries at the West. Compared with its 
resources, this Society has been very 
effective. 

The "Freewill Baptist Education So- 
ciety" sustains a Theological Seminary at 



Whitestown, N. Y., in connection with 
the Whitestown Seminary. Tuition, room 
rent, library, &c, free; and it is equally 
open to students from all denominations. 
The "Freewill Baptist Sabbath School 
Union" keeps a depository of Sabbath 
School books at Dover, N. H. Most of 
our churches have Sabbath Schools. 
There are also other benevolent associa- 
tions, particularly in the cause of tem- 
perance. 

Literary Institutions. — The following 
institutions are under the control of the 
Freewill Baptists : Michigan Central Col- 
lege, at Spring Arbor, Mich. ; Whitestown 
Seminary, Whitestown, N. Y. ; Geauga 
Seminary, Chester X Roads, Ohio ; Smith- 
ville Seminary, North Scituate, R. I. ; 
Parsonsfield Seminary, Parsonsfield, Me. ; 
and Strafford Academy, Strafford, N. H. 

The " Freewill Baptist Printing Estab- 
lishment" is a chartered association, lo- 
cated at Dover, New Hampshire, where 
most of their books and periodicals are 
printed. Its Trustees are appointed by 
the General Conference. The " Morning 
Star," a weekly newspaper ; the " Gospel 
Rill," a monthly missionary paper ; the 
" Myrtle," a semi-monthly Sabbath School 
paper; and the "Biblical Expositor and 
Review," are issued here. 

References. — Life of Randall; Buz- 
zell's Magazine; Life of Colby; Freewill 
Baptist Treatise ; Memoirs of David 
Marks; Freewill Baptist Register; Smart's 
Biblical Doctrine; Morning Star; Quar- 
terly Magazine ; and the Review. 



11 



82 



HISTORY OF THE FREE COMMUNION BAPTISTS. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE FREE COMMUNION BAPTISTS 



BY THE REV. A. D. WILLIAMS. 



THEIR ORIGIN. 

At the close of the seventeenth century, 
two pernicious errors had crept into eccle- 
siastical matters in some parts of New Eng- 
land. The first was that experimental 
religion was not deemed absolutely indis- 
pensable to the candidate for the ministry ; 
and the second, which measurably grew 
out of this, was a spirit of intolerance 
toward those who differed from the domi- 
nant church. To so great an extent was 
this carried, that the arm of civil power 
was brought to the aid of the clergy, to 
compel men to sustain and attend their 
ministrations. 

As a consequence, true godliness de- 
clined, and when the eloquent and devoted 
Whitefield sought to resuscitate it, he was 
bitterly opposed, and denounced from the 
high seats of learning, and from the pulpit. 
But the work of God was not thus to be 
stayed. In spite of persecution and deter- 
mined opposition, revivals followed him, 
and although he himself did not organize 
societies, yet the opposition and errors of 
the ministry and church induced many to 
come out from it. and establish separate 
meetings. Many of these were converted 
under the instrumentality of Whitefield, 
and took the name of " Separates." Dur- 
ing the first half of the eighteenth century, 
a number of these societies were formed 
in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Some 
of them soon, and all finally, became Bap- 
tists, without, however, practising close 
communion. In 1785, these churches 
united in an association called the " Groton 



Union Conference," which in 1790 num- 
bered 10 churches, 9 ministers, and 1521 
communicants ; besides four churches and 
three ministers which were not then con- 
nected with the conference. 

In the midst of the discussions and dif- 
ficulties of this division, a church was 
organized in the town of Westerly, R. I., 
April 4th, 1750, and Mr. Stephen Babcock 
ordained its pastor by Elder David Sprague 
a Baptist, and a Mr. Solomon Paine, a Pedo- 
baptist minister. This church was one of 
the ten which belonged to the Groton Con- 
ference. Ail of these churches were Cal- 
vinistic, and, gradually adopting the prac- 
tice of close communion, were merged into 
the Stonington Union Association of close 
Baptists, except the Westerly church, which 
had previously espoused Arminianism and 
withdrawn from ,Jhe conference. It still 
exists, but without any connection with 
other churches. 



GENERAL HISTORY. 

Just before the close of the eighteenth 
century, one of the members of this West- 
erly church, a Mr. Benajah Corp, who had 
commenced preaching, removed to Stephen- 
town, Renssalaer Co., N. Y. A revival of 
religion soon resulted from his labors there, 
and a number were found who desired to 
be organized into a church. A council 
was called from Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut, consisting of Elder Babcock of 
Westerly, and an Elder Crandall, who 
organized a church and ordained Mr. Corp 



HISTORY OF THE FREE COMMUNION BAPTISTS. 



83 



its pastor. It does not appear that any 
farther correspondence was ever main- 
tained. Elder Corp and his church met a 
decided opposition, but nevertheless the 
little vine grew and flourished. Mr. 
Nicholas Northrup, who had been a sailor, 
and was now a member of this church, 
commenced preaching; and finally was, 
at the request of the church, ordained by 
Elder Corp without assistance. Thomas 
Talman who had been one of Burgoyne's 
soldiers, was converted, joined the church, 
commenced preaching, and was ordained 
by Elders Corp and Northrup. Both of 
these men, as well as Elder Corp, were 
active and very efficient ministers. 

About this time a church was organized 
in Florida, (now Ames) Montgomery Co., 
N. Y., and George Elliott ordained its pas- 
tor. In 1797 Elder Corp settled in Russia, 
Herkimer Co., and in 1799 a most power- 
ful reformation resulted from his labors. 
A church was formed in June, 1800, by 
Elders Corp and Elliott, over which Elder 
Corp remained pastor, until his decease in 
1 838. He however travelled considerable, 
and assisted in many ordinations and orga- 
nizations of churches. He was a very 
useful preacher, much beloved, distin- 
guished for his tenderness of spirit and 
power of appeal, and died full of years and 
usefulness. Northrup remained for many 
years the efficient pastor of the church at 
Stephentown, and Talman raised up seve- 
ral churches in Canada which were after- 
wards gathered into a conference. Both 
died in faith. 

Another church was gathered in Rich- 
field, Otsego Co., over which John Straight 
was settled as pastor. Elder Straight 
proved to be a corrupt man, and the church 
finally became extinct. Before this how- 
ever a society was gathered in the adjoin- 
ing town of Plainfield, Oct. 8th, 1822, which 
still remains a permanent and efficient 
church. About this time a church was 
organized in Worcester, and Ezekiel Carr 
ordained, but Elder Carr dishonored the 
cause, and the church lost its visibility. 

John Farley, a member of the Richfield 
church, commenced preaching in 1801, and 
was ordained in 1803. He was a young 
man of vigorous intellect, and proved emi- 
nently successful. During all this time 
opposition and persecution ran high, but 



against none was it more furious than 
against Elder Farley. The settlers on the 
Mohawk river were mostly Dutch, and 
passionately devoted to the Dutch church, 
which had then had little more than the 
name to live. They called him John the 
Baptist, and took every means to annoy 
and oppose him. Finding their efforts 
vain, and that the work of the Lord spread 
rapidly, they applied to their minister to 
put him down ; but he wisely kept in the 
distance. At length Major Cassler, Col. 
Bellinger, and Judge Rosecrants were in- 
duced to meet him in a public disputation, 
but being effectually silenced, they soon 
quit the contest. He travelled consider- 
able, and revivals followed him wherever 
he went. As the result, churches were 
organised in Litchfield, Minden, (now Da- 
nube,) Whitmontown, Burlington, Stark- 
ville, and subsequently several others. 
He still lives, but has been disabled from 
preaching for a long time, by an affection 
of the throat. 

The churches had become so numerous 
that a general meeting or conference was 
held in 1803, composed of delegates from 
the several churches. Some say one was 
held as early as 1801. This conference 
afterward continued to meet annually, when 
the best means of promoting the cause of 
Christ were discussed, and strength gained 
by uniting in religious services. Devotion 
seems to be one of the prominent objects 
of these meetings, although the conference 
licensed and ordained ministers at the re- 
quest of the churches of which they were 
members, and attended to such matters of 
general interest as came before them. They 
disclaimed any power to revoke the deci- 
sions of individual churches. Councils, 
with advisory powers, were also appointed 
to deliberate in matters of difficulty. The 
name of Free Communion Baptists had 
already been adopted. 

From this time, their principles spread 
and their number rapidly increased. In 
1806, churches had been gathered in 
Canada, Vermont, and Pennsylvania ; and 
a correspondence opened with some Gene- 
ral Baptists in Virginia and the Carolinas. 
This correspondence was, however, soon 
after interrupted. Many new and efficient 
preachers were raised up, while the 
churches were continually strengthened 



84 



HISTORY OF THE FREE COMMUNION BAPTISTS. 



and many new ones gathered in the ad- 
joining towns and counties. There were 
churches among the Indians at Brother- 
town and Stockbridge. These tribes were 
mostly from the state of Rhode Island, and 
have now nearly dwindled away, and the 
churches which were subsequently united, 
have become extinct. They had two or 
three preachers among them, one of whom, 
Elder B. G. Fowler, is still living in Wis- 
consin. 

Elder Nathaniel Dickerson from New 
Jersey, visited the conference in 1811, and 
stated that there were about 400 in con- 
nection with him, who were similar to the 
Free Communion Baptists ; but from some 
unknown cause the correspondence was 
not long continued. Like all other deno- 
minations, they had their trials, — their 
scenes of adversity, as well as of prospe- 
rity. Not the least among these, was the 
defection of some of their ministers, and 
the consequent dispersion and extinction 
of several flourishing churches. Not- 
withstanding this they increased in num- 
bers and influence, so that in 1820, twenty- 
five churches were represented, containing 
2142 members. The Canada and Ver- 
mont churches were not represented, and 
it is probable that others were not. 

The Pennsylvania Conference, which 
was principally located in Susquehanna 
and Wayne counties, and then numbered 
700 members, soon began to decline ; and 
the remnants subsequently united with the 
Freewill Baptists, before the union of the 
main body. The churches in Massachu- 
setts and Vermont organized a conference, 
which soon after represented itself to the 
Freewill Baptist General Conference. 
They do not appear to have ever had 
any very close connection with the con- 
ference in N. Y. No very regular cor- 
respondence was maintained with the con- 
ference in Canada. In 1837, it had 11 
churches, 8 ministers, and 426 members. 
Some of these have since joined the Free- 
will Baptists in that province, and of the 
rest, the writer has little knowledge. 

A delegation from the Freewill Baptists 
attended a conference at Brothertown in 
1821, with the proposition of a union of 
the two bodies. For some reason this 
was entirely unsatisfactory, and the at- 
tempt was not renewed for several years. 



In the mean time the cause gained ground, 
and churches multiplied, many having been 
collected north of the Mohawk river ; as 
well as in Brookfield, Sherburne, Nelson, 
Columbus, McDonough, Lebanon, and 
several other places south of it. Thirty- 
five churches were represented in 1825, 
when a division of the conference was 
made ; the river being the dividing line. 
These were all in the state of New York, 
the other churches having ceased to repre- 
sent themselves to this body. The two 
bodies were called the Northern and 
Southern Conferences. The ministers, 
not before mentioned, who during this 
time had been most active and efficient, 
were Elders Caleb Easterbrooks, P. W. 
Lake, William Hunt, Russell Way, Ben- 
jamin Rowland, Amasa Dodge, Bennett 
Hart, and others. 

Of these, perhaps none were more effi- 
cient than Elders Easterbrooks and Hunt. 
The former was truly a foster father to 
the churches, possessed of considerable 
talent, extensive influence, and universally 
beloved. His death, in 1831, was a 
severe blow to the churches, from which 
they hardly recovered. The latter still 
lives, (1847,) but he is one who has come 
down to us from another generation. His 
head is frosted for the grave, and soon its 
embrace must hide him from our sight. 
But he goes like a shock of corn fully ripe. 
Very many will rise up and call him 
blessed, for but few men have been the 
instruments of the conversion of more 
sinners than he. Way, Rowland, and 
Dodge are also still living. 

After experiencing the mutations inci- 
dent to such bodies — the successes and 
reverses which are the lot of all, thirty- 
one churches were represented in the two 
conferences in 1835. Delegates were 
also, at the same time, appointed by them, 
which met and formed a General Confer- 
ence of the whole body, which likewise 
assembled annually. In 1836 the two 
conferences were each divided, making 
four Annual Conferences, representing 
themselves to the General Conference. 
These conferences were farther sub-divided 
into ten Quarterly Meetings, which held 
their sessions four times a year; while 
the Annual Conferences, which were still 
held, were composed of delegates from the 



HISTORY OF THE FREE COMMUNION BAPTISTS. 



85 



Quarterly Meetings, instead of directly 
from the churches, as heretofore. This 
sub-division took place in 1838. 

Many of the churches, especially in 
the Southern Conference, were accustomed 
to leave out the term " Communion" in 
their name ; and the second General Con- 
ference in 1836, voted to expunge it alto- 
gether, although many churches continued 
to use it. Hence they are sometimes 
known under the appellation of Free 
Baptists. The term " Open Communion" 
was also used for the same purpose. 
These names are all indicative of the same 
people. 

Their statistics were as follows, in 1840. 
A General Conference, 4 Yearly Confer- 
ences, 9 Quarterly Meetings, 51 churches, 
and 2,470 communicants. A few indivi- 
dual churches in the Northeastern part of 
the state had recently united with the 
Freewill Baptist Quarterly Meeting, and 
the German Q. M., including seven 
churches, had been expelled from the 
connection the year before for mal-prac- 
tice. Some of these churches have since 
been gathered up, and the rest have lost 
their visibility. 



EDUCATION, BENEVOLENT EXER- 
TION, ETC. 

Most of the ministers were men who 
had not enjoyed extensive literary and 
scientific privileges. A few, however, 
were well educated, and the need of the 
aid of education was early felt. No 
school under their charge, existed for 
some time, and such of them as obtained 
more than a common school education 
were either self-educated, or were indebted 
for it to the schools of other denominations. 
At length a systematic effort was made, 
and a Seminary, of the higher grade, was 
established, under flattering prospects, at 
Clinton, Oneida Co., N. ¥. The build- 
ings were soon found too straight for them, 
and the trustees disposed of their location 
and property here, and purchased the 
commodious buildings of the Oneida Insti- 
tute, at Whitestown, which had become 
private property. This was in 1844. In 
the same year the Freewill Baptists located 
their Theological Seminary at the same 
place, since which time, both departments 



have ranked among the best educational 
institutions in the country. 

The Free Communion Baptists also took 
a bold stand in favor of the various bene- 
volent operations of the age, such as Anti 
Slavery, Temperance, Moral Reform, Sab- 
bath Schools, and Missions. The rum 
drinker and the slave holder or their apo- 
logists were refused admission to their 
churches, pulpits, or communion. Re- 
spectable sums were raised for foreign and 
domestic missions. One of their ministers, 
Jeremiah Phillips, of Plainfield, N. Y., was 
sent out to Orissa, a province in Hindoos- 
tan, under the patronage of the Freewill 
Baptist Board of Missions, but they contri- 
buted most of his support. He is still la- 
boring, with a native church under his 
charge at Balasore, but as he has learned 
the language of the Santals and reduced 
it to writing, he will probably soon be 
transferred to a mission among that peo- 
ple. The Santals are a people living in 
the same country, but having a different 
language, customs, and religion from the 
Hindoos. 

They also generally take a strong stand 
against Secret Societies. 

DOCTRINE AND CHURCH POLITY. 

In these respects they were so similar 
to the Freewill Baptist, that little need be 
added. (See last article.) In the early 
history of the F. C. Baptists they gene- 
rally held to the so-called doctrine of the 
final perseverance of the saints ; but they 
soon regarded it with less tenacity, and 
finally abandoned it altogether. They also 
had written covenants and articles of faith, 
which some of the Freewill Baptists once 
discarded. They would not commune 
with anti trinitarians, nor does it appear 
that they ever regarded washing feet as a 
Gospel ordinance. 

Their church government was strictly 
congregational, and the power of their 
conferences, councils, etc., was only ad- 
visory, and had no authority to revoke 
the decisions of churches. A rule was 
adopted that, " If any elder in our con- 
nection be expelled for perjury, habitual 
drunkenness, theft, fornication, or adulte- 
ry, he shall not be restored to his official 
station." 



86 



HISTORY OF THE OLD SCHOOL BAPTISTS 



UNION OF THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS. 
For some time after the unsuccessful 
attempt at union with the Freewill Bap- 
tists in 1821, little correspondence was 
kept up with them. But eventually, as 
acquaintance became more intimate, the 
prejudices, differences, and local difficul- 
ties, measurably wore away, and it was 
gradually revived. After a little, there 
was several exchanges of ministers, which 
greatly hastened a union. Several com- 
mittees were respectively appointed by the 
General Conferences of the two denomina- 
tions, to investigate the matter, and not a 
little discussion and excitement was eli- 
cited by it. Various reasons induced 
several Free Communion Baptist ministers 
to strongly oppose the union, but the great 
majority were decidedly in favor of it. 
Considerable opposition arose to a change 
of name on both sides, and the matter 



was finally mutually compromised by 
agreeing that each church should adopt 
either name as it saw fit ; and that Free 
Communion, Free, and Freewill Baptists, 
should be significant of one and the same 
people. 

Thus the union was finally consum- 
mated in 1841, but a few churches and 
ministers refused to assent to it. Most of 
these have since joined, although the 
church in Russia, which Elder Corp or- 
ganized in 1800, still stands aloof. All 
the others that have not joined are well 
nigh, if not entirely, extinct. So the Free 
Communion Baptists are now known only 
as an integral part of the Freewill Bap- 
tist denomination. 

It should be noted that at the time of 
the origin of the F. C. Baptists, neither 
they nor the Freewill Baptists were aware 
of the existence of the other. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE OLD SCHOOL BAPTISTS. 



BY ELDER S. TROTT, OF CENTERVILLE, VA. 



The Old School Baptists hold themselves 
a separate church, as distinct from the 
New School, or Mission Baptists, and from 
the Reformed Baptists, or Campbellites, as 
from other denominations. 

Formerly our churches and associations 
stood in connection with what are now the 
Mission Baptists. When modern mission- 
ism and its kindred institutions began to be 
brought in among us, about 1813, some of 
our churches and associations would have 
nothing to do with them, some in a limited 
measure countenanced them ; others stood 
neutral, trying to bear with them rather 



than break fellowship with those whom we 
had been used to recognize as brethren. 

But at length, we becoming wearied with 
the continued increase of those humanly 
devised institutions, with the corruption in 
doctrine, which they fostered, the spirit of 
the world, which they brought into the 
churches, the confusion and contentions,- 
which they occasioned in the associations ; 
and further, being more sensibly convinced, 
as we trust, by the teachings of the Spirit, 
and from a comparison of those institutions 
with the Scriptures, that they are entirely 
diverse from that simplicity of order insti- 



HISTORY OF THE OLD SCHOOL BAPTISTS. 



87 



tuted by our Lord, and declared in the 
New Testament as the law of his kingdom, 
and by which he would keep his people 
constantly mindful, that, in the building up 
of his churches, in the giving to them pas- 
tors and teachers, and in the gathering in 
of his elect, the excellency of the power is 
of God, and not of us, a determination to 
separate began to be manifested, corres- 
pondence was had with "brethren in different 
sections of our country, and then a meet- 
ing was held of brethren from different as- 
sociations and states, and an address pub- 
lished in 1832, setting forth the reasons 
why we could not longer give countenance 
to any of that mass of institutions and so- 
cieties which had been introduced among 
us, nor fellowship to those who should con- 
tinue to adhere to them. 

This brought brethren, churches, and 
associations that had been groaning under 
the burdens of human inventions and im- 
positions in religion, to separate themselves, 
some sooner and some later, from the 
whole mass of the popular religion and 
religionists, and to take a stand, as a dis- 
tinct people, upon the old baptist standard, 
the holding of the Scriptures as the only 
and a perfect rule vf faith and practice, 
and Christ as the Foundation, the Head, 
and the Life of the church, the only source 
and medium of salvation. 

This separation occasioned the splitting 
of several associations, and many churches. 

We took, as a distinguishing appellation, 
the name, " Old School Baptists." This 
name we considered appropriate to us, not 
only as going back to the ancient order of 
Baptists, but also from its having been given 
to such as adhered to the old doctrine of 



-not as approving of 



predestination and special atonement, by 
those who thought themselves wiser, in 
having learned in Fuller's new school, that 
system which suspends every thing touch- 
ing salvation, on conditions to be complied 
with by the creature, and opened the flood- 
gate for letting in all those contrivances in 
religion, as though the bringing of the 
many sons unto glory depended on human 
effort. We thus use the appellation be- 
cause, as an opprobrious term, it was first 
given to those who held the doctrine for 
which we contend, 
scholastic religion. 

I am not furnished with data to give a 
correct statement of our numbers. There 
are but few States or Territories in the 
Union, in which there is not an association 
of churches of our order, and in most of 
them there are several associations. Some 
adhere to the former order of associations, 
that, of churches uniting to form a com- 
pound body by articles of constitution. 
Other churches simply agree to hold meet- 
ings together, yearly, or oftener, for keep- 
ing up a correspondence among them, 
rejecting the idea of such compound bodies 
being connected with the church of Christ, 
and all constitutional compacts among 
churches, believing that the love of the 
brethren will have a sufficiently binding 
influence. 

There are several periodicals published 
by Old School Baptists, the oldest of which, 
and the one most extensively circulated, is 
" The Signs of the Times," published by 
Elder Gilbert Beebe, at New Vernon, 
Orange county, N. Y. By our opponents 
we are called Anti-mission and Anti-effort 
Baptists', &c. 



Tl 



HISTORY OF THE SIX PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE SIX PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS. 



BY THE REV. A. D. WILLIAMS. 



The writer never had any connection 
with the Six Principle Baptists. He has 
been induced to write this brief and im- 
perfect sketch only from the following 
considerations. 1. The ministers of that 
denomination have been repeatedly and 
urgently solicited to write it ; but to no 
purpose. 2. They have requested the 
author to write such a sketch, and have 
thrown some documents into his hands 
for that purpose. 3. It is thought de- 
sirable that some information concerning 
this people should be given in this work. 
4. The urgent request of the publisher. 

" A Six Principle Baptist, who under- 
stands the true principles of his profession, 
does not esteem it necessary to have his 
tenets through the several ages of the 
church. He is fully persuaded, however 
early, or generally, other opinions may 
have prevailed, that those principles which 
distinguish him from other professions of 
Christianity,are clearly taught ancfenjoined 
by the great head of the church, in the grand 
commission to his Apostles." {Knight 's 
History of the S. P. Baptists, p. 5.) 

In the early part of the seventeenth 
century, Roger Williams was banished 
from Massachusetts, for "disapproving the 
arbitrary conduct of the Clergy," and ad- 
vocating liberty of conscience. He deter- 
mined to establish a colony where his 
views might be enjoyed unmolested. For 
that purpose he removed to Rehobath, but 
finding this to be within the limits of the 
Plymouth colony, he removed to a place 
which he named Providence. Here he 
and his adherents settled ; receiving freely 



and equally all who chose to come peacea- 
bly into their borders, whatever might be 
their religious opinions. Mr. Williams 
devoted himself assiduously to cultivating 
an intimacy with the Indians, and an ac- 
quaintance with their language. These 
he soon happily accomplished, and had 
the happiness, by this means, to avert the 
destruction of the colony which had pro- 
claimed him an outlaw. 

In the meantime, he became convinced 
that immersion only> was valid baptism. 
A difficulty was now presented, for though 
he had " received Episcopal Orders," as a 
clergyman, yet he never had been im- 
mersed, and no administrator who had 
been, was to be procured. At the organi- 
zation of his church, therefore, at Provi- 
dence, Mr. Williams was baptized by one 
of his members, Mr. Ezekiel Holliman, 
and he in turn baptized Mr. Holliman and the 
rest. This was the first Baptist Church 
in America. At first they held to " par- 
ticular redemption," and, generally, to the 
" laying on of hands." They soon deviated 
to " general redemption," and a tenacious 
adherence to the laying on of hands. How- 
ever, after various mutations and divisions, 
the church has given this up and now 
stands connected with the Close or Calvin- 
istic Baptists. 

But before this took place, various 
branches were established in adjoining 
towns, and a number of preachers were 
ordained. According to Bacchus, (vol. 
2. p. 120,) there were in Rhode Island, in 
1730, seventeen Baptist churches, of which 
thirteen were Six Principle Baptists. Va- 



HISTORY OF THE SIX PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS. 



89 



rious efforts were made by the surround- 
ing colonies to counteract these principles 
in Rhode Island, and restrict the liberty 
of conscience there enjoyed. Not the 
least amusing is a letter from the Massa- 
chusetts Presbyterian Association of Min- 
isters, requesting the toleration and sup- 
port of some of their ministers, as mission- 
aries, in the State. The letter was craftily 
written, and designed to answer a purpose, 
for they knew full well that their minister 
would receive the same toleration from gov- 
ernment that the Baptists did. But could 
they have induced the government to pass 
an ordinance to tolerate and support their 
worship, they would, in the end, have been 
able to make the civil power subserve them 
the same purpose that it did in the other colo- 
nies. The scheme however did not succeed. 

" Soon after the first settlement of this 
State, and the formation of a few of the 
first churches, (viz. Providence, Newport, 
Swansea, and North Kingston,) they, 
about the close of the seventeenth* cen- 
tury, united in a yearly meeting, composed 
of elders and messengers from the several 
sister churches, and such other brethren 
as could conveniently attend them, for the 
strengthening, edifying, and upbuilding of 
each other in the Redeemer's kingdom ; 
in setting in order the things that were 
wanting ; and in advising and assisting in 
accommodating any difficulties that might 
arise. These yearly meetings continued 
annually, and alternately at Providence, 
Newport, and Swansea, and sometimes 
North Kingston ; and, as other churches 
were organized, in the full faith and prac- 
tice of Christ's doctrine, they united with 
the yearly meeting, and as early as 1729, 
this body consisted of the union of twelve 
churches, and about eighteen ordained 
elders." 

" The yearly meeting," and churches 
composing the same, continued to increase, 
and went on their way rejoicing in the 
Lord, until 1764, when at a yearly meet- 
ing in Providence, they concluded to alter 
the name of their general convention into 
that of an association, consisting of the 



* My copy says " sixteenth," but this is evi- 
dently a misprint, as the first church, in Pro- 
vidence, was organized in A. D. 1639. Other 
evidence also proves that " seventeenth," was 
intended.— A. D. W. 



same churches and under similar rules 
and regulations as formerly." From 
1774 until 17S8, it seems that this asso- 
ciation was held semi-annually, at which 
latter time it was resolved that it should be 
held annually as before. " In 1797 the 
yearly meeting passed a resolve, ordering 
an exchange of all the public gifts in the 
fellowship, as might be directed by a com- 
mittee annually appointed for that purpose. 
In 1802 the yearly meeting was com- 
posed of representatives from twenty-one 
churches. The labors of the ministry in 
the Six Principle Baptist denomination 
have generally been confined to their own 
churches, or within a very small circle. 
Their ministers have generally been in 
indigent circumstances, and were obliged 
to labor to support themselves and fami- 
lies ; their churches not having been so 
much in the habit of affording pecuniary 
aid to their preachers, as other denomina- 
tions ; by reason of which they have not 
had the opportunity of travelling, and 
carrying their views into distant places." 

Notwithstanding, in 1812, five churches 
had been organized in New York, and one 
at Abington, Pa., which have since held a 
yearly meeting by themselves. These 
churches have dwindled, until but two 
remain — one in New York, and one in 
Pennsylvania. 

The history, from which the above ex- 
tracts are taken, was published in 1827, 
by which we learn that, in all, thirty-nine 
churches have at different times belonged 
to this denomination. Many of them had 
then lost their visibility, and still more at 
the present time ; so that in 1858 there 
were but eighteen churches, sixteen min- 
isters, and about three thousand commu- 
nicants. They are evidently decreasing, 
and unless something arrests its progress, 
they will undoubtedly eventually become 
extinct. But however we may regard 
them now, we can but respect them as the 
early defenders of religious freedom. 
They had every thing to contend with, 
both with and without, but manfully main- 
tained the struggle, and are now likely to j 
be swallowed up by those who prevail j 
mainly by the adoption of that for which 
they struggled — religious liberty. It is 
not the province of the writer to inquire 
for the cause, or causes, of their decrease. 



12 



90 



HISTORY OF THE SIX PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS. 



His additional duty is only to state their 
present position as impartially as he can. 
None will expect him to do it, as well as a 
member of the denomination described. 

DOCTRINE. 

They are Arminians, holding to a gen- 
eral, in opposition to a limited or particu- 
lar atonement, and hence they sometimes 
are termed, and term themselves, General 
Baptists. Their other peculiarities are 
principally what they deduce from the 
first three verses of the sixth chapter of 
Hebrews. These, they conclude, " con- 
tain the fundamental system of Christ's 
revealed plan and way of salvation to 
sinners." Hence they derive their name 
from the fact that six particulars are men- 
tioned in this passage ; viz. Repentance 
from dead works, Faith toward God, Doc- 
trine of Baptisms, Laying on of hands, 
Resurrection of the dead, and Eternal 
judgment. Repentance from dead works. 
They maintain that as all are sinners, all 
are under obligation to repent ; and " that 
except they repent they must all perish." 

Faith toward God. " Repentance will 
lead him (the sinner) to obtain ' faith tow- 
ard God,' " by which " he is born of the 
spirit, cleansed from all sin and guilt, has 
his heart purified, and is become a meet 
temple for the Holy Ghost to dwell in." 

The Doctrine of Baptisms. " The 
word is in the plural, and signifies more 
baptisms than one." 1. John's, " bap- 
tising with the baptism of repentance." 
2. The baptism of the Holy Ghost and 
with fire, on the day of Pentecost. This 
they think " the only baptism of the 
kind." 3. The baptism of Christ's suf- 
ferings. " But after the resurrection of 
Christ, the establishment of his kingdom 
here on earth, and his ascension to glory, 
there is, by the authority of his gospel, to 
be but 'one Lord, one faith, and one bap- 
tism,' viz. 4. The Apostles and their suc- 
cessors in the ministry, baptising the 
believers in Christ in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. The mode of this Baptism, ac- 
cording to the true signification of the 
word — is to dip, plunge, immerse, over- 
whelm, &c, representing the death, burial, 
and resurrection of Christ." 



Laying on of hands. This corresponds 
with Episcopal Confirmation. " They hold 
this rite in connection with, and of equal 
authority with, baptism and all the other 
principles of Christ's doctrine." As this 
is a point of great importance with them, 
they refuse communion, as well as church 
membership, to all who have not been 
" under hands." It is their principal dis- 
tinguishing feature. Resurrection of the 
dead. " The doctrine of the resurrection 
is the great pillar of the whole gospel 
system. The resurrection of Christ from 
the dead is that foundation, upon which 
all Christianity depends ; ' and if we believe 
that Jesus died and rose again, they also 
that sleep in Jesus, shall God bring with 
him.' But there shall be a resurrection 
both of the just and the unjust. They 
that have done good to the resurrection of 
life ; and they that have done evil to the 
resurrection of damnation." 

Eternal Judgment. " This is called 
the eternal judgment because it will finally 
decide, and unalterably fix, the eternal 
state of all God's accountable creatures." 

CHURCH GOVERNMENT, ETC. 

Their church polity is so similar to 
the other Baptists that it does not need a 
description. 

Their ministry generally has not been 
liberally educated, nor adequately sup- 
ported. Neither have they been forward 
in the so called reformatory movements 
of the day. By others they are classed 
as opposed to many or most of them, 
though perhaps they would not wish to be 
so regarded. They discard the payment 
or reception of a stated salary for their 
preachers ; and are generally opposed to 
Temperance, Moral Reform, and Anti- 
Slavery Societies ; and never have made 
any missionary effort. The grounds of 
opposition to these societies, the writer 
does not clearly understand, and hence 
cannot affirm. It is possible that they do 
not oppose the things themselves, but only 
these societies as a means of accomplish- 
ing the work. 

As far as he has been able, the writer 
has quoted from their published docu- 
ments ; but where it is not distinguished 
by quotation points, it must be understood 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN BAPTISTS, OR BRETHREN 



91 



that he is responsible. However he thinks 
he has not misrepresented them. 

A small paper called " John the Bap- 
tist" was published for a while by one of 
their ministers, but has been discontinued. 



Some of their principal ministers, are 
Pardon Tillinghast, Thomas Tillinghast, 
Richard Knight, O. W. Potter, William 
Stovyer, Albert Sheldon, and N. W. 
Warner. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE GERMAN BAPTISTS, OR BRETHREN 



BY THE REV. PHILIP BOYLE, UNIONTOWN, MARYLAND. 



The German Baptists, or Brethren, are 
a denomination of Christians who emi- 
grated to this country from Germany be- 
tween the years 1718 and 1730 ; they are 
commonly called Dunkers ; but they have 
assumed for themselves the name of " Bre- 
thren," on account of what Christ said to 
his disciples, Matt, xxiii. 8, " One is your 
Master, even Christ, and all ye are bre- 
thren." 

The following account of these people 
has been extracted from a work called 
" Materials toward a History of the Ame- 
rican Baptists," published in 1770, by 
Morgan Edwards, then Fellow of Rhode 
Island College, and overseer of the Baptist 
Church in Philadelphia : 

" Of the Germans in Pennsylvania who 
are commonly called Tunkers, to distin- 
guish them from the Menonists ; for both 
are styled £)ie gdufer, or Baptists. They 
are called Tunkers in derision, which is as 
much as ' sops? from tunken, to put a mor- 
sel in sauce ; but as the term signifies dip- 
pers, they may rest content with their nick- 
name. They are also called Tumblers, from 
the manner in which they perform baptism, 
which is by putting the person head for- 
ward under water, (while kneeling,) so as 
to resemble the motion of the body in the 
act of tumbling. The first appearance of 



these people in America was in the fall of 
the year 1719, when about twenty families 
landed in Philadelphia, and dispersed them- 
selves, some to Germantown, some to 
Skippack, some to Oley, some to Conesto- 
ga, and elsewhere. This dispersion inca- 
pacitated them to meet in public worship, 
therefore they soon began to grow luke- 
warm in religion. But in the year 1722, 
Baker, Gomery, and Gantzs, with the 
Trauzs, visited their scattered brethren, 
which was attended with a great revival, 
insomuch that societies were formed where- 
ever a number of families were within 
reach one of another. But this lasted not 
above three years ; they settled on their 
lees again ; till about thirty families more 
of their persecuted brethren arrived in the 
fall of the year 1729, which both quick- 
ened them again and increased their num- 
ber every where. Those two companies 
had been members of one and the same 
church, which originated in Schwartzenau, 
in the year 1708, in Germany. The first 
constituents were Alexander Mack and 
wife-, John Kipin and wife, George Grevy, 
Andreas Bhony, Lucas Fetter, and Joanna 
Neth'igum. Being neighbors, they agreed 
together to read the Bible, and edify one 
another in the way they had been brought 
up, for as yet they did not know there were 



92 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN BAPTISTS, OR BRETHREN. 



any Baptists in the world. However, be- 
liever's baptism and a congregational 
church soon gained on them, insomuch 
that they were determined to obey the 
gospel in those matters. These desired 
Alexander Mack to baptize them, but he 
deeming himself in reality unbaptized, re- 
fused j upon which they cast lots to find 
who should be administrator; on whom 
the lc* fell hath been carefully concealed. 
However, baptized they were in the river 
Eder, by Schwartzenau, and then formed 
themselves into a church, choosing Alex- 
ander Mack as their minister. They in- 
creased fast, and began to spread their 
branches to Marienborn and Epstein, hav- 
ing John Naas and Christian Levy as their 
ministers in those places ; but persecution 
quickly drove them thence : some to Hol- 
land, some to Crefelt. Soon after the 
mother church voluntarily removed from 
Schwartzenau to Serustervin, in Friesland, 
and from thence migrated toward Ameri- 
ca in 1719 ; and in 1729 those of Crefelt 
and Holland followed their brethren. Thus, 
we see, all the ' Tanker churches' in Ame- 
rica sprang from the church of Swartze- 
nau in Germany ; that that church began 
in 1708, with only eight souls, and that in 
a place where no Baptist had been in the 
memory of man, nor any now are ; in 
sixty -two years ' that little one is become 
a thousand, that small one a great nation.' 
It is very difficult to give a true account 
of the principles of these Tunkers, as they 
have not published any system or creed, 
except what two individuals have put forth, 
which has not been publicly avowed. 
However, I may assert the following things 
concerning them, from my own knowledge, 
viz., general redemption they certainly 
hold, and with all general salvation. ' They 
use great plainness of dress and language, 
like the Quakers, and like them will neither 
take an oath nor fight. They wil not go 
to law, nor take interest for the money 
they lend.* They commonly wear their 
beards, and keep the first day (except one 
congregation.)! They celebrate the Lord's 



* The taking of interest is now tolerated 
among them, but most of them do not demand 
or take full lawful interest, and some of them 
do not take any interest for the money they 
lend to their poorer brethren. 

j- It is quite probable the author here alludes 



Supper, with its ancient attendants of love- 
feasts, washing feet, kiss of charity, and 
right hand of fellowship. They anoint 
the sick with oil for recovery ; and use the 
trine immersion, with laying on of hands 
and prayer, even while the person baptized 
is in the water, which may easily be done, 
as the person kneels down to be baptized, 
and continues in that posture till both 
prayer and imposition of hands be per- 
formed. Their church government is the 
same with the English Baptists, except that 
every brother is allowed to stand up in the 
congregation, and speak by way of exhor- 
tation and expounding ; and when by these 
means they find a man eminent for know- 
ledge, and possessing aptness to teach, 
they choose him to be their minister, and 
ordain him with laying on of hands, at- 
tended with fasting and prayer, and giving 
the right hand of fellowship. They also 
have deacons, and aged women for dea- 
conesses, who are allowed to use their gifts 
statedly. They do not pay their ministers, 
unless it be by way of presents ; neither 
do their ministers assert their right to pay, 
esteeming it c more blessed to give than 
receive.' Their acquaintance with the 
Bible is admirable : in a word, they are 
meek and pious Christians, and have justly 
acquired the character of ' Harmless Tun- 
kersS " The Rev. E. Winchester, one of 
the Baptist missionaries from England, in 
a work published by him in the year 1787, 
gave, among other things, the following 
account of these people : " They are in- 
dustrious, sober, temperate, kind, charit- 
able people ; envying not the great, nor 
despising the mean. They read much, they 
sing and pray much ; they are constant 
attendants upon the worship of God ; their 
dwelling-houses are all houses of prayer : 
they walk in the commandments and ordi- 
nances of the Lord blameless, both in 
public and private. They ' bring up their 
children in the nurture and admonition of 
the Lord.' The law of kindness is in their 



to the (Sieben Taeger) Seventh Day Baptists, 
who formed a settlement at Ephrata, in Lan- < 
caster County, in Pennsylvania, in the year 
1724. These are the same people meant and : : 
described under the name Dunkards, in Buck's 
Theological Dictionary; there is no account 
given of the German Baptists or Brethren in 
that work. 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN BAPTISTS, OR BRETHREN. 



93 



mouths ; no sourness or moroseness dis- 
graces their religion : and whatsoever they 
believe their Saviour commands they prac- 
tise, without inquiring or regarding what 
others do." 

Though they in general maintain the 
same principles at this present time, yet 
they themselves confess there is not that 
same degree of vital piety existing among 
them that there was at the close of the 
eighteenth century ; owing, as they think, 
to the circumstance of many of them hav- 
ing become very wealthy, and of their in- 
termarriage with others. 

The German Baptists, or Brethren, 
have now dispersed themselves almost 
through every State in the Union, more 
or less ; but they are most numerous in 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, 
and Indiana. It would be a difficult task 
to give a regular statistical account of these 
people, as they make it no part of their 
duty to keep an exact account of the num- 
ber of communicants. Some of their 
larger congregations number from two to 
three hundred members ; each congrega- 
tion has from two to three preachers, and 
some more. In travelling and preaching 
there are in general two together ; and 
very frequently one speaks in German, 
and the other in the English language, to 
the same congregation. None of their 
ministers receive any pecuniary compen- 
sation for any services they perform per- 
taining to the ministry ; they preach, offi- 
ciate at marriages and funerals among all 
who call upon them, without respect to 
persons : though their ministers will not 
perform the rites of matrimony, unless 
they can be fully satisfied that there are 
no lawful objections in the case of either 
of the parties to be married. 

Their teachers and deacons are all 
chosen by vote, and their bishops are 
chosen from among their teachers, after 
they have been fully tried and found faith- 
ful ; they are ordained by the laying on 
of hands and by prayer, which is a very 
solemn and affecting ceremony. It is the 
duty of the bishops to travel from one con- 
gregation to another, not only to preach, 
but to set in order the things that may be 
wanting ; to be present at their love-feasts 
and communions, and, when teachers and 
deacons are elected or chosen, or when a 



bishop is to be ordained, or when any 
member who holds an office in the church 
is to be excommunicated. As some of 
the congregations have no bishops, it is 
also the duty of the bishop in the adjoining 
congregation to assist in keeping an over- 
sight of such congregations. An elder I 
among them is, in general, the first or 
eldest chosen teacher in the congregation 
where there is no bishop; it is the duty 
of the elder to keep a constant oversight 
of that church by whom he is appointed 
as a teacher. It is his duty to appoint 
meetings, to baptize, to assist in excom- 
munication, to solemnize the rites of ma- 
trimony, to travel occasionally, to assist 
the bishops, and in certain cases to per- 
form all the duties of a bishop. It is the 
duty of their teachers to exhort and preach 
at any of their regular stated meetings ; 
and, by the request of a bishop or elder, 
to perform the ceremony of baptism and 
rites of matrimony. 

It is the duty of their deacons, (or, 
as they are sometimes called, visiting 
brethren,) to keep a constant oversight of 
the poor widows and their children, to 
render them such assistance as ma}'- be 
necessary from time to time ; it is also 
their duty to assist in making a general 
visit among all the families or members 
in their respective congregations, at least 
once a year, in order to exhort and com- 
fort one another, as well as to reconcile 
all offences that may occur from time to 
time. It is also their duty to read the 
Scriptures, to pray, and even exhort, if it 
may appear necessary, at their regular 
meetings of worship. 

The general order of these people has 
been to hold their meetings for public 
worship at dwelling-houses ; but in some 
of their congregations they have now 
erected meeting-houses, or places ex- 
pressly for worship. Some of them arc 
built very large, without a gallery or a 
pulpit. 

They, as yet, have but one Annual 
Meeting, which is held every year about 
Whitsuntide, and is attended by the bishops 
and teachers, and other members, who 
may be sent as representatives from the 
various congregations. At these meetings j 
there is, in general, a committee of five , 
of the eldest bishops chosen from among : 



94 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN BAPTISTS, OR BRETHREN. 



those who are present, who retire to some 
convenient place, to hear and receive such 
cases as may then be brought before them, 
by the teachers and representatives from 
the various congregations, which are (or 
at least the most important of them) after- 
wards discussed and decided upon, and 
then those several queries with the con- 
siderations as then concluded, are recorded 
and printed in the German and English 
languages, and sent to the teachers in all 
the different congregations in the United 
States, who, when they receive them, or 
as soon as convenient, read them to the 
rest of their brethren. By this course of 
proceeding, they preserve a unity of sen- 
timent and opinion throughout all their 
congregations. 

Some of their ministers manifest a great 
deal of zeal in their Master's cause ; and 
although some of them are poorly circum- 
stanced in the world, yet they, at their 
own expense, leave their families for seve- 
ral weeks in succession, and some even 
longer, to preach the Gospel to others. 
They have had a general revival amongst 
them within the few last years past ; 
many have been convicted and converted 
under their preaching, and the cause of 
religion seems to be progressing among 
them ; and what might seem strange to 
some, is, that they baptize by immersion, 
and that at any season of the year. 

In connection with what has been said 
in the commencement of our account, con- 



cerning their doctrines, &c, we will only 
add, by way of conclusion, that they be- 
lieve that God is no respecter of persons, 
but in every nation, he that feareth him 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted 
with him ; and that God so loved the 
world that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth on him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life : and 
that God sent his Son into the world, to 
seek and to save that which was lost, be- 
lieving that he is able to save to the utter- 
most all that come unto God through a 
crucified Redeemer, who tasted death for 
every man, and was manifested to destroy 
the works of the devil. And although it 
has herein been testified, that they hold 
general redemption as a doctrine, still it 
is not preached among them in general, 
as an article of faith. It has probably 
been held forth by those who felt them- 
selves, as it were, lost in the love of God ; 
and, perhaps, on this account, they have 
been charged with holding the sentiments 
of the Universalists, which they all deny. 
They conceive it their duty to declare the 
whole counsel of God, and therefore they 
feel themselves bound to proclaim his 
threatenings and his judgments against the 
wicked and ungodly ; yet in accordance 
with their general principles, which are 
Love and Good Will, they are more fre- 
quently led to speak of the love and 
goodness of God towards the children of 
men. 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS. 



95 



HISTORY 



OP 



THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS, 

BY W. B. GILLETT, 

PASTOE OF THE SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST CHURCH, PISCATAWAY, N. J. 



Every denomination is proud of tracing 
its origin back to its founder. But not so 
with the Seventh Day Baptists. They 
have no authentic records by which they 
can ascertain their origin, other than the 
New Testament Neither would they 
pretend that they can trace their existence 
back through the dark ages to the Apos- 
tles ; yet they are bold to say they can 
do it with as much, or with more certainty, 
than any denomination now in existence. 

The sentiments to which they hold, and 
the principles that distinguish them from 
the religious world, they think, they are 
able to show, were taught by the Apostles, 
and practised by the early Christians. 
That the seventh day Sabbath, was ob- 
served by the Church, until the decree of 
Constantine, profane history abundantly 
shows ; and very soon all the Roman do- 
minions felt the effects of God's law being 
made void by human traditions. 

Although the mystery of iniquity began 
to work before the Apostles left the stage, 
it had not shown itself supported by the 
secular arm, until, under the pretence of 
doing honor to Jesus Christ, God's law 
was set at naught, and human laws, 
unjust and cruel, enacted in its stead. 

In Chambers's Dictionary of Arts and 
Sciences, he says, "In 321, the seventh 
day was observed in Rome, and the enact- 
ing of Constantine's laws, relative to the 
observation of the first day, shows, that it 
was not regarded as holy time." 

Robinson in his History of Baptism 



says, " That there were forty-four Jewish 
Christian churches in Rome, which must 
have been in the latter part of the second 
century." What is required to constitute 
a Jewish Christian Church, in Mr. Robin- 
son's opinion, is evident from what he 
says of the Council of Bishops, in 517. 
He calls them, "African Jewish Chris- 
tians." The charge alleged against them 
is, that in one of their canons they had 
done something towards regulating the 
keeping of the Sabbath. It is probable 
that those forty-four churches in Rome, 
were guilty of the same offence. 

Mosheim gives an account of a sect in 
the twelfth century, in Lombardy, who 
were called Passagenians, or the circum- 
cised ; they circumcised their followers, 
and celebrated the Jewish Sabbath. The 
account of their practising circumcision is 
doubtless a slanderous story ; and, because 
they observed the seventh day, they were 
called, by way of derision, Jews. 

There were Seventh Day Baptists in 
Transylvania. Francis JDavidis, first 
chaplain to the court of Sigismund, the 
prince of that kingdom, and afterwards 
superintendent of all the Transylvania 
churches, was a Seventh Day Baptist. 
(Bened's Hist. vol. ii. p. 414.) 

As these Eastern churches have uni- 
formly practiced immersion for baptism, 
these extracts show that there have been 
Christian churches from the earliest ages 
of Christianity, who agree in sentiment 
with the Seventh Day Baptists in America. 



96 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



But it is uncertain whether the English 
Seventh Day Baptists orignated from these 
Eastern churches, or whether they were 
led to embrace their views from the Scrip- 
tures only ; their views have ever been 
the same as those entertained by the 
earlier Christians, who have observed the 
seventh day of the week. At what time 
the Seventh Day Baptists first made their 
appearance in England, is uncertain. It 
is apparent that the Anglo-Saxons in their 
early settlement of Great Britain, were 
many of them Seventh Day Baptists. 
But the same tyranny that affected the 
Church at Rome, spread its baneful influ- 
ence over the island of Great Britain. 

Dr. Chambers says, " There was a 
sect arose in the sixteenth century, but 
we have no particular account of their 
churches until about 1650." In 1668 
there were nine or ten churches, besides 
many scattered disciples in different parts 
of the kingdom. About this time there 
was much debate upon the subject of the 
Sabbath, and the controversy became 
sharp ; there were engaged in it, on both 
sides, men of learning and ability, and 
some of their works are still extant. 

While they were permitted to enjoy 
their privileges peaceably, they prospered, 
notwithstanding the influence of the pul- 
pit and the press. In 1668, Mr. Edward 
Stennett, a Seventh Day Baptist minister, 
and pastor of a church in England, writes 
to his friends in America, and says, the 
churches here have their liberty, but we 
hear that strong bonds are making for us. 
And it was this good man's lot to bear a 
part of the persecutions of that day. For 
the Conventicle Act forbid them to meet 
on the Sabbath for worship at any rate. 
If they met on the Sabbath, they had to 
do it by stealth; whilst their enemies 
were ever watchful, to find, if possible, 
some accusation against them. Mr. Sten- 
nett was arrested under pretence that he 
held meetings in his house, which meet- 
ings he had held in his hall for a long 
time, but they were managed with so much 
discretion, that it was impossible for those 
inimical to them to be admitted, so as to 
appear as witnesses against the persons 
who met there. At length a neighboring 
clergyman, resolved to suborn witnesses, 
but in this he was defeated. And he was 



a clergyman who had professed great 
friendship for Mr. Stennett. Mr. Stennett 
knowing that no proof of those charges by 
those witnesses, could be made justly, he 
resolved to traverse it. Various circum- 
stances occurred that were all in his 
favor ; so that when Mr. Stennett came to 
Newburg, neither prosecutor nor witness 
appearing against him, he was discharged. 
After this he was confined a long time in 
prison. 

Many of the Seventh Day Baptist min- 
isters were taken from their families and 
congregations, and were cast into prison. 
Among the number was Rev. Joseph 
Davis, who was a long time prisoner in 
Oxon Castle. Francis Bamfield was one 
of the most eminent ministers of his time. 
He was educated at Oxford, and was a 
number of years a minister of the estab- 
lished church. In the time of the civil 
wars he was against the Parliament, and 
opposed to the Protector's usurpation ; he 
suffered much on that account. At what 
time he became a Baptist is not known, 
but on the restoration of Charles, he was 
treated with unrelenting severity. In one 
prison he was confined eight years. After 
that he was released, went to London, and 
gathered a church that still exists as a 
Seventh Day Baptist Church ; after that 
he was again imprisoned, and there died 
in 1683. 

Robert Spaulder and John Mauldin, 
were Seventh Day Baptists, and much 
persecuted ; and Spaulder was even taken 
out of his grave by his persecutors. 
(Bene's Hist. vol. ii. p. 417.) But the 
most barbarous and cruel acts of persecu- 
tion Were practiced upon John James, the 
minister of a Seventh Day Baptist Church 
in London ; he was put to death in a most 
cruel manner in 1661. To take away his 
life was not enough to satisfy his enemies, 
but after being hung at Tyburn, he was 
drawn and quartered, his quarters were 
carried back to Newgate on the sledge 
that carried him to the gallows ; they were 
afterwards placed on the gate of the city, 
and his head was placed on a pole, oppo- 
site his meeting house. He went to the 
gallows as an innocent man, and died in 
a joyful manner. This is a brief narra- 
tive of the prosperity, trials, and sufferings 
of the early Seventh Day Baptists in Eng- 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



97 



land. Some left the country, others still 
adhered to their peculiar views ; even to 
the present day there are a few small 
churches in England. There are two in 
London, one at Shoreditch, one at Mill 
Yard, but their numbers must be small ; 
and there are some scattering individuals 
throughout the kingdom, and some in 
Scotland. 

In 1665, Mr. Stephen Mumford, a 
Seventh Day Baptist, came from England 
to Newport, Rhode Island, and soon Mr. 
Samuel Hubbard, a Baptist, embraced his 
views ; there were others who soon em- 
braced the same sentiments, but they con- 
tinued to travel together in the same 
church, until 1671. Mr. Hubbard has 
left a manuscript journal, in which he 
gives an account of their separation. 
Soon after this (alluding to their embrac- 
ing the Sabbath,) many hard things were 
said to the Sabbath-keepers by their breth- 
I ren, that they had gone from Christ to 
Moses ; that the gentiles had nothing to 
do with the ten commandments. And in 
1681, they came to an open separation, 
when these brethren and sisters entered 
into church-fellowship together, and be- 
came the first Seventh Day Baptist Church, 
in America. This little church being thus 
constituted, William Hiscox became their 
first pastor ; but a hostile spirit was soon 
raised against this little band, and laws 
were enacted severe and criminal in their 
nature. John Rogers, a member of this 
church, was sentenced to sit a certain time 
upon a gallows with a rope about his neck, 
to which he submitted. 

There were many other severities prac- 
tised upon the Sabbath-keepers in New 
England, while the Baptists were perse- 
cuted for their baptism. The Seventh 
Day Baptists met with opposition from all, 
and as far as the civil laws would permit, 
they suffered the dire effects arising from 
this state of things. 

From these and other causes the pro- 
gress of the Seventh Day Baptists has 
been very much impeded. Their history 
details no remarkable revolution in their 
favor. Worldly honors, interest, influence 
and convenience are against them, and 
have always been opposed to their perse- 
verance in the observance of the Sabbath. 
The members composing the church at 



Newport have felt the disadvantages at- 
tending them in a city, and for years they 
have been on the decline ; since many 
have removed to different parts of. the 
State, and some made their way into the 
far West, where they have been the means 
of establishing churches, some of which 
arc large and flourishing. But this event 
has not terminated in extinguishing the 
little light ; although the mother church 
has become very weak and almost extinct. 
This church has had a succession of 
worthy ministers, the most of them were 
born, ordained, and preached, and died, 
members of that church. 

The church at Hopkinton, R. I., was 
established by brethren from Newport, in 
1708. For a number of years this church 
numbered nine hundred members, but 
several churches have since been consti- 
tuted in the vicinity, by members from 
this church. They still number over five 
hundred members, having two ordained 
ministers, and an elegant meeting-house 
on the banks of the Paucatuck river. 

From this church there have been sent 
out many ministers, who have been last- 
ing blessings to the cause of truth. There 
are now in Rhode Island seven churches, 
six ordained ministers, and not far from 
one thousand communicants ; and 'from 
these churches the tide of emigration has 
taken hundreds into the western country. 

In the State of Connecticut there are 
but two small churches, which probably 
number one hundred communicants, and 
but one ordained minister. 

The Seventh Day Baptists in New Jer- 
sey arose from different circumstances. 
One Edmund Dunham, a First Day Bap- 
tist member, became convinced that he 
and his brethren were in an error as it 
regarded the Sabbath of the Lord. He f 
presented his views to his brethren, and 
about twenty of his brethren and sisters 
came out with him in sentiment. They 
separated from the First Day church, and 
entered into covenant together, to walk 
together as a gospel church, in 1705, and 
sent Edmund Dunham to Rhode Island to 
receive ordination, and he was chosen their 
pastor. 

They are located in the county of Mid- 
dlesex, Piscataway township, thirty miles 
from New York city, and six miles from 



13 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



New Brunswick. As a church, they have 
been called in years past to pass through 
many severe trials, but God sustained 
them ; yet for a few years past their his- 
tory has been more favorable. They have 
now a neat and elegant house of worship, 
and a parsonage farm on which their 
pastor lives. At present they number 170 
communicants. 

The church at Plainfield, was formed 
of members from this church, in 1838. 
They have a beautiful house of 'worship 
in the village of Plainfield ; numbering 
about 70 communicants, — at present with- 
out a pastor. 

A few families removed from Piscata- 
way to Cumberland county, forty miles 
below Philadelphia, at an early day, and 
a few families of Welsh extraction settled 
there from the State of Delaware. They 
were constituted into a church, in 1737. 
Jonathan Davis was their first pastor. 
They are situated in a pleasant country, 
at the village of Shiloh, where they have 
an ancient brick meeting-house, adjoining 
to which is their graveyard, where a num- 
ber of generations have been deposited to 
wait until the resurrection morn. Among 
this multitude is a number of worthy 
ministers, who have finished their work 
and have gone to rest, and the place 
where they lie is marked to the stranger 
by the large marble monument, on which 
we read a brief history of their lives. 
The church now numbers 226 communi- 
cants. 

The church in Salem County, New 
Jersey, was formed by members from the 
church at Shiloh, in 1811. Jacob Ayars, 
since deceased, was their pastor. They 
are well situated, but a few miles from 
Shiloh. They have a comfortable house 
of worship, and number near 100 com- 
municants. 

In the State of New Jersey there are 
four churches, four ordained ministers, and 
about 560 communicants. 

There are a number of families in the 
city of New York, of Seventh Day Bap- 
tists ; they have not been constituted into 
a church, but they hold meetings Sabbath 
I days at their own houses. The Seventh 
Day Baptists in the State of New York, 
first moved from Rhode Island, and set- 
tled in different parts, so that at the pre- 



sent they are more numerous than in any 
other State. There is in this State as 
follows : 

In Rensselaer County, two churches — 
Berlin, 223 communicants ; Petersburg!!, 
142 communicants. 

Madison County — Brcokfield, three 
churches ; first, 309 communicants ; se- 
cond, 143 communicants ; third, 136 com- 
municants ; De Ruyter, 1 45 communicants. 

Chenango County — Preston, 72 com- 
municants ; Otselic, 36 communicants. 

Otsego County — Lincklean, 122 com- 
municants. 

Jefferson County — Adams, 218 com- 
municants ; Houndsfield, 44 communi- 
cants. 

Lewis County — Watson, 45 communi- 
cants. 

Oneida County — Verona, two churches; 
first, 113 communicants ; second, 20 com- 
municants. 

Cortland County — Truxton, 78 com- 
municants; Scott, 181 communicants. 

Erie County — Clarence, 157 communi- 
cants. 

Cattaraugus County — Persia, 86 com- 
municants. 

Alleghany County — Alfred, 2 churches ; 
first, 448 communicants; second, 165 
communicants ; Amity, 32 communicants ; 
Scio, 35 communicants ; Independence, 
100 communicants ; Friendship, 133 com- 
municants ; Bolivar, 58 communicants ; 
Genesee, three churches; first, 159 com- 
municants ; second, 47 communicants ; 
third, 54 communicants. 

In the State of New York are twenty- 
seven churches, three thousand four hun- 
dred and ninety-one communicants, nine- 
teen ordained ministers, and a number of 
licentiates. 

In the early settlement of this country 
there were five churches established in 
the vicinity of Philadelphia, but there were 
not more than thirty members in them all, 
but they have been long since extinct. In 
Fayette County, Pennsylvania, is a small 
church, not exceeding 20 communicants. 
In Potter County, Pennsylvania, there is 
a church numbering 41 communicants, 
but no minister. And in Crawford County, 
Pennsylvania, there is a church number- 
ing 75 communicants. They have a 
| meeting-house and pastor. 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



99 



In Pennsylvania, there are three 
churches, 136 communicants, and but one 
ordained minister. 

The Seventh Day Baptists in the State 
of Virginia, emigrated first from New 
Jersey, and constituted a church in Har- 
rison County, at New Salem, 1745 ; they 
now number 58 communicants. Lost 
Creek, 61 communicants ; South Forks 
Hughes River, Wood County, 20 com- 
municants ; North Forks Hughes River, 
] 5 communicants. In Virginia there are 
four churches, two ordained ministers, 
and 154 communicants. 

The Seventh Day Baptists in Ohio, 
emigrated from Virginia and New Jersey, 
and settled in Clark County, Pike, and 
constituted a church, in 1824 ; they num- 
ber 30 communicants ; Port Jefferson, 46 
communicants ; Sciota, 20 communicants ; 
Jackson, 38 communicants ; Stokes, — 
communicants. There are in Ohio, five 
churches, three ordained ministers, pro- 
bably 200 communicants, as there is a 
number of settlements where churches 
will soon be formed. 

There are numerous settlements of 
Seventh Day Baptists, in Illinois, although 
there is but one small church ; there is 
also a small church in Iowa Territory. 
There is a number of settlements in 
Michigan, but no church. In Wisconsin 
Territory, there is a church numbering 
near 100 communicants, and two minis- 
ters. Besides these, there are scattered 
families in every State, and in almost all 
our cities. 

There are in the United States sixty- 
seven churches, seventy ordained ministers, 
and about seven thousand communicants. 
They are divided into four associations. 
The Eastern Association includes the 
churches in Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
and New Jersey. The Central Associa- 
tion includes the churches in the State of 
New York, east of the small lakes. The 
Western Association includes the churches 
in the western part of New York and 
Pennsylvania. The Southwestern, the 
churches in Virginia, Ohio, and all west 
thereof. They have an annual conference 
that meets yearly. This conference is 
composed of delegates from the associa- 
tions and churches, as some churches do 
not unite with the associations. As they 



• are strictly congregational in their disci- 
pline, and every church is an independent 
body to transact its own business : all the 
business done at these meetings is to ex- 
amine different subjects, and impart in- 
struction to the churches by way of ad- 
vice, there being no right to interfere with 
the independence of the churches. Every 
church holds its meetings of business, 
where all business is done by a vote from 
the body, all being equal in power, and 
no one having any more authority than 
another. 

The officers of the churches are pastors 
and deacons. The business of the pastor 
is to instruct the people of his charge, and 
officiate faithfully in his station as a coun- 
sellor ; and he should consider it his great 
business to preach the Word, to reprove 
the disobedient, to comfort the afflicted, 
and to feed the flock of Christ with the 
bread of life, and to administer to them 
the ordinances of God's house, (baptism j 
and the Lord's Supper ;) and it is consi- 
dered the duty of the pastor to give him- 
self wholly to the work of the ministry, 
as far as circumstances will admit, " to 
the edifying of the body of Christy 

The deacons are chosen for life ; it is 
their duty to assist the pastor in his labors, 
to see that his wants arc supplied, and that 
all the internal affairs of the church are 
kept in proper order, as it relates to disci- 
pline and the temporal necessities of the 
same, and that the poor be not neglected. 
And, in a word, they are considered the 
leaders of the church, and ought always 
to be men full of the Holy Ghost. 

Every church has a clerk, whose duty 
it is to keep a faithful record, in a book, 
of all the proceedings of the church, with 
a record of the names of the members, 
the time of their baptism, &c.' 

They have a weekly paper published in 
the city of New York, which is patronized 
by the denomination. It has at present 
about twelve hundred subscribers, at two 
dollars per year, in advance. Elder 
George B. Utter is editor and proprietor. 

They have a Literary Institution, 
founded in 1837, at De Ruyter, held by 
stockholders. The cost was twenty-one 
thousand dollars. It has been laboring 
under some difficulties, and therefore has 
not come up to the first expectations ; but 



100 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



a number of young men are now pursuing 
their studies there, who promise much 
usefulness to the world. They have two 
professors and some primary teachers, and 
the prospects of the institution are more 
encouraging. 

They have an Academy at Alfred, Al- 
legany County, New York, which is in a 
very flourishing condition, and has up- 
wards of one hundred students. William 
Winyon, from Union College, is principal, 
and Miss Caroline Mason preceptress. 
This is a chartered institution, under the 
patronage of the State. 

For some years they have had a Mis- 
sionary Society, which holds its meetings 
annually, at the time of the meeting of 
the General Conference. Its object is to 
help feeble churches, and to send the 
gospel to the scattered families in different 
parts, where they are not privileged with 
the means of grace in a church capacity, 
and to preach the gospel to others as op- 
portunity may present. Within the last 
twelve months a foreign mission has been 
established. Elders Solomon Carpenter 
and Nathan Wardner, together with their 
wives, were set apart, and sailed late last 
fall for the field of their labors, China. 
News has just been received of their safe 
arrival out ; but their precise location has 
not yet been decided on. 

They likewise have a Hebrew Mission- 
ary Society, whose object is to ameliorate 
the condition of the Jews in the United 
States. They have had a missionary em- 
ployed for that purpose in the cities of 
New York and Philadelphia, and some 
tracts were published, addressed to that 
people ; but no visible effects have been 
produced. At present the society is doing 
nothing. 

They have a Tract Society that is at 
present in operation, and has been doing 
something in publishing tracts on different 
subjects, especially upon our particular 
views. 

As a denomination they wish to be en- 
caged, as far as they possess the means, 
in the various benevolent enterprises of 
the day, and in these they have been found 
active. 

CONFESSION OF FAITH. 

The following was adopted as the gene- 



ral views of the denomination, by a vote 
of the General Conference, at its meeting 
in 1833. 

I. We believe that there is one God ; 
"For there is one God," 1 Tim.' ii. 5; 
and that there is no other God, 1 Cor. viii. 
4, 6. We believe that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of God, Acts viii. 37 ; and that the 
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, and of 
Jesus Christ, his Son. " If so be that the 
Spirit of God dwell in you," Rom. viii. 9. 
" God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into 
your hearts," Gal. iv. 6. " Christ in you 
the hope of glory," Col. i. 27. " God 
dwelleth in us," 1 John iv. 6. From these 
texts, and many more of like import, we 
believe that there is a union existing be- 
tween the Father, and the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit ; and that they are equally 
divine, and equally entitled to our adora- 
tion. 

II. We believe that man was made up- 
right and good, and had ability to have 
remained so, but that through temptation 
he was induced to violate the law of God, 
and thus fell from his uprightness, and 
came under the curse of the law, and be- 
came a subject of death ; and that all of 
his posterity have inherited from him de- 
pravity and death. " God made man up- 
right," Eccl. vii. 29. " God created man 
in his own image," Gen. i. 27. " Because 
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy 
wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which 
I commanded thee saying, Thou shalt not 
eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy 
sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it. all the 
days of thy life ; for dust thou art, and 
unto dust thou shalt return." Gen. iii. 17- 
19. " Wherefore as by one man sin hath 
entered into the world, and death by sin ; 
and so death passed upon all men for that 
all have sinned." Rom. v. 12. "The 
carnal mind is enmity against God, for it 
is not subject to the law of God." Rom. 
viii. 7. " And ye will not come to me 
that ye might have life." 1 John v. 40. 
" The unrighteous shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God." 1 Cor. vi. 9. " They 
did not like to retain God in their know- 
ledge." Rom. i. 28. " There is none that 
doeth good, no, not one." Ps. xiv. 3. 
" And were by nature the children of 
wrath." Ephes. ii. 3. 

III. We believe that God so loved the 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



101 



world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have eternal life. John hi. 
16. That he took on him our nature, and 
was born of the Virgin Mary ; that he 
offered himself a sacrifice for sin ; that he 
suffered death upon the cross ; was buried, 
and at the expiration of three days and 
three nights, rose from the dead ; and that 
he ascended to the right hand of God, and 
is the mediator between God and man ; 
from whence he will come to judge, and 
reward all men according to the deeds 
done in their bodies. " He took on him 
the seed of Abraham," Heb. ii. 16 ; and 
" being found in fashion as a man, he 
humbled himself and become obedient 
unto death, even the death of the cross." 
Phil. ii. 8. " But now, in the end of the 
world, hath he appeared to put away sin, 
by the sacrifice of himself." Heb. ix. 26. 
" The Son of Man shall be three days and 
three nights in the heart of the earth." 
Matt. xii. 40. " He is risen as he said." 
Matt, xxviii. 6. " So then after the Lord 
had spoken unto them, he was received 
up into heaven, and sat." Mark xvi. 19. 
" For we shall all stand before the judg- 
ment-seat of Christ." Rom. xvi. 19. " He 
hath appointed a day in the which he will 
judge the world in righteousness, by that 
man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he 
hath given assurance unto all men, in that 
he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 
xvii. 31. 

IV. We believe that by the humiliation 
and sufferings of Christ he made an atone- 
ment, and became the propitiation for the 
sins of the whole world ; but that the 
nature or character of this atonement is 
such as not to admit of justification with- 
out faith, or salvation without holiness. 
" The Lord hath laM on him the iniquity 
of us ail." Isaian liii. 6. " And he is the 
propitiation for our sins, and not for our 
sins only, but for the sins of the whole 
world." 1 John ii. 2. " But we see Jesus, 
who was made a little lower than the 
angels, for the suffering of death crowned 
with glory and honor, that he by the 
grace of God should taste death for every 
man." Heb. ii. 9. " Who will have all 
men to be saved, and come to the know- 
ledge of the truth." 1 Tim. if. 4. " There- 
fore, being justified by faith, we have 



peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." Rom. v. 1. " Without faith it 
is impossible to please God." Heb. xi. 6. 
" Follow peace with all men and holiness, 
without which no man shall see the Lord." 
Heb. xii. 14. 

V. We believe that regeneration is 
essential to salvation, that it consists in a 
renovation of the heart, hatred to sin, and 
love to God ; and that it produces refor- j 
mation of life in whatever is known to be j 
sinful ; and a willing conformity to the 
authority and precepts of Christ. John 
iii. 3 : 2 Cor. v. 17 ; Ephes. ii. 10 ; James 
ii. 17 ; 1 John v. 2. 

VI. As to good works, we believe that 
they are not the ground of the believer's 
hope, but that they are fruits essential to 
a justified state, and necessary as evidence 
of a new birth. John xiv. 23. 

VII. We believe that there will be a 
general resurrection of the bodies, both of 
the just and of the unjust. John xxviii. 29. 

VIII. We believe there will be a day of 
judgment for both the righteous and the 
wicked, and that Jesus Christ shall judge 
and reward every man according to his 
works. Acts xvii. 31 ; Rev. xxii. 12. 

IX. We believe that the righteous will 
be admitted into life eternal, and that the 
wicked shall receive eternal damnation. 
Matt. xxv. 46. 

X. We believe that the Scriptures of 
the Old and New Testaments are given 
by inspiration of God, and that they con- 
tain the whole of God's revealed will, and 
are the only infallible rule to faith and 
duty. Isaiah viii. 20. 

XI. We believe that the moral law, 
written upon tables of stone, and recorded 
in Exodus xx., to be morally and reli- 
giously binding upon the church. Matt. 
v. 17. 

XII. We believe it is the duty of all 
men, and especially the church of God, 
to observe religiously the seventh day of 
the week, as commanded in the fourth 
precept of the decalogue, Exodus xx. 10. 
Mark ii. 27, 28 ; Luke xxiii. 5, 7. 

XIII. We believe that a gospel church 
is composed of such persons, and such 
only, as have given satisfactory evidence 
of regeneration, and have submitted to 
gospel baptism. Acts ii. 41. 

XIV. We believe that Christian bap- 



102 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



tism is the immersion in water, in the name 
of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, of a 
believer in Christ, upon a profession of 
the gospel faith ; and that no other water 
baptism is valid. Col. ii. 12 ; Rom. vi. 4 ; 
Ephes. iv. 5. 

XV. Concerning imposition of hands, 
we believe it was the practice of the Apos- 
tles and the primitive church, to lay hands 
upon the newly baptized believers ; and it 
should be perpetuated in the church. We 
therefore practise it. Acts viii. 17 ; Heb. 
vi. 2. 

XVI. We believe it is the duty of all 
members of the church, to commemorate 
the sufferings of Christ, in partaking of 
the Lord's Supper, as often as the church 
shall deem it expedient and the circum- 
stances admit. Matt. xxvi. 26, 27 ; 1 Cor. 
xi. 26. 

XVII. As we deem it unscriptural to 
admit to the membership of the church 
any person who does not yield obedience 
to the commandments of God, and the 

i institutions of the Gospel, or who would 
be a subject of church censure, were he a 
member of the church : so we deem it 
equally unscriptural and improper, to re- 
ceive such at the Lord's table, or to par- 
take with them of the Lord's Supper. 1 
Cor. v. 11 ; 2 Thess. iii. 6. 



THEIR VIEWS OF BAPTISM. 

As a denomination they practise what 
is termed close communion. Their rea- 
sons for this are the following : 

They consider that the Pedobaptist 
brethren have perverted the ordinance of 
baptism, by abandoning the original insti- 
tution, which was dipping or immersion, 
and using that of sprinkling or pouring. 

They do not charge them with a wilful 
violation of the divine rule, but with the 
matter of fact ; while they extend to them 
charity, and believe them to be sincere. 

On one term only does this great ques- 
tion rest ; and that is, What is the original 
import of the Greek word " Baptize ?" 
Baptists have and still contend, that the 
word originally implied immersion. Pe- 
dobaptists have contended that it implied 
merely a religious rite, and meaning many 
other things, such as sprinkling, pouring, 
washing, tyc. 



To these speculations they have only 
to apply their own antidote. The word 
baptize is Greek, and in the English lan- 
guage means just nothing at all, unless 
they are allowed to translate it. And 
whom shall they call upon to do it 1 They 
will not take the the translation of Bap- 
tists, for that may beget partiality ; but 
they chose to take the evidence of men 
who spoke out before the art of prevari- 
cation was so extensively known among 
Protestants. For when they present Pedo- 
baptist authors, who show the greatest 
marks of candor, they cannot be objected 
to. In view of these remarks, in connec- 
tion with the following quotations, they 
are willing at all times to submit them to 
a thinking community, as being the doc- 
trine that is taught in the Holy Scriptures. 
And to strengthen their faith, they have 
the testimony of the whole Christian world 
in their favor. 

Luther. — " The term baptize is a 
Greek word ; it may be rendered immer- 
sion, as when we plunge something in 
Avater, that it may be entirely covered 
with water. And though that custom is 
now abolished among the generality, (for 
even children are not entirely immersed, 
but only have a little water poured on 
them,) nevertheless they ought to be com- 
pletely immersed, and immediately drawn 
out, for the etymology of the word evidently 
requires it.'''' 

Calvin. — " The word baptize, signifies 
to immerse. The right of immersion was 
observed by the ancient church. From 
these quotations, and from John iii. 23, it 
may be inferred that baptism Was admin- 
istered by John, and Christ, by plunging 
the whole body under water. Here we 
perceive how baptism was administered 
among the ancients, for they immersed 
the whole body under water ; now it is a 
prevailing practice, for a minister only to 
sprinkle the body or the head." 

Grotius. — " That baptism used to be 
administered by immersion, and not pour- 
ing or sprinkling, appears both from the 
proper signification of the word, and the 
places chosen for the administration of the 
rite, John iii. 23 ; Acts viii. 28 ; and also 
from the many allusions of the Apostles, 
which cannot be referred to sprinkling." 
Rom. vi. 34 ; Col. ii. 12. 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS. 



103 



John Wesley. — " Mary Welsh, aged 
eleven days, was baptized according to 
the custom of the first church, and the rule 
of the Church of England, by immersion. 
The child was ill then, but recovered 
from that hour." 

Buried with him, " alluding to the 
ancient mode or manner of baptizing by 
immersion." 

To these testimonies, and scores that 
might be produced, of like import, they 
think that people of candor ought to give 
heed ; and if they have given the true in- 
terpretation of the word, it is of itself 
evident, that those that sprinkle or pour 
do not baptize. These are their views, 
and according to the principles laid down 
they cannot extend to others the commu- 
nion, until they have complied with the 
gospel rule. 

And they consider it to be perverted, 
in applying it to infants and impenitent 
individuals without profession of faith. 
No institution has " Thus saith the Lord," 
for applying it to infants, or the impeni- 
tent. A few testimonies from Pedobaptist 
authors may be introduced on this point. 

Bishop Burnet. — " There is no ex- 
press precept or rule given in the New 
Testament for baptizing infants." 

Luther. — " It cannot be proved by the 
Sacred Scriptures, that infant baptism was 
instituted by Christ or his disciples, or the 
early Christians after the Apostles." 

Curcell^us. — " The baptism of in- 
fants in the two first centuries after Christ, 
was entirely unknown, but in the third 
and fourth, was allowed by some few. In 
the fifth and following ages it was gener- 
ally received. The custom of baptizing 
infants did not begin before the third age 
after Christ was born. In the former ages 
no trace of it appears, and it was intro- 
duced without the command of Christ." 

Thus they discover, that between the 
Baptists and the Pedobaptists there is no 
agreement in their views, and no agree- 
ment with the inspired word and Pedo- 
baptism — at least so the Baptists think, 
and so they have a right to think, until 
they are better taught ; and therefore, as 
Baptists, they cannot in conscience ex- 
tend to them the communion. And the 
Scriptures would condemn them for it, if 
they were to commune with those who 



practise such disorder, by departing from 
the tradition of the Apostles, and disobey- 
ing their epistles. Eph. xxxvi. 14. And 
the controversy existing between the Bap- 
tists and Pedobaptists, ought to be settled 
and put for ever to rest. This the Bap- 
tists cannot do, they cannot go to them, 
but the others can come to the Baptist 
standard, without any violation of con- 
science or faith. And may the time has- 
ten its onward flight, when in the church 
there will be but u one Lord, one faith, 
one baptism" 

While this arm of Popery is attached 
to the Protestant church, they cannot with 
any expectation of success, contend with 
Catholicism, even in our own country. 
With much propriety they may say, Phy- 
sician, heal thyself ; this the church must 
learn, that the " Bible alone is the reli- 
gion of Protestants" 

VIEWS OF THE SABBATH. 

1. On this point of doctrine and prac- 
tice, they differ from all other denomina- 
tions. And this is the only essential point 
of difference between them and the large 
and respectable denomination, the Asso- 
ciate Baptists. By their belief and prac- 
tice, as it respects the Sabbath, they are 
accounted singular ; but they would wish 
at all times to have the privilege of ren- 
dering their reasons for doing thus, espe- 
cially as by this they are known as close 
communicants. It may not be necessary 
here, to attempt to meet all the objections 
that are presented against their views, by 
men who have become wise above what is 
written. But it is intended merely to pre- 
sent their views and reasons for thus be- 
lieving. 

They believe that the Sabbath was in- 
stituted by God, and given to our first 
parents while in the Garden of Eden ; for 
in this institution was their happiness in- 
timately concerned. As an evidence they 
refer to the ancients, and their customs. 
They had their days of observance. Noah 
observed the period of seven days in send- 
ing out the dove from the ark, in prefer- 
ence to any other number. The term 
week is used in the contract between Ja- 
cob and Laban. Balaam had seven altars, 
and offered seven oxen and seven rams 



104 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



upon them ; likewise Job and his friends 
observed the term of seven days. All 
which (and others) go to prove that the 
ancients enjoyed the blessings of a Sab- 
bath, and were not left destitute of this 
exalted favor, as some suppose, until the 
days of Moses. From Exodus, xvi., we 
have a satisfactory evidence that the Is- 
raelites were not strangers to the Sabbath, 
long before they came to Mount Sinai, 
where the Law was given. For some of 
the people are voluntarily making prepa- 
rations and provisions for the Sabbath, 
while others are reprimanded for neglect- 
ing it. And the very language shows that 
the Sabbath was not a new institution to 
them. " How long refuse ye to keep my 
commandments and by-laws ?" The very 
language of the fourth commandment it- 
self implies that they had a previous 
knowledge of it : " Remember the Sab- 
bath day to keep it holy." This injunc- 
tion is not attached to any of the rest of 
the commandments, which evidently shows 
that they had not only been acquainted 
with it before, but that it was not of the 
least importance, as some vainly suppose. 
And its being mentioned in connection 
with the creation of the world, shows to 
their satisfaction, that the inhabitants of 
the earth were not without a Sabbath two 
thousand and five hundred years. For 
the blessing and the sanctifying of the 
Sabbath is mentioned in connection with 
the first seventh day in the order of time. 
And the reasons rendered are, that on it 
God rested from all his works. And the 
blessing and sanctifying the day were 
subsequent acts, which are given as a 
cause for its being set apart from other 
days as a Sabbath of holy rest unto the 
Lord. 

And it is unreasonable to suppose that 
the cause existed two thousand and five 
hundred years before the effect. Jesus 
Christ says, Mark ii. 27," That the sab- 
bath was made for man, and not man for 
the sabbath." Is it a good thing ? were 
there any men of piety before Moses ? 
And in the 34th Psalm we learn that " He 
will withhold no good thing from those 
who walk uprightly," The early history 
being so silent about the sabbath, is no 
evidence of its non-existence, for all the 
history of that age is given in forty short 



chapters. " We find, from time imme- 
morial, the knowledge of weeks of seven 
days among all nations. Israelites, 
Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and, in a 
word, all the nations of the East, have in 
all ages made use of weeks of seven days." 
" And we find, too, that the very day that 
God had sanctified as a sabbath, was re- 
garded still as holy time, although they 
had forsaken the true worship of God." 
Among those authors we find the follow- 
ing : Homer, Hesiod, Callimachus, Tibul- 
lus, Philo, Eusebius, Clemens Alexandras, 
Josephus. It has been, and is supposed 
by some that the sabbath was made for 
the Jews only, hence it is called by them 
a Jewish sabbath ; to this the Seventh 
Day Baptists object ; although it is said, 
in Exodus, xxxi. 14, to be a sign between 
that people and God, but not between 
them and the Gentiles ; but it has been 
and will be a sign between them and God 
to the end of time. And the words of our 
Saviour ought to put this question for 
ever to rest. Mark ii. 27, " The sabbath 
was made for man." It ought to be 
enough for us to know that God has in- 
stituted the sabbath, and required that it 
should be remembered and kept holy, 
especially when it is found among God's 
holy precepts, written with his own finger 
upon tables of stone, and we should not 
try to do away its force by our own tra- 
ditions. 

No reason ever has been given by any 
person why the law of the sabbath was 
inserted among those precepts which are 
universally allowed to be moral, unless it 
partakes of the same nature. As God is 
the God of the Gentiles, as well as of the 
Jews, so it is the duty of both Jews and 
Gentiles to love him and to keep his com- 
mandments, for they are a transfer of 
God's perfection ; and the •revelation of 
his will, as given upon Sinai, was and is 
the only moral rule that was ever given. 
So it is the duty of all men to come under 
it, as far as they receive a knowledge 
thereof, Isaiah lvi. 6, 7. They come 
therefore to the unavoidable conclusion 
that the sabbath was enjoined upon all 
mankind, as presented to us in the fourth 
commandment, 

2. They are unwilling to admit that the 
sabbath was changed by divine appoint- 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



105 



merit, or that it ever will be. If it was 
not a good sabbath why should it ever 
have been appointed ? and if good, why- 
should it be altered 1 But if we can find 
a divine warrant for a change, we are 
ready to confess our wrongs and forsake 
them. St. Paul, in Heb. iv. 9, says that 
it is a type of the rest that remains for the 
! people of God ; this refers to the rest that 
remains for the saints in heaven, and 
types are always continued until the anti- 
type comes to which they allude. 

The sabbath law still remains in full 
force, and will until the end of time, unless 
God repeals it ; and if so, the Scriptures 
will be as plain as when it was enjoined. 
It is a moral institution, (the reasons we 
have already assigned,) and of perpetual 
obligation, Psalm cxi. 7, 8, " All his com- 
mandments are sure, they stand fast for 
ever." Their perpetuity was typified by 
their being written upon tables of stone. 
If the sabbath was made for the benefit 
of man, no reason can be assigned for its 
discontinuance under the Christian dispen- 
sation. Erase a sabbath from the church 
and she would soon go to ruin ; and it is 
ruin to people to believe and preach a 
doctrine, that would prove destruction if 
practised. 

Let such ministers beware lest they be 
numbered with the slothful shepherds. 
The perpetuity of this law is asserted in 
Christ's sermon on the mount, (Matt, v.) 
and when he spoke these words, he knew 
that the ceremonial law would soon be 
destroyed by him, and nailed to the cross ; 
therefore he must have alluded to the 
moral law. And in accordance, with this 
he directs his disciples to pray " that their 
flight be not in the winter, neither on the 
sabbath dc. w ." And this event was not 
to take place until about forty years after 
his crucifixion. Paul says, in Rom. iii. 31, 
" Do we make void the law through faith ? 
God forbid, yea, we establish the law." 
Neither do we suppose that he meant to 
release us from this obligation, when he 
says, (ibid. xiv. 5, 6,) " One man esteem- 
eth one day above another," &c, or, in 
Colossians, (ii. 16, 17,) " Let no man, 
therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, 
or in respect to a holy day, or of the new 
moon, or sabbath, which are a shadow of 
things to come, but the body is of Christ." 



The apostle is not speaking of the weekly 
sabbath, but of the Jewish ceremonial 
sabbath, which belongs to the ceremonial 
dispensation. 

But the question may still be asked, 
What day of the week should we now 
keep holy 1 They at once say, the 
seventh, not a seventh, but the seventh 
day that God sanctified at Sinai, and 
rested on when he closed his work of 
creation, which was observed by Christ 
and his apostles, and the early Christians, 
until the dark ages of the church. We 
have no reason to believe that there has 
been any derangement in the order of 
time, so as to affect the observing the sab- 
bath. That perfect agreement among all 
civilized nations, places it beyond all 
doubt ; and the church has always been 
known to keep either the first day or the 
seventh, ever since her establishment, and 
she has never existed without a sabbath. 
And the Jews, scattered among all na- 
tions, have never lost their sabbath. So 
that when they shall be gathered back to 
Judah's land, they will have the same 
identical sabbath, that God instituted in 
paradise, whether they go from this, or 
from other lands. But the advocates for 
a change of the sabbath are numerous 
and learned. Nevertheless, the Seventh 
Day Baptists cannot embrace their senti- 
ments, for every man's sword is turned 
against his fellow ; among them there is 
no agreement. They refer to prophecy, 
and the strongest is in Psalm cxviii. 24, 
" This is the day the Lord hath made, I 
will rejoice and be glad in it." If this 
alludes to any day, it must be the day 
that God has blessed, and not a new ap- 
pointment. But we are satisfied with be- 
lieving that this alludes to the gospel dis- 
pensation. 

And Daniel and Isaiah, as well as 
Abraham and others, looked forward to 
that day with much interest and delight. 
And they are bold to say that the pro- 
phets are entirely silent as to a change of 
the sabbath. Another plea is, the work 
of redemption is greater than the work of 
creation, wherefore the sabbath should be 
changed. But they think they are not at 
liberty to limit God, and say which of his 
works is the greatest ; they suppose that 
he can as easily make a world as an in- 



14 



106 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



sect, and redeem man as easy as create 
him. 

But the advocates for the change of the 
sabbath must fail according to their own 
logic; for it is the opinion of the church 
generally, though not universally, that 
Christ was crucified on Friday ; if, then, 
any particular day can be called the day 
of redemption, it must be that on which 
he expired on the cross, and spilt his 
blood ; "for without the shedding of blood 
there can be no remission." He died for 
our redemption, and the gracious work 
was doubtless done when he bowed his 
head and gave up the ghost and said, It is 
finished. But they do not admit that any 
personal act of his, " Who was made under 
the law," and bound to obey its precepts, 
could alter or change any of its require- 
ments. 

Another and general plea is, that Christ 
rose from the dead on the first day of the 
week. Tradition says so, but the Bible 
does not. If it had been the mind of 
Christ that the day of his resurrection 
should have been religiously regarded : we 
would have some positive information as 
to the day on which he did rise ; but not 
one passage is there to be found which 
says that he arose on the first day, or 
which enjoins its observance ; but there is 
strong presumptive evidence that he did 
not rise on that day. This is found in his 
own predictions, Matt. xii. 40 : he declares 
that he would be " three days and three 
nights in the heart of the earth." Com- 
pare with Luke xxiii. 5, 4. If his predic- 
tion be true, he must have arisen at the 
close of the day previous to his appearing 
to the women, in the morning. And in 
Matt, xxviii. 1, we find that the great earth- 
quake happened in the end of the sabbath. 
Mary was present, and an angel rolled 
back the stone and sat upon it, and told 
her that he was not here but was risen, 
referring her to his own predictions while 
with them. 

Another reason rendered is, that Christ 
often met with his disciples upon the first 
day of the week. Supposing it was so, 
he met with them on other days ; but that 
is no reason that they should be considered 
sabbath days. But probably they had 
better look again ; people may have taken 
it for granted without evidence. The first 



day after his resurrection, he appeared 
three times to different persons, and at dif- 
ferent places. First to the women at the 
tomb, next to the disciples on their way to 
Emmaus ; he journeyed with them, and 
when they had arrived at the place of 
their destination, he was known of them 
by breaking bread and blessing it. The 
same hour they returned to Jerusalem, and 
found the eleven gathered together, and 
while they were telling what things had 
happened, Jesus stood in the midst of them 
and said, Peace be unto you. Now in all 
this day's transaction, not a word is said 
about sabbatizing, but every evidence to 
the reverse ; they were journeying, and 
Jesus journeyed with them, and from Je- 
rusalem to Emmaus and back, is about 
fifteen miles. And it seems passing strange 
that he should not have told them that the 
day was holy to the Lord. And the dis- 
ciples were assembled at their own lodging 
place, (Acts i. 13,) and had not met to 
celebrate the resurrection ; for they did 
not believe that he had arisen, until con- 
firmed by the disciples from Emmaus. 
And there is not the least intimation that 
the disciples were there until evening, or 
that they were there for worship. And the 
absence of Thomas is a strong presump- 
tion that the meeting was not agreed upon 
previously. The next and only meeting 
pretended to have been held by Christ and 
his disciples on the first day of the week, 
is mentioned in John, xx. 26. " And after 
eight days, &c." — But had this interview 
been on the following first day, it could 
not afford any claim for religious regard, 
for it is not noticed as a meeting designed 
for worship. Mark xvi. 14, says, "He 
appeared to the eleven while at meat," 
eating a common meal at their home 
doubtless. And it is a matter of certainty 
that this interview was not on the first day 
of the week, if the other one was : for 
eight days had intervened between them, 
where a week has but seven days. They 
say then without any fear of successful 
contradiction, that Christ has left us no 
example of his regard for the first day of 
the week as a sabbath. 

As to the regard that the Apostles and 
early Christians paid to this day, all the 
Scriptures say about, is contained in Acts 
xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 7 ; the first relates to 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



107 



a meeting held in Troas, and Paul 
preached and broke bread to them. Now 
all this text proves is, that Paul held one 
meeting with these brethren on the first 
day of the week ; but there is not the least 
intimation that it was their common cus- 
tom to meet on the first day of the week, 
or that they should or did regard it as a 
sabbath. But this meeting was incidental, 
and held on account of the Apostles being 
about to leave the place. It was an even- 
ing meeting; and by Paul's speaking until 
midnight, and continuing until break of 
day, it was on the night part of the day ; 
and if this meeting was held on any part 
of the first day of the week, it was be- 
tween sun setting and first day morning, 
when Paul went on his way ; and this is 
according to the Scripture mode of begin- 
ning the day, as it was literally the first 
day of the week after sunset. 

The miracle wrought upon Enticus, in 
restoring him to life, is probably the only 
reason of this meeting being mentioned, 
while all the other meetings that Paul held 
while in Troas, were omitted ; had this 
been on some other day of the week, 
there would not have been a single reli- 
gious meeting held by the disciples on any 
part of a first day, recorded in the New 
Testament. We next notice 1 Cor. xvi. 
2, "On the first day of the week let every 
one lay by him in store, &c." This text 
makes no mention of a meeting together, 
but to lay by them in store ; this contribu- 
tion was designed for the poor saints at 
Jerusalem; and they were requested to 
have it in readiness when Paul should 
come to receive it. Orders had been 
given to the church at Galatia concerning 
the same matter; but they say nothing 
concerning a first day meeting. But none 
of these or other passages give any reason 
to believe that the first day was ever de- 
signed by God to be a sabbath. Much 
has been said of the descent of the Holy 
Spirit (on the first day,) on the day of 
Pentecost. This they consider to be only 
a presumption, there being not the slightest 
evidence that the day of Pentecost was on 
the first day of the week, more than on 
any other day. But by the church gener- 
ally, especially by ministers, the first day 
of the week is called Lord's Day, from 
Rev. i. 10 ; still there is no evidence that 



the first day of the week was alluded to 
in this expression. If it can be applied 
to any day, it would be much more appro- 
priate to suppose that it referred to the 
sabbath day ; for Jesus Christ says that 
he is " Lord even of the sabbath day." 
But it should not be supposed that John 
meant either of those days ; but that he 
meant the same day styled in other parts 
of the Scriptures " The day of the Lord." 
And to this day John was carried in the 
spirit and saw all things as they will take 
place, 1 Cor. i. 8 ; Phil. i. 6. And that 
this refers to his second coming, and not 
to any particular day of the week, must 
be placed beyond all doubt. These are 
some of their reasons for yet believing 
that the seventh day of the week is yet 
the sabbath of the Lord their God, and 
that by the church it should be observed 
as such. 

But they suppose that Christ and his 
disciples paid special regard to the sabbath 
of the fourth commandment. It is always 
called by them " the sabbath" in distinc- 
tion from any other day ; if they had in- 
tended a change this would have been 
calculated to mislead and deceive. It was 
their custom to assemble for worship on 
the sabbath, and not on the first day of 
the week ; for the next sabbath after his 
crucifixion they rested according to the 
commandment ; and on the first day they 
were journeying, and went into the coun- 
try. Acts xiii. Paul, while at Antioch on 
the sabbath day, went to a place of wor- 
ship ; and we have the sketch of a sermon 
he preached on the occasion. And by the 
request of his gentile hearers he preached 
to them on the next sabbath, when nearly 
the whole city came together. 

At Philippi, Paul and his companions 
resorted down to the river side on the sab- 
bath day, and Lydia and her household 
were baptized. Acts, xviii. Paul reasoned 
in the synagogue every sabbath, and per- 
suaded the Jews and the Greeks ; and this 
practice he continued a year and six 
months. At Ephesus, likewise, Paul went 
into the synagogue and reasoned with the 
Jews. And at Thessalonica there was a 
synagogue of the Jews ; and Paul, as his 
manner was, went in with them, and three 
sabbath days reasoned with them out of 
the Scriptures. 



108 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



These quotations are sufficient to show 
what was the practice of the Apos- 
tles. 

This is confirmed by Paul's going into 
the temple and performing certain rights 
of purification, for the purpose of refuting 
slanderous reports about his practising 
contrary to the law ; and in Acts xx. 17, 
he states that he had committed nothing 
against the customs of the fathers. And 
was it not contrary to their custom, to 
keep the first day of the week to the ex- 
clusion of the seventh 1 If so, then it is 
evident that Paul kept the seventh and not 
the first day of the week, for the Sabbath. 
The Jews, who were always ready to ac- 
cuse them of wrong, never upbraided 
them with a violation of the Sabbath, 
which would have been the case, had 
there been an occasion. The opposition 
made to these sentiments, are supported 
by the feelings and circumstances of their 
opponents, and not by the word of God. 
But it may be necessary to refer to the 
practice of the early Christians. 

Athanasius, A. D. 340, " We assem- 
ble on Saturday, not that we are infected 
with Judaism, but only to worship Christ 
the Lord of the Sabbath." 

Socrates, A. D. 412, " Touching the 
Communion, there are sundry observa- 
tions ; for almost all the churches through- 
out the world do celebrate and receive the 
holy mysteries every Sabbath. Yet the 
Egyptians adjoining Alexandria, together 
with the inhabitants of Thebes, of a tra- 
dition, do celebrate the Communion on 
Sunday, when the festival meeting through- 
out every week was come. I mean the 
Saturday, and the Sunday, upon which 
the Christians are wont to meet solemnly 
in the church," &c. 

Eusebius, A. D. 325, as quoted by Dr. 
Chambers, says that in his time the Sab- 
bath was observed no less than Sun- 
day. 

Calvin. The old Fathers put in the 



place of the Sabbath, the day we call 
Sunday. 

Sozomen has delivered down a tradi- 
tion, that at Constantinople, and almost 
among all the churches, Christians did 
assemble on the Sabbath, and also on the 
first day of the week ; but at Rome and 
Alexandria, not so. — Magdebur. 4th Cent, 
fol. 224. 

PHELrs. — " Indeed so prevalent was 
this party (Sabbath-keepers) at one time, 
and so superstitious withal in their obser- 
vance of the seventh day, that to coun- 
teract it, the council of Laodicea, about 
A. D. 350, passed a decree saying, It is 
not proper for Christians to Judaize, and 
to cease from labor on the Sabbath, but 
they ought to work on this day, and put 
especial honor upon the Lord's day, by 
refraining from labor, as Christians. If 
any one be found Judaizing, let him be 
anathematized." — Perpetuity Sab. p. 151. 

Kingsbury. — Those who lived imme- 
diately after Christ did not misunderstand 
allusions to these different institutions. 
They all understood Sabbath, when used 
alone, to refer to the seventh day, or 
Jewish rest, and never the first day. Nor 
was it till after the disputes between the 
Jewish and Gentile converts had mainly 
subsided, and civil rulers (Ramans) had 
required the observance of Lord's day, 
and forbidden the keeping of the seventh, 
that the term Sabbath, was applied to the 
first day of the week. It was not until 
A. D. 603, that a papal decree was made 
prohibiting the observance of the Sab- 
bath. — The Sab. p. 206. 

With the light that the Bible reflects 
upon this subject, and from the practice 
of the early Christians, they are con- 
strained to believe and practise as they do, 
notwithstanding the great body of the 
Christian world is arrayed against them ; 
but they are assured that they have truth 
in their favor, and that it is mighty, and 
will ere long prevail. 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



109 



HISTORY 



THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS, 



BY WILLIAM M. FAHNESTOCK, M. D., BORDENTOWN, N. J. 



About the year 1694, a controversy- 
arose in the Protestant churches of Ger- 
many and Holland, in which vigorous at- 
tempts were made to reform some of the 
errors of the church, and with the design 
of promoting a more practical, vital reli- 
gion. This party, at the head of which 
was the pious Spener, ecclesiastical super- 
intendent of the court of Saxony, was op- 
posed, violently, and after having bestowed 
upon them, in ridicule, the epithet of Pie- 
tists, they were suppressed in their public 
ministrations and lectures, by the Consis- 
tory of Wittemberg. Notwithstanding they 
were prohibited from promulgating, pub- 
licly, their views and principles, it led to 
inquiry among the people. This state of 
things continuing, many learned men of 
different universities left Europe and emi- 
grated to America, whilst others remained 
and persevered in the prosecution of the 
work they had commenced with so much 
diligence. In the year 1708, Alexander 
Mack, of Schriesheim, and seven others in 
Schwartzenau, Germany, met together, re- 
gularly, to examine carefully and impar- 
tially, the doctrines of the New Testament, 
and to ascertain what are the obligations it 
imposes on professing Christians ; deter- 
mining to lay aside all preconceived opin- 
ions and traditional observances. The 
result of their inquiries terminated in the 
formation of the society now called the 
Dunkers, or First Day German Baptists. 
Meeting with much persecution as they 
grew into some importance, as all did who 
had independence enough to differ from the 



popular church, some were driven into 
Holland, some to Crefelt in the Duchy of 
Cleves, and the mother church voluntarily 
removed to Serustervin, in Friesland ; and 
from thence emigrated to America in 1719, 
and dispersed to different parts of Pennsyl- 
vania, to Germantown, Skippack, Oley, 
Conestoga, and elsewhere. They formed 
a church at Germantown in 1723, under 
the charge of Peter Becker. The church 
grew rapidly in this country, receiving 
members from the banks of the Wissahic- 
con and from Lancaster county, and soon 
after a church was established at Muehl- 
bach, (Mill creek,) in that county. Of this 
community was one Conrad Beissel, a na- 
tive of Germany. He had been a Presby- 
terian, and fled from the persecutions of 
that period. Wholly intent upon seeking 
out the true obligations of the word of God, 
and the proper observance of the rites and 
ceremonies it imposes, stripped of human 
authority, he conceived that there was an 
error among the Dunkers, in the obser- 
vance of the day for the sabbath — that the 
seventh day was the command of the Lord 
God, and that day being established and 
sanctified, by the Great Jehovah, for ever, 
and no change, nor authority for change 
ever having been announced to man, by 
any power sufficient to set aside the solemn 
decree of the Almighty — a decree which 
he declared that he had sanctified for ever, 
— he felt it to be his duty to contend for 
the observance of that day. About the 
year 1725, he published a tract entering 
into a discussion of this point, which 



110 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



created some excitement and disturbance 
in the Society at Mill Creek ; upon which 
he retired from the settlement, and went 
secretly to a cell on- the banks of the Co- 
calico, (in the same county,) which had 
previously been occupied by one Elimelich, 
a hermit. His place of retirement was 
unknown for a long time to the people he 
had left, and when discovered, many of 
the Society at Mill Creek, who had become 
convinced of the truth of his proposition 
for the observance of the sabbath, settled 
around him in solitary cottages. They 
adopted the original sabbath — the seventh 
day — for public worship, in the year 1728 ; 
which has ever since been observed by 
their descendants, even unto the present 
day. 

In the year 1732, the solitary life was 
changed into a conventicle one, and a 
Monastic Society was established as soon 
as the first buildings erected for the pur- 
pose were finished — May, 1733, — consti- 
tuting, with the buildings subsequently 
erected by the community, the irregular, 
enclosed village of Ephrata. The habit 
of the Capuchins, or White Friars, was 
adopted by both the brethren and sisters ; 
which consisted of a shirt, trowsers, and 
vest, with a long white gown and cowl, of 
woollen web in winter, and linen in sum- 
mer. That of the sisters differed only in 
the substitution of petticoats for trowsers, 
and some little peculiarity in the shape of 
the cowl. Monastic names were given to 
all who entered the cloister. Onesimus 
(Israel Eckerlin) was constituted Prior, 
who was succeeded by Jabez, (Peter Mil- 
ler,) and the title of Father — spiritual 
father — was bestowed by the Society, upon 
Beissel, whose monastic name was Fried- 
sam ; to which the brethren afterwards 
added Gottrecht — implying, together, 
Peaceable God- right. In the year 1740, 
there were thirty-six single brethren in the 
cloister, and thirty-five sisters ; and at one 
time, the Society, including the members 
living in the neighborhood, numbered near- 
ly three hundred. 

The community was a republic, in which 
all stood upon perfect equality and free- 
dom. No monastic vows were taken, 
neither had they any written covenant, as 
is common in the Baptist churches. The 
New Testament was their confession of 



faith, their code of laws, and their church 
discipline. The property which belonged 
to the Society, by donation, and the labor 
of the single brethren and sisters, was 
common stock ; but none were obliged to 
throw in their own property, or give up 
any of their possessions. The Society was 
supported by the income of the farm, grist 
mill, paper mill, oil mill, fulling mill, and 
the labor of the brethren and sisters in the 
cloister. 

The principles of the Seventh Day Bap- 
tist Society of Ephrata, but little under- 
stood, generally, and much misrepresented 
abroad, may be summed up in a few words, 
viz. : 

1. They believe, that "all Scripture is 
given by inspiration of God, and is pro- 
fitable for doctrine, for correction, for in- 
struction in righteousness, that the man of 
God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished 
unto all good works ;" and, therefore, they 
reeeive the Bible as the only rule of faith, 
covenant, and code of laws for church 
government. They do not admit the least 
license with the letter and spirit of the 
Scriptures, and especially the New Testa- 
ment — do not allow one jot or tittle to be 
added or rejected in the administration of 
the ordinances, but practise them precisely 
as they are instituted and made an example 
by Jesus Christ in his word. 

2. They believe in the divinity of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and the trinity of the 
Godhead ; having unfurled this distinctive 
banner on the first page of a hymn book 
which they had printed for the Society as 
early as 1739, viz. : " There are three 
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the 
Word, and the Holy Ghost : and these 
three are one. And there are three that 
bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the 
water, and the blood; and these three 
agree in one." 

3. They believe that salvation is of 
grace, and not of works; and they rely 
solely on the merits and atonement of 
Christ. They believe, also, that that 
atonement is sufficient for every creature — 
that Christ died for all who wilt call upon 
his name, and offer fruits meet for repent- 
ance ; and that all who come unto Christ 
are drawn of the Father. 

4. They observe the original Sabbath, 
the seventh day, finding no other day com- 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



Ill 



manded in the Scriptures to be regarded 
as holy time, hallowed and sanctified by 
the Lord, nor any other directed to be 
kept in its stead ; and believing that it re- 
quires an authority equal to the Great In- 
stitutor to alter any of His decrees, they 
reject any other substitute as the invention 
of the Man of Sin, of whom it was fore- 
told by Daniel, that he would attempt to 
subvert the order of the Almighty, and 
change times and laws. They maintain 
that, as he blessed and sanctified that day 
forever, which has never been abrogated 
in his word, nor any Scripture to be found 
to warrant that construction, it is still as 
binding as it was when it was reiterated 
amid the thunders of Mount Sinai. To 
alter so positive and hallowed a command- 
ment of the Almighty, they consider would 
require an explicit edict from the Great 
Jehovah. It was not foretold by any of 
the prophets, that with the new dispensa- 
tion there would be any change in the 
sabbath, or any of the commandments. 
Christ, who declared himself the Lord of 
the Sabbath, observed the seventh day, 
and made it the day of his especial minis- 
trations; nor did he authorize any change. 
The Apostles have not assumed to do 
away the original sabbath, or give any 
command to substitute the first for the 
seventh day. The circumstance of the 
disciples meeting together to break bread 
on the first day, which is sometimes used 
as a pretext for observing that day, is 
simply what the seventh day people do at 
this day. The sacrament was not admi- 
nistered by Christ nor by the Apostles on 
the sabbath, but on the first day, counting 
as the people of Ephrata still do, the 
evening and the morning to make the 
day. 

5. They hold to the apostolic baptism 
— believers' baptism — and administer trine 
immersion, with the laying on of hands 
and prayer, while the recipient yet remains 
kneeling in the water. And while they 
confine this ordinance to persons who have 
arrived to years of maturity, children of 
believing parents are dedicated unto the 
Lord, in the public Assembly, and re- 
ceived into the care of the Church, by the 
laying on of hands ; according to the ex- 
ample of our blessed Saviour, Mark, 10; 16. 

6. They celebrate the Lord's Supper at 



night, in imitation of our Saviour ; — cash- 
ing at the same time each other's feet, 
agreeably to his command and example, 
as is expressly stated in the 13lh chapter 
of the Evangelist John, 14th and 15th 
verses. This is attended to on the even- 
ing after the close of the sabbath — the 
sabbath terminating at sunset of the seventh 
day ; thus making the supper an imitation 
of that instituted by Christ, and resem- 
bling also the meeting of the Apostles on 
the first day to break bread, which has 
produced much confusion in some minds 
in regard to the proper day to be observed. 
They disclaim the right of withholding the 
holy sacrament from any disciple, who 
professes to love the Lord Jesus, and 
claims the privilege, as a follower of the 
Crucified Redeemer, by presenting himself 
at the table ; without assuming to judge 
who is worthy and who unworthy ; but 
adhere to the words of Paul : Let a man 
examine himself, and so let him eat of that 
bread, and drink of that cup. 1 Cor. 9 : 28. 
Therefore, judge nothing before the time, 
until the Lord come, who will bring to 
light the hidden things of darkness, and 
will make manifest the counsels of the 
hearts : and then shall every man have 
praise of God. Id. 4 : 5. They also con- 
sider it essential to adhere literally to the 
time, manner, and practice of all the or- 
dinances and injunctions of Christ, as they 
are recorded in the gospel, as near as they 
are capable of comprehending and imitat- 
ing them ; as they hold, that to deviate 
from the letter, is to deviate from the spirit 
of it. 

Celibacy they consider a virtue, but 
never require it, nor do they take any 
vows in reference to it. They never pro- 
hibited marriage and lawful intercourse, 
between the sexes, as is stated by some 
writers, but when two concluded to be 
joined in wedlock, they were aided by the 
Society. It (celibacy) was urged as being 
more conducive to a holy life, for Paul 
saith : " They that are after the flesh, do 
mind the things of the flesh : but they that 
are after the spirit, the things of the spirit." 
And again : " He that is unmarried, careth 
for the things that belong to the Lord, 
how he may please the Lord ; but he that 
is married careth for the things of the I 
world, how he may please his wife. There 



112 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



is this difference between a wife and a vir- 
gin. The unmarried women careth for 
the things of the Lord, that she may be 
holy, both in body and in spirit : but she 
that is married careth for the things of the 
world, how she may please her husband ; 
— I say therefore to the unmarried and 
widows : It is good for them if they abide 
even as I." And they also consider that 
those who sacrifice the lusts of the flesh, 
and live pure virgins, for Christ's sake, 
will be better fitted to, and will, enjoy the 
first places in glory. St. John, in the Re- 
velation, says : " I looked up, and lo, a 
Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him 
an hundred and forty and four thousand, 
having his Father's name written in their 
foreheads. And I heard a voice from 
heaven, as the voice of many waters, and 
as the voice of a great thunder : and I 
heard the voice of harpers harping with 
their harps : and they sung as it were a 
new song before the throne, and before the 
four beasts, and the elders : and no man 
could learn that song but the hundred and 
forty and four thousand, which were re- 
deemed from the earth. These are they 
that are not defiled with women ; for they 
are virgins. These are they which follow 
tne Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These 
were redeemed from among men, being 
the first fruits unto God and unto the 
Lamb." This was a fond, cherished sub- 
ject, and was constantly inculcated. It 
may be considered the ground of the in- 
stitution at Ephrata, whose prosperity and 
advancement was dependent on it being 
properly appreciated. It was sedulously 
kept before them, by their ministers, in its 
brightest colors ; and all the Scripture, 
which was not a little, was brought to bear 
upon it, to inspire them with perseverance 
and faithfulness. It promised capabilities 
which others could not possess in the 
divine life, and also held out the brighter 
rewards of heaven. It was a prolific sub- 
ject for many of their hymns, which 
seemed to hallow and sanctify virginity. 
I have seen one, an occasional hymn, for 
they multiplied new hymns for every par- 
ticular meeting or celebration — one of 
which is very beautiful indeed, and which 
was a prophecy respecting Ephrata — a 
prophecy which has been verified. It in- 
vokes steadfastness of purpose among the 



brethren and sisters of the Cloister, and 
laments the downfall, in prospect of any 
declension, in most affecting strains. The 
following is a stanza from the hymn above 
alluded to : 



Auch Ephrata, wird hier so lange stehen, 
Als Jungfrauen darinn am Rejhen gehen ; 
Wann aber dieser Adel wird auf hoeren, 
So wird die Rache diesen Ort verstoeren. 



They do not approve of paying their 
ministers a salary. They think the gos- 
pel was sent without money and without 
price, and that every one called to preach 
the word, should do it from the love of the 
cause, and in this matter to follow the ad- 
vice and example of Paul. However, 
they never had any scruples in affording 
their ministers such supplies of life as they 
possess themselves, and they gave them 
the same support the other brethren en- 
joyed. Individual members may give, as 
presents, what to them seemeth fit, in 
money, goods, &c. ; and whenever the 
minister travels for religious purposes, if 
needy, he is supplied with money out of 
the treasury to bear his expenses. 

These are the great and leading tenets 
and principles of the German Seventh 
Day Baptists of Pennsylvania. There 
are many other minor points of not suffi- 
cient importance to enumerate in detail, 
which may better be adverted to in reply- 
ing to some errors which writers have 
saddled upon them, and which cannot, 
properly, be considered as tenets and 
principles, but only as peculiarities. I 
cannot, here, go into an exposition of the 
peculiar views of this people, nor enter 
into the minutia of the manner of per- 
forming all the ceremonies and ordinances. 
I would merely remark in regard to their 
regular worship, that they commence with 
a hymn, then prayers, (kneeling,) and 
after a second hymn, the minister requests 
one of the brethren (any one) to read a 
chapter out of the Scriptures, which they 
are at liberty to choose from any part of 
the Bible, — he then expounds the chapter ; 
tracing its bearings and historical connec- 
tion with the prophets and the New Testa- 
ment ; after which the Exhorters enforce 
the duties it inculcates, and should any 
member, brother or single sister, be able 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



113 



Prayer and singing, 
psalm, instead of a 



to improve the subject still farther, or have 
any remarks relative to the topic to make, 
is at perfect freedom to express them. 
with the reading of a 
benediction, conclude 
the service. At another time, and in an- 
other place, I may enter into a full expo- 
sition of the principles and ordinances of 
this Society, and exhibit at length their 
doctrines, and the grounds on which they 
are predicated. 

This Society has been much misrepre- 
sented by writers who know but little of 
them, and mostly draw on their imagina- 
tions and the libels of the persecutors of 
the Society, for the principles of this peo- 
ple. In a short notice of Ephrata in Gor- 
don's Gazetteer of Pennsylvania, drawn 
from an account published by one not 
very friendly to the Society, in the Trans- 
actions of the Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania, several errors were inadvertently 
and unconsciously promulgated by the 
respected author. The good and devout 
Founder is represented as a crafty, de- 
signing usurper of ecclesiastical authority, 
and as assuming titles, honors, and power. 
This is not the place to enter into a full 
refutation of these charges, which are 
without foundation, and could only have 
originated in gross ignorance, or shameful 
wickedness. Beissel, who had been edu- 
cated in the Calvinistic faith, left Europe 
that he might enjoy freedom of opinion in 
America ; he withdrew from the Society 
of Dunkers at Mill Creek, because his 
views on the sabbath produced some dis- 
sension : and after he was drawn from his 
seclusion by love for those who came and 
settled around him, and entreated his 
ministry, he devoted his whole life and 
property to advance the welfare of the 
Society ; giving the management of the 
secular affairs entirely into the hands of 
others, while he gave his attention wholly 
to instructing them in the Word of Life, 
and establishing the gospel in its truth and 
simplicity. The titles of " Father," and 
" Gottrecht," were conferred upon him by 
his brethren, and were not a presumptuous 
assumption of Beissel. Their principles 
are equally misrepresented in that as well 
as most other English accounts of the 
Society. In Buck's Theological Diction- 
ary we are told, that " the principal tenets 



appear to be these : that future happiness 
is only attained by penance and outward 
mortification in this life ; and that Jesus 
Christ, by his meritorious sufferings be- 
came the Redeemer of mankind in general, 
so each individual of the human race, by 
a life of abstinence and restraint, may 
work out his own salvation. Nay they 
go so far as to admit of works of supere- 
rogation, and declare that a man may do 
much more than he is in justice or equity 
obliged to do, and that his superabundant 
works may therefore be applied to the sal- 
vation of others ;" and a great many other 
things equally ridiculous and unfounded. 
The account in that book is a tissue of j 
misrepresentation, unworthy a place in a 
work of that character. 

It is not one of their customs to wear 
long beards, as is frequently said of them ; 
this is more the case with the Dunkers and 
Menonists. They are often represented 
as living on vegetables, the rules of the 
Society forbidding meats, for the purpose 
of mortifying the natural appetite, and also 
as lying on wooden benches, with billets 
of wood for pillows, as an act of penance. 
The true reason and explanation of this 
matter is, that both were done from con- 
siderations of economy. Their circum- 
stances were very restricted, and their 
undertaking great. They studied the 
strictest simplicity and economy in all 
their arrangements : wooden flagons, 
wooden goblets, turned wooden trays, 
were used in administering the commu- 
nion; and the same goblets are still in 
use, though they have been presented 
with more costly ones. Even the plates, 
off which they ate, were octangular pieces 
of thin poplar boards, their forks and can- 
dlesticks were of wood, and also every 
other article that could be made of that 
material, was used by the whole commu- 
nity. After they were relieved from the 
pressure of their expensive enterprise in 
providing such extensive accommodations, 
they enjoyed the cot for repose, and many 
others of the good things of life ; though 
temperance in eating and drinking was 
scrupulously regarded. And it may be 
well to remark, there were not any ardent 
spirits used in building the whole village, 
the timber of which was hewn, and all the 
boards sawed by hand during the winter 



15 



114 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



months. The Society was a social com- 
munity, and not a cold, repulsive, bigoted 
compact ; though it has been sometimes 
represented as reserved and distant, its 
members not giving an answer when ad- 
dressed on the road. Morgan Edwards, in 
his " Materials towards a History of the 
American Baptists," (published in 1770,) 
bears a different testimony ; he says : 
" From the uncouth dress, the recluse and 
ascetic life of these people, sour aspects 
and rough manners might be expected ; 
but on the contrary, a smiling innocence 
and meekness grace their countenances, 
and a softness of tone and accent adorn 
their conversation, and make their deport- 
ment gentle and obliging. Their singing 
is charming ; partly owing to the pleasant- 
ness of their voices,, the variety of parts 
they carry on together, and the devout 
manner of performance." And of Beissel, 
he gives the following character, which he 
says he had from one who knew him well. 
" He was very strict in his morals, and 
practised self-denial to an uncommon de- 
gree. Enthusiastic and whimsical he cer- 
tainly was ; but an apparent devoutness 
and sincerity ran through all his oddities. 
He was not an adept in any of the liberal 
arts and sciences except music, in which 
he excelled. He composed and set to 
music (in two, four, five, and seven parts) 
a volume of hymns, another of anthems. 
He published a dissertation on the fall of 
man, in the mysterious strain ; also a 
volume of letters. He left behind him 
several books in manuscript, curiously 
written and embellished." One writer has 
made a remark, as invidious as it is un- 
founded, on the sisterhood, in stating that, 
" the sisters, it would seem, took little de- 
light in their state of single blessedness, 
and two only (aged and ill-favored ones 
we may suppose) continued steadfast in 
renunciation of marriages." They never 
had to renounce matrimony on entering 
the convent ; and but four or five of the 
whole number that have been in the clois- 
ter, in the period of one hundred and ten 
years, left and were married. One of 
these mirried a gentleman in the city of 
Philadelphia, and afterwards much re- 
gretted her change, as did all others who 
left the " stille einsamkeit." The rest 
continued steadfast in that state of single 



blessedness, and now, save those remain- 
ing in the convent, lie beside each other 
in the beautiful cemetery in the fore ground 
of the village. 

These little things would not be consid- 
ered worthy of any notice, but from fresh 
currency which has been given to them 
by a late popular work, which is exten- 
sively circulated throughout the State. 
We conclude our notice of the gratuitous 
aspersions, by a few words in reply to the 
charge of their denying the doctrine of 
original sin, and the eternity of punish- 
ment. They do not hold that Adam's 
fall condemns indiscriminately all born 
souls, for many are born and die without 
sinning ; but they admit and teach, that in 
the fall of Adam all disposition to good 
and holiness was lost, and that the whole 
race inherit a natural innate depravity, 
which will lead them to sin, and prove 
their sure condemnation, unless they re- 
pent, and are born again of the Holy 
Spirit. Beissel wrote a book on this sub- 
ject, which is as curious as it is ingenious. 
He enters into long disquisitions on the 
nature of Adam and his capabilities, before 
the fall ; explaining many things of the 
fall, and with it elucidating several parts 
of the Scriptures, which have, and would 
easily escape the attention of men of less 
profundity of genius. His views are 
somewhat mysterious, yet deep and inge- 
nious, but in the present day would be 
deemed little more than refined specula- 
tions, sublimated into visions. But none 
go to deny the depravity of the human 
heart, and the sad consequences which 
the fall of Adam has entailed on every 
succeeding generation, unless each creature 
be regenerated and born again through 
the sanctifying influence of the Holy 
Spirit. They do not believe in universal 
salvation in the usual acceptation of 
the term, but they teach the sure reward 
of submission and obedience to the requi- 
sitions of the Lord, through the mercy of 
God in Christ Jesus ; and believe fully in 
the punishment of transgression ; for " the 
wages of sin is death" — death to the joys 
of heaven, and an exclusion from the pre- 
sence of the Lord ; " Cast into utter dark- 
ness, where there is weeping and wailing 
and gnashing of teeth, where the fire is 
never quenched, where the worm never 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



115 



dieth." The idea of a universal restora- 
tion did exist among some in the early 
days, and it Is to be attributed to attempts 
to explain the fifteenth chapter of the first 
epistle to the Corinthians, and the twen- 
tieth chapter of the Revelations, and re- 
concile some other parts of the Scriptures. 
It, however, is never taught as a doctrine, 
but is always approached with the greatest 
caution and delicacy, by their pastor in 
private conversations with the members, 
who desire to be instructed upon this sub- 
ject ; and who invariably admonishes 
them to be diligent in making their calling 
and election sure ; to be prepared for the 
first resurrection and not to depend on a 
second. 

Though they considered contention with 
arms and at law unchristian and unbecom- 
ing professors, yet they were decided 
Whigs in the Revolution, and have, unfor- 
tunately, had to defend themselves too 
frequently in courts of justice. To set 
an example of forbearance and Christian 
meekness, they suffered for a long time to 
be wronged and plundered, until forbear- 
ance was no longer a virtue. In the 
French war (the war of 1756,) the doors 
of the cloister, including the chapels, 
meeting room, and every other building, 
were opened as a refuge for the inhabitants 
of Tulpehocken and Paxton settlements, 
then the frontiers, from the incursions of 
the hostile Indians, all of whom were re- 
ceived and kept by the Society during the 
period of alarm and danger : — upon hear- 
ing of which, a company of infantry was 
despatched by the royal government from 
Philadelphia to protect Ephrata ; and on 
representation of the character of the So- 
ciety, by the commissioners who were 
sent to visit the place, the Government 
made them a present of a pair of very 
large glass communion goblets, which was 
the only recompense they would receive. 
At an earlier period they attracted the 
attention of the Penn family, and one of 
the young ladies, in England, commenced 
a correspondence with the Society.* Gov- 
ernor Penn visited them frequently, and 
desirous of giving them a solid evidence 



* One letter from Lady Juliana Penn to 
Peter Miller, may be found in the Memoirs 
of Daniel Rittenhouse, LL. D., F. R. S. 



of his regard, had a tract of five thousand 
acres of land surrounding Ephrata, sur- 
veyed and conveyed to them, as the 
Seventh Day Baptist Manor ; but they 
refused to accept it, believing that large 
possessions were calculated to engender 
strife, and as more becoming to Christian 
pilgrims and sojourners not to be absorbed 
in the gains of this world and the accu- 
mulation of property. After the battle 
of Brandywine the whole establishment 
was opened to receive the wounded Amer- 
icans, great numbers of whom were 
brought there in wagons, a distance of 
more than forty miles ; and one hundred 
and fifty of whom died, and are juried 
on Mount Zion. Their doors were ever 
open to the weary traveller, and all vis- 
itors were cordially received and enter- 
tained, while they tarried, as is done in the 
hospices of Europe. They gave all the 
necessary supplies to the needy, even their 
own beds, and to stripping their own backs 
to afford some shelter from the " peltings 
of the pitiless storm," to those who were 
to the weather in inclement sea- 



sons. 

Many of the brethren being men of 
education, they established, at a very early 
period, a school, which soon gained for 
itself an honorable reputation, numbers 
of young men from Philadelphia and Bal- 
timore being sent hither to be educated. A 
sabbath school was also instituted for re- 
ligious instruction, which flourished many 
years, and was attended with some re- 
markable consequences. It produced an 
anxious inquiry among the juvenile popu- 
lation who attended the school, which 
increased and grew into what is now 
termed a revival of religion. The scholars 
of the sabbath school met together every 
day before and after common school 
hours, to pray and exhort one another, 
under the superintendence of one of the 
brethren. The excitement ran into excess, 
and betrayed a zeal not according to 
knowledge ; which induced Friedsam to 
discourage an enterprise, which had been 
commenced, and was partly under way, 
namely, to erect a house for their especial 
use, to be called Succoth. Ludwig 
Hoecker, or Brother Obed, as he was de- 
signated, who was the teacher of the com- 
mon school, projected the plan of holding 



116 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



a school in the afternoon of the sabbath, 
and who, in connection with some of the 
other brethren, commenced it, to give in- 
struction to the indigent children who 
were kept from regular school by employ- 
ments which their necessities obliged them 
to be engaged at during the week, as well 
as to give religious instruction to those of 
better circumstances. It is not known in 
what year exactly that the sabbath school 
was commenced. Hoecker came to 
Ephrata in the year 1739, and it is pre- 
sumed that he began, soon after he took 
up his residence amongst the brethren. 
I The materials for the building were fur- 
nished, as is recorded in the minutes of 
the Society, in the year 1749. After the 
battle of Brandywine, the sabbath school 
room, with others, was given up for a 
hospital, which was occupied as such some 
time ; and the school was never afterwards 
resumed. Hoecker at that period was 
sixty years of age. 

To Robert Raikes is certainly due the 
honor of having projected and successfully 
introduced the present general system of 
Sunday school instruction, but there is 
much credit justly due to the Seventh Day 
Baptists of Ephrata, for having established 
and maintained in operation, for a period of 
upwards of thirty years, a sabbath school, 
forty years before the first school was 
opened by the Gloucester philanthropist. 

By this time (1777) the Society began 
to decline, but not from causes alleged by 
some writers — want of vigor of mind in 
the successor of Beissel, who died 1768 ; for 
his successor, Peter Miller, was a man of 
much greater powers of mind, and had the 
management of the establishment during 
Beissel's time ; and to his energy and per- 
severance is mainly attributable the great 
prosperity of the institution in its early 
days. The institution was one of the 
seventeenth century, and in accordance 
with European feelings, most of the mem- 
bers being natives of Germany. The 
| state of public opinion at Beissel's death 
was widely different from what it was 
during the first fifty years after Ephrata 
was established, in relation to politics and 
! government: and with this march of in- 
I tellect, different sentiments were enter- 
! tained in regard to religious institutions. 
| It was commenced as a social community 



in the midst of a wildernes — the hand of 
improvement made the desert bloom as the 
rose, — and at that time (1768) was not 
surrounded by a dense, promiscuous popu- 
lation. These circumstances connected 
with incessant persecution, the turmoil 
and contention into which they were 
thrown and constantly kept by some of 
their envious neighbors, were the principal 
causes of the decline of the Society. 

There is still a small band who retain 
the principles, and meet together regu- 
larly to worship, on the evening and the 
morning of the Sabbath ; but they are a 
flock without a shepherd — they have the 
forms but not the spirit, nor the zeal of 
their predecessors. The ancient commu- 
nity has been called " zealots." Zeal is, 
certainly, better than indifference, and 
enthusiasm better than deadness. Zeal is 
the life of Christianity, and it is an honor 
to the denomination to be designated by a 
title, even if it be in ridicule, which im- 
ports their activity and faithfulness. The 
people of Ephrata now lack that desirable 
quality for which those of old are stigma- 
tized ; for that zeal would be an honor to 
them should they merit it. Ephrata would 
be a paradise as it was in former days, 
were the people now here such zealots, as 
those they have descended from. They now 
partake more of the cold Christianity of the 
world. It must not, however, be supposed 
that they were ranters, or made a noise 
and display in their zeal. It was a quiet, 
all-absorbing zeal, in which the world and 
all its vanities were sacrificed to pure and 
constant devotion : they were living and 
moving in this world, performing diligent- 
ly all the duties that devolved upon them 
here ; but their spirits, and all their con- 
versation, were centered in heaven. Of 
them, who were derided with the epithet 
of " zealots," Mr. Winchester, speaking 
of the people of Ephrata, in his dialogues, 



says 



I remember the Rev. Morgan Ed- 



wards, formerly minister of the Baptist 
church in Philadelphia, once said to me : 
' God will always have a visible people on 
earth, and these (the society at Ephrata) 
are his people at present, above any other 
in the world.' " Mr. Winchester says 
further, " They walk in all the command- 
ments and ordinances of the Lord blame- 
less, both in public and private. They 



HISTORY OF THL GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



117 



bring up their children, (now speaking of 
the married members,) in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord ; no noise, rude- 
ness, shameless mirth, loud laughter, is 
heard within their doors. The law of 
kindness is in their mouths ; no sourness 
or moroseness disgraces their religion, and 
whatsoever they believe their Saviour 
commands they practise, without inquir- 
ing, or regarding what others do. They 
read much ; they sing and pray much ; 
they are constant attendants upon the 
worship of God ; their dwelling houses 
are all houses of prayer." But alas ! alas ! 
it is not so now. Ephrata has fallen — 
degenerated beyond all conception. It is 
now spiritually dead. Ichabod is written 
upon the walls of this branch of our Zion. 

As early as 1758, there was a branch 
of this Society established at the Bermu- 
dian Creek, in York county, about fifteen 
miles from the town of York ; some of 
the members of which still remain, though 
they have been without preaching many 
years. Another was established in 1763, 
in Bedford county, which still flourishes, 
and many members of the present Society 
are scattered through the counties of the 
interior of the State ; so that the truth 
which was left has not become extinct, but 
is still extending, which is particularly the 
case at Snowhill, now their principal set- 
tlement ; and the hope is still entertained, 
that the little one may become a thousand, 
and the small one a great nation. 

For a further detail of the history of 
this Society, a description of the Monastic 
Institution at Ephrata, and an account of 
their extensive literary labours and nume- 
rous publications, as well as their music, 
which is peculiar to themselves, see the 
writer's " Historical Sketch," in Hazard's 
Register of Pennsylvania, vol. xv. page 
161. 



This obscure and unobtrusive little flock 
of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls, 
after having passed nearly a century and 
a quarter under the benign institutions of 
our blessed country, whose republican 
Constitution guaranties, alike, equal rights 
and immunities to all its citizens, and ex- 
tends the panoply of unfettered religious 
freedom over all denominations, without 
any preference or shade of distinction, is 



now attracting much attention throughout 
the land, and even abroad in distant coun- 
tries, from the persecuting prosecutions 
they have suffered within a few years past, 
(since the first edition of this work,) at 
the hands of the Civil Magistracy, in this 
land of vaunted freedom ; and which have 
at length roused them, after failing to ob- 
tain redress at Legislative Halls, to appeal 
to the highest judicial tribunals, to test the 
constitutionality of the State statutes, which 
abridge their religious rights, and interfere 
with their civil immunities. And as tall 
oaks from little acorns grow, the sacred 
principle for which they are contending — 
religious freedom — may affect the liberty 
of every individual of the Republic, and 
agitate the whole mass of our wide spread 
population, (as it involves one of the most 
important principles of human govern- 
ment — no less than the right of Govern- 
ment to prescribe religious observances — 
a virtual u?iion of Church and State,) 
it becomes proper, as a part of the history 
of this People, to note some of the circum- 
stances connected with this movement, 
which is destined to affect both the legis- 
lation and the judicature of all the States 
of our Union ; as well as to define their 
position and save these humble followers 
of the lovely Jesus from misrepresentation 
and unjust obloquy ; as we often hear the 
question propounded : Who are these Se- 
venth day Baptists ? and, What are they 
contending for? To all of which we 
simply reply : They are a body of evan- 
gelical Christians, well spoken of by all 
men, who for more than a century, have 
been content to enjoy, in quietness, the 
undeniable privilege of worshipping Al- 
mighty God according to the dictates of 
their consciences. They are men and 
citizens of the State, on a perfect equality 
with all others — entitled to all the privi- 
leges and immunities of all other citizens. 
They are freemen — independent freemen 
— integral parts of the body politic ; who 
have the same rights, and the same claims 
to protection, in all the pursuits of life and 
happiness, as other citizens. They contend 
against unequal and invidious laws — they 
contend for the inalienable right of worship- 
ping their Father in Heaven agreeably to 
the dictates of His law, who alone is Law- 
giver in Zion ; — and resist being compelled, 



118 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



by fines and penalties, to keep " the com- 
mandments of men." They deny the 
prerogative of the secular power to enact 
any laws giving preference, or exclusive 
privileges, to any sect or combination of 
sects; or of imposing punishment on others 
for non-conformity to sectarian enact- 
ments. 

Conscientiously believing, that the Lord 
God does require of them, the consecra- 
tion of the seventh clay of the week, to be 
observed as the sabbath unto the Lord, 
and that He does not require any other 
day to be kept as holy time, — they con- 
sider themselves entitled to the same pri- 
vileges and immunities, on the remaining 
six days of the week, in all lawful occu- 
pations, which all other citizens enjoy 
agreeably to their faith : and relying on 
the integrity of the provision of our Magna 
Charta, they have uniformly exercised that 
right until quite recently. Within a few 
years past, they have been prosecuted by 
malicious persons, not having the fear of 
God before them, nor actuated by any 
zeal for the cause of religion or good 
morals, — for laboring, on their secluded 
farms and in their workshops, on the first 
clay of the week ; and this repeatedly and 
continually until forbearance was no longer 
a virtue, and religion as well as the cause 
of freedom, required them to assert their 
rights and demand their charter immuni- 
ties, at the Halls of Justice. It was ex- 
pected that the question would be decided 
by the Supreme Court of the State at its 
last May sessions ; but not having a full 
Bench, (Judge Rodgers being absent on a 
trip to Europe,) the case was continued to 
next May term. Whatever that decision 
may be, it is proper, as part of the history 
of the churches of the United States, that 
this effort to maintain, unimpaired, the re- 
ligious rights, always regarded as secured 
to every citizen of our happy Union, should 
be recorded for preservation in a work de- 
voted to the history and exposition of the 
principles of every branch of the whole 
church ; which is about to be stereotyped 
and become the standard book of reference, 
for time to come, in such matters : which 
we shall do in as brief a manner as is con- 
sistent with the magnitude of the subject. 

Recognizing the injunction : " Render 
unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's ; 



and unto God the things which are 
GocVs ; and respecting, equally, the ad- 
monition : " Be subject to principalities 
and powers, to obey magistrates, &c," in 
so far that they do not contravene the 
Word of God, nor do damage to the con- 
science of the individual, — they have ever 
been distinguished as a peaceable and in- 
dustrious portion of the community ; yield- 
ing their willing service to all good order, 
and sharing, cheerfully, in bearing the 
burdens of the Government and sustaining 
the credit of the Commonwealth : but God 
and God alone, they maintain, is the So- 
vereign of their spirits ; and He alone has 
power to prescribe religious service. The 
secular government they consider has 
nothing whatever to do with religious faith 
and religious duties. Such power has not 
been delegated to our State nor to the 
Federal Government. Men in forming a 
Constitution, especially in a republic, 
compound natural rights, to secure civil 
protection ; but they never compromit re- 
ligious faith and religious duties. They 
may be wrenched from them by arbitrary 
power, not by voluntary concession. Our 
Government is a government professing 
to be separated entirely from any eccle- 
siastical power or control. The rights of 
conscience are set apart under the elemen- 
tary principles of the compact, and range 
not among the category of expedients, to 
secure the proper administration of secular 
affairs, which is the only legitimate pro- 
vince of civil government. There was no 
such traffic of religious liberty in organiz- 
ing our government — there was no such 
barter of allegiance to the "King of Kings," 
to conciliate the arm of power, and place 
a task-master over us. Might is not right : 
neither does the accident of being a majo- 
rity give any warrant to oppress the mino- 
rity, however small that minority may be. 
No government established by voluntary 
association, has, ever, any right to tran- 
scend the powers delegated to it ; not for 
any purpose, nor any assumed exigency. 
Therefore, they have no right to legislate 
in matters of religious faith ; nor have 
they any right, from any pretext whatever, 
to abridge the religious freedom secured 
to them by the fundamental law of the 
land — the Bill of Rights and the ever glo- 
rious Constitution. By our Bill of Rights 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



119 



and by our honored Constitution, the 
Seventh day Baptists, in common with all 
other citizens of our Republic, are secured 
in their religious rights — religious equality 
and religious privileges. That Constitu- 
tion suffers no ban on any individual's 
religious principles — no preference to be 
given to any sect or party ; yet by suc- 
cessive legislative enactments, many of the 
States have imposed fines and penalties, 
and Justices of the Peace have enforced 
them against freemen of the Republic, for 
exercising their constitutional ri^ht of 
worshipping Almighty God, on his own 
appointed, hallowed, sanctified day, and 
pursuing their honest avocations on the 
other six days of the week. Thus, the 
Seventh day Baptists, in violation of 
vested rights and immunities, have been 
arraigned before the civil magistrates of 
the land as evil doers and disturbers of 
the peace, and have repeatedly been fined 
as criminals. They are treated as out- 
laws, placed before the public in a false 
and unfavorable light, and forced to yield 
two-seventlis of their time to religious rest, 
while other denominations observe but 
o^e-seventh ; and that not the day re- 
quired by the Word of God : and strange 
inconsistency, their .persecutors, proven, 
on trial, to be the greater violators of the 
statute — guilty of open, flagrant immora- 
lities, reveling in vices and crimes, regard- 
less of God or man, on the legalized rest- 
day, escape, and prosecute with impunity. 
Strange as it may appear, yet it is never- 
theless the fact, that, with such testimony 
before the Magistrate, the Seventh day 
Baptists are mulcted, and the vagabond 
escapes. Thus, under unjust enactments, 
the ungodly oppress, and the righteous 
suffer; and this in the land of boasted 
liberality of sentiment and charter rights 
— the land of vaunted liberty and equality. 
And thus they must suffer until the Con- 
stitution shall have been vindicated by the 
Supreme Bench. 

By that ever glorious Constitution, our 
liberties, our religious equality and reli- 
gious rights, are inviolably secured, and 
so secured that they cannot be shaken or 
wrested from us by any action of any 
State Legislature. The toleration of re- 
ligion has never been conferred upon our 
1 1 Legislature. It is an inherent right, a 



reserved right, in the people, in each in- 
dividual himself, never delegated to the 
State Legislature, nor to the Congress of 
the Union. All toleration or attempts at 
toleration in matters of religious faith and 
practice, is not only, in our estimation, a 
usurpation, but the vilest tyranny ; be- 
cause it assumes the power to grant and 
to withhold religious privileges, which be- 
long unto God alone. We deny that the 
State or the Federal Government have 
any power to legislate on the subject. 
The Constitution of the State (Pennsyl- 
vania,) declares : " that no preference 
shall ever be given, by law, to any reli- 
gious establishments or modes of wor- 
ship ,*" and the Constitution of the United 
States ordains, that " Congress shall make 
no law respecting an establishment of re- 
ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof;'''' and again : " This Constitution, 
and the laivs of the United States, which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, shall 
be the supreme latv of the land, and the 
Judges in every State shall be bound 
thereby, any thing in the constitu- 
tion OR LAWS OF ANY STATE TO THE 
CONTRARY NOTWITHSTANDING." 

What is the difference, we ask, of a 
State religion, which taxes a parish a few 
dollars to support the established Church, 
and taking fifty -tico days every year of a 
freeman's precious time, who voluntarily 
and conscientiously devotes the time re- 
quired of him by his Maker, according 
to the requirements of His Word, — to 
sacrifice to the sectarian prejudices of 
those who have usurped a preference ? It 
is, we maintain, a "preference" given to 
the Sunday sect — making an unjust and 
oppressive distinction among the members 
of the same republican family. Besides, 
these Sunday laws, with their fines and 
penalties, are hindrances to the reception 
of the truth ; and if acquiesced in, 
must, eventually, destroy its promulga- 
tion throughout the land. Under these 
unrighteous laws, it cannot have " free 
course." This preference to sect, and this 
restriction of privilege, are in direct vio- 
lation of our charter immunities — are 
wanton infractions on the Constitution of 
the State, and of the General Government. 

That this security was designed by the 
Constitution of the United States, we have 



120 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



from the pen of the immortal Washing- 
ton ; who was the Presiding Officer of the 
Convention that framed that instrument. 
In a letter written to a First-day Baptist 
Church, in Virginia, bearing date August 
4th, 1789, he emphatically remarks : " If 
I had the least idea of any difficulty re- 
sulting from the Constitution, adopted by 
the Convention of which I had the honor 
to be President, when it was framed, so 
as to endanger the rights of any religious 
denomination, I never should have at- 
tached my name to that instrument. If 
i I had any idea that the General Govern- 
ment was so administered, that the liberty 
of conscience was endangered, I pray you 
be assured, that no man would be more 
willing than myself to revise and alter 
that part of it, so as to avoid all religious 
'persecution. You can without doubt re- 
member, that I have often expressed as 
my opinion, that every man who conducts 
himself as a good citizen, is accountable 
alone to God for his religious faith, and 
should be protected in worshipping God, 
according to the dictates of his con- 
science." And the House of Represen- 
tatives of the United States, in the year, 
1830, made the following declaration to 
the world on this point, in the celebrated 
Sunday Mail Report : — 

" We look in vain to that instrument 
for authority to say whether first day, or 
seventh day, or whether any day, has 

been made holy by the Almighty." 

" The Constitution regards the conscience 
of the Jew as sacred as that of the Chris- 
tian ; and gives no more authority to adopt 
a measure affecting the conscience of a 
solitary individual, than that of a whole 
community. That representative who 
would violate this principle, would lose his 
delegated character, and forfeit the confi- 
dence of his constituents. If Congress 
should declare the first day of the week 
holy, it would not convince the Jew nor 
the Sabbatarian. It would dissatisfy both, 

and consequently convert neither." 

" If a solemn act of legislation shall in 
one point define the law of God, or point 
out to the citizen one religious duty, it 
may with equal propriety define every 
part of revelation, and enforce every reli- 
gious obligation, even to the forms and 
ceremonies of worship, the endowments 



of the church, and the support of the 
clergy." " The framers of the Con- 
stitution recognized the eternal principle, 
that man's relation to his God is above 
human legislation, and his rights of con- 
science inalienable. Reasoning was not 
necessary to establish this truth ; we are 
conscious of it in our own bosoms. It is 
this consciousness which, in defiance of 
human laws, has sustained so many 
martyrs in tortures and flames. They 
felt that their duty to God was superior to 
human enactments, and that man could 
exercise no authority over their con- 
sciences. It is an inborn principle, which 

nothing can eradicate." 

. " It is the duty of the Government to 
afford to all, to Jew or Gentile — Pagan or 
Christian — the protection and advantage 
of our benignant institutions, on Sunday 
as well as every day of the week." 

Thus, in violation of our clearly defined 
charter rights, we are despoiled of our 
sacred immunities, by the secular arm. 
Our moorings have been cut loose — we 
have been sent adrift — our only Ararat is 
the ever glorious Constitution. We are, 
therefore, found in the Courts of Justice, 
much against our own inclinations. Op- 
posed as we are in principle to contention 
and conflict under ordinary circumstances, 
yet it now becomes our duty, an impera- 
tive duty, to maintain our rights with all 
our ability, especially as fidelity to our 
high calling involves the most sacred prin- 
ciples, and that the more imperatively as 
the integrity of the law of our Maker is 
concerned, and the peculiar privilege of 
honoring Him and His institutions is put 
in jeopardy. As His disciples, we are 
required to contend for " the faith once 
delivered to the Saints." In this matter, 
we are not our own — " We are bought 
with a price ;" — We have pledged our 
allegiance to Heaven, and have to " fight 
the good fight of faith," like true " soldiers 
of the Cross." The Sovereign of the 
Universe has commanded us to : " Re- 
member the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 
Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy 
work : but the Seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord thy God ; in it thou shalt do 
no work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daugh- 
ter, thy man servant, nor thy maid ser- 
vant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



121 



is within thy gates : for in six days the 
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and 
all that in them is, and rested the seventh 
day : wherefore the Lord blessed the Sab- 
bath day and hallowed it." This Sab- 
bath he has imposed upon us by a power 
which belongs to himself alone ; and it is 
perpetually obligatory on us, to " sanc- 
tify" that clay, until He, himself, abro- 
gates it, or absolves us from the service. 
He has never abrogated it, nor substituted 
any other day to be sanctified in its stead ; 
neither has He delegated any power to 
any Potentate, Church, or Legislature — to 
any Bishop, Priest, or People, to do so. 
It, therefore, remains untouched by Divine 
Authority, and is as binding as the tablet 
of stone on which the statute is written by 
the finger of God — the Sabbath of the 
Lord forever / Until He abrogates it or 
absolve us from the service, it is our so- 
lemn duty to observe it, and it only ; and 
not to recognize any other substituted or 
enforced by man. It is due to the Ma- 
jesty of Heaven, that we be faithful to 
this His command ; and it is likewise due 
to ourselves and to our posterity. It is, 
also our duty to resist the unhallowed en- 
croachments of the secular power in inter- 
fering with the promulgation of the Truth 
of God our Father ; for if we surfer the 
rights of citizenship — the inestimable 
privileges of religious liberty — to be 
wrested from us and succumb to the 
usurpations of political power in enforcing 
the sanctification of the first day of the 
week, we do His cause much damage, 
by recognizing that infringement, and by 
suffering that encroachment to deter others 
from embracing the unmutilated Truth. 
The secular power has usurped our reli- 
gious immunities ; and inasmuch as it in- 
terferes with the "free exercise'''' of reli- 
gion, and the reception of the word of God, 
it is an infraction of the fundamental law. 
Requiring any man or set of men, to 
yield more than their voluntary consecra- 
tion of a seventh part of their time to the 
service of their Maker, which is all that 
He requires, is a vile infraction of vested 
rights, and a slander on our professions of 
perfect civil and religious equality. 

Has it come to this in America ? — the 
land of Freedom ! — the boasted Asylum 
for the oppressed of all nations, — that a 



religious society " of good report" is put 
under ban? Even so. We blush while 
we proclaim it : but it is even so. What 
has been gained by our forefathers having 
left the iron glebe of despotism? Our 
Republicans say : " JVe may enjoy our 
Seventh-day Sabbath in quietness." But 
they say more : " You must also keep 
holy first day." Where do they derive 
any such authority from the Constitution 
— from our Magna Charta? Where is 
the country in Europe, at the present day, 
that would not grant us the privilege of 
meeting together on the seventh day ? A 
Romish or Moslem hierarchy would not 
withhold that " boon ?" What peculiar 
religious privileges, then, do we enjoy as 
American citizens ? Absolutely none ! If 
the dominant party may force us to keep 
days holy not enjoined by the Scriptures, 
what is to prevent them from forcing us 
to support a State or National Ecclesias- 
tical Establishment ? — And if permitted to 
progress in their usurpations of authority, 
who knows how soon we may be placed 
under that yoke ? O America ! America ! 
— land of Washington, of Adams, of Jef- 
ferson, and of Madison, we mourn thy fall 
— we blush for thy shame. Where need 
we dread more illiberal, less considerate 
treatment, than we have received at 
the hands of our republican brethren. 
Dragged, time after time, before the Offi- 
cers of Justice ; fined under odious and 
partial laws ; and turned away from the 
Halls of Legislation without definite action 
on our memorials, when we appealed for 
redress — asking merely for exemptions 
from the penalties of invidious statutes, 
in virtue of being conscientious Sabbath- 
keepers, — we have no resort, no City of 
Refuge but the Polar Star of Freedom, 
the Constitution of the Republic. If our 
rights are not secured by our Magna 
Charta, and not respected by our Judi- 
ciary, in vain may we appeal to the mag- 
nanimity of bigoted sectarians and preju- 
diced legislators. Sectarian bigotry cru- 
cified the Redeemer — " they hated him 
without a cause." Sectarian bigotry mur- 
dered the Apostles and persecuted the 
saints unto death. Human nature is still 
the same. — Give man power and he will 
abuse it ; the strong will trample on the 
weak ; and if left to the tender mercies of 



16 



122 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 



sectarian prejudices, we may never hope 
for the restoration of our rights, which 
have been wrested from us by unjust and 
iniquitous legislation. We have therefore 
been constrained to appeal to the Judicial 
tribunals, not from any circumstances of 
our own seeking, but in self-defence — in 
the last extremity, to save God's heritage 
from being trampled under foot by the 
secular power, and the observance of His 
own institution being suppressed by the 
machinations of man. We are, thus, 
called upon by the most sacred sense of 
duty, to resist these intolerable invasions 
on our rights. We owe it to ourselves, 
to human rights and to our Maker. 
Where is our religious liberty if not per- 
mitted to follow the dictates of our own 
consciences, freely, fully, in serving our 
Maker, but are forced to yield another 
sixth of our precious time, than that re- 
quired by our legitimate Ruler, by the 
enactment of unequal and invidious State 
statutes 1 Where is our religious freedom, 
i? compelled to cease from our indefeasible 
right of " the pursuit of happiness" and 
the maintenance of our families, by arbi- 
trary and partial legislation 1 Our liberty 
is but the liberty of slaves— our freedom, 
but the freedom of the dungeon. If we 
prove recreant to our high trust, we are 
worthy of fines and shackles ; and if we 
submit to the impious desecration of God's 
prerogatives and our own blood-bought 
privileges, we deserve the rack and the 
stake. We have, therefore, we repeat, 
been constrained to appeal to the highest 
tribunals of the land to regain our consti- 
tutional rights ; without wishing, in the 
least, to disturb the peace of society or in- 
terfere with the rights of others, but being 
actuated solely by a sense of duty, to 
maintain the integrity of God's holy law, 
and preserve, unimpaired, the religious 
immunities of our happy country. Our 
trust is in God and the rectitude of our 
Judiciary. The Supreme Court cannot, 
declare in the face of the world, that the 
American Republic does not tolerate Re- 
ligious Freedom! They cannot, they 
never will stultify our Constitution and 
I make our Government a laughing stock 
| to all Europe — to the whole civilized 
| world, by a decision at such variance 
i with the genius of our institutions and 



the professions of our boasted preten- 
sions. 

This is the position of our persecuted 
Society ; and we have claimed the privi- 
lege of giving this portion of our history, 
as due to the ivlwle church, as well as to 
ourselves : for they, knowing how to ap- 
preciate religious liberty, have a right to 
a candid exposition of our grievances, as 
a professing church, and as members of 
the same republican family. The great 
principle for which the seventh day Peo- 
ple are contending — unfettered religious 
liberty — is alike dear to all the churches 
of the land : it belongs equally to all de- 
nominations, however large, or however 
small. — It underlies the whole system of 
Protestanism and of Republicanism, and 
is the only security for all the churches, 
and the whole church, against any usur- 
pations of superiority of sect ; which the 
ambition of an aspiring hierarchy may, 
at no distant day, assume, to bring into 
subjection all not of her own faith and 
not within her own pale ; and whose aim 
may not only be to monopolize a universal 
ecclesiastical See, but to sway the secular 
arm and fill the Chair of State. Regard- 
ing the whole design of human govern- 
ment to be to protect the people, indivi- 
dually and collectively, in their respective 
rights, and to afford security to their per- 
sons and property, we protest against any 
power in our Legislature to pass any law 
relative to religious matters, other than a 
general law to secure all persons from 
molestation or wanton disturbance, at all 
times, when they assemble to worship 
Almighty God. Beyond this, any legis- 
lation is a usurpation of the fundamental 
law — the charter of our rights — the palla- 
dium of our liberties ! Let it be permitted 
on one point, and where can any limit be 
interposed ? We are therefore called upon 
as Christians and as Republicans, to take 
our stand and protest against every in- 
fringement on religious rights. As Ame- 
rican Citizens, as Independent Freeman, 
as responsible Stewards of the glorious 
heritage bequeathed to us by the Fathers 
of the Revolution, we are called upon, to 
maintain, unimpaired, the high privileges 
secured to us by the Constitution of the 
Republic. In conclusion, we reiterate, 
that we recognize the laws of the land in 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 



123 



all secular matters, and honor the laws of 
God, and of God alone, in religious faith 
and practice. These are the inalienable 
rights of every member of the Republic. 
These are rights reserved by the people to 
themselves, in the formation of the Go- 
vernment, which no power can legiti- 



mately wrest from them. If usurped by 
our Legislatures and sustained by the 
Judiciary, then has the downfall of the 
Republic already commenced, and we may 
prepare to sing the requiem of " the last 
hope of Freedom !" 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 

BY THE REV. WILLIAM METCALFE, 

MINISTER OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIAN CHURCH. NORTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 



Among the primary institutions of our 
Heavenly Father, for the more effectual 
assistance of his people in the acquisition 
of spiritual knowledge, and the attainment 
of the end of their creation, was a visible, 
external Church, in which he might be 
worshipped, his name professed and mag- 
nified, his appointed ordinances duly ad- 
ministered, and such order and discipline 
maintained as should be suitable to the 
times and conditions of the generations of 
men. Such an institution existed in the 
Antidiluvian world ; this was succeeded 
by the Noahaic, or Ancient Church, in 
which " Noah was a preacher of right- 
eousness." Then followed the Israelitish, 
and lastly came the Christian Church with 
all its spiritual blessings, " peace upon 
earth and good will to men." 

There is great reason to believe that the 
Almighty has made use of means to bring 
forth to view the principles of these seve- 
ral Churches. Noah, Abraham, and in 
the fulness of time, Jesus Christ, are pre- 
sented in the sacred Scriptures as the in- 
struments by whom the respective Dispen- 
sations were announced to the human fa- 
mily; and even in subsequent times, when 



Reformation was needed, a Luther, a Cal- 
vin, a Melancthon, and others have been 
successively raised up in the providence 
of God to be the mediums for accomplish- 
ing his all gracious purposes, of reforming 
abuses in his church. 

Under Divine Providence, the body of 
people known by the appellation of Bible- 
Christians, began to assume an external, 
visible and distinct existence as a Church 
about the year 1600, principally through 
the pastoral labors of the late Rev. Wil- 
liam Cowherd, minister of Christ 
Church, Salford, England. Educated in 
the most liberal manner for the Christian 
Ministry, he was early ordained a minister 
of the Church of England, or Episcopal 
Church, and appointed to the important du- 
ties of a church living, at Beverly, in York- 
shire. In addition to his sacred charge, he 
became Classical Teacher and Professor 
of Philology in the college at that place, 
and fulfilled the duties of both stations to 
the entire satisfaction of all concerned. 
While thus exercising his arduous duties 
at Beverly, he became acquainted with 
the late Rev. John Clowes, A. M., Rector 
of St. John's Church, Manchester, from 



124 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 



whom he received a liberal offer, and a 
pressing invitation to remove to Manches- 
ter, and exercise his ministerial powers in 
that populous and improving town. Thither 
accordingly he shortly afterwards re- 
moved, and for ' some time preached in 
St. John's Church, in connection with the 
well known and highly venerated rector 
of that institution. Here Mr. Cowherd 
became a general favorite of the congre- 
gation, and as a preacher was universally 
admired. Possessing a strong and vigo- 
rous intellect, and a deep sense of moral 
responsibility, he was not long willing to 
to be trammelled in his religious services 
by the ritual and forms of that denomina- 
tion ; he therefore, after some time, left 
the established National Church, and took 
charge of the New Jerusalem Church, in 
Peter street, which had been built, and 
was just completed for him by a number 
of ardent admirers of his preaching. 

For some time Mr. Coivherd preached 
at this place, and was exceedingly popu- 
lar ; but even in the New Jerusalem 
Church, professing as it does to be distin- 
guished for its charity, he was made to 
feel the influence of sectarian jealousy. 
This caused him to come to the determina- 
tion to continue there only until Provi- 
dence empowered him to erect a church 
of his own, in which he could feel himself 
at liberty to preach the truths of the Bible 
unshackled by human creeds, and unfet- 
tered by sectarian connections. 

In the year 1800, when his Meeting 
House in Salford was completed, he com- 
menced a new career; he preached the 
word of God gratuitously, and supported 
himself by the Practice of Medicine. 
Believing it to be the duty of every one, 
in matters of faith, to turn from the erring 
notions, -and vain traditions that were to 
be found in most of the denominations of 
professing Christians, and to draw their 
principles directly from the Bible, he re- 
quired every one who became a member 
of his church to proclaim himself simply 
a BIBLE-CHRISTIAN.* Hence origi- 



* None in the Christian Church, at first, 
were called so much as by the name of an 
Apostle ; we never heard of Peterians, or 
Paulians, or Bartholomceans, or Thaddseans ; 
but simply of Christians, from Christ. See 
Epiphan. Hser. 42. Marcionit. — Item. Hser. 10. 



nated the name by which this body of 
Christians are designated and known 
among the numerous and diversified sects 
of the age. His cultivated mind, tran- 
scendant talents, powerful eloquence and 
indefatigable zeal soon attracted a large 
and highly respectable congregation ; for 
in the pulpit Mr. Cowherd shone with pe- 
culiar lustre. He was fluent, copious, 
sublime, demonstrative and persuasive. 
Possessing a clear and harmonious voice, 
capable of expressing all the various pas- 
sions of human nature, and taking a deep 
interest in his subject at all times, he sel- 
dom failed to reach the hearts and en- 
lighten the understandings of his hearers. 
His church soon became so crowded that 
numbers who could not be accommodated 
with a seat, were yet contented to stand 
in the aisles that they might enjoy the 
pleasure of hearing his eloquent and in- 
structive illustrations of the Bible. In the 
year 1807, he began to inculcate the doc- 
trine of abstinence from the flesh of ani- 
mals as food, and total abstinence from 
all intoxicating liquors as religious duties. 
He founded his principles on the testimony 
of the Bible, and confirmed them by ap- , 
peals to the facts taught by Physiology, 
Anatomy, and personal experience ; for 
he faithfully practised what he taught to 
others as essential to secure their salva- 
tion. 

In the spring of 1817, a number of per- 
sons, all professing to be members of the 
Bible Christian Church, as above des- 
cribed, including two ministers, the Rev. 
James Clarke, and the writer of this arti- 
cle, sailed from Liverpool for Philadelphia, 
in the ship " Liverpool Packet,' 1 '' Captain 
Stephen Singleton, Commander. This 
people left the land of their Nativity, with 
the intention of becoming citizens of these 
United States. They had in view as the 
crowning object of their emigration, the 
propagation of their religious views among 
the citizens of this great Republic, and if 
possible to establish the Bible Christian 
Church, in this free and favored land. 
Shortly after their landing, the Rev. Mr. 
Clarke, and several of his friends deter- 
mined to go Westward and obtain land. 
The other minister and two or three 
friends concluded to remain in the city of 
Brotherly Love, believing it to be their 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 



125 



duty to " Stand still and do good," trust- 
ing that the gracious promise of their 
Heavenly Father, would be extended to 
them ; — " verily thou shalt be fed." 

The next step in the onward progress 
of this people was to buy out a Teacher, 
and rent the residence and school house 
he had occupied ; the minister intending 
by the blessing of Providence, to support 
himself and family by teaching school ; 
and to fulfil his ministerial duties by 
preaching on the Sabbath, like the Apostle 
of the Gentiles of old, " in his own hired 
house," to as many as might be disposed 
to attend and listen to his testimony. 
Here he adopted, at once, the order of 
procedure which had been approved and 
acted on by his brethren in the ministry, 
in England. He took a chapter from the 
Old Testament, beginning at the first of 
Genesis in the morning, and one from 
the Neiv Testament, beginning with the 
| first of Matthew in the afternoon, and 
proceeded in this way, chapter by chap- 
ter in regular rotation every Sabbath day, 
giving such an Exposition of the revealed 
Word of God, as he might be graciously 
enabled to do by the goodness of God. 
To make their meetings more generally 
known, a notice was caused to be pub- 
lished in several of the City papers, stat- 
ing, That the members of the Bible Chris- 
tian Church, assembled every Sabbath 
day in the Schools back of No. 1 0, North 
Front Street, at half past ten o'clock, in 
the morning, and at three in the afternoon ; 
that they did not form a Sectarian Church, 
deriving their doctrines from human creeds, 
but that they held all the doctrines, though 
not all the ideas of the various sects, so 
far as they were respectively founded on 
the literal expressions of Sacred Scrip- 
ture ; that they humbly sought, through 
the institutions of the Word of God, to 
become more efficiently edified in Bible 
Truths, and that they respectfully invited 
their fellow mortals, of any or every pro- 
fession, to come and hear for themselves, 
and if disposed, to join with them in 
Church membership, and unite in the all- 
important service of worshipping God ac- 
cording to the teachings of his Word. 

Much inconvenience was experienced 
from time to time, by being compelled to 
move their meetings from one place to an- 



other. From Front Street, where the first 
religious meetings of this people were held, 
to Pear Street, thence to Coates Street, 
then to Germantown Road, and little 
Green Street. The only remedy they 
could entertain as likely to be permanent, 
was to purchase a place of their own. 
Accordingly on the 31st of May, 1823, a 
lot of ground was purchased. A frame 
building which had been recently erected 
and used as a Lancasterian School House, 
was bought, removed to their lot and fitted 
up in a plain and suitable style for public 
worship, and on the 21st of December, of 
that year, it was opened and dedicated to 
that purpose. 

In the year, 1830, they became Incor- 
porated by Law, under the title of " The 
JPJiiladelphia Bible Christian Church, 
North Third Street,' 1 '' and they have re- 
cently superceded their old frame building 
by the erection of a handsome brick edifice. 

This denomination of Christians having 
no Creed but the Bible, cannot refer to 
any other standard of Faith, as containing 
a development of their doctrines, or prin- 
ciples of religious belief. In the Report 
of a Conference, however, composed of 
Ministers and lay members, held in Christ 
Church, Salford, Manchester, in June, 
1809, at which were present, Rev. Joseph 
Wright, Kighley, Yorkshire ; Rev. George 
Senior, Dalton ; Rev. Samuel Dean, Hul me, 
now Manchester ; and Rev. William Cow- 
herd, Christ Church, Salford, Manchester ; 
and about forty lay members as delegates 
from different parts of the kingdom. In 
that Report we find the subjoined testi- 
mony in relation to the Doctrines of the 
Trinity, the Incarnation, Revelation, 
the Church, and Church Discipline. 

" The Divine Trinity consists not of 
three visible beings or personal subsisten- 
ces — somewhere localized in a heavenly 
" mansion," but of three combinations of 
Spirit in one united kingdom. In this 
Great Spirit of heaven, the inmost is 
the Father, qr essential Divine Spirit ; 
the second, effiuxed by and every-where 
combining with the Father, is properly the 
Son op God ; and the third, assumed by 
the Father and the Son, in and around 
human or angelic individuals and societies, 
is as properly the Son of Man, — taken 
by the Son of God into union with the 



126 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 



Father, v/hen the atonement or " at-one- 
merit" between God and men was fully 
effected, according to the obvious meaning 
of the Redeemer's prayer: "As thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be one in us /" 

" Accordingly, as God is " a Spirit" 
and as " all men should honor the Son as 
they honor the Father," the glorified Re- 
deemer, now constituting a " place pre- 
pared" for Christians, is there the infinite 
Human Spirit — the Word that was 
" with God," the Son of God " before all 
worlds," concentrating himself finitedly in 
an assumed human Spirit from our earth 
— the Son of Man " born in time ;" dis- 
playing therein a " Likeness as the ap- 
pearance of a Man — the Likeness of 
the Glory of the Lord ;" and beaming 
thence from the indwelling and embosom- 
ing FatJier (that fills also and embosoms 
the universe) a threefold Holy Spirit, in 
which He — the True Object of all 
Christian worship, unitedly comes to men, 
according to promise, " in his own glory, 
in his Father's, and (in that) of the holy 
angels." 

" This Trinity of Spirit in any of the 
" Father's mansions," is, according to the 
Scriptures, omnipresent in miniature, 
both within and before the eyes of every 
angel or spirit of "just men made per- 
fect," in what has been invariably called 
" the beatific vision." — Thus " it is God 
which worketh in you both to will and to 
do of his good plea sure. — No man hath seen 
God at any time : the only begotten Son, 
which is in the bosom of the Father, he 
hath declared (or manifested) him. — He 
that hath seen me hath seen the Father. — 
Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that 
will I do, that the Father may be glo- 
rified in the Son. — The Son can do no- 
thing of himself, but what he seeth the 
Father do : for what things soever he 
doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." 
In this way, that " glorified" and visi- 
ble Mediator of the otherwise invisible 
God, from a heaven as before an angel, 
is every where the " express Image of 
the Father's Person, — the Image of his 
Glory." 

"Respecting the INCARNATION, 
Conference thought it necessary to inquire 
whether, as some suppose, the Divine 



Being then descended, and were ' exclu- 
sively enshrined within the person of 
JESUS CHRIST,- or, whether it were 
the Emanated Glory of Divine Spirit 
of the Immutable God, as existing forth 
in the heavens, which became Soul in the 
REDEEMER. 

" If the DIVINE BEING descended 
on that occasion, He who built the uni- 
verse, and continually gives life to every 
animated creature, must necessarily have 
worked for a time, on our earth, as a com- 
mon carpenter ; and then have died, like 
a frail mortal : For, Jesus Christ, it is 
certain, by following the occupation of 
that reputed ' parent' to whom he was 
' subject,' was denominated ' the Carpen- 
ter ;' and, after a laborious and painful 
life, died as man ever dies, by the separa- 
tion of soul and body, when he had cried, 
' Father ! into thy hands I commend my 
Spirit' 

" But if we admit, as we ought to do, 
according to the Scriptures, That < God 
gave not the Spirit,' His Son, ' by mea- 
sure' to JESUS CHRIST, but ' dwelt' 
thereby in Him, in heaven, and in the 
universe, at the same time and in the same 
manner, One Undivided God : That 
' the Son of Man' also, or the Human 
Spirit, which was associated with the 
Divine at the incarnation, was in 
JESUS CHRIST on earth, and l in 
Jieaven,' at one and the same time ; — 
finally united with, the GREAT OMNI- 
POTENT, the DIVINE SPIRIT in 
both worlds, when He said, ' All power is 
given to Me in heaven and in earth :' — 
In this case, we neither finite the Divine 
Spirit, nor limit the Human ' exclusively ;' 
to the person of JESUS CHRIST. 
On the contrary, we maintain, That they 
have been from eternity united in the 
' heaven of heavens,' the ' throne of God' 
as intimately as the soul and body of 
man are united into one person ; — but not 
' exclusively,' even there. That, on earth, 
the Human was partially separated from 
the Divine Spirit, at the fall of man. 
That in JESUS CHRIST, the fallen, 
the carnal spirit of man was ultimately 
re-united with its appropriate degree 
of the Divine Spirit, as that exists, — 
unseparated from the throne, — down into 
our world. That this Divine Spirit, 



— ; 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 



127 



descending from the throne and pervading 
the universe, is that \ HOLY SPIRIT; 
which came upon the Virgin and assumed 
materiality at the incarnation. That 
when this Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the 
Light < that enlightens every man that 
comes into the world,' had, through the 
fleshly tabernacle of JESUS CHRIST 
diffused itself throughout this world of 
man, as ether diffuses itself in our atmo- 
sphere ; it then began to exhibit the 
Divine HUMAN APPEARANCE* 
of the Heaven of Heavens, as ether ex- 
hibits the refracted image\ of the sun in 
our atmosphere. That this ' IMAGE' 
of that Divine Human Appearance, which 
is given in the glorified Human Spirit:}: 
at the centre of creation, is the true 

< jesus christ; whom we shall 

' meet in the air ;' — that ' Quickening 



. * This APPEARANCE is most sublimely 
described by the Prophets ; — as ' He that sitteth 
upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants 
thereof are as grass-hoppers ; that stretcheth 
out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth 
them as a tent to dwell in.' — lsai. 3d. 22. 

— < And upon the likeness of the throne was 
& LIKENESS as the Appearance of a Man 
above, upon it: — from the appearance of His 
loins even upward ; and from the appearance 
of His loins even downward, I saw as it were 
the appearance of fire ; and it had brightness 
round about, as the appearance of the bow that 
is in the cloud in the day of rain : — This was 
the appearance of the Likeness of the Glory 
of the Lord.' — Ezek. i, 26 — 28. 

f In looking through the atmosphere, as in 
looking through a telescope, toward an object, 
we never see the object itself (the sun, for in- 
stance) but only that image of it which is 
formed (in the lowest stratum of the atmo- 
sphere, and) next the eye in the Telescope. — 
See Ferguson, Lecture Vll. — Also Bp. Berke- 
ley's Theory on Vision, passim. 

$ That the Human Spirit, in its greatest and 
smallest portions, in heaven and in man, is ever 
in the human form, — may be demonstrated by 
what is natural, thus : — ' Every salt, in crystal- 
lizing, invariably assumes its own peculiar 
form. You may dissolve common salt, or 
saltpetre, a thousand times, and crystallize 
them as often by evaporating, or cooling the 
water in which they are dissolved, yet will you 
still find the common salt will be constantly 
crystallized in the form of a cube, and the salt- 
petre in the form of a prism ,• and if you ex- 
amine with a microscope such saline parti- 
I cles as are not visible to the naked eye, you 
will observe these particles to be of the same 
shape with the larger masses.' — See Bp. Wat- 
son's Chem. vol. i. p. 87. 



Spirit,' the ' Mediator between God and 
Man,' ' by whom,' as refracted to the 
' right hand of God,' all the faithful shall 
apparently pass, when ' He delivers up 
the kingdom to the Father' in the eternal 
heavens. That the Glory investing this 
' express Image of the Father's Person,' 
is again the « Holy Spirit,' which was 
' not given' forth in full manifestation from 
the ' throne of JESUS; till He was fully 
glorified, or till His Human Spirit, leav- 
ing its fleshly Tabernacle on the cross, be- 
came one with tlie right Spirit of Man as 
filled and united with the good Spirit of 
God throughout the universe. That the ma- 
terial body, re-assumed at the resuscitation, 
and ' handled' by the unbelieving Thomas, 
could spontaneously pass off from the 
Spirit of Jesus ; as the ' flesh and blood,' 
which ' cannot enter the kingdom of hea- 
ven,' undoubtedly deflagrated from the 
prophet Elijah, in the fire beheld by 
Elisha. That, in this way, the ' body* 
of Jesus, which had given offence to some, 
and might have caused idolatry in others, 
became truly and properly a ' sacrifice for 
sin; And that, finally, the At-one-ment 
or reconciliation between God and Man, 
was virtually effected, when the human 
spirit was re-united with the Divine; 
and fully accomplished against sin, when 
Jesus, by voluntarily * laying down His 
life, prevented his enemies from murder- 
ing him : — thus overruling their wicked 
design, for good to them and their poste- 
rity, by preventing sin, — particularly the 
sin of idolatry, among Gentiles as well 
as Jews, even to the remotest generations. 
In this way of viewing the Incarnation 
and the Redemption, the pious Christian 
may be edified, the infidel silenced or re- 
claimed, and all the great attributes of 
Divine Wisdom, Mercy and Goodness, 
completely reconciled with common sense, 
sound reason, and every expression of 
Sacred Scripture. 

" It was also thought a subject of great 
importance to consider, whether Revela- 
tion, particularly that of the BIBLE, 
came to the inhabitants of this earth by 
secret Inspiration, or by open Vision and 
audible Dictation. — It may be clearly 
perceived, that Revelation by secret In- 
spiration could only be of a private na- 
ture, merely to the individual who re- 



128 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 



ceived it ; attended with much fear and 
uncertainty, lest it should not be from the 
right source ; and requiring continually a 
fresh inspiration in the hearer, before it 
could be believed. This, it must be al- 
lowed, would have been a fruitful source 
of great delusion, enthusiasm, and dan- 
gerous imposition ; not at all calculated 
to give stability and confidence to public 
faith. 

" But open Vision and an audible Dic- 
tation, such as, according to the Script- 
tures and other ancient Testimonies, took 
place before thousands ' on Mount Sinai,' 
in the ' pillar of the cloud,' and in the 
' Temple at Jerusalem] might give a rea- 
sonable conviction even to the whole 
world ; provided the nature of those mani- 
festations, which occur so frequently both 
in the Old and New Testament, could be 
rationally understood, and intelligibly 
accounted for. 

"After duly deliberating on this impor- 
tant subject, and on the ideas already 
developed concerning the God of Reve- 
lation, &c, the Conference came to the 
following most interesting conclusions : — 
That the Patriarchs, Moses, the Prophets, 
the Apostles, ' and other holy men of old r ' 
being possessed of that right human spirit 
ever filled with tlie Divine, which, in their 
surrounding sphere, would receive and 
reflect the DIVINE IMAGE, as it is 
received and refracted by the same Spirit 
in our atmosphere ; — it must necessarily 
happen, in all their unobscured states of 
mind and spirit, that they would see the 
Lord, or what they called the Word of 
the Lord, apparently standing near to 
tliem, and by the suggestions of His Spirit, 
there apparently speaking to them as ' a 
man does to his friend.' That the 
Reflected Image of God is that Per- 
sonal Holy Spirit, and the Refracted 
Image of God that Personal Jesus 
Christ, by and in whom alone the Eter- 
nal Father has ever been manifested, 
and His Will, and Wisdom revealed, to the 
sons of men. That the One God, thus 
appearing in His Son and Spirit, did ac- 
tually speak all the laios and all the pre- 
dictions contained in the Bible, and vir- 
tually perform all the things ascribed to 
Him in the historical parts of the OLD 
and NEW TESTAMENTS. That the 



Four Ages of the world, so much spoken 
of by the Ancients, are the Four suc- 
cessive Revelations, which God has given 
of Himself, — in Paradise, — in the Church 
which perished at the flood ; — to the He- 
brews, — and to Christians. That the 
Holy Bible, which treats professedly of 
the beginning, duration, and ending of 
those Four Ages, being, of course, the 
complete Canon of Sacred Writ ; no man 
can presume to be the medium of any fur- 
ther Revelations from God, without being 
either a deceiver, or deceived. That the 
Revelations of the BiBLE,which were first 
given by God Himself, being now fixed 
in Writing, are the only true medium 
through which He, by His Spirit, con- 
tinues, at this day, to enlighten mankind. 
That those men are enlightened through 
the Scriptures, who see therein the eternal 
laivs of that Divine Providence which 
governs the world ; and the interior prin- 
ciples, good and evil, which, in proportion 
as they alternately prevailed, did succes- 
sively elevate and depress the different 
Churches described in the BIBLE, and 
will, at this day and in all ages, elevate 
the faithful and depress the wicked in 
every Church under heaven. That a fur- 
ther unfolding of those laws and those 
principles, in any particular WRI- 
TINGS, is not to be considered as a new 
Revelation, but as a new Doctrine, provi- 
dentially contained in the BIBLE from 
the time it was first written ; but developed, 
under God, precisely when wanted, to re- 
edify or re-establish a scripture founded 
Church. — This plain account of Biblical 
Revelation exhibits a true Characteristic 
of what may properly be called the 
WORD OF GOD, as being spoken by 
God Himself ; and shows also, how gen- 
uine Church-doctrine may, at all times, 
be derived from that WORD, by unfold- 
ing the eternal laivs and interior princi- 
bles ever abounding in its literal Facts. 

Conference now proceeded to examine 
the difference between a real and an ap- 
parent Church. — All must acknowledge 
the difference between a Church professing 
under man, and a Church practising 
under God, the Truths and Precepts of 
Sacred Scripture ; and that the latter is 
the GENUINE CHURCH of Revela- 
tion, ever to be sanctioned and established 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIANS. 



129 



on earth ; whilst the former is that noisy 
and ostentatious Pretender, always relin- 
quished by the true-born ' children of 
God.' 

" This distinction led to the following 
conclusions which Conference deemed well 
calculated to make all christians of one 
heart and of one mind in the doctrine and 
practice of their holy Religion : — That 
the well-disposed natural man, ' not know- 
ing the things of the Spirit of God,' him- 
self, yet capable of reformation and in- 
clining towards religion, puts himself, 
voluntarily and implicitly, under the teach- 
ing and direction of some religious Leader, 
whom he cannot perhaps rightly under- 
stand, but whom he conceives to be nearly 
infallible in the exposition and elucidation 
of scriptural doctrines. That this ' na- 
tural man,' though not apprehending ideas, 
is extremely zealous for the tcords of his 
Leader, which he will maintain even in 
direct opposition to the sense they were 
intended to convey. That, if his Leader 
be spiritual-minded, — one that directs the 
heart and life in true submission to the 
revealed will of God; — in process of time, 
this natural ' carnal man,' once enmity 
against God, turning from evil, will turn 
to the ' one living and true God,' — under 
whose influence, perceiving the truths he 
had hitherto but blindly followed, he is 
enabled, at length, to say to his Leader, 
as the people did to the woman of Sa- 
maria, ' Now I believe, not because of thy 
word ; for I have seen and heard the 
Truth myself? That, in this way, there 
is a double conversion, first to religious 
men, next to the God of Revelation: 
— Those in the former conversion are the 
Sectarians ; these in the latter are the 
genuine and united Church. That thus, 
in every Church, the adopted under man 
are the ' elect ;' the heaven-born, the ' pre- 
destinated' who, 'from the foundation of 
the world,' ever take precedence of those 
' born after the flesh,' and inherit the 
highest privileges and possessions of their 
FATHER'S HOUSE.— It consequent- 
ly appears, contrary to what has generally 
been supposed, that the greatest sectarians, 
are the least enlightened ; that those who 
clamor most for the particular doctrines 
of men, understand those doctrines the 
least ; and that, when religious truth is 



properly understood, it is always believed, 
and held, under God, independently of 
many 

" Church Discipline was now consi- 
dered, as it respects praying, expounding 
the Bible or preaching, the order of wor- 
ship ; Baptism, the Holy Supper, and 
Church Membership. 

" In Praying it was the general wish, 
that the exordium should announce always 
an important practical truth; respecting 
which the minister should beseech the 
congregation to apply fervently to their 
God for assistance or deliverance, not in 
a dictatorial, but humble and submissive 
spirit ; and that all prayer, public as well 
as private, should be extempore. 

" In Expounding the Bible, it was re- 
commended to give, by way of preface, 
the general sense first ; and then, as the 
passage is regularly read throughout its 
pauses, to descant on the genuine and 
literal meaning of the text ; — pointing out 
at the same time those eternal principles 
contained therein, which are of universal 
application, and of unalterable obligation, 
in all ages of the world ; that their Min- 
isters and Teachers would found all their 
doctrines on the literal facts recorded in 
the Bible ; — enable their audiences by a 
lucidus ordo, to see as well as hear ,* — 
press every point in animated, earnest and 
affectionate language ; illustrate copiously, 
by appealing to natural facts, and actual 
experience in real life ; and above all 
things to live as they preach, that they 
may always be prepared, without notes, 
and win souls by that example which ren- 
ders precept irresistible. 

" The order of worship, recommended 
on experience as perhaps the most useful 
and consistent, begins with a Hymn, fol- 
lowed by prayer, the reading of the De- 
calogue ; then a passage of the Old Tes- 
tament, in the Morning of the Lord's day, 
read and expounded, chapter after chapter, 
in regular rotation. Evening service be- 
gins in the same manner, with a hymn, 
prayer followed by a chant, or hymn, 
then portion after portion of the New 
Testament, read and expounded. After 
the exposition of the Chapters, morning 
and evening, another hymn, and then a 
general Benediction. 

" Baptism, being the ancient ceremony 



17 



130 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



of adopting both children and adults, 
might be performed, it was agreed, as a 
ceremony, either by sprinkling or im- 
mersion. To some, it was thought, 
sprinkling would appear to be a sealing 
on the forehead, and might, on that ac- 
count, be preferred. But immersion, it 
was allowed, was more according to the 
primitive practice of the Christian Church. 
The end, however, is the baptism of the 
Spirit; without which, the ceremony, 
however rightly performed, has not its 
intended effect, in bringing the baptized 
one, by purification and holiness of heart 
and life, into the real body and commu- 
nion of Christ's Church, visible and 
invisible, on earth and in heaven. 

The Holy Supper, being the ancient 
marriage feast in its original ceremonies, 
would be celebrated, it was concluded, 
most usefully, and most according to pri- 
mitive usage, if the bread and wine (un- 
fermented,) were distributed amongst the 
communicants in their pews, by deacons, 
as appointed assistants, whilst the minister 
enlarges, at discretion, on the duties of the 
bride of the Lamb, &c, &c. 

As to Church Membership, Conference 
thought it proper for them to declare, that 
they did not form a Sectarian Church, 



under any particular denomination from 
man ; that they wished to be simply Bi- 
ble Christians, and are in perfect union 
and connection with the sincere, conscien- 
tious livers, in all the various denomina- 
tions of Christians ; that they presume not 
to exercise any dominion over the faith, 
or consciences of men ; that all who wish 
to join them in shunning the common evils 
and errors of the world, — in abstaining 
from animal food ; that is, from fish, flesh 
and fowl of every kind, and from all in- 
toxicating liquors ; and in appropriating to 
life the truths and precepts of the Bible, 
are freely admitted, under God, as mem- 
bers of the True Bible- Christian Church. 
The adoption is by Baptism ; the ratifi- 
cation by the Holy Supper.'''' 

In statistics, the number of members of 
the Bible-Christian Church in Philadel- 
phia, compared with many others, is very 
small. There ■ is quite a considerable 
number of individuals who practice strict 
abstinence from animal food and intoxi- 
cating drinks, residing in several of the 
States in the Union, and agreeing with us 
in doctrine, but, outside of the city of 
Philadelphia, there is, at present, no regu- 
larly organized society of Bible- Christians 
in this country. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 



BY PROFESSOR W. JOS. WALTERS, PHILADELPHIA. 



The Roman Catholic Church, as it 
exists on this side of the Atlantic, may 
date its origin from the discovery of the 
western world. From the memorable day, 
October the eleventh, 1492, on which Co- 
lumbus landed upon the island of Guana- 



hani, or San Salvador, and at the foot of 
the cross poured forth his fervent thanks 
to God for the success of his glorious en- 
terprise : this church has, amid many re- 
verses, continued gradually to advance. 
If in some quarters she has met with re- 




POPE PIUS IX. 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



131 



verses, her losses have been compensated 
by what she has gained in other direc- 
tions ; so that the number of her adhe- 
rents, according to recent and respectable 
authorities, may, at the present time, be 
estimated at about twenty-five and a half 
millions, spread over the whole American 
continent. This ancient church, therefore, 
outnumbers by nearly ten millions, even 
in the new world, all the various Protestant 
denominations put together. Of this large 
body, however, only about 1,300,000 at 
the highest calculation, are found in the 
United States * 

A Catholic navigator, whose name will 
be forgotten only in the wreck of the 
world, having thus discovered this vast 
continent, and another son of the church 
having given it its name : it was likewise 
by the illustrious Catholics John and Se- 
bastian Cabot, and Verragani, in the ser- 
vice of the Catholic kings Henry VII. of 
England, and Francis I. of France, that 
the shores of the United States were first 
discovered and explored. This took place 
between the years 1497 and 1524. Far- 
ther north, the noble-hearted James Car- 
tier discovered, in the course of three suc- 
cessive voyages, the gulf and river of St. 
Lawrence, and laid the foundations of the 
present flourishing cities, Quebec and 
Montreal. 

It is, however, to that portion of the 
new world which the American fondly 
hails as his native land — the United States, 
and to the origin and progress of the 
Catholic religion within its borders, that 
we now confine our attention. 

And here with unfeigned pleasure, with 
honest and heartfelt satisfaction, does the 
American Catholic challenge the attention 
of his countrymen to the first settlement 
of the Maryland colony ; for the early 



* According to the Metropolitan Catholic Al- 
manac for 1847, the Catholic population in the 
United States is estimated at one million, one 
hundred and seventy-three thousand, and seven 
hundred (1,173,700.) 

There are 2 archbishops, 23 bishops, 1 Vicar 
Apostolic, 834 priests, 812 churches, 21 eccle- 
siastical institutions, 244 clerical students, 13 
male religious institutions, 24 literary institu- 
tions for young men, 43 female religious insti- 
tutions, 66 female academies, 88 charitable in- 
stitutions. — Editor. 



history of that colony, is the early history 
of Catholicity in these United States. 

The following is an outline of this me- 
morable epoch in our annals. Lord Bal- 
timore having obtained from Charles I. the 
Charter of Maryland, hastened to carry 
into effect, the plan of colonizing the new 
province, of which he appointed his bro- 
ther, Leonard Calvert, to be Governor. 
This first body of emigrants, consisting 
of about two hundred gentlemen of con- 
siderable rank and fortune, chiefly of the 
Roman Catholic persuasion, with a num- 
ber of inferior adherents, sailed from Eng- 
land under the command of Calvert, in 
November 1632, and after a prosperous 
voyage, landed in Maryland, near the 
mouth of the river Potomac, in the begin- 
ning of the following year. The Governor 
as soon as he landed, erected a cross on 
the shore, and took possession of the 
country for our Saviour, and for our So- 
vereign Lord the King of England. Aware 
that the first settlers of Virginia had given 
umbrage to the Indians by occupying their 
territory, without demanding their permis- 
sion, he determined to imitate the wiser 
and juster policy that had been pursued 
by the colonists of New England, and to 
unite the new with the ancient race of in- 
habitants by the reciprocal ties of equity 
and good-will. The Indian chief to whom 
he submitted his proposition of occupying 
a portion of the country, received it at 
first with sullen indifference, the result 
most probably of aversion to the measure, 
and of conscious inability to resist it. His 
only answer was, that he would neither 
bid the English go, nor would he bid them 
stay ; but that he left them to their own 
discretion. The liberality and courtesy 
of the Governor's demeanor succeeded at 
length in conciliating his regard, and so 
effectively, that he not only promised a 
friendly league between the colonists and 
his own people, but persuaded the neigh- 
bouring tribes to accede to the treaty. Nay 
more, he said with warmth, " I love the 
English so well, that even if they should 
go about to kill me, while I had breath to 
speak, I would command the people not to 
revenge my death : for I know they would 
not do such a thing, except it were my 
own fault." Having purchased the rights 
from the aborigines at a price which gave 



132 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



them perfect satisfaction, the colonists ob- 
tained possession of a considerable district, 
including an Indian town, which they pro- 
ceeded immediately to occupy, and to 
which they gave the name of St. Mary's. 

The tidings of this safe and comfortable 
establishment in the province, concurring 
with the uneasiness experienced by the 
Roman Catholics in England, induced 
considerable numbers of the professors of 
this faith to follow the original emigrants 
to Maryland, and no efforts of wisdom or 
generosity were spared by Lord Baltimore 
to facilitate the population, and promote 
the happiness of the colony. The trans- 
portation of people and of necessary stores 
and provisions during the first two years, 
cost him upwards of forty thousand pounds. 
To every emigrant he assigned fifty acres 
of land in absolute fee : and with a libe- 
rality unparalled in that age, and altogether 
surprising in a Catholic, he united a gene- 
ral establishment of Christianity as the 
common law of the land, with an absolute 
exclusion of the political predominance or 
superiority of any one particular sect or 
denomination of Christians. 

This wise administration soon converted 
a dreary wilderness into a prosperous co- 
lony. The opposition of the Virginia 
planters to the new colony, but still more 
the intrigues of the vindictive Clayborne, 
cast for a while a gloom over the early 
history of Maryland. Notwithstanding the 
misfortunes which attended and followed 
the rebellion of 1645, the same Assem- 
bly that enacted measures for the future 
protection and safety of the colony, made 
a magnanimous attempt to preserve its 
peace by suppressing one of the fertile 
sources of human contention and animosi- 
ty. It had been declared by the proprie- 
tary, at a very early period, that religious 
toleration should constitute one of the fun- 
damental principles of the social union 
over which he presided, and the Assembly 
of the province, composed chiefly of Ro- 
man Catholics, now proceeded, by a me- 
morable " Act concerning Religion," to 
interweave this noble principle into its 
legislative constitution. This statute com- 
menced with a preamble declaring that 
the enforcement of the conscience had 
been of dangerous consequence in those 
countries where it had been practised, and 



therefore enacted that no person professing 
to believe in Jesus Christ should be mo- 
lested in respect to their religion, or in the 
free exercise thereof, or be compelled to 
the belief or exercise of any other religion, 
against their consent ; so that they be not 
unfaithful to the Proprietary, or conspire 
against the civil government ; that persons, 
molesting any other in respect to his reli- 
gious tenets, should pay treble damages to 
the party aggrieved, and twenty shillings 
to the Proprietary ; that those, who should 
reproach their neighbors with opprobrious 
names of religious distinction, should for- 
feit ten shillings to the persons so insulted ; 
that any one, speaking reproachfully 
against the Blessed Virgin or the Apos- 
tles, should forfeit five pounds ; but that 
blasphemy against God should be punished 
with death. By the enactment of this 
statute, the Catholic planters of Maryland 
won for their adopted country the distin- 
guished praise of being the first of the 
American States in which toleration was 
established by law, and graced their pe- 
culiar faith with the signal and unwonted 
merit of protecting that religious freedom 
which all other Christian associates were 
conspiring to overthrow. It is a striking 
and instructive spectacle to behold, at this 
period, the Puritans persecuting their Pro- 
testant brethren in New England, the 
Episcopalians retorting the same severity 
on the Puritans in Virginia, and the Catho- 
lics, against whom all others were com- 
bined, forming in Maryland a sanctuary 
where all might worship and none might 
oppress, and where even Protestants sought 
refuge from Protestant intolerance. 

If the dangers to which the Maryland 
Catholics must have felt themselves ex- 
posed, from the disfavor with which they 
were regarded by all other communities 
of their countrymen, and from the ascen- 
dancy which their most zealous adversa- 
ries, the Presbyterians, were acquiring in 
the councils of the parent state, may be 
supposed to account, in some degree, for 
their enforcement of a principle of which 
they manifestly needed the protection, the 
surmise will detract very little from the 
merits of the authors of this excellent 
law. The moderation of mankind has j 
ever needed adventitious support ; and it 
is no deprecation of Christian sentiment, 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



133 



that it is capable of deriving an accession 
to its purity from the experience of perse- 
cution. It is by divine grace alone that 
the fire of persecution thus sometimes 
tends to refine virtue, and consumes the 
dross that may have adhered to it ; and 
the progress of this history is destined to 
show, that, without such overruling agen- 
cy, the commission of injustice naturally 
tends to its own reproduction, and that the 
experience of it engenders a much stronger 
disposition to retaliate its severities, than 
to sympathize with its victims. It had 
been happy for the credit of the Protest- 
ants, whose hostility, perhaps, enforced 
the moderation of the Catholics of Mary- 
land, if they had imitated the virtue which 
their own apprehended violence may have 
tended to elicit. But unfortunately, a 
great proportion even of those who were 
constrained to seek refuge among the 
Catholics from the persecutions of their 
own Protestant brethren, carried with them 
into exile the same intolerance of which 
they themselves had been the victims : 
and the Presbyterians and other dissenters, 
who now began fo flock in considerable 
numbers from Virginia to Maryland, 
gradually formed a Protestant confederacy 
against the interests of the original set- 
tlers ; and with ingratitude, still more 
odious than their injustice, projected the 
abrogation not only of the Catholic wor- 
ship, but of every part of that system of 
toleration under whose shelter they were 
enabled to conspire its downfall. But 
though the Catholics were thus ill requited 
by their Protestant guests, it would be a 
mistake to suppose that the calamities 
that subsequently desolated the province, 
were produced by the toleration which her 
Assembly now established, or that the 
Catholics were really losers by this act 
of justice and liberality. From the dis- 
position of the prevailing party in England, 
and the state of the other colonial settle- 
ments, the catastrophe that overtook the 
liberties of the Maryland Catholics could 
not possibly have been evaded : and if 
the virtue they now displayed was unable 
to avert their fate, it exempted them at 
least from the reproach of deserving it : 
it redoubled the guilt and scandal incurred 
by their adversaries, and achieved for 
them a reputation more lasting and honor- 



able than political triumph or temporal 
elevation. What Christian (however sen- 
sible of the errors of Catholic doctrine) 
would not rather be the descendant of the 
Catholics who established toleration in 
Maryland, than of the Protestants who 
overthrew it ? 

From the establishment of religious 
freedom, the Assembly of Maryland pro- 
ceeded to the improvement of political 
liberty ; and, in the following year, the 
constitution of this province received that 
structure which, with some interruptions, 
it continued to retain for more than a cen- 
tury after. In conformity with a wish 
expressed by the burgesses (in 1642) 
" that they might be separated, and sit by 
themselves, and have a negative," a law 
was now passed (1650,) enacting that 
members called to the Assembly by spe- 
cial writ, should form the upper house ; 
and that those who were chosen by the 
hundreds should form the lower house ; 
and that all bills which should be assented 
to by the two branches of the legislature, 
and ratified by the governor, should be 
deemed the laws of the province. Blend- 
ing a due regard to the rights of the people, 
with a just gratitude to the Proprietary, 
the Assembly at the same time enacted a 
law prohibiting the imposition of taxes 
without the consent of the freemen, and 
declaring in its preamble, " that as the 
Proprietary's strength doth consist in the 
affections of the people, on them he doth 
rely for his supplies, not doubting of their 
duty and assistance on all just occasions." 
(Laws, 1650, Cap. 1, 23^ 25.) Perhaps 
(concludes the impartial Grahame) it is 
only under such patriarchal administra- 
tion, as Maryland yet retained an admix- 
ture of in her constitution, and under such 
patriarchs as Lord Baltimore, that we can 
ever hope to find the realization of the 
political philosopher's dream of a system 
that incorporates into politics the sentiments 
that embellish social intercourse, and the 
affections that sweeten domestic life. In 
the prosecution of its patriotic labors, the 
Assembly proceeded to enact laws for the 
relief of the poor, and the encouragement 
of agriculture and commerce. (Laws, j 
1649, Cap. 12 ; 1650, Cap. 1, 33.) And 
a short gleam of tranquil prosperity suc- 
ceeded the calamities which the province 



134 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



was fated again to experience from the 
evil genius of Clayborne, and the interpo- 
sition of the parent state. 

We refer the reader who may wish to 
study the darker shades of this beautiful 
picture, to the pages of Grahame. We 
have no desire to awaken the recollection 
of the many wrongs sustained by the Ma- 
ryland colonists. For peace' sake their 
unmerited sufferings may be passed over in 
silence ; but justice and truth alike demand 
that the above statements, from the pen 
of ,a Protestant historian, should be more 
generally known to the mas3 of our coun- 
trymen. Nor should we forget that, fore- 
most among the colonists who thus hal- 
lowed the shores of the Potomac by their 
virtues, were members of the Society of 
Jesus ; the Fathers Andrew White and 
John Althano, both men of sterling worth 
and extensive learning ; here, as in every 
other quarter of the new world, their zeal, 
their learning and address, contributed 
greatly to the success of the early set- 
tlers. 

It was on the 23d of March, 1634, the 
festival of the Annunciation of the ever 
blessed Virgin, and on St. Clement's 
Island, in the Potomac, that the divine 
sacrifice of the mass was for the first time 
offered up to God, in this portion of Amer- 
ica. Governor Calvert, accompanied by 
Father Althano, then sailed up the river, 
landing first on the Virginia side, at an 
Indian town called Potomac, and now 
known as New Marlborough, or Marlbo- 
rough Point. The Jesuit Father explained 
to the assembled Indians the chief mys- 
teries of the Christian religion, as well as 
the peaceful and benevolent motives that 
actuated their unexpected visiters. It is 
remarkable that his interpreter on this 
occasion was a Protestant. Leaving the 
chief and his people favorably impressed, 
and even gratified at the arrival of the 
strangers, the governor sailed about twen- 
ty-five miles up the river, to Piscataway, 
in Maryland, the residence of the great 
king or chief of the neighboring tribes. 
At the first sight of the party, the savages 
prepared to give them a hostile reception, 
but being informed of their peaceful inten- 
tions, the chief boldly stepped on board 
the governor's boat, and gave him permis- 
sion to settle in any part of his dominions. 



(Oldmixon's British Emp. in America.) 
It did not, however, seem safe for the 
English to plant the first settlement so high 
up the river. Calvert descended the 
stream, examining in his barge the creeks 
and entrances near the Chesapeake, en- 
tered the river now called St. Mary's, to 
which he gave the name of St. George's, 
about two leagues from its junction with 
the Potomac, having purchased the right to 
the soil from the natives, together with their 
good will. The settlement was commenced 
by the Catholics on the 27th of March, and 
religious liberty obtained a home, its only 
home in the wide world, at the humble vil- 
lage which bore the name of St. Mary's. 
The able and eloquent historian of Mary- 
land, McMahon, thus adverts to the senti- 
ments which must naturally have stirred the 
hearts of the settlers at this moment : " To 
the feeble emigrants it was an occasion 
for joy, rational and profound. Prefer- 
ring all privations to the privation of lib- 
erty of conscience, they had forsaken the 
endearments of their native land, to cast 
themselves, in reliance on divine pro- 
tection, upon all the perils of an unknown 
country inhabited by a savage people. 
But the God in whom they trusted was 
with them, and he in whose hands are all 
hearts, seemed to have moulded the savage 
nature into kindness and courtesy. Where 
shall we find, in the history of any people, 
an occasion more worthy of our com- 
memoration than that of the landing of 
the colony of Maryland? It is identified 
with the origin of a free and happy state. 
It exhibits to us the foundations of our 
government, laid broad and deep in the 
principles of civil and religious liberty. 
It points us with pride to the founders of 
this state, as men who for the secure 
enjoyment of their liberties, exchanged 
the pleasures of affluence, the society 
of friends, and all the endearments of civ- 
ilized life, for the privations and dangers 
of the wilderness. In an age, when per- 
fidy and barbarity but too often marked 
the advances of civilization upon the 
savage, it exhibits them to us displaying 
in their intercourse with the natives, all 
the kindness of human nature, and the 
charities of their religion. Whilst we 
would avoid all invidious contrasts, and 
forget the stern sp*rit of the Puritan, 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



135 



which so frequently mistook religious in- 
tolerance for holy zeal ; we can turn with 
exultation to the ' Pilgrims of Maryland' 
as the founders of religious liberty in the 
new world. They erected the first altars 
to it on this continent, and the fires first 
kindled on it ascended to heaven amid the 
blessings of the savage." — McMahon's 
Maryland, pp. 196-8. 

While the sires of the Catholic Church 
were thus at once building their altars and 
their homes on the verdant banks of the 
broad Potomac, the same church had sent 
forth not less devoted men, to bear the 
light of civilization and religion to other 
portions of our beloved country. Between 
the years 1634 and 1687, Catholic mis- 
sionaries had already traversed that vast 
region lying between the heights of Mon- 
treal, Quebec, and the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi, the greater portion of which is 
now known as the United States. Within 
thirteen years the wilderness of the Hurons 
was visited by sixty missionaries, chiefly 
Jesuits : one of their number, Claude 
Allouez, discovered the southern shores 
of Lake Superior ; another, " the gentle 
Marquette," of whom Bancroft says " the 
people of the West will yet build his 
monument," walked from Green Bay, fol- 
lowing the course of the Wisconsin, em- 
barks with his beloved companion and 
fellow-missionary, Joliet, upon the Missis- 
sippi, and discovers the mouth of that king 
of rivers, the wild, the impetuous Missouri ; 
a third member of this devoted band, the 
fearless Menan, settles in the very heart 
of the dreaded Mohawk country, on the 
banks of the river that still bears that 
name. The Onondagas welcome other 
missionaries of the same illustrious society. 
The Oneidas and Senecas likewise lend 
an attentive ear to the sweet tidings of the 
gospel of peace. When we consider that 
these missionaries were established in the 
midst of continual dangers and life- wasting 
hardships, that many of the Jesuit mis- 
sionaries sealed with their blood the truth 
of the doctrines they preached, the sin- 
cerity of their love for those indomitable 
sons of the American forest : we are not 
surprised at the eloquent encomiums that 
have been passed upon their dauntless 
courage and their more than human char- 
ity and zeal. 



" All persons," says one of our native 
writers, " who are in the least familiar 
with the early history of the West, know 
with what pure and untiring zeal the Ca- 
tholic missionary pursued the work of 
conversion among the savages. Before a 
Virginian had crossed the Blue Ridge, and 
while the Connecticut was still the extreme 
frontier of New England, more than one 
man whose youth had been passed amongst 
the warm valleys of Languedoc, had ex- 
plored the wilds of Wisconsin, and caused 
the hymn of Catholic praise to rise from 
the prairies of Illinois. The Catholic 
priest went even before the soldier and the 
trader ; from lake to lake, from river to 
river, the Jesuits pressed on unresting, and 
with a power that no other Christians 
have exhibited, won to their faith the war- 
like Miamis and the luxurious Illinois. 
For more than a hundred years did this 
work go forward. Of its temporary re- 
sults we know little. The earliest of the 
published letters from the missionaries 
were written thirty years after La Salle's 
voyage down the ' Great River.' But 
were the family records of France laid 
before us, I cannot doubt that we should 
there find evidences of savage hate dimi- 
nished, and savage cruelty prevented, 
through the labors of the brotherhood of 
Jesus ; and yet it was upon these men 
that England charged the war of Pontiac ! 
Though every motive for a desperate ex- 
ertion existed on the part of the Indians, 
the dread of annihilation, the love of their 
old homes and hunting-grounds, the re- 
verence for their father's graves — all that 
nerved Philip, and fired Tecumseh- — yet, 
to the Protestant English, the readiest ex- 
planation was that Catholics, that Jesuits, 
had poisoned the savage mind." (Knick- 
erbocker, June, 1838.) The regret ex- 
pressed above, that we have not more 
copious and satisfactory information with 
regard to this earlier portion of American 
ecclesiastical history, may well be shared 
not only by the Catholic, but by all who 
take an interest in every thing relating to 
their native land. Meagre, however, as 
are the memorials of these primitive times, 
we have sufficient data to prove that there 
is not a State of our Union wherein Catho- 
licity has obtained a footing, whose history 
does not exhibit many interesting traits of 



136 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



| heroic self-denial, of dangers overcome, 
of opposition meekly, borne, of adversaries 
won to our faith by the Catholic missiona- 
ries. 

The name of the devoted and indefati- 
gable Father Farmer, in Pennsylvania, is 
still venerated by all who knew him. 
Men of every religious persuasion followed 
his remains to the tomb ; the last and un- 
sought tribute of their respect for his 
many virtues. Amid the forests and 
snow-clad hills of Maine, a Rasle emu- 
lated the courage and toils of his brethren 
in the West. The late Cardinal Chcverus 
has left a reputation in Boston which will 
not be forgetten while the people of New 
England retain their wonted regard for 
genuine, manly worth ; for talents, learn- 
ing, and disinterested yet untiring zeal, all 
employed in that holiest of human enter- 
prises, the promotion of God's glory and 
the happiness of man. Not less revered 
by the liberal-minded of every religious 
persuasion, is the memory of that " model 
of prelates, Christians, and scholars," the 
Right Reverend John Carroll, the first 
Roman Catholic Bishop of Baltimore. 
" No being," (says a writer in the Ame- 
rican Quarterly,) " No being that it has 
been our lot to admire, ever inspired us 
with so much reverence as Archbishop 
Carroll. We cannot easily forget the im- 
pression which he made a few years before 
his death, upon a distinguished literary 
foreigner, who conversed with him for a 
half-hour, immediately after the celebration 
of the mass, in his parlor, and had seen 
the most imposing hierarchs in Great Bri- 
tain. The visiter seemed, on leaving the 
apartment, to be strongly moved, and re- 
peatedly exclaimed, ' That, indeed, is a 
true archbishop !' " (March Number. 1827, 
p. 23.) 

" The archbishop's patriotism" says the 
same writer, " was as decided as his piety. 
. . . He loved republicanism ; and so far 
preferred his own country, that if ever he 
could be excited to impatience, or irritated, 
nothing would have that effect more cer- 
tainly, than the expression of the slightest 
preference, by any American friend, for 
foreign institutions or measures. He had 
joined with heart and judgment in the Re- 
volution : and to his last hour he retained, 
without abatement of confidence or fer- 



vor, the cardinal principles and American 
sympathies and hopes, upon which he then 
rested. We may mention in fine, as evi- 
dence of the public confidence in his ex- 
alted character, that, in the year, 1776, 
at the solicitation of the then Congress of 
the United States, he accompanied Dr. 
Franklin, Samuel Chase, and that other 
and illustrious Catholic, Charles Carroll, 
of Carrol lton, on a political mission to 
Canada, with a view of inducing the peo- 
ple of that province to preserve a neutral 
attitude in the war between the mother 
country and the United States. 

Turning our eyes to another quarter of 
our Union, need we remind the intelligent 
reader of the solid and extensive learning, 
the stirring eloquence, the apostolic labors 
of an England? — beloved, honored by 
men of every religious denomination, and 
even now lamented in the South as one of 
her best and noblest sons ? But this is 
not the occasion to record the virtues or 
the toils of these and other kindred spirits 
of the Catholic Church in America. We 
confidently leave the task to worthier pens 
than ours. 

From the foregoing observations some 
idea may be formed of the early history 
of Catholicity in these United States. For 
more accurate and detailed information 
we must refer the reader to the various 
articles in the Catholic periodicals and 
journals ; among others, to several inter- 
esting historical papers in the " Metropo- 
litan Catholic Almanac and Laity's Direc- 
tory," commencing with A. D. 1833, and 
continued to the present year. The 
" United States Catholic Magazine," and 
the " Catholic Cabinet," will also furnish 
several highly entertaining and satisfac- 
tory papers on the early history, progress, 
and present state of the Catholic Church 



THE NAME CATHOLIC. 

" Catholic" is from a Greek word, sig- 
nifying whole, general, universal ; and is 
applied to the Church to designate the 
union in one body of all particular 
churches confessing one Lord, one Faith, 
one Baptism, and one God and Father. 
(Eph. iv. 5.) " The Catholic Church," 
says St. Cyril of Jerusalem, " is so called, 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



137 



because she is spread over the whole 
habitable globe, from one end to the 
other ;" (Catech. xviii.) and this in con- 
formity with the declaration of our Lord, 
that " penance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name among 
all the nations, beginning from Jeru- 
salem," (Luke xxiv. 47) ; and with his 
command to his Apostles, " Go ye into 
the whole world and preach the gospel to 
every creature," (Mark xvi. 15) ; whence 
the saints are represented in heaven pro- 
claiming, " Thou hast redeemed us to God 
in thy blood, out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation." (Rev. 
v. 9.) 

Wherever a new doctrine has been 
preached in opposition to the doctrines of 
the existing Catholic Church, the patrons 
and followers of the new doctrine have 
derived their distinctive appellation from 
some circumstance peculiar to themselves ; 
whilst the adherents of the old doctrine 
remaining in communion with the Catholic 
Church in other places, have retained their 
former name of Catholics. Hence St. 
Cyril (Anno 350,) tells his hearers, 
" When they go to a strange place, not 
to ask for the church simply — for the 
heretics have their places of worship — but 
to inquire where the Catholic Church is." 
(Catech. xviii.) And St. Augustine (Anno 
400,) remarks, that " though all heretics 
wish to be called Catholics, yet they never 
dare to point out their own meeting-house 
to a stranger, who inquires for the Catho- 
lic place of worship." (Cont. Epist. Fun- 
dam, c. iv.) 

Thus it had been in all ages, from the 
foundation of Christianity ; and thus it 
was in the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, when certain religious innovators 
made a formal protest against some of the 
doctrines taught by the Catholic Church 
of that period. From this protest they 
obtained the name of Protestants or Pro- 
testers ; while the adherents of the ancient 
faith continued to be called Catholics. The 
separatists, however, soon experienced the 
inconvenience of which St. Augustine has 
spoken above. How could they protest 
against the doctrines of the Catholic 
Church, while in the creed they professed 
to believe the Catholic Church? To 
escape from this difficulty, some divines 



of other communions have maintained, 
that they (the Protestants) are the real 
Catholics, under the ingenious pretence 
that they teach the doctrines originally 
established by the Apostles in the Catholic 
Church. But this cannot avail them, for 
two reasons : 1st, The word Catholic has 
no direct reference to the truth or false- 
hood of doctrine. It points out univer- 
sality ; it designates " the Church spread 
over the whole inhabitable world," — a de- 
signation to which they can have no claim. 
2d. If their reasoning be admitted, we 
must concede the title of Catholic to every 
heterodox sect that ever had existence. 
For all these sects believed that their pecu- 
liar doctrines were true ; and of course 
they might thence infer, as the divines in 
question do, that the doctrines in question 
were those of the Apostles, and gave to 
them a right to the appellation of Catholics. 

So long as the creed is true, there must 
exist a Catholic Church, in which the re- 
citers of the creed may profess their belief. 
There was, then, such a church when the 
so-called reformers were born. By Catho- 
lic ministers they were baptized ; in Ca- 
tholic doctrines they were educated ; in 
the Catholic Church they were taught to 
believe. Subsequently they separated 
from her ; a separation that certainly could 
not affect her right to the title of Catholic, 
which she had possessed for so many cen- 
turies. She still exists, and is still the 
same Catholic Church. Their followers 
also still exist, and may justly claim the 
names assumed by their fathers. They 
may be. Anglicans, or Lutherans, or Cal- 
vinists, or Baptists, or any other denomi- 
nation whatever : but one thing is certain, 
— they cannot be Catholics. 

As to the term " Roman Catholic," it 
shows the bond of union which binds the 
various churches of Christendom in the 
profession of the faith of the chief See of 
the entire Christian world. Hence, it 
always brings to the mind of the faithful 
in any clime, the great, primitive senior 
church, the Church of Rome ; and as more 
nations became converted to the faith, they 
were called by their different appellations, 
as " English Roman Catholics," " Ameri- 
can Roman Catholics," " French Roman 
Catholics," &c. 

" The reproachful epithets of * Papist,' 



18 



138 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



' Romanist,' « Popish,' ' Romish,' &c, are 
no longer applied to them (the Catholics,) 
by any gentleman or scholar." (Rev. J. 
Nightingale, author of " A Portraiture of 
Methodism," &c.) 

The same liberal Protestant makes the 
following quotation from a sermon of Dr. 
Butler, preached at Cambridge, at the in- 
stallation of the Duke of Gloucester : 
" Popery, as it is called, is still a fertile 
theme of declamation to the old women 
and children of the year 1811. This 
term Papist is reproachful, conveys an 
erroneous idea, keeps alive a dishonorable 
prejudice, and ought to be abolished ; nor 
will I ever believe that man a sincere 
friend to Christian liberty, who persists 
in the use of it. 



THE DOGMAS OF THE CATHOLIC 
FAITH. 

" We see now through a glass in a 
dark manner : but then [we shall see] 
face to face. Now I know in part, but 
then I shall know even as I am known. 
And now there remain Faith, Hope, 
Charity, these three : but the greatest of 
these is charity." 1 Cor. xiii. 12, 13. 

In these words the Apostle speaks of 
the natural blindness of men respecting 
religion. He teaches, that whilst we live 
in this lower world, encompassed with 
clouds and darkness, we see faintly and 
obscurely the things that are above ; 
that the revelations, made to us respecting 
a future world, are often wholly above 
our comprehension, and generally^ full of 
mystery and difficulty ; that we shall 
never be able fully to comprehend them, 
till the veil is drawn aside by death, and 
we behold God face to face : in whom, 
as in a clear mirror, all truth and all 
knowledge will be found. 

While here upon earth, there remains 
for our exercise three virtues, Faith, Hope, 
and Charity. These united, form an 
epitome of the whole duty of a Christian. 

Faith serves as a reme'dy for our natu- 
ral defects, and supplies the place of 
knowledge. It teaches us to believe, 
without doubting, doctrines which we 
cannot comprehend, on the testimony of 
God, who has taught them. It teaches 
us to put a restraint on the daring flights 



of reason, and to confine within its proper 
limits this noblest of our natural gifts : to 
employ it in examining the grounds upon 
which revelation rests, but not in discuss- 
ing the credibility of any subject which it 
discovers to have been revealed ; to wait 
with patience till our faculties are enlarged, 
and the obstacles to our knowledge re- 
moved, and in the mean time, with the 
humility and simplicity of children, to re- 
ceive, venerate and love the hidden and 
mysterious truths taught us by the invisi- 
ble and incomprehensible Deity. 

Hope teaches us to look forward with 
humble confidence to future happiness. 
It is an essential doctrine of revelation, 
that God really and truly desires the sal- 
vation of all mankind ; that he created all 
for this end ; that with this view, Jesus 
Christ, his eternal Son, died upon the 
cross, and established the Church with all 
necessary helps to salvation ; that conse- 
quently, if we do our best endeavors, we 
shall be saved, not indeed by our natural 
strength, for with this alone we can do 
nothing, but by the help of grace, which 
God is ever ready and desirous to impart 
to those who employ the proper means of 
obtaining it ; that consequently, if any one 
is lost, his perdition is from himself alone, 
and that if any one despair or cease to 
hope, it must either be, that he refuses to 
do his best, or that he violates the doc- 
trine of faith, and accuses God of injustice. 
Hope gives peace to the mind, not by im- 
parting a certainty of future happiness, 
which even the apostle himself declares 
he did not possess, but by inspiring a firm 
yet humble confidence in the promises, 
the mercy, and the merits of Christ. 

Charity is the first, the greatest, the 
most essential of all the Christian virtues. 
It is not synonymous with benevolence to 
the poor. It does not consist merely in 
relieving the distressed, comforting the 
sorrowful, clothing the naked, and similar 
works of brotherly kindness ; for St. Paul 
says, " If I distribute my goods to the 
poor, and give my body to the flames, 
and have not charity, it profiteth me no- 
thing." (1 Cor. xiii. 3.) Charity, then, 
is something more than benevolence. It 
is a virtue which regards God as well as 
man. It would be a partial and imperfect 
virtue, indeed, if it excluded God, the 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



139 



most perfect, the most amiable, the only 
adorable being, the first of benefactors, 
the best of friends, the most tender and 
loving of parents. It teaches us to love 
God above all things, to prefer his law 
and. will before every consideration, to 
make them the rule, guide, and criterion 
of our thoughts, our words, and our con- 
duct. It prepares us at any moment to 
sacrifice whatever we value most in life, 
rather than violate the allegiance we owe 
to our sovereign Lord. It teaches us to 
worship him in the manner he requires, 
and consequently to follow the religion 
which we sincerely believe to have been 
established by him. For should any man 
say to God, " I love thee, O God, but I 
will not worship thee in the manner which 
thou hast commanded, but in a manner 
which I consider as good or better," 
would he not offer an affront to God ? 
Would he not be considered as a rebel 
against the divine majesty 1 Would not 
his selfish homage be rejected with dis- 
dain ? 

This sacred virtue teaches us to love 
every neighbor as ourselves, in thought, 
in word, and in deed. It forbids us to 
think unkindly, or to judge rashly of any 
human being ; it commands us to put the 
best construction on his conduct, to excuse 
it when we can, and palliate it when it 
will not admit of excuse, and this, even 
though our judgments be confined to the 
secrets of our own breasts. 

Still more does it require that our words 
be regulated by the same principles : that 
nothing escape our lips which can injure 
our neighbor's reputation, or disturb his 
peace of mind ; that, when occasion offers, 
we undertake his defence, excuse his de- 
fects, extenuate his errors, and proclaim 
his merits. It teaches us to assist him in 
his distress, comfort him in his sorrows, 
advise him in his doubts, correct his errors, 
and, as far as lies in our power, promote 
all his temporal and spiritual interests. 

Such is the virtue of charity, which the 
Apostle declares to be the greatest and 
most essential of Christian virtues. It is 
a universal virtue. It admits of no excep- 
tion. It extends to God and to our fellow 
creatures of every country, of every co- 
lor, of every disposition, of every opinion, 
of every sect. The man who should ex- 



clude from his universal charity one single 
child of Adam, be his country, his con- 
duct, his religion, whatever it may, trans- 
gresses this first of the divine commands, 
and becomes guilty of all. (James ii. 10.) 

ONE GOD IN THREE DIVINE PERSONS. 

The Catholic Church holds, as the foun- 
dation of all religion, that there is but one 
supreme, self-existent, eternal Deity, infi- 
nite in wisdom, in goodness, in every per- 
fection ; by whom all things were made, 
in whom all that exist " live, move, and 
have their being." (Acts xvii. 28) It 
teaches that our first duty is, to love God, 
and adore him alone ; that the worst of 
treasons and the greatest of crimes is, to 
give his homage to any creature what- 
soever. It teaches that in this one God, 
there are three divine persons, perfectly 
distinct in personality, perfectly one in 
nature ; that the second Person descended 
from heaven, became man, and died upon 
a cross for the solvation of all mankind : 
that through his blood all may be saved, 
and that there is " no other name under 
heaven given to men, in which any one 
can" obtain salvation, (Acts iv. 12 ;) that 
all spiritual graces and blessings actually 
bestowed in this life, or hoped for in the 
next, must be derived originally from the 
sufferings and merits of the divine Re- 
deemer alone. 



REDEMPTION THROUGH CHRIST. 

Catholics believe in one Lord Jesus 
Christ, the eternal Son of God ; who, for 
us sinners and for our salvation, was made 
man, that he might be the Plead, the High 
Priest, the Advocate and Saviour of all 
mankind. We acknowledge him our only 
Redeemer, who paid our ransom by dying 
for us on the cross ; that his death is the 
fountain of all our good ; and that mercy, 
grace and salvation can by no means be 
obtained but through him. We confess 
him to be the Mediator of God and man, 
the only Mediator of redemption, and the 
only Mediator of intercession too : who 
intercedes in such manner as to stand in 
need of no other merits to recommend his 
petitions. But as for the saints, although 
we address ourselves to them, and desire 



140 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



their prayers, as we do also to God's ser- 
vants here upon earth, yet we mean no 
j otherwise than that they would pray for 
us, and with us, to our common Lord, 
who is our God and their God, through 
the merits of the same Jesus Christ, who 
is our Mediator and their Mediator. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

Catholics believe that the Holy Ghost, 
the third person of the blessed Trinity, 
proceeds from the Father and the Son, and 
is equally God with them, and that he is 
" the other Comforter" promised to the 
apostles, to abide with the church for ever. 
The Holy Spirit descended on our Saviour 
in the form of a dove, a fit emblem of that 
peace, that reconciliation between God and 
man, which he was about to accomplish 
by his death. The same Holy Spirit de- 
scended on the disciples in the visible form 
of fire, an emblem of that supernatural 
change which he was about to work in 
their hearts, by the purification of their 
feelings and aspirations from the dross of 
sensual ideas and affections. " And I will 
ask the Father, and he shall give you 
another Paraclete, that he may abide with 
you for ever, the Spirit of truth, whom the 
world cannot receive, because it seeth him 
not, nor knoweth him : but you shall know 
him, because he shall abide with you, and 
shall be in you. These things have I 
spoken to you, remaining with you. But 
the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the 
Father will send in my name, he will 
teach you all things, and bring all things 
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have 
said to you." (St. John, xiv. 16, 26.) By 
the term " Paraclete" is understood a 
comforter, or an advocate ; inasmuch as 
by inspiring prayer, he prays, as it were, 
in us, and pleads for us. It is also evi- 
dent from the above text, that this Spirit 
of truth was promised, not only to the 
persons of the apostles, but also to their 
successors through all generations. 

Again : Christ's last words, before as- 
cending up to his Father, were : " But 
you shall receive the power of the Holy 
Ghost coming upon you, and you shall 
be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in 
all Judea and Samaria, and even to the 
uttermost parts of the earth. (Acts, i. 8.) 



In the following chapter of the Acts we 
see the fulfilment of this promise, and 
hear the testimony of the chief of the 
apostles : " This Jesus hath God raised 
up again, whereof we all are witnesses. 
Being exalted, therefore, upon the right 
hand of God, and having received of the 
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, 
he hath poured forth this which you see 
and hear." (Acts, ii. 32, 33.) 

JUSTIFICATION. 

It is the Catholic belief that no man 
can be justified, either by the works of 
nature, or of the law of Moses, without 
faith in Jesus Christ. That we cannot 
by any prudent works merit the grace of 
justification. That all the merit of our 
good works is the gift of God ; and that 
every merit and satisfaction of ours en- 
tirely depend on the merits and passion 
of Christ. Or, in other words, that our 
sins are gratuitously remitted to us by the 
mercy of God, through the merits of 
Jesus Christ ; and that whatever good 
works we do, they are, all of them, the 
effects of God's grace. 

" We are justified freely by the grace 
of God, through the redemption that is in 
Jesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to 
be a propitiation through faith in his 
blood" (Rom. hi. 24); "In Christ we 
have redemption through his blood, the 
forgiveness of sins" (Eph. i. 7) ; "And 
Christ hath washed us from our sins in 
his blood," (Rev. i. 5.) 

So far the members of nearly all com- 
munions agree with the Catholic Church. 
They are, therefore, in agreement with 
her not only in charity, but in the profes- 
sion of the primary and most essential 
doctrines of faith.* Beyond these prima- 
ry articles, the generality of communions 
are not very rigid in exacting agreement 



* " Under the Papacy are many good things ; 
yea, every thing that is good in Christianity. 
I say, morever, that under the Papacy is true 
Christianity, even the very kernel of Chris- 
tianity." — Luther, Book against the Anabap- 
tists. 

" The Church of Rome is, no doubt, to be 
attributed a part of the House of God ; and 
we gladly acknowledge them to be of the 
family of Jesus Christ." — Hooker, Ecclesiasti- 
cal Policy. 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



141 



from each other. Other points they con- 
sider as of smaller moment, and allow, 
in regard to them, a greater latitude of 
opinion. Surely, then, they will not re- 
fuse the same privilege to their Catholic 
brethren, which they allow to each other. 

SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION. 

Jesus Christ laid the foundations of his 
church upon the authority of teaching ; 
consequently the unwritten word was the 
first rule of Christianity, a rule, which, 
even when the books of the New Testa- 
ment were superadded to it, did not, upon 
this account, lose any thing of its former 
authority. Hence it is that Catholics re- 
ceive with equal veneration whatever was 
taught by the apostles, whether communi- 
cated by writing, or circulated only by 
word of mouth, according to the express 
declaration of St. Paul to the Thessalo- 
nians, commanding them " to hold fast 
the traditions which they had been taught, 
whether by word, or by epistle." (2 
Thess. ii. 15.) Upon no point is the Scrip- 
ture more express, than upon the subject 
of the authority of teaching ; " Go, ye, 
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teach- 
ing them to observe all things, whatsoever 
I have commanded you." (Matt, xxviii. 
19, 20.) " Go forth to the whole world, 
and preach the gospel to every creature." 
(Mark xvi. 15.) " For I have received of 
the Lord that which also I have delivered 
to you." (1 Cor. xi. 23.) " Hold the 
form of sound words, which thou hast 
heard from me in faith." (2 Tim. i. 13.) 
" The things which thou hast heard from 
me, before many witnesses, the same com- 
mend to faithful men, who shall be fit to 
teach others also." (2 Tim. ii. 2.) 

There is nothing in the Scripture to 
intimate, that Christ ever commanded his 
disciples to compose a code of doctrine for 
the guidance of the faithful. In fact, it 
is clear from internal evidence, that the 
Scripture is not a doctrinal record. From 
an unprejudiced perusal of the different 
parts that compose the New Testament, it 
will evidently appear that the writers had 
their contemporaries principally before 
their eyes, and that instead of intending 



to leave behind them a perfect code of 
Christian doctrine for future generations, 
they pre-supposed, in their readers of 
that day, a previous knowledge of such 
doctrines. When they make mention of 
doctrinal matters, it is only incidentally, 
or by way of explanation. Hence it hap- 
pens that, when men seek to form a system 
of theology from the sacred writings, they 
are compelled to go backward and for- 
ward, from gospel to epistle ; to take part 
of a passage from one, and / part from 
another ; to tack the several fragments 
together, and out of them all to form a 
piece of patchwork, which they call the 
religion taught by Christ and his apostles. 
Now it is plain that in a creed compiled 
after this fashion, much must depend on 
the skill and judgment of the workman : 
and as it is very seldom that we meet 
with any two men possessing exactly the 
same skill and judgment : we must expect 
to meet with very great differences in the 
religious systems formed by different 
teachers. And thus it is in fact. The 
Trinitarian pronounces from the Scripture 
that Christ is God ; tne Unitarian that he 
is not God but man only ; the Presbyterian 
infers from it that Episcopacy is no divine 
ordinance ; the independent, that the Pres- 
byterian system is as contrary to Scripture 
as the Episcopalian ; the Baptist is con- 
vinced that the baptism of infants is anti- 
scriptural ; the Quaker, that it is to be 
administered neither to infants nor to 
adults. Thus it is with all the sects, 
which a belief in the private interpretation 
of Scripture has created ; they all, on the 
testimony of Scripture, contradict one 
another, betraying by such contradiction 
the insecurity of that common principle 
on which they found their respective 
creeds, and renouncing all claim to that 
certainty of belief, which is due to the 
truths revealed by God to man. Another 
consideration must present itself to the re- 
flecting mind. If the Scriptures are the only 
rule of faith, then those who cannot read are 
left without any rule at all. Now previous 
to the invention of printing, the great 
mass of mankind, for fourteen hundred 
years, were unable to read. Will any one 
venture to say, that God abandoned such 
multitudes of Christians for so long a 
period without a rule ? Perhaps it may 



142 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



be replied, that their pastors explained the 
Scriptures to them : but then a contradic- 
tion arises : two rules are established in 
place of one only rule, making the church 
the rule for the ignorant, and the Scriptures 
the rule for the learned. Again, in the 
case of those who can read, surely it may 
flatter the pride, but at the same time 
deceive the simplicity, of those who do 
not understand the learned languages, to 
bid them search the Scriptures, and judge 
for themselves from the word of God. 
They may come to suspect, nor will their 
suspicions be unfounded, that the versions 
put into their hands are not the word of 
God, but in part the work of man, of un- 
inspired man, and men prepossessed in 
favor of some particular doctrines ; and 
therefore liable, even without intending it, 
to misinterpret passages bearing on their 
own particular doctrines. What security 
then can the reader, unversed in any lan- 
guage but his own, have, that by search- 
ing in such versions, he is doing what he 
is told to do, that is, culling the doctrines 
of his creed from the inspired word of 
God ? Evidently he has none. 

The Catholic Church maintains, that 
there are doctrines of essential importance 
not contained in the Scriptures ; as for 
instance, the lawfulness and obligation of 
keeping holy the Sunday, instead of the 
Saturday, the real scriptural sabbath : the 
validity of infant baptism, &c. 

And even if all the doctrines of religion 
were actually contained in the Bible, still 
the rule of Catholic belief would not be 
the Scriptures explained by private inter- 
pretation, but by the teaching of the Apos- 
tles and their successors. 



THE SCRIPTURES TN THE VULGAR 
TONGUE. 

The Scriptures, in which are contained 
the revealed mysteries of divine truth, are 
the most excellent of all writings. They 
were written by men divinely inspired, 
and are " not the word of men, but the 
word of God, which .can save our souls." 
(1 Thess. ii. 13, and James i. 21.) But 
then they ought to be read, even by the 
learned, in the spirit of humility, and with 
a fear of mistaking their true sense, as 
many have done. Of this we are admon- 



ished by the Scripture itself, where St. 
Peter says, that in the Epistles of St. Paul 
there " are some things hard to be under- 
stood, which the unlearned and unstable 
wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, 
to their own perdition." (2 Peter iii. 17.) 
Let every reader of the sacred writings, 
reflect on the words of Isaias : " My 
thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither 
are your ways as my ways, saith the 
Lord ; for as the heavens are exalted 
above the earth, even so are my ways 
exalted above your ways, and my thoughts 
above your thoughts," (chap. lv. 8, 9.) 
How then shall any one, by his private 
reason, pretend to judge, to comprehend, 
and to demonstrate, the incomprehensible 
and unsearchable ways of God '? 

The Catholic Church, anxious to pre- 
vent this abuse, and to guard against 
error, has exhorted her children to seek 
the advice of the pastors and spiritual 
guides whom God has appointed to govern 
his church, (Acts xx. 28,) in regard to the 
indiscriminate reading of the Scriptures. 
It is not forbidden to read them : it is for- 
bidden to read so as to abuse them. 

The following extract from a letter of 
Pope Pius, the Sixth, to Archbishop Mar- 
tini, on his translation of the Holy Bible 
into Italian, shows the benefit which the 
faithful may reap from reading the Scrip- 
tures in the vulgar tongue. " At a time 
that a vast number of bad books are cir- 
culated, to the great destruction of souls, 
you judge exceedingly well, that the faith- 
ful should be excited to the reading of the 
Holy Scriptures ; for these are most abun- 
dant sources, which ought to be left open 
to every one, to draw from them purity of 
life and doctrine ; to eradicate the errors 
which are widely disseminated in these 
corrupt times. This you have seasonably 
effected, by publishing the sacred writings 
in the language of your country, so as to 
place them in the reach of all." Given 
at Rome, April, 1778. 

THE CHURCH. 

When the Divine Author of the Chris- 
tian religion had given all necessary in- 
structions to his Apostles, and communi- 
cated to them the Holy Spirit, to assist 
and direct them, he assembled them toge- 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



143 



ther on Mount Olivet, and thus addressed 
them : " All power is given to me in hea- 
ven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and 
teach all nations ; baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to ob- 
serve all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you : and, behold, I am with you 
all days, even to the consummation of the 
world." (Matt, xxviii. 18, 19, 20.) In 
another of the gospels, the same commis- 
sion is given in somewhat different terms : 
"Go ye into the whole world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature. He that 
believeth and is baptized, shall be saved : 
but he that believeth not, shall be con- 
demned." (Mark xvi. 15, 16.) [In the 
translation, published by authority under 
James I., the words are, " He who be- 
lieveth not shall be damned."] 

On another occasion, Christ had said 
to Peter, " Thou art Peter," (which name 
signifies a rock,) " and upon this rock I 
will build my church, and the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it ; and I will 
give to thee the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven," &c. (Matt. xvi. 18, 19.) The 
conclusions we draw from these texts 
are — 

That as Christ commissioned his Apos- 
tles to teach all the doctrines of his reli- 
gion to mankind, so he required mankind 
to receive these doctrines, and this under 
the severest penalty : " Go ye," my Apos- 
tles, go ye, and teach mankind " to ob- 
serve all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you." " He that believeth not, 
shall be condemned." Therefore we are 
not at liberty to believe what we please, 
but our salvation is attached to the belief 
of the very doctrines taught by the Apos- 
tles. 

With respect to the Apostles, it will be 
readily admitted, that there was an obli- 
gation of believing their doctrines. Which 
of us would have ventured to contradict 
St. Paul to his face, to tell him that we 
did not understand the Bible in the sense 
he taught, and that we had a right to ex- 
plain its meaning for ourselves ? Would 
he have acquiesced in our claims ? Would 
he not rather have pronounced upon us 
the anathema, which he declared he would 
pronounce even upon an angel from hea- 
ven, who should teach doctrines different 

1— , , 



from those which he had preached? 
(Galat. i. 8.) Would he not have said to 
us, as he said to the Corinthians, — " Keep 
my ordinances as I have delivered them 
to you : but if any man seem to be con- 
tentious, we have no such custom, nor the 
church of God." (1 Cor. xi. 2-16.) 

But why should the Apostles be entitled 
to an obedience which is refused to their 
successors ? The Apostles had no power 
but such as they received from Christ ; no 
security against error, but such as they 
derived from his guidance and protection. 
Now the same powers, the same guidance 
and protection, were promised to the suc- 
cessors of the Apostles as were promised 
to the Apostles themselves. Christ did 
not send to the Apostles the u Spirit of 
Truth," to " teach them all truth." (John 
xvi. 13,) only for a limited time, but " for 
ever." (John xiv. 16.) He did not pro- 
mise to be himself with his Apostles 
merely during their short lives, but " all 
days, even to the consummation of the 
world." (Matt, xxviii. 20.) The Catholic 
Church, therefore, believes that the same 
submission is due to the lawful successors 
of the Apostles in the first, the second, 
and the nineteenth century of Christianity, 
as was due to the Apostles themselves. 
Where does Scripture teach that the doc- 
trines of the Apostles should be received, 
and those of their successors rejected? 
Where does it teach that, after the death 
of the Apostles, the commission to teach 
mankind should be transferred from the 
living pastors of the church, to the dead 
letter of the Bible ? Where does it re- 
call the solemn denunciation pronounced 
against those who refuse to " hear the 
Church ?" (Matt, xviii. 17.) Where does 
it retract the promised guidance of the 
Spirit and the pledged protection of Christ ? 
In what age of Christianity did the great 
body of believers adopt the modern prin- 
ciple of private interpretation ? Most of 
the Apostles were dead before the whole 
of the New Testament was written ; near 
four hundred years had elapsed before its 
different books were collected together and 
fully authenticated ; the gospel had been 
preached, and Christianity planted in many 
nations, before a single copy of the New 
Testament had reached them ; more than 
fourteen centuries had passed over the 



144 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



Christian Church, before the invention of 
printing rendered it possible for one Chris- 
tian in a thousand to possess a copy of 
the Scriptures, or one in ten thousand of 
the people to read it. Could Christ intend 
that men should follow a rule of faith, to 
which they could not obtain access ? To 
read a book which was not written, or 
could not be obtained 1 to explain a book 
which, if they possessed, they could not 
read ? Could he require that the ignorant 
and unlettered should understand a book, 
which the wisest and most learned cannot 
always comprehend? Could he require, 
as a condition of salvation, that the pea- 
sant, the day-laborer, the woman, the 
child, unacquainted with the languages, 
the history, the usages of antiquity, should 
fathom the depths of the most ancient, the 
most profound, and the most mysterious 
volume that ever was penned ; a volume, 
in which the great St. Augustine declared 
he found more which he could not, than 
which he could comprehend ; the contents 
of which he could never have brought 
himself to believe, " if the authority of the 
Catholic Church had not moved him to 
it ?" (Contra ep. Fundam.) Whilst a hu- 
man legislator would deem it the height 
of folly to write his laws, and leave them 
without authorized living expositors, can 
we suppose that the Divine Legislator 
would be guilty of such an inconsistency ? 
Whilst the generality of men are acknow- 
ledged to require the aid of living teachers 
in every science, in every art, in almost 
every mechanical trade : can we believe 
that the wisdom and goodness of God 
would leave them without this assistance 
in religion, the most difficult and the most 
important of all sciences ? Could Christ 
require, under pain of damnation, that all 
men should believe the same doctrines, 
and yet require them to find these doc- 
trines in a book, which is capable, as fatal 
experience too clearly proves, of being 
understood in a thousand different senses, 
and which perhaps no two unassisted men 
ever understood in the same ? Tertullian, 
a learned writer of the second century, 
tells us, " That whenever any refractory 
Christian, in those days, refused to sub- 
mit to the doctrines of the Catholic Church, 
he claimed a right to explain Scripture for 
himself, and to make it teach whatever 



doctrines he chose to adopt." (Lib. de 
prsescriptionibus.) The same has been 
the refuge of all subsequent innovators. 
There is no error, extravagance, or im- 
piety, which private interpretation has not 
maintained to be the infallible word of 
God. Hence the Catholic Church con- 
tinues to adhere to the ancient rule, which 
guided the faithful in the days of the 
Apostles, and which has preserved unity 
of faith amongst their successors through 
every age. 

But should these reasons be deemed in- 
sufficient to justify the submission which 
Catholics yield to the decisions of the 
church, and should it be insisted that 
every principle of religion shall rest on 
the private interpretation of Scripture : 
there can be no objection, in the present 
instance, to comply with the demand. 
What does the Scripture say on this head ? 
" If he will not hear the church, let him 
be to thee as the heathen and the publi- 
can." (Matt, xviii. 17.) " Into whatever 
city you (my apostles) enter, and they 
receive you not — I say to you, it shall be 
more tolerable at the day of judgment for 
Sodom, than for that city. He that hear- 
eth you, heareth me ; and he that des- 
piseth you, despiseth me." (Luke, x. 10, 
12, 16.) " He that believeth and is bap- 
tized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth 
not, shall be condemned." (Mark, xvi. 
16.) " Remember your prelates who have 
spoken to you the word of God : whose 
faith follow. Obey your prelates, and be 
subject to them, for they watch, being to 
render an account of your sins." (He- 
brews, xiii. 7, 17.) 

These, and many other similar texts, 
are sincerely understood by every Catho- 
lic to require submission to the church in 
matters of faith and morality, and conse- 
quently, to forbid all opposite interpreta- 
tion of Scripture. And shall the Catholic 
be denied the right assumed by all other 
communions of judging of the sense of 
Scripture ? If he understands the Scrip- 
ture as teaching submission to the church, 
why should an objection be raised to his 
following the convictions of his conscience I 
A right is claimed to explain Scripture 
differently from him ; why should the 
persons claiming such a privilege refuse 
him the right of explaining it differently 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



145 



from them? He calls not for their ap- 
proval of his opinions ; he objects not 
(on his own account) to their dissent. 
He is willing to abide the decision of an 
all-seeing Judge, and to incur the threat- 
ened condemnation, if his faith be errone- 
ous. By the same tribunal will those who 
differ from him be tried. Let them be 
satisfied with this, and not expect that 
their Catholic brethren will prefer their 
opponent's convictions to their own. Let 
the liberty claimed be reciprocal : "As 
you would that men should do to you, do 
you also to them in like manner." (Luke 
vi. 31.) 

But, it may be asked, why, upon the 
supposition that the lawful successors of 
the apostles are authorized teachers of re- 
ligion and expositors of Scripture, does 
the Catholic assume that the pastors of 
his church are the lawful successors of the 
apostles, and the Catholic Church the only 
church of Christ ] The reasons will be 
best given by recurring to the different 
texts of Scripture already cited. From 
those texts it may be inferred, first, that 
certain revealed doctrines are essentially 
required to be believed. " He who be- 
lieveth not shall be condemned." (Mark, 
xvi. 16.) 

It may be inferred, secondly, from the 
commission of Christ, " Go teach all na- 
tions," (Matt, xxviii.) — " Go preach the 
gospel to every creature," (Mark, xvi.) — 
that the religion of Christ must be a uni- 
versal, not a national or merely local re- 
ligion. Now the Catholic is the only uni- 
versal religion. It is morally universal 
as to place ; for it exists in every known 
country of the world. In many countries, 
it is the only religion ; in most, its num- 
bers greatly predominate ; in every coun- 
try, where Christianity exists in any form, 
there the Catholic religion is found. It is 
comparatively universal as to numbers, 
being infinitely more numerous than any 
other sect or denomination of Christians, 
and perhaps than all other sects and de- 
nominations put together. All other reli- 
gions or sects are confined to compara- 
tively narrow limits. They are national 
or local establishments. They are the 
church of England, the church of Scot- 
land, the church of Geneva, the Greek, 
or the Russian church, existing in the par- 



ticular countries which give them their 
names, and scarcely known in other parts 
of the world. Not one of them has the 
slightest pretensions to be the church of 
" all nations." Hence, it may be con- 
cluded, that none of them can be the 
church which Christ commanded his apos- 
tles to found for the benefit of the world 
at large, into which the prophet had pre- 
dicted, that " all nations should flow." 
(Isaiah, ii. 2.) 

3dly. The doctrines which the apostles 
were commanded to teach, were those 
and only those which they had learnt from 
Christ : " teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you." 
(Matt, xxviii.) Therefore the doctrines 
of the true and universal church of Christ 
must be in all places the same ; for where 
there is difference of doctrine, there must 
necessarily be deviation from the doc- 
trines of Christ. Now this unity of doc- 
trine exists in the great Catholic Church, 
and in it alone. Though spread through 
every nation of the known world, though 
professed by so many " peoples, and 
tribes, and tongues," differing from each 
other in manners, in customs, in language, 
in interest, the doctrines of the Catholic 
religion are every where the same. Not 
a difference will be found on any single 
article of faith, amongst all its countless 
millions. Let the experiment be made. 
Let the first bishop or priest you meet 
with be consulted, as to what is the doc- 
trine of the Catholic Church in any given 
article of faith, and let his reply be care- 
fully noted. Let the same question be 
put to any bishop or priest of France, of 
Italy, of Germany, of Spain, of Hindoos- 
tan, of China, and from all and every 
one the same answer will be received. 
One and all will unhesitatingly say, " such 
is the doctrine of the Catholic Church, 
such is my sincere belief." Surely can- 
dor must acknowledge that this is as it 
ought to be. Unity like this is indispen- 
sable in any church which lays claim to 
teach the uniform and unchangeable doc- 
trines of Christ. 

INFALLIBILITY OF THE CHURCH IN 
MATTERS OF FAITH. 

If it be true that the Son of God took 
upon himself our nature, not only that He 



19 



143 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



might die for our salvation, but also that 
He might establish a church to teach his 
doctrine, and to dispense to mankind the 
benefit of his death ; it surely follows, as 
an indisputable consequence, that He 
would moreover preserve that church from 
falling into doctrinal or practical error; 
otherwise, we must supposa that a God of 
ininite power and wisdom, having a par- 
ticular end in view, adopted, for the ac- 
complishment of that end, means calcu- 
lated to frustrate his own purpose ; that 
he founded a church to teach truths and 
holiness, and yet permitted her, while she 
taught under his auspices, to become the 
propagator of error, and the corrupter of 
morality. 

Now, that he promised to preserve her 
from error, is manifest. 1. He promised 
to his apostles, that the Spirit of truth 
should abide with them, — how long ? For 
the term of their natural lives '. No, for 
ever (John xiv. 16); and therefore not 
with them only, but also with their suc- 
cessors. 2. He promised to remain with 
them himself,- — how long ? Only whilst 
they preached the gospel 1 No ; but all 
days, even to the consummation of the 
world (Matt, xxviii. 20) ; a promise which 
must also extend to their successors. 3. 
Jle appointed Peter the rock, and declared 
that against his church, founded on that 
rock, the gates of hell should never pre- 
vail. (Matt. xvi. 18.) The infallibility 
of the church plainly follows from this 
text:* for it is manifest that, if the 
church ever fell into doctrinal error, — if 
she ever taught blasphemy, sacrilege, and 
idolatry, as is often stated in the " vain 
and profane babblings of men, who speak 
evil of things which they know not" 
(1 Tim. vi. 20; Jude i. 10),— then the 
gates of hell have prevailed against the 
church, and the declaratory promise of 
our Saviour has been falsified. 

It should, however, be remembered, that 
when we deduce from these premises, that 
the church cannot err in matters of faith, 
we claim no infallibility in such matters 



* " The only difference between the Church 
of Rome and our national church, in respect 
to the certainty of their doctrine is, that the 
former thinks it is always infallible, and the 
latter that it is never in the wrong." — Sir 
Richaud Steele. 



for any individuals ; but mean, that God, 
by his superintending providence, will so 
watch over his church in her decisions, as 
never to suffer her to become the teacher 
of error in point of religious doctrine. 



THE SACRAMENTS. 

Catholics believe that the sacraments of 
the Christian covenant are not only sacred 
signs representative of grace, but also seals 
which insure and confirm the grace of God 
to us, and the instruments of the Holy 
Spirit, by which they are applied to the 
souls of men. In other words, a sacra- 
ment is an external rite, ordained by 
Christ, — the visible sign of an invisible 
grace or spiritual benefit bestowed by God 
on the soul. Every sacrament, therefore, 
imparts such grace, as often as it is re- 
ceived with due dispositions. 

The Catholic Church recognizes seven 
sacraments, viz., Baptism, Confirmation, 
Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unc- 
tion, Holy Order, Matrimony. 

Of these seven sacraments five are com- 
mon to all : for, by baptism we are spi- 
ritually born again : by confirmation our 
weakness is strengthened ; by the eucha- 
rist we are fed with the bread which comes 
down from heaven ; penance restores the 
soul from sickness to health ; and by ex- 
treme unction it is prepared for its depar- 
ture to another world. Of the remaining 
two, holy order supplies the church with 
ministers, and matrimony sanctifies the 
state of marriage. Thus has the blessed 
Founder of Christianity, by the institution 
of these means of grace, provided for all 
the wants of man in his passage through 
life. The sacraments are the fountains of 
the Saviour, at which the Christian is to 
slake his thirst during his earthly pil- 
grimage ; the blessed sources whence/ by 
divine appointment, he is to draw the 
waters of eternal life. " You shall draw 
waters with joy from the fountains of the 
Saviour." (Isaiah xii. 3.) And again : 
" If anv man thirst, let him come to me 
and drink." (St. John vn. 37.) " He that 
shall drink of the waters that I will give 
him, shall not thirst for ever. It shall be- 
come in him a fountain of water springing 
up unto everlasting life." (lb. iv. 14.) 



S 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



147 



BAPTISM. 

Catholics believe that by the sacrament 
of baptism men are cleansed from sin, as 
well original as actual, and made members 
of the church of Christ, adopted children of 
God, and heirs to the kingdom of heaven. 
u God hath saved us, not by the works of 
justice which we have done, but according 
to his mercy, by the laver of regeneration, 
and the renovation of the Holy Ghost, 
whom he hath poured forth abundantly 
upon us, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour, 
that, being justified by his grace, we may 
be heirs, according to hope, of life ever- 
lasting." (Tit. iii. 5.) " Except a man be 
bora again of water and the Holy Spirit, 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
(John iii. 5.) " Be baptized, every one of 
you ; for the promise is unto you, and to 
your children." (Acts ii. 38, 99.) 

With respect to the ceremonies used by 
the Catholic Church in the administration 
of baptism, they allude either to the state 
of the pagan before, or to the duties of 
the Christian after, baptism, and were ori- 
ginally performed, some of them during 
the instruction of the catechumen, and 
some during the administration of the sa- 
crament. Some modern sects have thought 
proper to reject them all, under the idea 
that they are useless, and, as some of them 
assert, superstitious. The Catholic Church 
has preserved the ancient ritual. Other 
churches betray the newness of their 
origin by the newness of their service. It 
is the pride of Catholics to practise the 
ceremonies practised by their forefathers ; 
they are respected by them as having been 
established by the founders of Christianity, 
and are cherished as evidences of their 
descent from its first professors. 

CONFIRMATION. 

Catholics believe that, through the sa- 
crament of confirmation, they receive the 
Holy Ghost, to enable them to overcome 
temptations to sin, and to suffer persecu- 
tions for the name of Christ. It is admi- 
nistered by the imposition of hands, with 
prayer, and the unction of the forehead 
with the holy chrism, accompanied by the 
words " I sign thee with the sign of the 
cross, and confirm thee with the chrism 
of salvation, in the name of the Father, 



and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
Confirmation completes what was begun 
in baptism. In baptism we enrol ourselves 
under the banners of Christ ; in confirma- 
tion we receive strength to fight with 
courage the battles of our leader. 

" Now, when the Apostles, that were in 
Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had 
received the word of God, they sent to 
them Peter and John ; who, when they 
were come, prayed for them, that they 
might receive the Holy Ghost. For he 
had not yet come upon any of them ; but 
they were only baptized in the name of 
the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their 
hands upon them, and they received the 
Holy Ghost." (Acts viii. 14-17.) "Hav- 
ing heard these things they were baptized 
in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when 
Paul had imposed his hands on them, the 
Holy Ghost came upon them." (Acts 
xix. 5, 6.) It is certain, from historical 
records, that what the Apostles then did, 
the bishops, in every age from that time 
to the present, have continued to do, and 
for the same purpose, that is, to give the 
Holy Ghost. 

The following is the testimony of St. 
Cyprian : " It is necessary that he who 
has been baptized, should be moreover 
anointed ; in order that having received 
the chrism, that is the unction, he may be 
anointed in God, and possess the grace 
of Christ." (Ep. 1. 20.) "It was the 
custom," say the Centuriators, " to impose 
hands upon those who were baptized, and 
to imprint upon their foreheads, with 
chrism, the sign of the cross." 

PENANCE. 

All the first Christians were converts 
from Judaism or Paganism, who, being 
instructed by the Apostles, had received 
the sacrament of baptism, and in that 
sacrament the remission of their former 
sins. They were of the number of those 
of whom our blessed Lord had said, " He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved." (Mark xvi. 16.) It is plain that 
for this blessing they were indebted, not 
to their own merits, but to the mercy of 
God. " Not by works of justice which 
we have done but according to his mercy. 
God has saved us by the laver of regen- 



148 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



eration, and renovation of the Holy | 
Ghost." (Tit. hi. 5.) Hence it is that 
St. Paul, in his epistles to Christians, thus 
received into the covenant through bap- 
tism, continually reminds them that they 
had been justified, not by the works which 
they had done whilst they were Jews or 
Pagans, but by faith in Christ, which had 
brought them to the grace of baptism. 
This, therefore, is the true meaning of 
" justification by faith and not by works." 
They had thus " been justified by the 
grace of God, and made heirs according 
to hope of eternal life." (Tit. iii. 7.) 
Hence, also, we may learn in what sense 
they were said to have been saved by the 
justification received in baptism. They 
had been taken out of the great mass of 
sinners, and placed amongst those who 
were heirs to eternal life : not heirs in 
actual possession, but heirs according to 
hope. Still it was possible that they might 
forfeit their inheritance. They icould for- 
feit it if they relapsed into the sinful prac- 
tices of their former life. Some did ac- 
tually relapse, and " walk so as to be 
enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end 
would be destruction." (Phil. iii. 18.) 

Now these men had already obtained, 
in baptism, the remission of their sins 
committed before baptism. Could they 
be baptized again to obtajn the remission 
of their sins committed after baptism ? 
No ; " for it was impossible for those who 
had once been enlightened, who had tasted 
the heavenly gift, and who had been made 
partakers of the Holy Ghost, if they then 
fell away, to be renewed (baptized) again 
unto repentance ; having crucified again 
the Son of God, and make a mockery of 
him." (Heb. vi. 4, 6.) "It had been 
better for them not to have known the 
way of righteousness, than, after they had 
known it, to turn back from the holy 
commandment delivered unto them." (2 
Pet. ii. 21.) Were they then to despair 
of pardon 1 Certainly not ; for, notwith- 
standing the severity of these warnings, 
they were still reminded that, " If any 
man sin, we have an advocate with the 
Father, Jesus Christ, the just, who is a 
propitiation for our sins ; and not for our 
sins only, but for those of the whole 
world." (John xi. 12.) 

How, then, without a second baptism, 



was the sinner to be reconciled a second 
time with God ? To this most important 
question — and the query is calculated to 
startle the man who looks upon the Scrip- 
ture as the sole and sufficient rule for all 
Christians — the inspired writings return 
no direct or satisfactory answer. They 
repeatedly speak of the first reconciliation 
in baptism, but scarcely ever 'allude to 
reconciliation after baptism. For the man- 
ner on which this is to be effected there is 
no instruction in Scripture. For it we 
must have recourse to the practice of the 
Catholic Church in the more early ages ; 
which practice, as it prevailed universally, 
must have been founded on the doctrine 
taught by the Apostles. From it we learn 
that the second reconciliation required a 
longer and more laborious course than 
the first. Of the Jew or Pagan it was re- 
quired, that he should believe, renounce 
his sins, and be baptized ; but the offending 
Christian was excluded from the commu- 
nion of the body and blood of Christ, was 
called upon to confess his sins, was made 
to undergo a long course of humiliation 
and self-denial, and then to sue for abso- 
lution, which was often deferred till the 
approach of death. By such absolution 
he was reconciled through the sacrament 
of penance. We, indeed, who have been 
baptized in infancy, could not have com- 
mitted any actual sin to be forgiven in 
baptism : but, like them, we were made in 
baptism heirs of heaven, and, like them, 
may, after baptism, forfeit that inheritance 
by sin. If such be our misfortune, there 
remains to us no other resource than that 
which was left to them. We must seek 
forgiveness through the same sacrament 
of penance. 

SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION. 

A slight acquaintance with the books 
of the New Testament will suffice to show, 
that the writers had no intention of de- 
fining, in them, the doctrines, or of regu- 
lating the practices, of the Christian reli- 
gion. They presuppose in their readers 
a knowledge of both the one and the 
other. Hence, if thev mention such prac- 
tices, it is only incidentally, and without 
any full or minute description ; so that, on 
the present subject of confession, though 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



149 



there can be no doubt that it was of divine 
institution, yet the practice is no where 
expressly recorded. From the very ear- 
liest ages, however, it has been considered 
as included in the power given to the 
apostles of forgiving or retaining sins ; 
for, how could they exercise that office in 
a rational manner, without a knowledge 
of the spiritual state of the applicant, or 
obtain such knowledge but from his free 
confession of his sins ? To it St. Paul 
appears to allude, when, writing to the 
Corinthians, he says : " God has given to 
us the ministry of reconciliation ... he has 
placed in us the word of reconciliation . . . 
for Christ we beseech you, be ve reconciled 
to God." (2 Cor. v. 18-20.) Where, it 
may be remarked, that he is writing to 
persons who had already been baptized, 
and exhorts them to make use of the mi- 
nistry of reconciliation intrusted to the 
apostles, which, in their case, can refer 
only to the pardon of sins committed after 
baptism. In like manner, St. John says, 
" If we confess our sins, he is faithful and 
just to forgive us our sins," (1 John i, 9,) 
where the confession of which he speaks 
is one, in virtue of which, God is bound, 
in faith and justice, to grant forgiveness. 
Moreover, St. James writes, " Confess, 
therefore, your sins one to another, and 
pray for one another, that ye may be 
saved" (James v. 16) ; which passage 
many of the ancient fathers explain of 
confession to a priest ; because it is con- 
nected with the preceding verses, in which 
the sick man is told to call in the priests 
of the church, to be anointed by them, and 
prayed for by them. 

If it be objected that there is nothing 
positive in these passages, and that the 
confession there spoken of may be a 
general acknowledgment of sinfulness, or 
a private confession to God, or a public 
confession in presence of the congrega- 
tion ; the objection might be met by a re- 
ference to the practice of the apostles ; 
and of that there can be no doubt, when 
we find in the most ancient Christian do- 
cuments, that confession to priests, some- 
times in private, sometimes in public, uni- 
versally prevailed. Undoubtedly, a prac- 
tice so humbling to human pride, as that 
of confession, could never have been in- 
troduced and propagated throughout the 



whole church, on any authority less than 
that of the apostles. 

And what was the commission given to 
the apostles ? Before his ascension into 
heaven, Christ breathed upon them and 
said, " Whose sins you shall forgive, they 
are forgiven ; and whose sins you shall 
retain, they are retained." (John xx. 23.) 
He had before said to the same apostles, 
" Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, it 
shall be bound also in heaven ; and what- 
soever you shall loose on earth, it shall 
be loosed also in heaven," (Matt, xviii. 18,) 
and to St. Peter he had said, that he gave 
to him " the keys of the kingdom of hea- 
ven." (Matt. xvi. 19.) Catholics conclude 
from these texts that Christ gave to- his 
apostles and their successors in the minis- 
try the commission to remit, under certain 
conditions, the sins of his people. What 
are these conditions 1 The first is sincere 
sorrow for the offence committed, and a 
firm determination of mind never to com- 
mit it again. Without this condition, it is 
the doctrine of the Catholic Church, uni- 
versally received as an article of her faith, 
that neither priest, nor bishop, nor pope, 
nor the whole church together, has power 
to forgive any sin whatever ; and that 
should any priest, or bishop, or pope, pre- 
sume to grant absolution to any sinner, 
who was not from his heart sorry for his 
sins, and fully determined not to commit 
them again, such absolution could have no 
effect, but to augment the sinner's guilt, 
and involve in a participation of it the rash 
minister who had presumed to absolve 
him. 

But, in addition to this, the. Catholic 
Church requires that the sinner should 
confess his guilt to the minister of religion, 
in order that the latter may ascertain 
whether his penitent possesses the requi- 
site dispositions, and that he may be en- 
abled to prescribe the necessary repara- 
tion for the past and precautions against 
future transgressions. Unless a sinner is 
ready to make this full and undisguised 
acknowledgment of his offences, howevei 
painful, however humbling it may be : the 
Catholic Church teaches, that her ministers 
have no authority to grant an absolution, 
and that should they presume to grant it, 
it would be of itself null and void. 

Nor are the above conditions sufficient. 



150 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



The sinner must, moreover, submit to 
make such atonement to his offended God, 
by prayer, by fasting, by works of self- 
denial, and the like, as may be required 
of him ; and if he has injured any neigh- 
bor in his good name, his property, or his 
person, he must, to the utmost of his 
ability, resolve to make full and ample 
satisfaction. Without such a resolution, 
no Catholic priest in the world could or 
would consider himself authorized to give 
absolution to any penitent ; and if he did 
presume to give it, his religion teaches, as 
an article of faith, that his absolution 
could be of no avail in the sight of God, 
but would add to the guilt both of the giver 
and' the receiver. 

Now, it may be asked, is this a doctrine 
which relaxes Christian morality, which 
encourages guilt, and facilitates the com- 
mission of crime ? What, then, must 
those doctrines be, which admit the sinner 
to reconciliation, upon the simple condition 
of repentance and a confession made to 
God alone ? 

As to the charge of forgiving sins for 
money, or allowing the commission of 
future sins, on any condition whatever, it 
is a simple calumny. The Catholic 
Church expressly forbids her clergy to 
receive money for absolution from sin, and 
Would condemn, as guilty of simony, any 
priest who should commit such a'crime. 
Accounts to the contrary, in which many 
works abound, — and frequently such works 
as would appear least likely to admit them, 
—are, like other similar charges, fabrica- 
ted for purposes best known to the authors. 

SATISFACTION. 

According to the doctrine of the ancient 
church, if the convert to Christianity re- 
lapsed into the sins which he had abjured, 
he was subjected to a course of penance, 
partly in satisfaction to God, for the breach 
of his vows of fidelity to him, and partly 
in satisfaction to the church, for the scan- 
dal which he had given to it. In later 
ages, the severity of this discipline was 
abandoned; and only a portion of it re- 
mains in the satisfaction still enjoined in 
the sacrament of penance. The sinner 
who voluntarily punishes his sin, can in 
no wise displease God, or offer an injury 



to Christ, while he at the same time ad- 
mits, that no satisfaction which he can" 
make, can be of any avail, independently 
of the satisfaction of Christ. As well 
might it be said that prayer for mercy is 
injurious to the mercy of God, or to the 
atonement offered by our Saviour. 

INDULGENCES. 

Indulgences grew out of the church dis- 
cipline just spoken of. In every case, the 
bishops were accustomed to mitigate the 
rigor, or abridge the duration of the peni- 
tential course, as circumstances appeared 
to them to require. Both in the imposi- 
tion and the relaxation of such penance, 
they had the same object in view, the 
benefit of the sinner ; and in both they 
believed themselves to be justified by the 
promise of our Saviour, that " whatsoever 
they should bind upon earth, should be 
bound also in heaven ; and that whatso- 
ever they should loose upon earth, should 
be loosed also in heaven." (Matt, xviii. 
18.) 

See 1 Corinthians, v. 3-5. In this 
passage St. Paul excommunicates the man 
who had been guilty of incest. But in 
the second chapter of the second Epistle, 
— having been informed of the sorrow and 
repentance of the criminal — he tells the 
Corinthians, that he remits the punishment 
which he had lately deemed so salutary. 
" Wherefore," he says, " I beseech you, 
that you would confirm your charity to- 
wards him. And to whom you have for- 
given any thing, even I also. For what 
I forgive, if I have forgiven any thing for 
your sakes, I have done it in the person 
of Christ." This mitigation by St.. Paul, 
is precisely what the Catholic Church 
means by an indulgence. 

Most misrepresentation on the subject 
of indulgences has arisen from an ambi- 
guity of language, in which the term "re- 
mission of sin" has been made to include 
" remission of the punishment due to sin ;" 
in the same manner as we say, that a king 
has pardoned treason, when he has re- 
mitted, on certain conditions, the penalties 
of treason. 

Every grant of indulgence requires in 
express terms, as a previous condition, 
true repentance, and the performance of 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



151 



all that is necessary for the forgiveness of 
the guilt of sin : so that, in fact, instead 
of being, as some persons have rashly 
said, an encouragement to sin, it becomes 
to those who avail themselves of it, a 
powerful incentive to virtue and religion. 
.. An indulgence is still less " a license to 
commit sin," as others have falsely repre- 
sented. The doctrine of the Catholic 
Church is, that no power on earth can 
give a license to sin. Again, it has been 
misrepresented as "a pardon for sin be- 
forehand." But an indulgence, so far 
from being a pardon for sin beforehand, 
has no concern whatever with the pardon 
of sin in any form : it is confined solely 
to the temporal punishment which may be 
due after the guilt has been committed. 
As little can it be an encouragement to 
sin, when its very condition is true repen- 
tance: otherwise, God might be said to 
encourage sin by promising exemption 
from eternal punishment to the repentant 
sinner. 

EXTREME UNCTION. 

Catholics believe that extreme unction 
is a sacrament, ordained for the benefit 
of those who are dangerously sick, both 
in remitting their sins, and alleviating 
their sufferings, according to the hidden 
designs of God's providence, and to the 
different degrees of faith and preparation 
in those who receive it. 

It is administered in the manner de- 
scribed by St. James : " Is any man sick 
among you ? Let him bring in the priests 
of the church, and let them pray over him, 
anointing him with oil, in the name of the 
Lord." 

Its effects are also declared by the same 
apostle : " And the prayer of faith shall 
save the sick man : and the Lord shall 
raise him up ; and if he be in sins, they 
shall be forgiven him." 

" I acknowledge," says Calvin, " that 
extreme unction was used by the disciples 
of Christ, as a sacrament ; for I am not 
of the opinion of those who imagine, that 
it was a corporal remedy." (Comment, 
in Ep. Jac.) 

HOLY ORDER. 
Holy order is a sacrament by which 



bishops, priests, and others are ordained 
to the ministry of the altar, and receive 
grace to perform their respective duties. 
The Scriptures inform us that our blessed 
Lord appointed his apostles to spread his 
religion and worship through the world ; 
that they appointed others to aid them in 
this great work, ordaining such persons 
with fasting, prayer, and imposition of 
hands ; and that this ordination conferred 
on the ordained certain spiritual graces, 
adapted to their respective duties. 

" As the Father hath sent me, I also 
send you." (John xx. 21.) " Let a man 
so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, 
and the dispensers of the mysteries of 
God." (1 Cor. iv. 1.) "He gave some 
apostles, and some, prophets, and other 
some evangelists, and other some pastors 
and teachers, .... that henceforth we be 
no more children, tossed to and fro with 
every wind of doctrine," (Eph. iv. 11, 14.) 
" Stir up the grace of God, which is in 
thee, by the imposition of my hands." 
(2 Tim. i. 6.) " Neglect not the grace 
that is in thee, which was given to thee 
by prophecy, with the imposition of the 
hands of the priesthood." (1 Tim. iv. 14.) 

As the New Testament contains no de- 
tailed account of the constitution of the 
Christian ministry, nor of the exact form 
of ordination : we must have recourse for 
information on those subjects to the most 
ancient ecclesiastical historians ; and when 
we find in their pages the same gradation 
of office and authority in the sacred 
ministry, which still prevails in the Ca- 
tholic Church, described as existing in 
every particular church, the only conclu- 
sion that can be reasonably drawn from 
such antiquity and universality is, that it 
was established by the apostles themselves, 
in conformity with the will of their hea- 
venly Master. No other authority could 
have established it every where. 



MATRIMONY. 

Catholics believe that matrimony is a 
sacrament, by which the marriage cove- 
nant is sanctified and blessed, and the 
parties receive grace to fulfil the duties 
of the married state. " For this cause 
shall a man leave his father and mother, 
and cleave to his wife, and they shall be 



152 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



two in one flesh. This is a great sacra- 
ment : but I speak in Christ and the 
church." (Eph. v. 31, 32.) 

" Matrimony," says Luther, " is called 
a sacrament, because it is the type of a 
very noble and very holy thing. Hence," he 
adds, " the married ought to consider, and 
respect the dignity of the sacrament." — 
(De Matrimonio.) 

The Catholic Church teaches that the 
marriage covenant cannot be dissolved by 
human authority. " What God hath 
joined together, let rto man put asunder." 
(Matt. xix. 6.) 

THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 

Catholics believe that, in the sacrament 
of the holy eucharist are the body and 
blood of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, under 
the outward appearance of bread and wine ; 
that they are received in memory of his 
jj death for our redemption ; that the soul 
I is thereby filled with grace, and that a 
pledge is given to us of future glory. 

Our blessed Lord, at his last supper, 
took bread and wine into his hands, blessed 
them successively, and gave them to his 
apostles, saying of the bread, " Take ye, 
and eat ; this is my body ;" and of the 
wine, "Drink ye all of this; for this is 
my blood." (Matt. xxvi. 26-28.) The 
real signification of these words is a sub- 
ject of controversy between Catholics and 
Protestants. The Protestant, arguing from 
the appearance of the elements to the 
meaning of the words, contends that, as 
there is no visible change in the bread and 
wine, the words must be taken in some 
figurative sense : the Catholic, arguing 
from the literal meaning of the words to 
the real state of the elements, contends 
that, as the meaning is obvious and posi- 
tive, the bread and wine must have under- 
gone some invisible change. He asks if 
such a change is impossible, and bids us 
look at Him who utters these mysterious 
words. Who is He ? To judge from our 
senses, he is, indeed, a mere man, like 
ourselves. To-day he is sitting at table 
with his disciples, — to-morrow we shall 
see him in the agonies of death, hanging, 
like a malefactor, on the cross. But what 
says our faith ? That he is not only man, 
but God ; that God who inhabiteth eter- 



nity, — who by a single word called the 
universe into existence, — whose will all 
things must obey. Shall we then dispute 
the power of this God to work a change 
in the bread and wine, unless it be per- 
ceptible to our senses ? Shall we dare to 
give him the lie', by denying that to be 
his body and blood, which he has de- 
clared to be so? The men of Capernaum 
did this, when they exclaimed, " How can 
this man give us his flesh to eat 1 It is a 
hard saying, and who can hear it?" 
(John vi. 60.) But then the men of Ca- 
pernaum took him for a mere man ; we 
believe that he is our God. 

Hence it appears, that the real point in 
dispute regards the power of God. Un- 
less you deny that it is possible for him 
so to change the substance of the ele- 
ments, that Christ may say of them lite- 
rally and with truth that they were his 
body and blood ; or maintain that, if such 
change were wrought, it must of necessi- 
ty fall under the cognizance of the senses : 
it will follow that you are bound to admit, 
with the Catholic, the conversion of the 
elements into the body and blood of 
Christ. The Scripture says, it is his 
body and his blood : who that believes the 
Scripture will dare to say, it is not his 
body, it is not his blood ? 

To escape from the difficulty, some 
theologians have sought shelter behind 
certain expressions of our Saviour, which 
they call parallel passages ; because in 
them the verb to be has reference to a fig- 
urative meaning. But this is a miserable 
subterfuge. The most important in our 
Saviour's words, at the supper, is the de- 
monstrative pronoun this : — this, which I 
hold in my hand, is my body. He has 
indeed said, I am the door, I am the vine ; 
but when did he lay his hand on a door or 
a vine, and say, This door, or this vine, 
am I? 

There cannot be a doubt that the apos- 
tles would teach the real meaning of these 
words to their disciples. Now we have, 
fortunately, the means of ascertaining 
what was the belief of the Christians 
about half a century after the death of 
St. John, from the apology of Justin 
Martyr. It was his object to describe the 
acknowledged doctrines and practices of 
the converts, and to place them in the 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



153 



most favorable light before the eyes of his 
| infidel sovereign. Now, if the eucharist 
had been considered nothing more than a 
figure, most certainly he would have said 
so at once : for there could be no need of 
concealment, where there was nothing 
which might be thought singular or unin- 
telligible. But of the figurative doctrine, 
he appears never to have heard. He 
states openly, that the consecrated ele- 
ments are the body and blood of Christ ; 
and accounts for a belief of a doctrine so 
extraordinary and startling, because it 
was the doctrine of our Lord at his last 
supper. The following are his words : 

" With us, this food is called the eu- 
charist, of which it is not allowed that 
any other man should partake, but he who 
believes in the truth of our doctrines, and 
who has been washed in the laver for the 
remission of sins and for a new birth, and 
who lives according to the precepts which 
Christ has left us. For we do not receive 
these things as common bread and com- 
mon drink ; in the same manner as our 
Saviour Jesus Christ, becoming incarnate, 
through the word of God, had flesh and 
blood for our salvation : so have we been 
taught that the food, with which by trans- 
mutation our flesh and blood are nourished, 
is, after it has been blessed by the prayer 
of the word that comes from him, the 
body and blood of him, the same incar- 
nate Jesus. For the apostles, in the com- 
mentaries written by them, and called 
' gospels,' have delivered to us that they 
were so commanded to do by Jesus, when, 
taking the bread, and having blessed it, 
he said, Do this in remembrance of me : 
this is my body ; and in like manner, 
taking the chalice, having blessed it, he 
said, This is my blood : and distributed it 
among them only." — Just. Mart. 97. 

Assuredly, if the Catholic doctrine be 
false, the error must have introduced it- 
self among Christians before that race of 
men, who had been instructed by the 
apostles, had become entirely extinct. 

The change, effected by Almighty 
Power, of the substance of the bread and 
wine into the body and blood of Christ, 
has, with great propriety, been termed 
transubstantiation ; a word introduced to 
distinguish the real doctrine of the Catho- 
lic Church from the heterodox opinions of 



successive innovators. The term, in- 
deed, is of more recent origin ; but the 
doctrine designated by it is as ancient as 
Christianity. " Learn," says St. Cyril 
of Jerusalem, (Catech. Myst. iv.) " that 
the bread which we see, though to the 
taste it be bread, is nevertheless not bread, 
but the body of Christ ; and that the wine 
which we see, though to the taste it be 
wine, is nevertheless not wine, but the 
blood of Christ." (See also pp. 281-289, 
ed. Oxon.) It would be difficult to ex- 
press the doctrine of transubstantiation in 
clearer terms. 

u I should have wished," says Luther, 
" to have denied the real presence of 
Christ in the eucharist, in order to incom- 
mode the papists. But so clear and so 
strong are the words of Scripture which 
establish it, that in spite of my inclination 
so to do, and although I strained every 
nerve to reach the point, yet, never could 
I persuade myself to adopt the bold expe- 
dient." (JEpist. Car. Amic.) Again : 
" Among the fathers, there is not one who 
entertained a doubt concerning the real 
presence of Christ Jesus in the holy 
eucharist." (Deferis Vers. Camcz.) He 
calls the contrary opinion " blasphemy, 
an impeachment of the veracity of the 
Holy Ghost ; an act of treachery against 
Christ, and a seduction of the faithful." 
{Ibid.) 

" Many Protestants," says Bishop 
Forbes, (A. D.) " deny too boldly and too 
dangerously, that God can transubstantiate 
the bread into the body of Christ. For 
my part, I approve of the opinion of 
the Wittemburg divines, who assert that 
the power of God is so great, that he can 
change the substance of the bread and 
wine into the body and blood of Christ." 
{Be Euch.) 



INVOCATION OF THE SAINTS. 

When Catholics pray to the saints, they 
do no more than when they pray for their 
fellow-men upon earth ; of the one and 
the other they ask the same thing — that 
they would pray to the common God and 
Father of all, both with them and for them. 

If Catholics be asked, " Whether they 
do not make the saints their mediators ?" 
their answer will be, " We make them so 



20 



154 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



in no other sense, than we are mediators 
one for another." Nor does the passage 
of Scripture so often quoted, apply here : 
" There is but one mediator between God 
and man," because by mediator is here 
signified, one : ' who gave himself a ran- 
som for all." (1 Tim. ii. 6.) In that 
sense, Jesus Christ is our only mediator. 
Did the mediatorship of Christ receive any 
injury, or disparagement, from the pray- 
ers addressed to the saints, then would it 
also be violated in like manner by the 
prayers which Christians reciprocally 
offer up for each other's benefit. When 
the Catholic says to his brother in Christ, 
" Pray for me to our common Father, to 
obtain for me those blessings which I 
myself may be unable or unworthy to 
obtain :" the same he says to the blessed 
mother of Christ, to St.' Peter, St. Paul, 
St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom,St. Jerome, 
or any other of those holy persons, whose 
acknowledged sanctity has procured for 
them, through the grace and merits of 
Christ, the friendship of God, and the 
happiness of heaven. Surely there is 
nothing wrong: or unreasonable in this. 
The earthly trials of those holy persons 
are past, the veil of mortality is removed 
from their eyes, they behold God face to 
face, and enjoy without reserve his friend- 
ship and his love. May the pious Catho- 
lic not reasonably hope that their prayers 
will be more efficacious than his own, or 
those of his friends here upon earth ? At 
least, there is nothing in reason or revela- 
tion to forbid him to do so. Let a case 
be supposed. A child has been deprived 
by death of a parent, who through life 
offered for him the most fervent supplica- 
tions. Is it likely that the anxiety of a 
parent for the welfare of a beloved child 
wholly ceases in death 1 Should the child 
think not, and under this persuasion say, 
" O ! my parent, think of me, love me, 
pray for me still. Forget not in your 
happy country your exiled child." Would 
this be impiety 1 Would this be robbing 
God of his glory, or Christ of his media- 
tion 1 Would this be transferring to 
creatures, the honors and privileges due 
to God alone ? Would this justify a man 
in judging harshly, speaking contemptu- 
ously, or acting unkindly towards his 
Christian brother ? 



The following texts are offered to the 
notice of those who would more closely 
examine the subject. " The angel Ra- 
phael said to Tobias : When thou didst 
pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, 
I offered up thy prayer to the Lord." 
(Tobias, xii. 12.) ■" This," says Judas, 
relating his vision, " this is Jeremiah, the 
prophet of God, who prays much for the 
people, and the holy city." (2 Mach. xv. 
12, &c.) " I say to you, there shall be 
joy before the angels of God, upon one 
sinner that repents." (Luke, xv. 10.) 

"And when he had opened the book, 
the four living creatures, and the four and 
twenty ancients, fell down before the 
Lamb ; having each of them harps, and 
golden vials full of odors, which are the 
prayers of the saints." (Apocal. v. 8.) 

In the early, we may say the earliest, 
ages of the church, the saints were invo- 
cated. Listen to St. Augustine. " Chris- 
tians celebrate with religious solemnity the 
memory of the martyrs, that they may 
excite themselves to imitate their con- 
stancy, that they may be united to their 
merits, and may be aided by their prayers. 

But it is not to any martyr, but to the very 
God of the martyrs, that we raise our altars. 
To God alone, who crown the martyrs, is 
the sacrifice offered." ( Cont. Faust, xx.l 8.) 

And here be it observed, that to God it is 
said, " Have mercy upon us ;" to the saints 
it is said, " Pray for us." It is surely not 
difficult to discriminate between these two 
forms of address : the difference is immense. 

On the subject of the invocation of the 
saints, that learned Protestant, Bishop 
Montague, has the following remarks : " It 
is the common voice, with general con- 
currence and without contradiction, of re- 
verend and learned antiquity. And I see 
no cause to dissent from them [the Catho- 
lics,] touching intercession of this kind. 
Christ is not thus wronged in his media- 
tion. And it is no impiety to say, as .the 
Catholics do, * Holy Mary, pray for me.' " 
{Invoc. of Saints.) 

" I allow," says Luther, " with the 
whole Christian church, and believe, that 
the saints in heaven should be invoked." 
{~De Pur gat. Quorund.) 

ON GOOD WORKS. 

Good works are twofold : religious works, 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



155 



whieh have for their immediate object the 
honor and worship of God ; and works of 
mercy or charity, which have for their 
object to relieve the wants of our neigh- 
bor, spiritual or corporal. To these works 
ample reward, is promised : " Come, ye 
blessed of my Father, possess the king- 
dom prepared for you from the foundation 
of the world. For I was hungry, and ye 
gave me to eat ; I was thirsty, and ye 
gave me to drink ; naked, and ye clothed 
me," &c. (Matt. xxv. 34.) 

Nor will the smallest act of charity go 
unrequ/ted : "Whoever shall give to drink 
to one of these little ones, a cup of cold 
water only, in the name of a disciple, 
amen I say unto you, he shall not lose his 
reward." (Matt. x. 42.) 

Respecting the merit of these good 
works, the Catholic believes, that eternal 
life is proposed to the children of God, 
both as a grace, which is mercifully pro- 
mised to them, and as a recompense, 
which, in virtue of this promise, is faith- 
fully bestowed upon their good works. 
Lest, however, the weakness of the human 
heart should be flattered with the idea of 
any presumptuous merit : it is at the same 
time carefully inculcated, that the price 
and value of Christian actions proceed 
wholly from the efficacy of sanctifying 
grace, a grace gratuitously bestowed upon 
us, in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Much unintelligible learning has been 
wasted in attempts to explain the doctrine, 
that we are justified by faith without good 
works. But on carefully weighing the 
passages on which this doctrine is founded, 
it will appear that the Apostle is not speak- 
ing of the justification of the Christian 
who has fallen into sin after baptism, but 
of the justification in baptism, of the man 
who has been converted from Judaism 
or Paganism. (Tit. iii. 5, 7.) Such con- 
vert is justified, according to St. Paul, not 
in cansequence of the works which he did 
while he was a Jew or a Pagan, but in 
virtue of his faith in Jesus Christ, who 
I brought him to the water of baptism. But 
| it must be remembered, that the faith 
j which sufficed for his justification in that 
sacrament, will not suffice for justification 
after baptism. When once he is become 
a Christian, he must " be faithful in every 
good work." (Col. i..lO.) " Because faith 



without works is dead, and by works a 
man is justified, and not by faith only." 
(James, ii. 24, 26.) Pie has indeed began 
well, but he is not yet secure of salvation ; 
it is by good works " that he is to make his 
calling and election sure." (2 Peter, i. 10.) 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, OR PUR- 
GATORY.* 

It is the belief of the Catholic Church, 
as indeed it may be presumed of every 
communion, that all sins are not equal in 
malice and guilt ; that a passing angry 
feeling is not so great a crime as murder, 
nor an idle word as blasphemy. Hence 
we believe that God does not punish ail 
sins equally, but " renders to every one 
according to his works" (Matt. xvi. 27) ; 
that whilst he punishes the wilful, delibe- 
rate and mortal offender with the extremity 
of severity, even with everlasting fire, he 
inflicts upon the minor and more venial 
sinner chastisements less severe, and of 
limited duration. This belief is surely not 
unreasonable. In human laws there are 
gradations of punishment, corresponding 
with the gradations of crime. We should 
call the law unjust, that punished equally 
with death the child who pilfered an apple, 
or the wretch who had murdered his father. 
Are the laws of God alone unjust 1 Has 
he alone the privilege of punishing with- 
out discrimination ? The Scripture ex- 
pressly declares, that before the divine 
tribunal " men shall give an account of 
every idle word." (Matt. xii. 36.) Let us, 
then, make a supposition. A child arrived 
at the full use of reason, and knowing that 
every lie is a sin, to escape punishment, 
tells an untruth in a matter of trivial mo- 
ment. There is not. a doubt that a sin has 
been committed. Before the child has time 
to repent, an accident deprives him of life. 



* This term is from a Latin root, which sig- 
nifies to cleanse or purify. To the objection 
that the word is not in Scripture, it may be 
answered, that like the word " Trinity." (which 
also has no place in Scripture), the term " Pur- 
gatory" was introduced and adopted to express 
more conveniently by one word, what was pre- 
viously expressed by metaphor or circumlocu- 
tion. In this manner many new terms- have 
been admitted into Christian theology; thus 
men believed in the three divine persons j long 
before they adopted the word " Trinity." 



156 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



What reception shall he meet with at the 
bar of eternal justice ? Will he be sen- 
tenced with the parracide to eternal flames'? 
I need not give the answer. Reason 
revolts at the idea. He must then be 
punished for a time, and when he has 
atoned for his fault, be admitted to recon- 
ciliation. Such is the belief of the Catholic 
Church. 

But if a temporary state of punishment 
be admitted, prayer for the dead must fol- 
low of course ; as on the other hand, if 
heaven and hell are believed to be the 
only alternatives in the moment of death, 
prayer for the dead is vain : for in heaven 
relief is not wanted, and " from hell there 
is no redemption." Hence, when our 
friends are taken from us by death, and 
we have reason to hope (and when will 
not affection hope?) that these offences 
may not deserve the extremity of eternal 
punishment: we entreat the divine Good- 
ness to shorten or alleviate their sufferings. 
Is this unreasonable? Is this supersti- 
tious 1 Is this unscriptural ? Certain it 
is, that it is not uncharitable, and charity 
is the first of virtues. 

" But the Scripture does not command 
us to pray for the dead.' 1 Neither does 
it forbid us. Why, then, may not the 
voice of nature, the dictates of reason, 
and the belief and usages of antiquity, be 
allowed to govern our conduct? At all 
events, if the Catholic does not think the 
practice repugnant to Scripture, why 
should he be condemned ? Surely he has 
as much right as others to judge of the 
meaning of Scripture ? And if his inter- 
pretation be confirmed by the constant 
belief of the Catholic Church, by the 
practice of his fore-fathers, by the dictates 
of nature, and the best feelings of the 
human heart : is he not abundantly justi- 
fied in preferring his own firm conviction 
to the fluctuating opinion of his neigh- 
bors ? 

An assertion is often made, " That the 
ministers of the church claim the power 
of relieving souls from purgatory." This 
strange misrepresentation, though a. thou- 
sand times proved to be groundless, is as 
often repeated. The Catholic priest claims 
no authority or jurisdiction over the dead. 
All he can do is to apply to the mercy of 
God in their behalf; but, like other men, 



he must ever remain uncertain respecting 
the efficacy of his prayers. He has, in- 
deed, one advantage peculiar to the priest- 
hood. He can offer sacrifice ; and sacri- 
fice under the new law, as well as under 
the old, has always been considered the 
most powerful means of moving God to 
mercy. Hence, if any one, in addition to 
his own private prayers, wish to have 
sacrifice offered for the souls of his de- 
parted friends, there is no doubt he must 
apply to the ministry of the priests ; and 
if " They who serve the altar are entitled 
to live by the altar," (1 Cor. ix. 13,) no 
one, I presume, will deny, that the priest 
is as much entitled to a remuneration for 
the labor he performs, as those who re- 
ceive fees for the burial service performed 
over the dead ; nay, even for the admin- 
istration of baptism, and for preaching the 
gospel. Would a Catholic be justified in 
saying, on this account, that, for a sum 
of money, these clergymen claim a power 
of remitting sin, and opening to their fol- 
lowers the gates of life 1 

PICTURES AND IMAGES. 

Catholics use paintings and images as 
the most fitting ornaments for churches, 
oratories, &c, and at the same time, as 
objects calculated to excite and keep alive 
feelings of devotion. As the principal 
among thern the crucifix may be men- 
tioned. It is not possible to gaze upon 
the figure of the Redeemer, nailed to the 
cross, with a vacant eye. It brings before 
the mind, in the liveliest manner, his good- 
ness, who for us, and for our salvation, 
was pleased " to submit himself to death, 
even to the death of the cross ;" and re- 
minds us how criminal those sins must be 
which caused him to undergo such suffer- 
ings, and how sincere our sorrow should 
be in having participated in the commis- 
sion of them. 

But there are those who say, that " Ca- 
tholics worship images, as did the pagans 
of old, and that, like them, they give to 
the works of man's hands the glory due 
to the one eternal God." The accusation 
is a common one ; and were it not that 
it proceeds from otherwise respectable 
sources, it might appear like insulting the 
understanding of the reader, to suppose 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



157 



him capable of believing them. For surely 
it is not possible, that, in an age, and a 
country which claims, and not unjustly 
too, to be one of the most liberal and en- 
lightened upon earth, men should be found 
capable of believing, that the majority of 
the Christian world, the great, the good, 
the learned of almost every civilized na- 
tion under heaven, should be so ignorant, 
so debased, so stupid, so wicked, as to give 
divine honors to a lifeless and senseless 
image ! It is difficult to bring the mind 
to conceive it. 

Among other texts of Scripture which 
bear upon this subject, the following are 
offered for consideration: Numb. xxi. 8, 
9 ; John iii. 14, 15 ; Exod. xxv. 18, 22. 

" The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 
. . . Thou shalt also make two cherubim 
of beaten gold, on the two sides of the 
oracle. Let them cover both sides of the 
propitiatory, spreading their wings, and 
covering the oracle ; and let them look 
one towards the other, their faces being 
turned towards the propitiatory, wherewith 
the ark is to be covered ; in which thou 
shalt put the testimony that I will give 
thee. Thence will I give orders, and will 
speak to thee over the propitiatory, and 
from the midst of the two cherubims," &c. 
(Exodus xxv. 18, &c.) 

" And the Lord said to him (Moses,) 
Make a brazen serpent, and set it up for 
a sign. Every one that is bitten, when 
he looketh upon it, shall live. Moses, 
therefore, made a brazen serpent, and set 
it up for a sign, which when they that 
were bitten looked upon, they were 
healed." (Numb. xxi. 8, 9.) 

" And as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the desert, so must the son of man be 
lifted up. That whosoever believeth in 
him may not perish, but may have life 
everlasting." (John iii. 14, 15.) 

Like the invocation of the saints, the 

early use and veneration of their images 

are acknowledged. The centuriators allow 

that they were common in the third age 

of the church. " Eusebius," they say, 

" writes that he saw, in Asia, Christians 

who preserved the images of St. Peter, 

I St. Paul, and of Christ himself." {Cent. 

I iii.) The same writers add : " Tertullian 

seems to declare, that the Christians kept 

J the image of the cross, both in their pub- 



lic assemblies, and private houses ; and it 
was thence that the pagans called them 
worshippers of the cross." {Cent, iii.) 

CEREMONIES AND VESTMENTS. 

With respect to ceremonies and vest- 
ments, they should be viewed with the 
eye of antiquity. They are venerable 
relics of primitive times, and, though ill 
adapted to the youthful religions of mo- 
dern times, well become that hoary reli- 
gion, which bears the weight of so many 
ages. The ceremonies employed in the 
Christian sacrifice, as well as the sacer- 
dotal vestments, have their model in the 
book of Leviticus, and, as nearly as the 
difference of the old and new laws per- 
mits, closely resemble those instituted by 
God himself. The Catholic Church deems 
them useful. They give a peculiar dig- 
nity to the sacred mysteries of religion ; 
they raise the mind of the beholder to 
heavenly things by their various and ap- 
propriate import ; they instruct the igno- 
rant and keep alive attention ; they give 
the ministers of religion a respect for 
themselves, and for the awful rites in 
which they officiate ; but neither the cere- 
monies nor the vestments belong to the 
essence of religion. The Church esta- 
blished them in the first ages. She could, 
if she deemed it advisable, set them aside 
any day, and the sacrifice would be equally 
holy, though not equally impressive, if 
offered by the priest in a plain white sur- 
plice, or the ordinary costume of the day. 



THE SERVICES IN THE LATIN LAN- 
GUAGE. 

The reasons why, in the celebration of 
the mass, and of other services of the 
church, the Latin language is used, are 
simply these : First, the Latin and Greek 
were the languages most generally used, 
and almost the only written languages in 
the principal countries where the Christian 
religion was first promulgated. In these lan- 
guages, therefore, the liturgy of the church 
was originally composed, nearly in its 
present form. When, several centuries 
afterwards, the languages of modern Eu- 
rope began to be formed, the church did 
not think proper to alter the languages 



158 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



she had ever used in the celebration of 
the holy sacrifice. For if, on the one 
hand, these languages, by becoming dead, 
ceased to be understood by the unlearned, 
on the other, they became, like a body 
raised from death, immortal, unchange- 
able, . and on this account the better 
adapted for preserving unaltered the 
awful doctrines and mysteries committed 
to their care. Would prudence have jus- 
tified the setting aside the pure, the dig- 
nified, the immutable languages of the pri- 
mitive church ; languages which, though 
no longer spoken by the unlettered, were 
still, as they are to this day, the universal 
languages of the learned in every country, 
and the adoption in their stead of the 
numberless barbarous, half- formed and 
daily changing languages of modern Eu- 
rope? Would it have been respectful, 
would it have been secure, would it have 
been practicable, to commit to these rude 
and uncertain vehicles, the sacred deposit 
of the faith and hope of Christians ? For 
the use of the people, translations have 
been made, and abound in every Catholic 
country ; but at the altar the priest con- 
tinues to commune with God in the ori- 
ginal languages, reciting the more sacred 
parts of the sacrificial rite in a low voice, 
which breaks not the awful silence, nor 
disturbs the deep recollections of the sur- 
rounding adorers. And yet this has been 
termed " praying in an unknown tongue," 
and for the purpose " of keeping the peo- 
ple in ignorance." Had the latter been 
the unwise policy of the Catholic Church, 
she would have commanded the clergy to 
give instructions and to preach in un- 
known languages ; whereas these portions 
of the church ordinances are always in 
the vernacular language. 

PROSELYTISM. 

And here a few remarks may not be 
irrelevant, in regard to what is usually 
called proselytism. A degree of odium 
has become attached to the term ; all 
seem eager to disclaim it, as if it implied 
something criminal. Yet what is meant 
by proselytism ? If it means converting 
others to the true religion, what were the 
apostles themselves, but the makers of 
proselytes ? What did Jesus Christ give 



them to do, when he bade them " Go and 
teach all nations," (Matt, xxviii. 19,) but 
every where to make proselytes? 'For 
what were the apostles persecuted, put to 
death, and crowned with the glory of 
martyrdom, but for making proselytes ? 
What successor of the apostles would do 
his duty, if he did not labor like them to 
make proselytes? What Christian could 
lay claim to the rewards of charity, who, 
convinced of the truth of his religion, and 
of the inestimable blessings it imparts, 
refused or neglected to make others par- 
takers of it ; concealed his treasure from 
the objects of distress, and covered " under 
a bushel," the light which was wanted to 
guide the steps of his benighted fellow- 
traveller ? 

But, if by proselytism is meant the se- 
ducing of men from truth to error, or 
what we believe to be such ; if it imply 
the use of any means that are unfair, un- 
handsome, dishonorable, or uncharitable ; 
of violence, bribery, false arguments or 
any other means whatsoever than such as 
are dictated by the strictest truth and ani- 
mated by pure benevolence ; then, indeed, 
is proselytism as odious as it is unchris- 
tian ; then, far be its practice from every 
Catholic and from every Christian. Be 
it hated and detested by every lover of 
honesty, of truth, and of charity. 

THE POPE.* 

Catholics, while they hold that the 
Church is the congregation of all the 
faithful under their invisible head, Jesus 
Christ, also believe that the Church has a 
visible head, in the Bishop of Rome, the 
successor of St. Peter, and commonly 
called the Pope. That Jesus Christ, in 
quality of our Lord, is the head of the 
Church, will not be disputed ; for " God j 
appointed him head over all the Church." j 
(Eph. i. 22.) But, since his ascent into 
heaven, he is invisible to us ; and the ! 
question is, whether he did not, before he I 
left the earth, appoint a vicar, or deputy, j 
to be the visible head in his place. From j 



* At present his holiness Pope Pius XT. 
(Mastai Ferettai) occupies the chair of Peter. 
He was elected June 17th. 1846, and his coro- 
nation took place four days after his elec- 
tion. — Editor. 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



159 



Scripture it is manifest that he did, and 
that St. Peter was the person on whom he 
conferred this high dignity. The follow- 
ing circumstances are worthy of attention. 
The name of this apostle was originally 
Simon. The moment he appeared before 
our Saviour, he received from him a new 
name: "Thou art Simon, the son of 
Jona ; thou shalt be called Cephas." (John 
i. 42.) Now, why did our blessed Lord 
give to Simon, at first sight, before he had 
said or done any thing to elicit it, this 
name of Cephas, which signifies rock? 
In due season, the mystery was disclosed, 
when, in consequence of Peter's confes- 
sion, Christ said to him, " Thou art Ce- 
phas, and on this Cephas I will build my 
church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it" (Matt. xvi. 18) ; words, 
in Hebrew, equivalent to the following : 
" Thou art Rock, the rock on which I 
will build my church." He then pro- 
ceeded thus : " I will give unto thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and 
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall 
be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever 
thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed 
also in heaven." (Ibid. 19.) The power 
of binding and loosing was afterwards 
conferred on the other apostles, but not 
the keys, the badge of the chief officer in 
the household. They were granted to 
Peter alone. Other circumstances will 
be noted by those who are desirous to as- 
certain the bearing and signification of 
the Saviour's actions. For instance, in 
the miraculous draught of fishes, which 
was figurative of the gathering of the na- 
tions into the church, when Peter, with 
his associates James and John, forsook 
all, and followed our Saviour, it will be 
remarked that it was the bark of Peter 
into which Jesus entered in preference ; it 
was Peter whom he ordered to let down 
the net for a draught, and to Peter that he 
said, " Fear not ; henceforth thou shalt 
catch men ;" that is, shalt be a fisher of 
men. (Luke v. 10.) From that period, 
we always find Peter spoken of as the 
first, and the leader of the others ; to him 
is given the charge that he confirm his 
brethren, (Luke xxii. 32,) and the office 
of feeding both the lambs and the sheep, 
(John xxi. 15, 16,) which is interpreted 
by the fathers as the simple faithful, and 



their spiritual guides. After the ascen- 
sion of our Lord, we find him acting as 
the head of the whole body, at the elec- 
tion of Matthias (Acts i.) ; in preaching 
the gospel to the Jews (Acts ii. 3 ;) in re- 
buking Ananias and Sapphira (Acts v.) ; 
in the calling of the gentiles (Acts x.) ; 
and in the council at Jerusalem, (Acts 
xv.) All these passages and proceedings 
demonstrate in Peter a pre-eminence in 
rank and authority above the other apos- 
tles. 

Should it be supposed that the office 
might be personal to Peter, and therefore 
might not pass to his successors, it is not 
unreasonable to ask on what ground such 
a supposition rests 1 If Christ, when he 
established his church, gave to it a visible 
head, who could have authority to change 
that form of government afterwards ? 
Whatever reason there might be why 
Peter should be invested with authority 
over his brethren, the other apostles ; the 
same reason will require that the success- 
or of Peter should be invested with au- 
thority over his brethren, the successors 
of those apostles. To seek for proof 
from Scripture on points like these, 
would be labor lost, because the Scripture 
does not treat of them. We may glean 
from the inspired writers a few detached 
and imperfect notices of the form of 
church government which was established 
in their time ; but not one of them fully 
describes that form, nor alludes to the 
form that was to prevail in time to come. 
For such matters we must have recourse 
to tradition ; and tradition bears ample 
testimony to the superior authority of the 
successors of St. Peter. St. Irenseus says 
{anno 177.) " It is necessary that all 
the Church — that is, the faithful, wher- 
ever they are, — should conform to" (be in 
communion with) " the Church of Rome, 
on account of her superior chiefdom." — 
Adv. H<zr. iii. 3. Tertullian says {anno 
194), "If thou think that heaven is still 
closed, recollect that the Lord left the 
keys thereof to Peter, and through him to 
the Church."— Scorpiaci, c. x. 

With respect to certain questions agita- 
ted in the schools, relative to the spiritual 
power of the Pope, as exercised in con- 
junction with the temporal, little need be 
said in this place ; although we see such 



160 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



questions continually revived, in order to 
draw down odium upon the Catholics. 
Suffice it to state, that these questions are 
not included in the articles of Catholic 
faith, nor have any influence upon Catho- 
lic practice. On this point, we have plea- 
sure in quoting the decisive words of Dr. 
Purcell, Bishop of Cincinnati : " The Ca- 
tholics do not believe that the Pope has 
any such power [that of interfering with 
the institutions of free States.] We would 
be among the first to oppose him in its 
exercise, and we should be neither heretics 
nor bad Catholics for so doing. For ten 
centuries this power was never claimed 
by any Pope ; it can, therefore, be no 
part of Catholic doctrine. It has not 
gained one foot of land for the Pope. It 
is not any where believed or acted upon, 
in the Catholic Church ; nor could it at 
this late day be established, even were a 
man found mad enough to make the at- 
tempt. Let these go forth before the 
American people as the real principles of 
Catholics concerning the power of the 
Pope. And if we must pronounce a judg- 
ment on the past, let it be remembered, 
that when the Pope did use the power, it 
was when lie ivas appealed to as a com- 
mon father, and in favor of the oppressed. 
We should go back, in spirit, to former 
times, when we undertake to judge them. 
We should understand the condition of 
society at the period ; we should know the 
circumstances, general and particular, 
which controlled or influenced the great 
events recorded in history. We should 
not quarrel with our ancestors, because 
they did not possess knowledge which we 
possess ; nor flatter ourselves that we are 
vastly their betters, because of these ad- 
ventitious advantages ; while they mani- 
festly surpass us in others, of greater 
value to the Christian and the moralist. 
They had the substance of good things ; 
we seem to be content with the shadow of 
them." 

The same sentiments are eloquently 
enforced by Judge Hall, of Cincinnati. 
We quote a paragraph or two, for the 
benefit of those who may not be acquainted 
with an address, honorable alike to the 
head and the heart of its candid and 
liberal author. 

" This question [the alarm raised 



against the Catholics] has become so im- 
portant in the United States, that it is 
time to begin to inquire into its bearings, 
and to know whether the public are really 
interested in the excitement which has 
been gotten up with unusual industry, and 
has been kept alive with a pertinacity that 
has seldom been equalled. For several 
years past the religious Protestant papers 
of our country, with but few exceptions, 
have teemed with virulent attacks against 
the Catholics, and especially with para- 
graphs charging them substantially with 
designs hostile to our free institutions, and 
with a systematic opposition to the spread 
of all free inquiry and liberal knowledge. 
These are grave charges, involving con- 
sequences of serious import, and such as 
should not be believed or disbelieved upon 
mere rumor, or permitted to rest upon 
any vague hypothesis ; because they are 
of a nature which renders them susceptible 
of proof. The spirit of our institutions 
requires that these questions should be 
thus examined. We profess to guarantee 
to every inhabitant of our country, cer- 
tain rights, in the enjoyment of which he 
shall not be molested, except through the 
instrumentality of a process of law which 
is clearly indicated. Life, liberty, pro- 
perty, reputation, are thus guarded — and 
equally sacred is the right secured to 
every man, to ' worship God according to 
the dictates of his own conscience.' 

" But it is idle to talk of these inestima- 
ble rights, as having any efficacious exis- 
tence, if the various checks and sanctions, 
thrown around them by our constitution 
and laws, may be evaded, and a lawless 
majority, with a high hand, ravish them 
by force from a few individuals, who may 
be effectually outlawed by a perverted 
public opinion, produced by calumny and 
clamor. It is worse than idle, it is wick- 
ed, to talk of liberty, while a majority, 
having no other right than that of the 
strongest, persist in blasting the character 
of unoffending individuals by calumny, 
and in oppressing them by direct violence 
upon their persons and property, not only 
without evidence of their delinquency, but 
against evidence: not only without law, 
but in violation of law — and merely be- 
cause they belong to an unpopular deno- 
mination. 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



161 



" The very fact that the Roman Catho- 
lics are, and can be with impunity, thus 
trampled upon, in a country like ours, 
affords in itself the most conclusive evi- 
dence of the groundlessness of the fears 
which are entertained by some respecting 
them. Without the power to protect them- 
selves in the enjoyment of the ordinary 
rights of citizenship, and with a current 
of prejudice setting so strongly against 
them, that they find safety only in bending 
meekly to the storm ; how idle, how pue- 
rile, how disingenuous is it, to rave as some 
have done, of the danger of Catholic in- 
fluence ! 

" We repeat, that this is a question 
which must rest upon testimony. The 
American people are too intelligent, too 
just, too magnanimous, to suffer the tem- 
porary delusion by which so many have 
been blinded, to settle down into a perma- 
nent national prejudice, and to oppress one 
Christian denomination at the bidding of 
others, without some proof, or some rea- 
sonable argument. 

" We have not yet seen any evidence 
in the various publications that have reach- 
ed us, of any unfairness on the part of 
the Catholics, in the propagation of their 
religious doctrines. If they are active, 
persevering, and ingenious, in their at- 
tempts to gain converts, and if they are 
successful in securing the countenance and 
support of those who maintain the same 
form of belief in other countries, these, 
we imagine, are the legitimate proofs of 
Christian zeal and sincerity. In relation 
to Protestant sects, they are certainly so 
estimated ; and we are yet to learn, why 
the ordinary laws of evidence are to be 
set aside in reference to this denomination, 
and why the missionary spirit which is so 
praiseworthy in others, should be thought 
so wicked and so dangerous in them. 

" Let us inquire into this matter calmly. 
Why is it that the Catholics are pursued 
with such pertinacity, with such vindic- 
tiveness, with such ruthless malevolence? 
Why cannot their peculiar opinions be 
opposed by argument, by persuasion, by 
remonstrance, as one Christian sect should 
oppose each other 1 We speak kindly of 
the Jew, and even of the heathen ; there 
are those that love a negro or a Cherokee 
even better than their own flesh and blood ; 



but a Catholic is an abomination, for whom 
there is no law, no charity, no bond of 
Christian fraternity. 

" These reflections rise naturally out of 
the recent proceedings in relation to the 
Roman Catholics. A nunnery has been 
demolished by an infuriated mob — a small 
community of refined and unprotected fe- 
males, lawfully and usefully engaged in 
the tuition of children, whose parents have 
voluntarily committed them to their care, 
have been driven from their home — yet 
the perpetrators have escaped punishment, 
and the act, if not openly excused, is 
winked at, by Protestant Christians. The 
outrage was public, extensive, and unde- 
niable ; and a most respectable committee, 
who investigated all the facts, have shown 
that it was unprovoked — a mere wanton 
ebullition of savage malignity. Yet the 
sympathies of a large portion of the Pro- 
testant community are untouched. 

" Is another instance required, of the 
pervading character of this prejudice ? 
How common has been the expedient, em- 
ployed by missionaries from the west, in 
the eastern states, of raising money for 
education or for religion upon the allega- 
tion that it was necessary to prevent the 
ascendancy of the Catholics ! How often 
has it been asserted, throughout the last 
ten years, that this was the chosen field 
on which the papists had erected their 
standard, and where the battle must be 
fought for civil and religious liberty ! 
What tales of horror have been poured 
into the ears of the confiding children of 
the Pilgrims — of young men emigrating 
to the west, marrying Catholic ladies, and 
collapsing without a struggle into the arms 
of Romanism — of splendid edifices under- 
mined by profound dungeons, prepared for 
the reception of heretic republicans — of 
boxes of firearms secretly transported into 
hidden receptacles, in the very bosoms of 
our flourishing cities — of vast and widely 
ramified European conspiracies, by which 
Irish Catholics are suddenly converted 
into lovers of monarchy, and obedient in- 
struments of kings ! 

" A prejudice so indomitable and so 
blind, could not fail, in an ingenious and 
enterprising land like ours, to be made the 
subject of pecuniary speculation ; accord- 
ingly we find such works as the ' Master 



21 



162 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



Key to Popery,' - Secrets of Female Con- 
vents,' and ' Six Months in a Convent,' 
manufactured with a distinct view to 
making a profit out of this diseased state 
of the public mind. The abuse of the 
Catholics, therefore, is not merely matter 
of party rancour, but is a regular trade ; 
and the compilation of anti-catholic books 
of the character alluded to, has become a 
part of the regular industry of the country, 
as much as the making of nutmegs, or 
the construction of clocks. 

" Philosophy sanctions the belief, that 
power, held by any set of men without 
restraint or competition, is liable to abuse ; 
and history teaches the humiliating fact, 
that power thus held has always been 
abused. To inquire who has been the 
greatest aggressor against the rights of 
human nature, when all who have been 
tempted have evinced a common propen- 
sity to trample upon the laws of justice 
and benevolence, would be an unprofitable 
procedure. The reformers punished heresy 
by death as well as the Catholics ; and 
the murders perpetrated by intolerance, in 
the reign of Elizabeth, were not less atro- 
cious than those which occurred under 
' the bloody Mary.' We might even come 
nearer home, and point to colonies on our 
own continent, planted by men professing 
to have fled from religious persecution, 
who not only excluded from all civil" and 
political rights those who were separated 
from them by only slight shades of reli- 
gious belief, but persecuted many even to 
death, for heresy and witchcraft. Yet these 
things are not taken into the calculation ; 
and Catholics are assumed, without ex- 
amination, to be exclusively and especially 
prone to the sins of oppression and cruelty. 

" The French Catholics, at a very early 
period, commenced a system of missions 
for the conversion of the Indians, and were 
remarkably successful in gaining converts, 
and conciliating the confidence and affec- 
tions of the tribes. While the Pequods 
and other northern tribes were becoming 
exterminated, or sold into slavery, the 
more fortunate savage of the Mississippi 
was listening to the pious counsels of the 
Catholic missionary. This is another 
fact, which deserves to be remembered, 
and which should be weighed in the 
examination of the testimony. It shows 



that the Catholic appetite for cruelty is not 
quite so keen as is usually imagined ; and 
that they exercised, of choice, an expan- 
sive benevolence, at a period when Pro 
testants, similarly situated, were blood* 
thirsty and rapacious. 

" Advancing a little further in point of 
time, we find a number of colonies ad- 
vancing rapidly towards prosperity, on 
our Atlantic seaboard. In point of civil 
government they were somewhat detached, 
each making its own municipal laws, and 
there being in each a predominance of the 
influence of one religious denomination. 
We might therefore expect to see the 
political bias of each sect carried out into 
practice ; and it is curious to examine how 
far such was the fact. It is the more cu- 
rious, because the writers and orators of 
one branch of this family of republics, 
are in the habit of attributing to their own 
fathers the principles of religious and 
political toleration, which became estab- 
lished throughout the whole, and are now 
the boast and pride of our nation. The 
impartial record of history affords on this 
subject a proof alike honorable to all, but 
which rebukes alike the sectional or secta- 
rian vanity of each. New England was set- 
tled by English Puritans, New York by 
Dutch Protestants, Pennsylvania by Qua- 
kers, Maryland by Catholics, Virginia by 
the Episcopalian adherents of the Stuarts, 
and South Carolina by a mingled population 
of Roundheads and Cavaliers from Eng- 
land, and of French Huguenots — yet the 
same broad foundations of civil and political 
liberty were laid simultaneously in them all, 
and the same spirit of resistance animated 
each community, when the oppressions 
of the mother country became intolerable. 
Religious intolerance prevailed in early 
times only in the eastern colonies ; but 
the witchcraft superstition, though most 
strongly developed there, pervaded some 
other portions of the new settlements. 
We shall not amplify our remarks on this 
topic ; it is enough to say, that if the love 
of monarchy was a component principle 
of the Catholic faith, it was not developed 
in our country when a fair opportunity 
was offered for its exercise ; and that in 
the glorious struggle for liberty, for civil 
and religious emancipation — when our 
fathers arraved themselves in defence of 



f 



HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



163 



the sacred principles involving the whole 
broad ground of contest between liberty 
and despotism, the Catholic and the Pro- 
testant stood side by side on the battle- 
field, and in the council, and pledged to 
their common country, with equal de- 
votedness, their lives, their fortunes, and 
their sacred honor. Nor should it be for- 
gotten, that in a conflict thus peculiarly 
marked, a Catholic king was our ally, 
when the most powerful of Protestant 
governments was our enemy." 

We close, in the language of the great 
father of American liberty. In a reply 
to a patriotic address of the Catholics of 
the United States, the illustrious Washing- 
ton thus gave utterance to his feelings : 

" Gentlemen : —While I now receive 
with much satisfaction your congratula- 
tions on my being called by an unanimous 
vote, to the first station in my country, I 
cannot but duly notice your politeness, in 
offering an apology for the unavoidable 
delay. As that delay has given you an 
opportunity of realizing, instead of anti- 
cipating, the benefits of the general gov- 
ernment, you will do me the justice to 
believe, that your testimony of the increase 
of the public prosperity, enhances the 
pleasure, which I should otherwise have 
experienced from your affectionate ad- 
dress. 

" I feel that my conduct, in war and in 
peace, has met with more general appro- 
bation that could have reasonably been 
expected ; and I find myself disposed to 
consider that fortunate circumstance, in a 
great degree, resulting from the able sup- 
port, and extraordinary candor, of my 
fellow-citizens of all denominations. 



" The prospect of national prosperity 
now before us, is truly animating, and 
ought to excite the exertions of all good 
men, to establish and secure the happiness 
of their country, in the permanent duration 
of its freedom and independence. Amer- 
ica, under the smiles of divine Providence, 
the protection of a good government, and 
the cultivation of manners, morals, and 
piety, cannot fail of attaining an uncom- 
mon degree of eminence in literature, 
commerce, agriculture, improvements at 
home, and respectability abroad. 

" As mankind become more liberal, 
they will be more apt to allow, that all 
those who conduct themselves as worthy 
members of the community, are equally 
entitled to the protection of civil govern- 
ment. I hope ever to see America among 
the foremost nations in examples of jus- 
tice and liberality. And I presume that 
your fellow-citizens will not forget the 
patriotic part which you took in the ac- 
complishment of their revolution, and the 
establishment of their government, or the 
important assistance which they received 
from a nation in which the Roman Catho- 
lic faith is professed. 

" I thank you, gentlemen, for your kind 
concern for me. While my life and my 
health shall continue, in whatever situa- 
tion I may be, it shall be my constant en- 
deavor to justify the favorable sentiments 
which you are pleased to express of my 
conduct. And may the members of your 
society in America, animated alone by the 
pure spirit of Christianity, and still con- 
ducting themselves as the faithful subjects 
of our government, enjoy every temporal 
and spiritual felicity." 



164 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIANS, OR CHRISTIAN CONNEXION. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE CHRISTIANS, OR CHRISTIAN CONNEXION 

BY THE REV. DAVID MILLARD, 

AUTHOR OF TRAVELS IN EGYPT, ARABIA PETREA, AND THE HOLY LAND. 



Within about one- half century, a very 
considerable body of religionists have 
arisen in the United States, who, rejecting 
all names, appellations, and badges of 
distinctive party among the followers of 
Christ, simply call themselves Christians. 
Sometimes, in speaking of themselves as 
a body, they use the term Christian Con- 
nexion. In many parts of our country 
this people have become numerous ; and 
as their origin and progress have been 
marked with some rather singular coinci- 
dents, this article will present a few of 
them in brief detail. 

Most of the Protestant sects owe their 
origin to some individual reformer, such 
as a Luther, a Calvin, a Fox, or a Wes- 
ley. The Christians never had any such 
leader, nor do they owe their origin to 
the labors of any one man. They rose 
nearly simultaneously in different sections 
of our country, remote from each other, 
without any preconcerted plan, or even 
knowledge of each other's movements. 
After the lapse of several years, the three 
branches obtained some information of 
each other, and upon opening a corres- 
pondence, were surprised to find that all 
had embraced nearly the same principles, 
and were engaged in carrying forward the 
same system of reform. This singular 
coincidence is regarded by them as evi- 
dence that they are a people raised up by 
the immediate direction and overruling 
providence of God ; and that the ground 
they have assumed is the one which will 



finally swallow up all party distinctions in 
the gospel church. 

While the American Revolution hurled 
a deathblow at political domination, it also 
diffused a spirit of liberty into the church. 
The Methodists had spread to some con- 
siderable extent in the United States, es- 
pecially south of the Potomac. Previous 
to this time they had been considered a 
branch of the Church of England, and 
were dependent on English Episcopacy 
for the regular administration of the or- 
dinances. But as the revolution had 
wrested the states from British control, it 
also left the American Methodists free to 
transact their own affairs. Thomas Coke, 
Francis Asbury, and others, set about es- 
tablishing an Episcopal form of church 
government for the Methodists in America. 
Some of the preachers, however, had 
drank too deeply of the spirit of the times 
to tamely submit to lordly power, whether 
in judicial vestments, or clad in the gown 
of a prelate. Their form of church gov- 
ernment became a subject of spirited dis- 
cussion in several successive conferences. 
James O'Kelly, of North Carolina, and 
several other preachers of that state and 
of Virginia, plead for a congregational 
system, and that the New Testament be 
their only creed and discipline. The 
weight of influence, however, turned on 
the side of Episcopacy and a human 
creed. Francis Asbury was elected and 
ordained bishop ; Mr. O'Kelly, several 
other preachers, and a large number of 




DAVID MILLAHD. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIANS, OR CHRISTIAN CONNEXION. 



165 



brethren, seceding from the dominant 
party. This final separation from the 
Episcopal Methodists, took place, volun- 
tarily, at Manakin Town, N. C, Decem- 
ber 25th, 1793. At first they took the 
name of " Republican Methodists," but at 
a subsequent conference resolved to be 
known as Christians only, to acknowledge 
no head over the church but Christ, and 
no creed or discipline but the Bible. 

Near the close of the 18th century, Dr. 
Abner Jones, of Hartland, Vermont, then 
a member of a regular Baptist Church, 
had a peculiar travel of mind in relation 
to sectarian names and human creeds. 
The first he regarded as an evil, because 
they were so many badges of distinct 
separation among the followers of Christ. 
The second, served as so many lines or 
walls of separation to. keep the disciples 
of Christ apart ; that sectarian names and 
human creeds should be abandoned, and 
that true piety alone, and not the externals 
of it, should be made the only test of 
Christian fellowship and communion. 
Making the Bible the only source from 
whence he drew the doctrine he taught, 
Dr. Jones commenced propagating his 
sentiments with zeal, though at that time 
he did not know of another individual who 
thought like himself. In September, 1800, 
he had the pleasure of seeing a church of 
about twenty-five members gathered in 
Lyndon, Vt., embracing these principles. 
In 1802 he gathered another church in 
Bradford, Vt., and, in March, 1803, an- 
other in Piermont, N. H. About this 
time, Elias Smith, then a Baptist minister, 
was preaching with great success in 
Portsmouth, N. H. Falling in with Dr. 
Jones's views, the church under his care 
was led into the same principles. Up to 
this time Dr. Jones had labored as a 
preacher nearly if not quite single-hand- 
ed ; but several preachers from the regu- 
lar Baptists and Freewill Baptists, now 
rallied to the standard he had unfurled. 
Preachers were also raised up in the dif- 
ferent churches now organized, several 
of whom travelled extensively, preaching 
with great zeal and success. Churches 
of the order were soon planted in all the 
New England states, the states of New 
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and more re- 
cently in New Jersey and Michigan. A 



large number of churches have also been 
planted in the Canadas, and the province 
of New Brunswick. 

A very extraordinary revival of religion 
was experienced among the Presbyterians 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, during the 
years 1800 and 1801. Several Presby- 
terian ministers heartily entered into this 
work, and labored with a fervor and zeal 
which they had never before manifested. 
Others either stood aloof from it, or op- 
posed its progress. The preachers who 
entered the work, broke loose from the 
shackles of a Calvinistic creed, and 
preached the gospel of free salvation. 
The creed of the church now appeared in 
jeopardy. Presbyteries, and finally the 
Synod of Kentucky, interposed their au- 
thority to stop what they were pleased to 
call a torrent of Arminianism. Barton 
W. Stone, of Kentucky, a learned and 
eloquent minister, with four other minis- 
ters, withdrew from the Synod of Ken- 
tucky. As well might be expected, a 
large number of Presbyterian members, 
with most of the converts in this great re- 
vival, rallied round these men who had 
labored so faithfully, and had been so 
signally blessed in their labors. As they 
had already felt the scourge of a human 
creed, the churches then under their con- 
trol, with such others as they organized, 
agreed to take the Holy Scriptures as 
their only written rule of faith and prac- 
tice. At first they organized themselves 
into what was called the " Springfield 
Presbytery ;" but in 1803, they abandoned 
that name, and agreed to be known as 
Christians only. Preachers were now 
added to their numbers and raised up in 
their ranks. As they had taken the 
scriptures for their guide, pedo-baptism 
was renounced, and believers' baptism by 
immersion substituted in its room. On a 
certain occasion one minister baptized 
another minister, and then he who had 
been baptized immersed the others. From 
the very beginning, this branch spread 
with surprising rapidity, and now extends 
through all the western states. 

From this brief sketch it will be per- 
ceived that this people originated from the 
three principal Protestant sects in Ame- 
rica. The branch at the south, from the 
Methodists : the one at the north, from the 



166 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIANS, OR CHRISTIAN CONNEXION. 



Baptists, and the one at the west, from 
the Presbyterians. The three branches 
rose within the space of eight years, in 
sections remote and unknown to each 
other, until some years afterwards. Pro- 
bably no other religious body ever had a 
similar origin. 

The adopting of the Holy Scriptures as 
their only system of faith, has led them 
to the study of shaping their belief by the 
lansjuasre of the sacred oracles. A doc- 
trine, which cannot be expressed in the 
language of inspiration, they do not hold 
themselves obligated to believe. Hence, 
with very few exceptions, they are not 
Trinitarians, averring that they can nei- 
ther find the word nor the doctrine in the 
Bible. They believe " Lord our Jehovah 
is one Lord," and purely one. That 
" Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son 
of God." That the Holy Gffost is that 
divine unction with which our Saviour 
was anointed, (Acts x. 38,) the effusion 
that was poured out on the day of Pente- 
cost ; and that it is a divine emanation of 
God, by which he exerts an energy or 
influence on rational minds. While they 
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 
they are not Socinians or Humanitarians. 
Thair prevailing belief is that Jesus Christ 
existed with the Father before all worlds, 
and is therefore a Divine Saviour.* 



* The word Saviour signifies a deliverer or 
preserver, one who saves from danger or de- 
struction, and brings into a state of prosperity 
and happiness. In Greek writers, the bene- 
factor of a state is called a saviour ; so among 
the Jews, God raised up men called deliverers 
or saviours, to deliver them from the invasion 
and oppression of surrounding nations ; as 
Othniel, Ehud, &c. These were only tempo- 
ral deliverers. But Jesus, the Messiah, is 
called Saviour in the highest sense of the 
word. He saves his people from eternal 
death, from punishment and misery as the 
consequence of sin, and gives them eternal 
life and happiness in his kingdom. Hence he 
is called " the Saviour of the world," " able to 
save to the uttermost," i. e. wholly. He is 
even called " the author of eternal salvation," 
" Lord and Saviour," to distinguish him from 
all human deliverers. It requires as great an 
effort to save a lost world from sin and death, 
as it did to create it in the beginning. Conse- 
quently none other than a divine being is 
competent for such a great work. The evi- 
dence wc have to prove that ours is a divine 
Saviour is : 



Although the Christians do not contend 
for entire uniformity in belief, yet in addi- 
tion to the foregoing, nearly, if not quite 



1. Because he is God's son, in a peculiar sense 
applicable to no other being in the universe. In 
the scriptures angels and men are called sons 
of God, but Christ is called his "own son," "his 
only-begotten son" "his beloved son," to distin- 
guish him from others who are sons of God 
by creation, and regeneration. Also, in the 
parable, God is represented as having but 
"one son, his well beloved." — Mark 12: 6. 
The same expression is used in the Septua- 
gint, in reference to Isaac, Abram's only son, 
Gen. 22 : 2. — "Take now thy son, thine (aga- 
peton) only son Isaac." The phrase (huios 
agapetos) beloved son, is used ten times in 
the New Testament, and in every place it is 
spoken by the Father concerning his son Jesus 
Christ. See Math. 3: 17; 12: 18; 17: 5. 
Mark 1 : 11; 9 : 7 . Luke 3 : 22 ; 9 : 35. 
2 Peter 1 : 17. Mark 12: 6. Luke 20: 13. 
We want no better evidence to prove a man 
to be a human being than to know that he is 
of human descent ; so we want no better testi- 
mony to prove that Christ is a divine being, 
than to know, as the scriptures abundantly 
inform us, that he is " the only begotten son 
of God.'This proves that his essence is not only 
superhuman and superangelic, but strictly m- 
vink. Jesus told the Jews that " he proceeded 
forth and came from God," consequently if 
God were their father they would love him as 
possessing a nature equally lovely. — John 8 : 
42. Hence we find the most intimate union 
existing between the Father and the son, and 
such is the near relation, that their knowledge 
of each other is mutual. Jesus says (oudeis) 
" no one knoweth the son but the Father ; nei- 
ther knoweth (tis) any one the Father save 
the son, and he to whomsoever the son will 
reveal him." — Math. 11: 27. Again he says : 
" as the Father knoweth me, even so know I 
the Father." He is also represented as being 
the Father's bosom friend — even " in the bo- 
som of the Father," that is, to be in his em- 
brace, and cherished by him. — John 1 : 18. 

Farther, the divine perfections were so 
exactly delineated in the son, that to see the 
son, was to see an exact representation of the 
Father; "he that hath seen me," said Christ 
to Philip, " hath seen the Father."- Hence he 
is called by Paul, " the image of the invisible 
God." Col. i. 15. " He is the effulgence of his 
(the Father's) glory, and an exact image of 
his substance." The word brightness (apau- 
gasma.) Heb. i. 3 is an image drawn from a 
luminous body, giving the idea that as the 
brightness of the sun is to the sun that emits 
it, so is the son of God in relation to his Fa- 
ther, reflecting the splendor of the divine per- 
fections, to angels and men. The expression 
(character hupostaseoos) of the Father, sig- 
nifies " the express image or counterpart of 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIANS, OR CHRISTIAN CONNEXION. 



167 



all of them would agree in the following 
sentiments : 1 . That God is the rightful 
arbiter of the universe : the source and 



God's essence or being." See Robinson's 
Greek Lexicon. These and other similar pas- 
sages, having direct reference to the son of 
God, are expressive of his divine essence ; no 
other rational interpretation can be given them. 

2. He is a divine Saviour, because he has a di- 
vine name. 

As Christ is the only begotten son of God, 
he bears the name peculiar to the Deity, as a 
son bears the proper name of his father : that 
name is (Heb. yehovah) Jehovah; generally 
translated by the LXX (kurtos) Lord. God 
says, " I am the Lord, (Heb. Yehovah,) that is 
my name." « The latter Hebrews, for several 
centuries before the Christian era, either mis- 
led by a false interpretation of certain laws, or 
following out some ancient superstition, re- 
garded this name as too sacred to be uttered, 
as the ineffable name which they scrupled even 
to pronounce." Gesenius, Heb. Lexicon, page 
389. Yet it is the name appropriated to the 
son of God, according to the repeated testimo- 
ny of the inspired penmen, who are the true 
interpreters of scripture. For in many passages 
of scripture in the Old Testament where the 
name Jehovah is used, it refers particularly to 
the Messiah, according to the interpretation of 
the New Testament writers : for example in 
Isa. vi. 1 — 5, the prophet says, " In the year 
that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sit- 
ting upon his throne, high and lifted up, and his 
train filled the temple. Above it stood the 
seraphim ; each one had six wings, with twain 
he covered his face, and with twain he covered 
his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one 
cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, 
is (Yehovah) the Lord of Hosts ; the whole 
earth is full of his glory ;" and in verse 5th, 
Isaiah says, " mine eyes have seen the king 
(yehovah) the Lord of hosts." Now the apos- 
tle John, in reference to this vision of the 
prophet says, " these things said Esaias when 
he saw his (Christ's) glory, and spake of him." 
— John xii. 38 — 41. See again in Isa. xl. 3. — 
" The voice of him that crieth in the wilder- 
ness, prepare ye the way of (yehovah) the Lord, 
make straight in the desert a highway for our 
God :" and compare Math. iii. 1 — 3. Mark i. 3. 
Luke iii. 3, 4. John i. 23. " For this is he 
that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, say- 
ing, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 
straight." Now, according to the united tes- 
timony of the four evangelists, the very being 
whom Isaiah calls " Jehovah'" and our God? is 
the true Messiah of whom John the Baptist was 
the forerunner. If farther evidence be want- 
ing, the reader may compare Jer. xxiii. 5, 6, 
with 1 Cor. i. 30, 31 ; vi. 11. Joel ii. 32, with 
Rom. x. 13, where the original word in the old 
Testament is Yehovah. When Christ showed 



fountain of all good. 2. That all men 
have sinned and come short of the glory 
of God. 3. That with God there is for- 



Thomas his hands and his side, Thomas said 
to him " my Lord and my God." — John xx. 28. 
And Paul calls him " the Lord of Glory." — 
1 Cor. ii. 8. Peter says " he is Lord of all." — 
Acts x. 36. He it was who appeared to the 
prophets and communicated to them as the true 
oradt of Jehovah. Hence the expression so com- 
mon among the prophets : " the word (dabar, 
oracle) of the Lord came to me saying" — 
(Jer. i. 4.) corresponding with the (logos) word 
in the writings of John i. 1 ; 14 ; 1 ; Rev. xix. 
3 ; and expressing the pre-existent nature of 
Christ, i. e. his spiritual and divine nature so 
frequently referred to, both in the old and new 
Testaments. 

3. Christ is a divide Saviour, because the 
work of creation is ascribed to him, as well as 
that of redemption. 

We come now to a nice point, which requires 
close investigation in order to arrive at the true 
meaning of scripture on this subject. God the 
Father, and his son Jesus Chirst, are repre- 
sented in scripture as co-workers in the crea- 
tion of all things and in the redemption of man. 
Jesus said to the Jews, " my Father worketh 
hitherto, and I work." — John v. 17. Again, " I 
must work the works of him that sent me 
while it is day" — ix. 4. And Paul says, God 
" created all things by Jesus Christ." Eph. iii. 
9. In speaking of the son, he says, "by whom 
he (God) made the worlds," Heb. i. 3. In 
other places the same apostle ascribes the 
work of creation to Christ. See Heb. i. 10. — 
" And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid 
the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens 
are the works of thine hands." This evidently 
refers to the son, as evidence of his superiority 
to angels, otherwise it would not have been to 
the apostle's purpose to quote it here : com- 
pare Col. i. 15, 1 6. " Who is the image of the 
invisible God, (prototokos pases ktiseoos) 
the first born (consequently heir and lord) of 
the whole creation." " For (the reason why 
he is heir and lord of the whole creation is) 
by him were all things created that are in 
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and in- 
visible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, 
or principalities, or powers : all things Were 
made by him, and for him :" compare John i. 
3 — all things were made by him, and without 
him was not (en) one thing made that was 
made." Now if Christ be a creature, as some 
assert, John has taught us wrong ; for he would 
be one thing made without him, unless we be- 
lieve an absurdity, that he created himself first. 

When the work of creation is ascribed to 
the Father, it means the Father is the original 
cause of all things, and when it is ascribed to 
the Son, it means, the son is the efficient cause 
of all things : the former is the contriver, the 
latter is the operator. The son executes the 



168 



HISTOEY OF THE CHRISTIANS, OR CHRISTIAN CONNEXION. 



giveness ; but that sincere repentance and 
reformation are indispensable to the for- 
giveness of sins. 4. That man is con- 



work under the direction of his Father. This 
is the meaning of the apostle in 1 Cor. viii. 6. 
" But to us there is but one God, the Father, of 
whom are all things (as the original cause) and 
we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by 
whom are all things, (as the efficient cause,) 
and we by him." So God is frequently repre- 
sented in scripture as " the judge of all the 
earth" and in Heb. xii. 23, he is called " the 
judge of all." So is Christ called " the Lord, 
the righteous judge," 2 Tim. iv. 8. And " we 
shall all stand, before the judgment seat of 
Christ," Rom. xiii. 10, who will in the day of 
judgment*" sit upon the throne of his glory" 
as judge, and pass the final sentence on all 
nations, and assign each one his portion, and 
place in heaven or hell. From this we infer 
that although it is said by Paul that " God 
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus 
Christ," and " judge the world" by him, Acts 
xvii. 31, yet Christ will be the judge to execute 
judgment in accordance with his own words : 
'• For the Father judgeth no man, but hath com- 
mitted all judgment unto the son." John v. 22. 
And according to the testimony of Peter, Acts 
x. 42, " It is he (Christ) who was ordained of 
God to be the judge of quick and dead." Hence 
we justly conclude that as the Father and son 
are joint-judges in judging the world, so they 
are co-workers in the creation, the preservation, 
and restitution of all things. 

We may extend the analogy still further, in 
showing God's uniform manner of operating 
from beginning to end. The resurrection of 
the dead is ascribed to God the Father — Acts 
xxvi. 8, yet the work will be effected by the 
quickening voice of the son of God : " all that 
are in their graves shall hear his voice, and 
shall come forth." John v. 28, 29. See an ex- 
hibition of his power in the resurrection of 
Lazarus : After consulting the Father in pra3 r - 
er, he had only to say " with a loud voice, Laz- 
arus, come forth," and the petrified body was 
instantly resuscitated, and raised from the 
grave, John xi. 43, 44. Even the very elements 
were under his control. He commands, and 
" even the winds, and the sea obey him." — 

The passage in Rev. iii. 14, where Christ is 
called " the beginning of the creation of God," 
when properly interpreted, harmonizes with 
other passages of scripture. The word 
(Arche) rendered " the beginning" by Meton- 
omy is used to express the efficient cause of 
the creation of God. This manner of expres- 
sion is common in the scriptures, for example : 
Christ is called "Salvation." "The Resur- 
rection," " Peace," " Righteousness, sanctifi- 
cation, and redemption," that is, the author of 
all these. By the same figure of speech, cir- 
cumcision, and uncircumcision, in Rom. iii. 
30, signify circumcised and uncircumcised 



stituted a free moral agent, and made 
capable of obeying the gospel. 5. That 
through the agency of the Holy Spirit 



persons, " The election," Rom. xi. 7, is put for 
the elect. — Light and darkness, Eph. v. 8, de- 
note the enlightened and the ignorant. So the 
beginning is here used for the beginner, as the 
abstract for the concrete. This word (Arche) 
was also used by the Greek philosophers to 
express the first cause, or efficient principle of 
things. Theophilous, a Grecian writer, in al- 
lusion to Christ, says "he is called (ahchr) 
the beginning, because he (archei kai kuri- 
euei) rules and exercises authority over all 
things made by him." This interpretation har- 
monizes with the sentiment expressed in John 
i. 3, " all things were made by him," &c, and 
with Col. i. 16—18. 

4. Christ is a divine Saviour, because he 
claims a right to divine honor as due to him. 

No friend of God not divine, angel, or man, 
claims to himself this honor, his chosen mes- 
sengers not excepted. The apostle John at- 
tempted to worship the heavenly messenger 
that appeared to him in Patmos ; but the angel 
forbade him, because he was only a " fellow 
servant" — Rev. xix. 10. So, Peter the inspired 
apostle refused to accept religious homage 
from Cornelius, because he himself was a 
man. — Acts x. 25, 26. But our great Redeemer, 
so far from refusing such homage, demands it 
of all, saying " that all men should honor the 
son, even as they honor the Father" — John v. 
23. And Paul says, in allusion to Isa. xlv. 23, 
" that at the name of Jesus every knee should 
bow, of things in heaven, and of things upon 
earth, and of things under the earth ; and 
every tongue should confess Jesus Christ is 
Lord, to the Glory of God the Father." Phil. 
ii. 10, 11. Even all the angels of God were 
commanded to worship him. — Heb. i. 6. The 
common phrase in the Old and New Testa- 
ments, " call on the name of the Lord," ex- 
presses divine worship in the highest sense of 
the word. See Gen. xxvi. 25, " and he (Jacob) 
builded an altar there, (at Beer-sheba,) and 
called upon the name of the Lord." And yet 
this phraseology is used to invoke the name 
of the Lord Jesus. See 1 Cor. i. 2, where the 
apostle uses it as peculiar to all saints " in 
every place.-' He says, in his address to the 
church : " called to be saints, with all in every 
place that call upon the name of Jesus Christ 
our Lord, both theirs and ours :" that is, their 
and our Lord. Compare Acts vii. 59; xxii. 
16 ; ix. 21 ; all which teach us that the invo- 
cation of the name of the Lord Jesus was 
practised by the apostles and primitive Chris- 
tians. This custom was so common in 
the day of Pliny, that he mentioned it in his 
letter to Trajan concerning the Christians ■ 
" Carmen Christo quasi Deo, dicere. ,, ~ li They 
sing with one another a hymn to Christ as to 
God." When the twelfth apostle was about to 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIANS, OR CHRISTIAN CONNEXION. 



169 



souls, in the use of means, are converted, 
regenerated and made new creatures. 6. 
That Christ was delivered for our offences 
and raised again for our justification ; that 
through his example, doctrine, death, re- 
surrection and intercession, he has made 
salvation possible to every one, and is the 
only Saviour of lost sinners. 7. That 
baptism and the Lord's supper are ordi- 
nances to be observed by all true believers ; 
and that baptism is the immersing of the 
candidate in water, in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. 8. That a life of watchfulness 
and prayer only will keep Christians from 
falling, enable them to live in a justified 
state, and ultimately secure to them the 
crown of eternal life. 9. That there will 
be a resurrection of both the just and the 
unjust. 10. That God has ordained Jesus 
j Christ judge of the quick and dead at the 
last day ; and at the judgment, the wicked 
will go away into everlasting punishment, 
and the righteous into life eternal. 

In the Christian Connexion, churches 
are independent bodies, authorized to go- 
vern themselves and transact their own 
affairs. They have a large number of 
associations called Conferences. Each 
conference meets annually, sometimes 
oflener, and is composed of ministers 
and messengers from churches within its 
bounds. At such conferences candidates 
for the ministry are examined, received 
and commended. Once a year, in con- 



be chosen in the place of Judas, the counsel 
of our Lord was invoked as the searcher of 
all hearts, Acts i. 24. 

In conclusion, we consider that a correct 
knowledge of our Saviour is highly important, 
as he is the foundation on which his church is 
built ; for in proportion as his dignity is di- 
minished, the foundation of the church is 
weakened, and her glory eclipsed. Let us 
therefore earnestly and prayerfully examine 
this subject, not for the sake of controversy, 
but for our own instruction and comfort, and 
for our growth in grace, and in the knowledge 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The foregoing note, on the divinity of our 
| Saviour, is inserted by the request of Jamf.s 
Williamson, editor of the " Gospel Herald." 

Editor. 

See Millard's " True Messiah," Morgridge's 
i " True Believer's Defence," and Kinkade's 
: " Bible Doctrine." 



ference, the character and standing of each 
minister is examined, that purity in the 
ministry may be carefully maintained. 
Such other subjects are discussed and 
measures adopted, as have a direct bear- 
ing on the welfare of the body at large. 

They have a book concern located at 
Albany, N. Y., called "The Christian 
General Book Association." At the same 
place they issue a weekly paper, called 
the " Christian Palladium." They also 
publish a weekly paper at Newburyport, 
Mass., called the " Christian Herald." 
At Springfield, Ohio, they publish a semi- 
monthly paper, called the " Gospel Her- 
ald ;" another semi-monthly at Hillsbo- 
rough, N. C, called the " Christian Sun ;" 
and another of the same class at Oshowa, 
Canada West, called the " Christian Lu- 
minary." They also publish a monthly 
periodical in Philadelphia, called " The 
Christian." 

They have three institutions of learning : 
one located at Durham, N. H., one at 
Starkey, N. Y., and one near Raleigh, N. 
C. They are also connected with the free 
Theological School, at Meadville, Pa., in 
which institution, the writer of this article 
holds a Professorship. 

Although several of their preachers are 
defective in education, yet there are among 
them some good scholars and eloquent 
speakers ; several of whom have distin- 
guished themselves as writers. Education 
is fast rising in their body. While their 
motto has ever been, " Let him that under- 
stands the gospel, teach it," they are also 
convinced that Christianity never has been, 
and never will be, indebted to palpable 
ignorance. Their sermons are most gen- 
erally delivered extempore, and energy 
and zeal are considered important traits in 
a minister for usefulness. 

The statistics of the connexion, though 
imperfect, may probably be computed at 
something like the following figures : The 
number of preachers about 1800, and 300 
licentiates ; number of churches, about 
1800, including about 140,000 communi- 
cants. There are probably not less than 
500,000 persons in this country who have 
adopted their general views, and attend on 
their ministry. 

It may be proper also to add, that within 
a few years, a very considerable body of 



22 



170 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



Christians has arisen in England, who 
occupy about the same ground of the 
Christian connexion in the United States. 
They reject all creeds and disciplines but 
the Bible, take no name but that of Chris- 
tians, and are believers in the divine unity 
of God. A recent letter received from 



Joseph Barker, their earliest and most 
leading minister, states : — " The number 
of persons in England, who have been 
led, during the last three or four years to 
embrace the sentiments which we advo- 
cate, cannot be less than from thirty to 
forty thousand." 



HISTORY 



THE CHURCH OF GOD 



BY JOHN WINEBRENNER, V. D. M., HARRISBURG, PA. 



Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."— Rev. xiv. 12. 



The prominent parts and features of 
this brief history of the « Church of God," 
in the United States may be traced and 
referred to under the following heads, to 
wit: 

I. The origin and name ; 
II. The form and attributes ; 

III. The faith and practice ; and, 

IV. The polity, etc., of the Church 
of God. 



I. THE ORIGIN AND NAME OF THE 
CHURCH OF GOD. 

1. As to the origin of the Church of 
God, we maintain, and truth compels us 
to say, that she justly claims priority to 
all evangelical churches. Her illustrious 
and adorable founder is the Lord Jesus 
Christ. He bought her with his blood.* 



* Acts xx. 28. Take heed, therefore, to 
yourselves, and to all the flock over which the 
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed 
the church of God, which he hath purchased 
with his own blood. 



He founded her on the Rock.* He first 
commenced her gathering. - )* He continued 
her establishment by the ministry of the 
apostles, and by the dispensations of his 
Spirit."): And thus he still continues to 



* Matt. xvi. 18. And I say also to thee, 
That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
build my church ; and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it. 

f Mark i. 14-20. Now, after that John was 
put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preach- 
ing the gospel of the kingdom of God, &c. 

t Matt, xxviii. 1 9. Go ye, therefore, and 
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost ; 

20. Teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the 
world. Amen. 

Mark xvi. 15. And he said to them, Go 
ye into all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature. 

1 6. He that believeth and is baptized shall 
be saved; but he that believeth not shall be 
damned. 

Acts ii. 4. And they were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other 
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 




J. WINEBRENNER. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



171 



carry on this building of God* — this New 
Jerusalem from above, which is the mother 
of us all.")" And we may add, this, his 
own church or temple, he will continue to 
build and prosper, despite of all her ad- 
versaries ; and ultimately, consummate his 
purposes, by bringing forth the head stones 
thereof with loud acclamations and shout- 
ings of grace, grace to it.| 

It is nothing uncommon, among theolo- 
gical writers, to trace the origin of the 
Church of God to Abraham, the Father 
of the Faithful, with whom God made a 
covenant nineteen hundred years before 
the birth of Christ. We, however, dis- 
sent from this view of the origin of the 
church. We believe that the Abrahamic or 
Jewish Church was not the same church, 
called in the New Testament the Church 
of God. If the same, Christ would not 
have said to Peter, " Upon this rock will 
I build my Church ;"§ and the Apostle 
would never have said, " He (Christ) hath 
made both one, and hath broken down the 
middle wall of partition between us ; having 
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the 
law of commandments contained in ordi- 
nances, for to make in himself of twain, 
(Jews and gentiles) one new man."|| Now, 
if this " new man," means the Church of, 
God, and of this there can be no rational 
doubt, then, without controversy, she ori- 
ginated under the personal ministry of 
Jesus Christ and his apostles. 

2. The name or title, Church of God,1T 



* 1 Cor. iii. 9. For we are laborers together 
with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are 
God's building. 

j- Gal. iv. 26. But Jerusalem which is above 
is free, which is the mother of us all. 

\ Zech. iv. 7. Who art thou, great moun- 
tain 1 before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a 
plain, and he shall bring forth the head-stone 
thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace 
to it. 

§ Matt. xvi. 18. And I say also to thee, 
That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
build my church ; and the gates' of hell shall 
not prevail against it. 

H Eph. ii. 14. For he is our peace, who hath 
made both one, and hath broken down the 
middle wall of partition between us ; 

16. Having abolished in his flesh the en- 
mity, even the law of commandments contained 
in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain 
one new man, so making peace. 

If Some writers derive the word Church from 
the Greek Kvptaxri, Kuriake; Saxon Cyrc, or 



is undeniably the true and proper appella- 
tion by which the New Testament church 
ought to be designated. This is her scrip- 
tural and appropriate name. This, and no 
other title, is given her by divine authori- 
ty.* This name or title, therefore, ought 
to be adopted and worn to the exclusion 
of all others. 

There are those, who have pled for the 
use, and for the exclusive use, of some 
other appellations : such as the name of 
Christian : others for that of Disciples ; 
and others, again, for the name Brethren, 
&c. But it ought to be recollected, that 
not one of those is a proper noun, or a 
patronymic, and, therefore, none of them 
is ever used in the Scriptures as an appel- 
lation for the church. The individual 
members of the church are, and may be, 
very properly so called ; but not so with 
regard to the church herself. We no- 
where read of the " Christian Church," or 
of the " Disciples' Church," nor of the 
" Brethren's Church," &c. 

If, then, it is unscriptural to assume and 
wear any one of these, or any other Bible 
name, as a church appellation, how much 
more improper, unscriptural, and God dis- 
honoring is it, to lay aside all Bible names, 
even the divinely appointed name, Church 
of God, and assume a human name : such 
as Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Lu- 
theran, Presbyterian, German Reformed, 
Baptist, Methodist, Menonist, Unitarian, 
Universalist, or something else, equally 
inappropriate, unscriptural, and unmean- 
ing? 



Cirk; Scottish Kirk,- German ,Ktrd)C, from 
the ancient German verb Steven, to elect, to 
choose out, and is of the same import with the 
Greek verb aacaXeiv, ekkalein, to call out ; and 
whence the word E«cX>7<na is derived, and pri- 
marily denotes an assembly of men called 
together on the authority of the supreme 
power. 

* Is. lxii. 2. And the Gentiles shall see thy 
righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and 
thou shalt be called by a new name, which the 
mouth of the Lord shall name. 

Gal. i. 13. For ye have heard of my con- 
versation in time past in the Jews' religion, 
how that beyond measure I persecuted the 
church of God, and wasted it. 

1 Tim. iii. 15. But if I tarry long, that thou 
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thy- 
self in the house of God, which is the church 
of the living God, the pillar and ground of the 
truth. 



172 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



As a religious community, therefore, we 
claim to stand identified with, and to be a 
part of, the one true Church of God, of 
which Jesus Christ is the founder and 
head.* As such, we claim brotherhood 
with all the saints of God, wherever they 
may be found, and wish to extend the right 
hand of fellowship to all, without excep- 
tion, " whose fellowship is with the Father 
and his Son the Lord Jesus Christ." 
. But having been requested to write a 
brief history of the Church of God, as 
she exists, by that name, in the United 
States, we shall, accordingly, notice more 
particularly that religious community, or 
body of believers, who profess to have 
come out from all human and unscriptural 
organizations, who have fallen back upon 
original grounds, and who wish, therefore, 
to be known and called by no other dis- 
tinctive name, collectively taken, than the 
Church op God. This name we assume 
from conscientious motives, because rea- 
son and revelation require it ; and not 
because we wish to magnify ourselves 
against others, as it has been improperly 
and unkindly intimated by some unfriendly 
sectarians. 

In the year 1820, the writer of this 
article, settled in Harrisburg, Pennsylva- 
nia, as a minister of the German Reformed 
Church, and took charge of four congre- 
gations ; one in the town, and three in the 
country. Soon after his settlement in this 
charge, it pleased the great Shepherd and 
Bishop of souls to commence a work of 
grace among the people, both in the town 
and in the country. But, as revivals of 
religion were new and almost unheard-of 
things in those days, especially among the 
German people of that region, this work 
of God failed not to excite opposition 
among hypocrites, false professors, and 
the wicked generally ; just as true revivals 
of religion, or genuine works of grace, 
have very generally done. And as the 
members of these congregations or 
churches were unconverted, with few ex- 



* We admit, that there are more or less 
Christians, or converted persons, among the 
different sects and denominations ; but we 
regret that the most of them have no prefer- 
ence for Bible names, and the right ways of 
the Lord ; or, if they have, that they lack moral 
courage to show it. 



ceptions, and many grossly ignorant of 
the right ways of the Lord, the most vio- 
lent opposition and persecution arose from 
that quarter, aided by not a few of the 
ministers of their synod. This state of 
things lasted for about five years, and then 
resulted in a separation from the German 
Reformed Church. 

About the year 1825, more extensive 
and glorious revivals of religion com- 
menced in different towns and neighbor- 
hoods, to wit : Harrisburg, Shiremans- 
town, Lisborn, Mechanicsburg, Church- 
town, New Cumberland, Linglestown, Mid- 
dletown, Millerstown, Lebanon, Lancas- 
ter, Shippensburg, Elizabethtown, Mount 
Joy, Marietta, and other places. In these 
glorious revivals, hundreds were happily 
converted to God. As a natural conse- 
quence, these conversions led, in different 
places, to the organization of churches. 
And, as the views of the writer of this arti- 
cle, had undergone a material change, as 
to church ordinances and the organization 
of churches, he united with others in adopt- 
ing the apostolic plan, as taught in the New 
Testament, and established free, and inde- 
pendent churches, consisting of believers 
or Christians only, without any human 
name, or creed, or laws, &c. 

From among the young converts, in 
these newly planted churches, it pleased 
God to raise up several able men, to take 
upon them the solemn and responsible 
office of the gospel ministry. These min- 
istering brethren, with a few other great 
and good men with similar views and kin- 
dred spirits, labored and co-operated with 
each other for a few years, without any 
regular system of co-operation ; but, 
finally, they agreed to hold a meeting for 
the purpose of adopting a regular system 
of co-operation. 

In October, 1830, they met together for 
this purpose, pursuant to public notice, in 
the Union Bethel, at Harrisburg, and or- 
ganized the meeting by appointing John 
Winebrenner, of Harrisburg, speaker ; 
and John Elliot, of Lancaster, clerk. 

After spending the morning session in 
solemn prayer and deliberations, the meet- 
ing was adjourned till 2 o'clock, P. M., 
when a sermon was preached before the 
meeting by the speaker, of which the fol- 
lowing is a brief sketch. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



173 



Text — " And now, I say to you, refrain from 
these men, and let them alone : for if this coun- 
sel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 
but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it ; lest 
haply ye be found even to fight against God." 
Acts, v. 38, 39. 

By the " counsel and work," spoken of in 
this passage, is meant the preaching and 'pro- 
pagation of Christianity ; or, in other words, 
the conversion of sinners, the formation of 
churches, and the supply of the destitute with 
the gospel ministry. 

The furtherance of this counsel and work, 
then, is the great ostensible object contem- 
plated by the present meeting ; that is, by 
adopting such a plan of co-operation, that will 
most happily subserve the cause of God in 
promoting, 

1st. The conversion of sinners; 

2dly. The establishment of churches, upon 
the New Testament plan ; and, 

3dly. The supplying of the destitute with 
the preaching of the gospel. 

I. The conversion of sinners is the para- 
mount object contemplated by the preaching 
of the gospel. 

By sinners, are meant persons in a carnal 
or natural state, and who have transgressed 
the law of God. 

By the conversion of sinners, is to be un- 
derstood, such a moral change of the heart 
and life, as the Scriptures uniformly require 
and declare indispensably necessary to pre- 
pare them for heaven. 

This great and benevolent end is usually 
effected by the preaching of the gospel. Hence 
Christ has ordained the ministry; and those 
who are entrusted with this sacred office, 
ought to consider it their greatest duty to la- 
bor for the conversion of sinners. This is 
the first part of the " counsel of God." This, 
therefore, we have in view: of it, may we 
never lose sight, and in it, may we never tire. 

II. To establish and build up churches on 
the New Testament plan is another primary 
par' of this " counsel and work ;" and a fur- 
ther object that we have in view. 

A church signifies a religious society, or a 
given number of Christians united together 
by mutual consent, for the worship of God 
according to the Scriptures. 

Agreeably to the New Testament, churches 
should be formed, — 

1. Of Christians or believers only ;* 

2. Without a sectarian or human name y\ 

3. With no creed and discipline but the 
Bible ;* 

4. Subject to no extrinsic or foreign juris- 
diction ;§ and, 

5. Governed by their own officers, chosen by 
a majority of the members of each individual 
church.ll 



* Acts ii. 41 ; Ch. v. 13. f Is. lxn. 2. 

4 Ps. xix. 7; Matt, xxviii. 20; Acts ii. 42; 2 John 9. 

§ Heb. xiii. 17; Gal. v. 1. || Acts vi. 3; xx. 28. 



To accomplish all this will require another 
great reformation. But, under God, it can be 
achieved. 

III. To supply destitute places with regular I 
preaching, is another great and necessary part 
of the " counsel and work" of God, and for 
the accomplishment of this, we purpose to 
unite on the best and most efficient plan of 
co-operation. 

After sermon, the business meeting was 
called to order, and after some further 
consultation, it was agreed, as the unani- 
mous sense of the meeting. 

1st. That there is but one true church, 
namely : the Church of God. 

2dly. That it is the bounden duty of 
all God's people to belong to her, and 
none else. 

3dly. That it is " lawful and right" to 
associate together for the purpose of co- 
operation in the cause of God. 

4thly. That we agree to hold an elder- 
ship annually for this purpose, consisting 
of teaching and ruling elders of the 
Church of God. 

The Teaching elders present, then sub- 
scribed their names, viz : Andrew Miller, 
John Winebrenner, John Elliott, John 
Walborn, David Maxwell and James 
Richards. 

Thus originated the Church of God, 
properly and disuxictively so calied, in the 
United States of America ; and thus, also, 
originated the first eldership. 



II. THE FORM AND ATTRIBUTES OF 
THE CHURCH OF GOD. 

The English word church is derived 
from the Greek kuriakon, belonging to 
the Lord. The Greek word E^X^ia, com- 
monly translated church, in the New 
Testament, comes from ek, out of, and 
kalio, I call. Hence its first and primary 
meaning is : 

1. A congregation or assembly of per- 
sons, whether good or bad, called out and 
separated from the rest of the community 
for some special purpose. (Joel ii. 15; 
Acts xix. 39, 41.) 

2. It is used to denote the congrega- 
tions of Israel, or the Jewish nation. 
(Liv. xvi. 33 ; Acts vii. 38.) 

3. In its New Testament sense it is 
used to signify, 



174 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



1. A community of saints, united to- 
gether for the worship of God, according 
to Scriptures. (Matt, xviii. 17 ; Rom. 
xvi. 1 ; Acts. xiv. 23 ; 1 Cor. i. 2 ; Rev. 
i. 4.) 

2. The whole number, or collective 
body of Christians, throughout the world. 
(Acts ii. 47, Ch. xx. 28 ; 1 Cor. x. 32, 
(Jh. xv. 9 ; Gal. i. 13 ; Eph. iii. 10, Ch. v. 
23, 24 ; Heb. xii. 23.) 

3. Believers in one family. (Rom xvi. 
5'; Col. iv. 15; Phil. 2.) 

Accordingly, the saints, or body of be- 
lievers, in any given place, constitute 
the Church of God in that place ; 
whilst those different, local and individual 
churches, collectively taken, constitute the 
one, holy, general church of God, spread 
abroad throughout the world. 

This, then, being the primary and ap- 
propriate use and meaning of the term 
E.™x>7<na, in the New Testament, it will be 
easy to perceive what the true nature and 
form of the Church of God is. 

If she is constituted, or made up of 
saints, Christians, or true believers, (as 
the use of the word indicates), then such 
only are scripturally entitled to member- 
ship. And if she is a society of saints 
or Christians, then a congenial govern- 
ment is necessarily implied ; for no so- 
ciety can well exist without order, and 
order supposes rule, discipline, and con- 
trol ; and these, imply a ruling and con- 
trolling power. 

Organization, therefore, is fairly predi- 
cated of every gospel church. And we 
believe no church to be scripturally or- 
ganized without a competent number of 
bishops and deacons. These two classes 
are the only regular, permanent church 
officers recognized in the New Testament. 
There were, besides these, other officers 
in the primitive church ; but these were 
temporary, special, and extraordinary 
officers, than otherwise. 

Bishops and elders (for these we hold 
to be convertible appellations, and desig- 
nations of the same office, Acts xx. 17, 
28 ; Tit. i. 5-5,) are the teaching and 
ruling officers of the church in both her 
spiritual and secular departments ; whilst 
the deacons are the servants of the church 
and assistants to the elders in secular 
affairs, Acts vi. 1-5. 



Hence, we may readily and clearly 
perceive, that the form of government 
which God has ordained in his church, is 
not, and cannot be Papal, nor Patriarchal, 
nor Magisterial, nor Episcopal, nor Con- 
gregational ; but, in its popular sense, 
pri!sbyterian ; that is, a government 
vested in the hands of, and administered 
by, the elders or presbyters of each indi- 
vidual or particular church. Acts xx. 17. 

The Church of God, like the House of 
Israel, is made up of individual households 
or societies, and these in an organized 
state, are placed under the rule and go- 
vernment of Elders and Deacons. 

The proper way to appoint the officers 
of a church is, to elect the ruling elders 
and deacons by a vote of the church, in 
which all the members, males and females, 
may, and of risht ought to participate. 
(See Acts vi. 2, 3 ; Gal. iii. 28.) 

The term of office each church has a 
right to determine. But both reason and 
Scripture, we think, dictate the propriety 
of making these temporary, and not per- 
petual, or life-officers. If they are elected 
for a limited term, the church may dis- 
place them when she has it in her power 
to elect men of superior gifts and qualifi- 
cations ; and in the absence of that op- 
portunity she loses nothing, because the 
same officers are always re-eligible. 

Teaching elders, or preachers of the 
gospel, ought always to be chosen or called 
of God ; that is, moved, inclined, or dis- 
posed by the Holy Spirit, to take upon 
them the performance of the sacred func- 
tions of the gospel ministry. A divine 
call should always be antecedent to an ec- 
clesiastical one.* 

The official functions and jurisdiction 



* What is here affirmed concerning church 
elders, goes upon the assumption that teaching 
and ruling elders are of Divine appointment. 
The truth and certainty of this fact, may be 
argued from the following considerations, 
to wit : 1. Because God has set in the church 
Teachers and Rulers. 1 Cor. xii. 28. 2. Because 
there is a distinction made between teaching 
and ruling elders. 1 Tim. v. 17. 3. Because 
there were a plurality of elders in the primitive [ 
churches. Acts xiv. 23. Ch. xx. 1 7. Tit. ii. 5. j 
4. Because these elders, in most cases, were 
appointed or chosen, by other elders or the 
churches themselves. Acts xiv. 23. Ch. i. 
23-26. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



175 



of ruling elders and deacons are confined 
to the particular churches to which they 
belong ; but the teaching elders, or preach- 
ers carry with them all their ecclesiastical 
functions ex-officio. Hence, Peter, John, 
Paul, and others, were elders in all the 
churches wherever they went; whereas, 
the elders of the cities of Crete, and of 
the churches of Jerusalem, Ephesus, An- 
tioch, Corinth, Lystra, Iconium, &c, 
were elders only in the local churches 
where they resided. 

This, then, being the essential and or- 
ganic form of the Church of God, to her 
rightfully appertain the following attri- 
butes, viz. : 

1. Visibility. 

2. Unity. 

3. Sanctity. 

4. Universality ; and, 

5. Perpetuity. 

1st. Visibility is a prime attribute of 
the Church of God. God intended his 
church to be " the light of the world,"* 
and this light to be " as clear as the sun 
and as fair as the moon.""!" Hence he 
compares her in another place to " a city 
that is set on a hill, and that cannot be 
hid,":j: An invisible church, therefore, 
that some divines speak of, is altogether 
an anomaly in Christian Theology. 

* Matt. v. 14. Ye are the light of the world. 
t Songs vi. 10. Who is she that looketh forth as the 
morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible 
as an army with banners ? 
J Matt, v. 14. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. 

2dly. Unity is another essential attri- 
bute of the Church of God. The union 
of sects into one general Evangelical Al- 
liance, or into one human organization, 
diverse in character, faith, and practice 
from the one true Church of God, as "cha- 
racterized in the Bible, we have no belief 
in, nor sympathy for. But the oneness, 
or unity of all true believers in one holy 
Church of God, on the Bible plan, and 
under the reign and government of Jesus 
Christ, is a consummation we most de- 
voutly wish for: and this union being 
founded on the immutable counsels of God, 
we believe implicitly, that here, under 
Messiah's reign, in the Church of God, 
and nowhere else, is the proper rallying 
ground, and the true platform of Christian 
union, where all can, will, and ought to 



meet and unite in order to be " one, per- 
fectly one, as the Father and the Son are 
one." 

John x. 16. And other sheep I have, which are 
not of this fold : them also I must bring, and they shall 
hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one 
shepherd. 

Ch. xiii. 34. A new commandment I give to you, 
That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye 
also love one another. 

Ch. xvii. 21. That they all may be one, as thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
one in us ; that the world may believe that thou hast 
sent ine. 

22. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given 
them ; that they may be one, even as we are one. 

23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made 
perfect in one ; and that the world may know that thou 
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved 
me. 

Eph. ii. 14. For he is our peace, who hath made both 
one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition 
between us ,* 

15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the 
law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to 
make in himself of twain, one new man, so making 
peace. 

3dly. Sanctity is also an essential attri- 
bute of the true church. Hence none but 
saints, or holy ones, have a just and scrip- 
tural claim to membership in the Church 
of God. The house of Israel was a type 
of the Church of God : and just as that 
house or nation, was made up of the natu- 
ral seed of Abraham, so likewise is the 
true church of his spiritual seed. Now, 
as believers only, can become the spiritual 
seed of Abraham ; hence, none but sound 
converts and true believers ought to be 
recognized and tolerated as approved 
members in the church. The religious 
association of unconverted persons, or 
their incorporation with the " saints of the 
Most High," is directly subversive of the 
designs of God with regard to his church. 

John xvii. 14. I have given them thy word ; and 
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the 
world, even as I am not of the world, 

19. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they 
also might be sanctified through the truth. 

Acts v. 13. And of the rest durst no man join himself 
to them ; but the people magnified them. 

1 Cor. iii. 11. For other foundation can no man lay 
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

17. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall 
God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which tem- 
ple ye are. 

Eph. v. 26. That he might sanctify and cleanse it 
with the washing of water by the word, 

27. That he might present it to himself a glorious 
church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; 
but that it should be holy and without blemish. 

1 Pet. i. 15. But as he which hath called you is holy, 
so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ; 

16. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 

Matt. xiii. 33. Another parable spake he to them; 
the kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a wo- 
man took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
whole was leavened. 

4thly. Universality is likewise a pro- 
minent" attribute in the Church of the First 
Born. A few passages will set this in a 



176 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



clear light. These few may suffice: — 

Matt. xiii. 33. Another parable spake he to them ; 
The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a 
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
whole was leavened. 

Ps. lxxii. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to 
sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 

Isa. ii. 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be estab- 
lished in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted 
above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 

Dan. ii. 34. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out 
without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that 
were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. 

35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, 
and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like 
the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind 
carried them away, that no place was found for them : 
and the stone that smote the image became a great moun- 
tain, and filled the whole earth. 

5thly. Perpetuity is another principal 
attribute of the true church. The Church 
of God is built upon an immovable rock, 
and " the gates of hell," we are told, 
" shall never prevail against her." This 
" kingdom," therefore, " is an everlasting 
kingdom." 

Matt. xvi. 18. And I say also to thee, That thou art 
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

Dan. ii. 44. And in the days of these kings shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be 
destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other 
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these 
kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 

Chap. iv. 3. How great are his signs ! and how 
mighty are his wonders ! his kingdom is an everlasting 
kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to gen- 
eration. 



III. THE FAITH AND PRACTICE OF THE 
CHURCH OF GOD. 

The Church of God has no authorita- 
tive constitution, ritual, creed, catechism, 
book of discipline, or church standard, 
but the Bible. The Bible she believes to 
be the only creed, discipline, church stand- 
ard, or test-book, which God ever intended 
his church to have. Nevertheless, it may 
not be inexpedient, pro bono publico, to 
exhibit a short manifesto, or declaration, 
showing her views, as to what may be 
called leading matters of faith, experience 
and practice. 

1. She believes the Bible, or the cano- 
nical books of the Old and New Testa- 
ment to be the word of God, a revelation 
from God to man, and the only authorita- 
tive rule of faith and practice. 

Luke xvi. 29. Abraham saith to him, They have Moses 
and the prophets; let them hear them. 

2 Tim. iii. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of 
God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc- 
tion, for instruction in righteousness, 

2 Pet. i. 19. We have also a more sure word of pro- 
phecy ; whereto ye do well that ye take heed, as to a 
light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, 
and the day star arise in your hearts. 

20. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scrip- 
ture is of any private interpretation. 



21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will 
of man ; but holy men of God spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Gho3t. 

2. She believes in one Supreme God, 
consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
and that these three are co-equal and co- 
eternal. 

Matt, xxviii. 19. Go ye, therefore, and teach all na- 
tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 

2 Cor. xiii. 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 

1 John v. 7. For there are three that bear record in 
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; 
and these three are one. 

3. She believes in the fall and depra- 
vity of man ; that is to say, that man by 
nature is destitute of the favor and image 
of God. 

Rom. v. 10. For if. when we were enemies, we were 
reconciled to God by the death of his Son ; much more, 
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

Chap. iii. 10. As it is written, There is none right- 
eous, no, not one. 

Chap. viii. 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity 
against God : for it is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be. 

11. There is none that understandeth, there is none 
that seeketh after God, 

12. They are all gone out of the way, they are toge- 
ther become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, 
no, not one. 

13. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their 
tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is 
under their lips. 

1 Cor. xv. 49. And as we have borne the image of the 
earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

Col. i. 21. And you, that were sometime alienated, 
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now 
hath he reconciled. 

• 22. In the body of his flesh through death, to present 
you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable in his 
sight. 

4. She believes in the redemption of 
man through the atonement, or vicarious 
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

Rom. v. 6. For when we were yet without strength, 
in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 

11. And not only so, but we also joy in God, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received 
the atonement. 

Chap. iii. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propi- 
tiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righte- 
ousness for the remission of sins that are past, through 
the forbearance of God. 

2 Cor. v. 19. God was in Christ, reconciling the world 
to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them ; 
and hath committed to us the word of reconcilia- 
tion. 

20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though 
God did beseech you by us : we pray you in Christ's 
stead, be ye reconciled to God. 

21. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew 
no sin ; tnat we might be made the righteousness of 
God in him. 

Gal. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse 
of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is written, 
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree- 

Chap. iv. 4. But when the fulness of the time was 
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made 
under the law. 

5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons. 

Heb. ix. 12. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, 
but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy 
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 

13. For if the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the ashes 
of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the 
purifying of the flesh ; 



14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot 
to God. purge your conscience from dead works to serve 
the living God? 

15 And for this cause he is the Mediator of the new 
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption 
of the transgressions that were under the first testament, 
thoy which are called, might receive the promise of 
eternal inheritance. 

1 Peter iii. 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for 
sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to 
God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by 
the Spirit. 

1 John ii. 2. And he is the propitiation for our sins ; 
and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole 
world. 

5. She believes in the gift and office- 
work of the Holy Spirit ; that is, in the 
enlightening, regenerating, and sanctifying 
influence and power of the Spirit. 

John xvi. 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth : It is 
expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, 
the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, 
I will send him to you. 

8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of 
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment : 

9. Of sin ; because they believe not on me : 

10. Of righteousness ; because I go to my Father, 
and ye see me no more : 

11. Of judgment; because the prince of this world is 
judged. 

Chap. xiv. 16. And I will pray the Father, and he 
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you for ever. 

17. Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot 
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him : 
but ye know him ; for he dwelieth with you, and shall 
be in you. 

26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom 
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all 
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, what- 
soever I have said to you. 

Acts i. 5. For John truly baptized with water; but 
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days 
hence. 

Titus iii. 5, Not by works of righteousness, which 
we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, 
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
Holy Ghost. 

6. She believes in the free, moral agency 
of man ; that he has moral ability, because 
commanded to repent and believe, in or- 
der to be saved ; and that the doctrine of 
unconditional election and reprobation, has 
no foundation in the oracles of God. 

Matt, xxiii. 27. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, 
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within 
full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 

Chap. xxv. 14. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man 
travelling into a far country, who called his own ser- 
vants, and delivered to them his goods. 

15. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, 
and to another one ; to every man according to his 
several ability; and straightway took his journey. 

16. Then he that, had received the five talents, went 
and traded with the same, and made them other five 
talents. 

17. And likewise he that had ? eceived two, he also 
gained other two. 

lb. But he that had received one went and digged in 
the earth, and hid his lord's money. 

19. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, 
and reckonetli with them. 

20. And so he that had received five talents, came and 
brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst 
to me five talents : behold, I have gained besides 
them five talents more. 

21. His lord said to him, Well done, thou good and 
faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few 
things, I will make thee ruler over many things : enter 
thou into the joy of thy lord. 



22. He also that had received two talents came, and 
said, Lord, thou deliveredst to me two talents ; be- 
hold I have gained two other talents besides them. 

23. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faith- 
ful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few thinss, 
I will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou 
into the joy of thy lord. 

24. Then he which had received the one talent came, 
and said, Lord, T knew thee that thou art a hard man, 
reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where 
thou hast not strewed : 

25. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in 
the earth : lo, there thou hast that is thine. 

26. His lord answered and said to him, Thou wicked 
and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I 
sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed : 

27. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to 
the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have 
received mine own with usury. 

28. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it 
to him which hath ten talents. 

29. For to every one that hath shall be given, and 
he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not. 
shall be taken away even that which he hath. 

30. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer 
darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

John v. 40. And ye will not come to me, that ye 
might have life. 

Mark i. 15. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of 
God is at hand : repent ye, and believe the gospel. 

Acts x. 43. To him give all the prophets witness, 
that through his name, whosoever believethin him shall 
receive remission of sins. 

Chap. xiii. 38. Be it known to you, therefore, men 
and brethren, that through this man is preached to 
you the forgiveness of sins ; 

39. And by him, all that believe are justified from all 
things, from which ye could not be justified by the law 
of Moses. 

Chap. xvii. 30. And the times of this ignorance God 
winked at; but now commandeth all men every where 
to repent. 

1 John iii. 23. And this is his commandment. That 
we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, 
and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 

7. She believes that man is justified by 
faith in Christ, and not by the works of 
the law, or by works of his own righte- 
ousness. 

Rom. iii. 28. Therefore we conclude, that a man is 
justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 

Chap. iv. 4. Now to him that worketh is the reward 
not reckoned of grace, but of debt ; 

5. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him 
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for right- 
eousness. 

Gal. ii. 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the 
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; even 
we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be jus- 
tified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the 
law ; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be jus- 
tified. 

Phil. iii. 9. And be found in him, not having mine 
own righteousness which is of the law, but that which 
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which 
is of God by faith. 

8. She believes in the necessity of re- 
generation or the new birth ; or, in the 
change of man's moral nature, after the 
image of God, by the influence and power 
of the word and spirit of God, through 
faith in Christ Jesus. 

John iii. 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say 
to thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the 
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

Titus iii. 5. Not by works of righteousness, which 
we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, 
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
Holy Ghost ; 

6. Which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus 
Christ our Saviour; 



23 



7 That being justified by his grace, we should be 
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 

James i. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the 
word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits 
of his creatures. 

1 Peter i. 23. Being born again, not of corruptible 
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which 
liveth and abideth forever. 

9. She believes in three positive ordi- 
nances of perpetual standing in the church, 
viz., Baptism, Feet-washing, and the 
Lord's Supper. 

Acts ii. 38. Then Peter said to them, Repent, and 
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus 
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the 
gift of the Holy Ghost. 

John xiii. 14.— If I then, your Lord and Master, have 
washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's 
feet. 

15. For I have given you an example, that ye should 
do as I have done to you. 

1 Cor. xi. 23— For I have received of the Lord that 
which also 1 delivered to you, That the Lord Jesus, 
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread; 

24. And, when he had given thanks, he brake it, and 
said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for 
you ; this do in remembrance of me. 

25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when 
he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in 
my blood ; this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remem- 
brance of me. 

26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this 
cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. 

27. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and 
drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of 
the body and blood of the Lord. / 

28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat 
of that bread, and drink of that cup. 

29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth 
and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the 
Lord's body. 

10. She believes two things essential 
to the validity of baptism, viz., faith and 
immersion : that faith should always pre- 
cede immersion ; and that where either is 
wanting, there can be no scriptural bap- 
tism. 

Mark xvi. 16. He that believeth and is baptized, shall 
be saved ; but he that believeth not, shall be damned. 

Acts viii. 37. And Philip said, If thou believest with 
all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, 
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 

Rom. vi. 3. Know ye not that so many of us as were 
baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death ? 

4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into 
death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead 
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk 
in newness of life. 

5. For if we have been planted together in the like- 
ness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his 
resurrection. 

Col. ii. 12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also 
ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation 
of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 

1 Peter iii. 21. The like figure whereto, even baptism, 
doth also now save us, (not the putting away of the filth 
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward 
God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

11. She believes that the ordinance of 
feet-tv ashing, that is, the literal washing 
of the saints' feet, according to the words 
and example of Christ, is obligatory upon 
all Christians, and ought to be observed 
by all the churches of God. 

John xiii. 3. Jesus knowing that the father had given 
all things into his hands, and that he was come from 
God, and went to God, 



4. He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments ; 
and took a towel, and sjirded himself. 

5. After that, he poureth water into a basin, and began 
to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the 
towel wherewith he was girded. 

12. So, after he had washed their feet, and had taken 
his garments, and was set down again, he said to 
them" Know ye what I have done to you J 

13. Ye call me Master and Lord ; and ye say well ; for 
so I am. 

14. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed j 
your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 

15. For I have given you an example, that ye should 
do as I have done to you. 

Matt, xxviii. 20. Teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with 
you always, even to the end of the world. Amen. 

12. She believes that the Lords Sup- 
per should be often administered, and, to 
be consistent, to Christians only, in a sit- 
ting posture, and always in the evening. 

Matt. xxvi. And as they were eating, Jesus took 
bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to his 
disciples, and said. Take, eat ; this is my body. 

27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it 
to them, saying. Drink ye all of it ; 

28. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is 
shed for many for the remission of sins. 

1 Cor. xi. 23. For I have received of the Lord, that 
which also I delivered to you, That the Lord Jesus, 
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread : 

24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and 
said. Take, eat : this is my body, which is broken for 
you : do this in remembrance of me. 

25. After the same manner also he took the cup when 
he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in 
my blood : this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remem- 
brance of me. 

26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this 
cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 

Luke xxii. 19. And he took bread, and gave thanks, 
and brake it, and gave to them, saying, This is my 
body which is given for you : this do in remembrance 
of me. 

20. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This 
cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for 
you. 

Mark xiv. 22. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, 
and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, 
Take, eat : this is my body. 

23. And he took the cup, and when he nad given 
thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 

24. And he said to them, This is my blood of the new 
testament, which is shed for many. 

25. Verily, I say to you, I will drink no more of the 
fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in 
the kingdom of God. 

Acts ii. 42. And they continued steadfastly in the 
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of 
bread, and in prayers. 

13. She believes in the institution of 
the Lord's day, or Christian sabbath, as a 
day of rest and religious worship. 

Mark ii. 27. And he said to them. The sabbath was 
made for man, and not man for the sabbath. 

Luke xxiii. 56. And they returned, and prepared 
spices and ointment ; and rested the sabbath-day accord- 
ing to commandment. 

Acts xiii. 27. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and 
their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the 
voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath- 
day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. 

Rev. i. 10. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and 
heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet. 

14. She believes that the reading and 
preaching of God's word, the singing of 
psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, 
and the offering up of prayers, are or- 
dained of God, and ought to be regularly 



and devoutly observed by all the people 
and churches of God. 

John v. 39. Search the scriptures ; for in them ye 
think ye have eternal life ; And they are they which 
testify of me. 

Matt. vi. 6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into 
thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to 
thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father, which 
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 

7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the 
heathen do : for they think that they shall be heard for 
their much speaking. 

8. Be not ye therefore like to them : for your Father 
knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. 

9. After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father 
which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as 
it is in heaven. 

11. Give us this day our daily bread. 

12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, 
and Ihe glory, for ever. Amen. 

Chap, xxviii. 19.— Go ye therefore and teach all na- 
tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; 

20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you : and lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the world. Amen. 

Eph. v. 19. Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and 
hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody 
in your heart to the Lord. 

Col. iii. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you 
richly in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one 
another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, sing- 
ing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 

Phil. iv. 6. Be careful for nothing; but in every 
thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let 
your requests be made known to God. 

15. She believes in the propriety and 
utility of holding fast-days, experience 
meetings, anxious meetings, camp meet- 
ings, and other special meetings of united 
and protracted efforts for the edification of 
the church and the conversion of sinners. 

1 Cor. xiv. 31. For ye may all prophesy one by one, 
♦hat all may learn, and all may be comforted. 

Luke vi. 12. And it came to pass in those days, that 
he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all 
night in prayer to God. 

Acts xi. 26. And when he had found him, he brought 
him to Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole 
year they assembled themselves with the church, and 
taught much people. And the disciples were called 
Christians first in Antioch. 

Chap. xii. 12. And when he had considered the thing, 
he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose 
surname was Mark; where many were gathered to- 
gether, praying. 

Chap. xiv. 27. And when they were come, and had 
gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that 
God had done with them, and how he had opened the 
door of faith to the Gentiles. 

16. She believes that the gospel minis- 
try, sabbath schools, education, the reli- 
gious press, the Bible, missionary, tem- 
perance, and all other benevolent causes, 
ought to be heartily and liberally sup- 
ported. 

1 Cor. ix. 11. Tf we have sown to you spiritual 
things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal 
things? 

12. If others be partakers of this power over you, are 
not we rather - ? Nevertheless we have not used this 
power ; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the 
gospel of Christ. 

13. Do ye not know that they which minister about 
holy things live of the things of the temple, and they 
which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? 



14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which 
preach the gospel should live of the gospel. 

Gal. vi. 6. Let him that is taught in the word, com- 
municate to him that teacheth in all good things. 

James iv. 17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do 
good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. 

17. She believes that the church ought 
to relieve and take care of her own poor 
saints, superannuated ministers, widows 
and orphans. 

Acts vi. I. And in those days, when the number of 
the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring 
of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their 
widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 

2. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples 
unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave 
the word of God, and serve tables. 

Chap. xi. 29. Then the disciples, every man according 
to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren 
which dwelt in Judea. 

Rom. xii. 13. Distributing to the necessity of saints ; 
given to hospitality. 

Gal. vi. 2. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so 
fulfil the law of Christ. 

1 Tim. v. 9. Let not a widow be taken into the num- 
ber under three score years old, having been the wife of 
one man. 

1 Thess. v. 14. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn 
them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, sup- 
port the weak, be patient toward all men. 

Phil. iv. 15. Now ye Philipians, know also, that in 
the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Mace- 
donia, no church communicated with me as concerning 
giving and receiving, but ye only. 

Heb. xiii. 16. But to do good, and to communicate, 
forget not : for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 

18. She believes that the manufacture, 
traffic, and use of ardent spirits, as a 
beverage or common drink, is injurious 
and immoral, and ought to be abandoned. 

1 Cor. x. 31. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or 
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 

1 Peter ii. 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as stran- 
gers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war 
against the soul ; 

12. Having your conversation honest among the Gen- 
tiles : that, whereas they speak against you as evil- 
doers, they may by your good works, which they shall 
behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

1 Thess. v. 22. Abstain from all appearance of evil. 

19. She believes the system or institu- 
tion of involuntary slavery to be impolitic 
or unchristian. 

Matt. vii. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them : 
for this is the law and the prophets. 

Chap. xix. 19. Honour thy father and thy mother : 
and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Gal. iii. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is 
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : 
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 

20. She believes that all civil wars are 
unholy and sinful, and in which the saints 
of the Most High ought never to partici- 
pate. 

2 Cor. x. 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not 
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of 
strongholds. 

Heb. xii. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, 
without which no man shall see the Lord. 

Matt. vii. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them : 
for this is the law and the prophets. 

Chap. xxvi. 52. Then said Jesus to him, Put up 
again thy sword into his place : for all they that take 
the sword, shall perish with the sword. 

Chap. v. 39 But I sav to you, That ye resist not 



180 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, 
turn to him the other also. 

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them 
that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray 
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. 

21. She believes that civil governments 
are ordained of God for the general good ; 
that Christians ought to be subject to the 
same in all things, except what is mani- 
festly unscriptural ; and that appeals to 
the law, out of the church, for justice, and 
the adjustments of civil rights; are not in- 
consistent with the principles and duties 
of the Christian religion. 

Rom. xiii. 1. Let every soul be subject to the higher 
powers. For there is no power but of God : the powers 
that be, are ordained of God. 

2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth 
the ordinance of God : and they that resist shall receive 
to themselves damnation. 

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the 
evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? do 
that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the 
same : 

4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But 
if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth 
not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a 
revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 

5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for 
wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 

Acts xxv. 11. For if I be an offender, or have com- 
mitted any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die : 
but if there be none of these things whereof these ac- 
cuse me, no man may deliver me to them. I appeal 
to Cesar. 

21 But when Paul had appealed to be reserved to 
the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept 
till I might send him to Cesar. 

1 Cor. vi. 1. Dare any of you, having a matter against 
another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the 
saints ? 

■2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the 
world ? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye 
unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 

3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? how much 
more, things that pertain to this life ? 

4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to 
this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in 
the church. 

5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a 
wise man among you ? no, not one that shall be able to 
judge between his brethren? 

6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that 
before the unbelievers. 

7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you,, 
because ye go to law with one another. Why do ye 
not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer 
yourselves to be defrauded? 

22. She believes in the necessity of a 
virtuous and holy life, and that Christ will 
save those only who obey him. 

Heb. xii. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, 
without which no man shall see the Lord. 

Chap. v. 9. And, being made perfect, he became the 
Author of eternal salvation, unto all them that obey 
him. 

16. Because it is written, Be ye holy ; for I am holy. 

23. She believes in the visibility, unity, 
sanctity, universality, and perpetuity of 
the church of God. 

Matt. v. 14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that 
is set on a hill cannot be hid. 

John xvii. 21. That they all may be one : as thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
one in us : that the world may believe that thou hast 
sent me. 

1 Cor. x. 17. For we being- many are one bread, and 
one body : for we are all partakers of that one bread. 



Eph. v. 27. That he might present it to himself a glo- 
rious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such 
thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 

Matt. xiii. 33. Another parable spake he to them ; 
The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a 
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
whole was leavened. 

Chap. xvi. 18. And I say also to thee, That thou 
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church : 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

24. She believes in the personal coming 
and reign of Jesus Christ. 

Matt. xxiv. 42. Watch therefore ; for ye know not 
what hour your Lord doth come. 

43. But know this, that if the good man of the house 
had known in what watch the thief would come, he 
would have watched, and would not have suffered his 
house to be broken up. 

44. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour 
as ye think not, the Son of man cometh. 

Acts i. 11. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why 
stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same Jesus which 
is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like 
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 

Phil. iii. 20. For our conversation is in heaven ; from 
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus 
Christ : 

21. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be 
fashioned like to his glorious body, according to the 
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to 
himself. 

1 Thess. iv. 16. For the Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archan- 
gel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ 
shall rise first. 

17. Then we which are alive and remain, shall be 
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

1 John iii. 2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, 
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we 
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; 
for we shall see him as he is. 

Rev. i. 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every 
eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him : 
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. 
Even so, Amen. 

25. She believes in the resurrection of 
the dead, " both of the just and the un- 
just j" that the resurrection of the just 
will precede the resurrection of the unjust; 
that the first will take place at the begin- 
ning, and the second at the end of the 
millennium. 

John v. 28. Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, 
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his 
voice, 

29. And shall come forth ; they that have done good 
to the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, 
to the resurrection of damnation. 

Acts xxiv. 15. And have hope toward God, which 
they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resur- 
rection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. 

1 Thess. iv. 16. For the Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archan- 
gel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ 
shall rise first. 

Rev. xx. 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon 
them, and judgment was given to them : and / saw the 
souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of 
Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not 
worshipped, the beast, neither his image, neither had 
received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their 
hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thou- 
sand years. 

5. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the 
thousand years were finished. This is the first resur- 
rection. 

6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
resurrection : on such the second death hath no power, 
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall 
reign with him a thousand years. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



181 



26. She believes in the creation of new 
heavens and a new earth. 

Is. Ixv. 17. For, behold, I create new heavens, and a 
new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, 
nor come into mind. 

Chap. lxvi. 22. For as the new heavens, and the new 
earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith 
the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. 

2 Peter iii. 13. Nevertheless we, according to his 
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness. 

Rev. xxi. 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new 
earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were 
passed away ; and there was no more sea. 

27. She believes in the immortality of 
the soul ; in a universal and eternal judg- 
ment ; and in future and everlasting re- 
wards and punishments. 

Matt, xxv. 31. When the Son of man shall come in 
his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall 
I he sit upon the throne of his glory. 

32. And before him shall be gathered all nations : and 
he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd 
divideth his sheep from the goats : 

33. And he shall set the sheep on the right hand, but 
the goats on the left. 

34. Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, 
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world : 

35. For I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I 
was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, 
and ye took me in : 

36. Naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye 
visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came to me. 

37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, 
Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, and fed thee? or 
thirsty, and gave thee drink ? 

38. When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in ? 
or naked, and clothed thee ? 

39. Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and 
came to thee ? 

40. And the King shall answer and say to them, 
Verily, I say to you, inasmuch as ye have done it to one 
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me. 

41. Then shall he say also to them on his left hand, 
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels. 

42. For I was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat ; 
I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink : 

43. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, 
and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye 
visited me not. 

44. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, 
when saw we thee a hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, 
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to 
thee? 

45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily, I say 
to you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of 
these, ye did it not to me. 

46. And these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
ment ; but the righteous into life eternal. 

Mark viii. 36. For what shall it profit a man, if he 
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 

Chap. xii. 25. For when they shall rise from the dead, 
they neither marry, nor are given in marriage ; but are 
as the angels which are in heaven. 

Luke xvi. 19. There was a certain rich man, which 
was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptu- 
ously every day : 

20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, 
which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 

21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell 
from the rich man's table : moreover, the dogs came 
and licked his sores. 

22. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was 
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich 
man also died, and was buried : 

23. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in tor- 
ments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his 
bosom. 

24. And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have 
mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip 
of his finger in water, and cool my tongue ; for I am 
tormented in this flame. 



25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in 
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise 
Lazarus evil things : but now he is comforted, and thou 
art tormented. 

26. And besides all this, between us and you there is 
a great gulph fixed : so that they which would pass 
from hence to you, cannot ; neither can they pass to us, 
that would come from thence. 

27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that 
thou wouldest send him to my father's house : 

28. For I have five brethren ; that he may testify to 
them, lest they also come in this place of torment. 

29. Abraham saith to him, They have Moses and the 
prophets; let them hear them. 

30. And he said, Nay, father Abraham ; but if one 
went to them from the dead, they will repent. 

31. And he said to him, If they hear not Moses and the 
prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one 
rose from the dead. 

Acts xvii. 31. Because he hath appointed a day, in the 
which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that 
man whom he hath ordained : whereof he hath given 
assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from 
the dead. 

Such then, is an outline of the avowed 
principles of the Church of God in the 
United States. 



IV. HER POLITY AND STATISTICS. 

The polity, or form of government of 
the eKK^ma tov eeouj is strictly scriptural and 
apostolical. All her local and individual 
churches are formed on the principles of 
a free and independent republic. After 
confederation and organization every par- 
ticular church is under the supervision, 
watch-care, and government of an official 
church council, consisting of the preacher 
or preachers in charge, and a competent 
number of elders and deacons. These 
jointly co-operate in feeding, ruling, and 
governing the flock of God, on the rational 
principles of family government, and con- 
sist chiefly in these things, to wit : 

" In going before the people, and lead- 
ing the several parts of their worship, and 
becoming their example in every duty. 
In teaching them the principles and rules 
of their religion ; the knowledge, profes- 
sion, and practice of those doctrines and 
duties, that worship and order, which 
reason and natural religion dictate, and 
which Christ himself has revealed, super- 
added, and established in his Word. It 
consists in exhorting and persuading, and 
charging the members of the church with 
that seriousness, circumspection, and pro- 
priety of conduct, which becometh saints ; 
in instructing them how to apply those 
general principles and rules to particular 
cases and occurrences, and giving them 
their best advice under every circum- 
stance. It consists in presiding in their 



182 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



assemblies for worship or otherwise ; in 
examining and admitting applicants for 
baptism and church membership ; in 
watching over and guarding the church 
against errors and dangers. It consists 
in conducting the moral discipline of the 
church ; in admonishing, and warning, 
and reproving, with all gravity and au- 
thority, those who neglect or oppose any 
of the rules, ordinances, and command- 
ments of Christ ; and expelling from the 
church the scandalous, and in receiving 
again the truly penitent."* 



ANNUAL ELDERSHIPS. 

These individual churches are confed- 
erated or united for co-operation. The 
Church of God, therefore, has within her 
bounds, at present, four Elderships, viz.: 
the East Pennsylvania, the Ohio, the West 
Pennsylvania, and the Indiana Elderships. 

Each Eldership holds an annual meet- 
ing, consisting of all the teaching elders 
within its bounds, and a delegation from 
the cnurches, or rather from the stations 
and circuits, of an equal number of ruling 
elders. 

Co-operation, and not legislation, is the 
main object of these meetings ; and that, 
on the itinerant and stationary plan, com- 
bined. Thus it was originally. Whilst 
some were stationed, others itinerated in 
given districts ; whilst others again mis- 
sionated, or travelled at large. This plan 
the Church of God finds to be the most 
rational, scriptural, and efficient ; and 
therefore, she has adopted and pursues 
the same. 

Every station and circuit is required to 
support its own preacher or preachers for 
the time of their service among them, and 
to aid in supporting the missionaries and 
preachers at large. 

No one is allowed to remain longer 
than three years ; generally not more than 
one or two years, on one station or cir- 
cuit. Frequent changes work the best for 
ministers and people. 

The East Pennsylvania Eldership 
was formed in the fall of the year 1830. 



* Vide « Brief View of the Formation, Gov- 
ernment, and Discipline of the Church of 
God," by John Winebrenner, V. D. M. 



It had at its first formation, 6 ordained 
ministers — it has now 56. 

The Ohio Eldership was formed in 
the year 1836. It had then 6 preachers 
-—it now numbers 20. 

The West Pennsylvania Eldership 
was established in the year 1844. It con- 
sisted at that time of 10 ministers — it 
now consists of 15. 

The Indiana Eldership was set off 
from the Ohio Eldership, in the fall of 
1846, and consists of three teaching and 
as many ruling elders. 

GENERAL ELDERSHIP. 

These annual Elderships hold a general 
Eldership every three years. The first 
general Eldership met and was formed in 
Pittsburg, in the year 1845. Out of 22 
delegates which were appointed, viz. 12 
by the East. Pa. Eldership ; 6 by the Ohio 
Eldership ; and 4 by the West Pa. Elder- 
ship ; 1 3 only were in attendance, to wit : 

From the EAST PENNSYLVANIA 
ELDERSHIP. — teaching elders : — J, 
WINEBRENNER, DAVID KYLE, E. 
H. THOMAS, and GEO. McCARTNEY. 

RULING ELDERS 1 JOHN S. GABLE, 

and WM. HINNY. 

From the WEST PENNSYLVANIA 
ELDERSHIP. — teaching elders : — 
JOSEPH A. DOBSON, and JOHN HICK- 
ERNELL. ruling elders:— JOHN 
KARNER, and ABRAHAM SHERICK. 

From the OHIO ELDERSHIP. 

teaching elders :— EDWARD WEST, 
THOMAS HICKERNELL, and ARCHI- 
BALD MEGREW. ruling elders :— 



absentees .-—JACOB FLAKE, WM. 
McFADDEN, JOSEPH ROSS, A. WEI- 
KER, JOHN YOUNG, A. J. KAUFF- 
MAN, DANIEL MARKLEY, JOSEPH 
SHERICK, and SETH HOLLINGER. 

This body for their own efficient govern- 
ment and co-operation, drew up and adopt- 
ed the folio win oj constitution : viz : 



CONSTITUTION OF THE GENERAL EL- 
DERSHIP OF THE CHURCH OF GOD 
IN NORTH AMERICA. 

Art. 1. The General Eldership of the 
Church of God, shall consist of delegates 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



183 



from all the annual Elderships, which are, 
or may be Formed within the geographical 
territory of North America, in the follow- 
ing ratio, to wit : — One teaching elder for 
every ten, together with an equal number of 
ruling elders, during the first twenty years ; 
after that, the ratio of representation shall 
be defined as the Eldership shall deem 
most advisable. 

Art. 2. The General Eldership shall 
meet every three years, during the first 
twenty years, and every five years there- 
after, at such time and place as shall be 
agreed on, at each consecutive Eldership. 

Art. 3. Each session of the Eldership 
shall be opened and closed with religious 
worship, as the Speaker shall direct : and 
two-thirds of the members in attendance 
shall constitute a quorum to transact busi- 
ness. 

Art. 4. The first meeting of each regu- 
lar Eldership shall be opened by the 
Speaker of the preceding one — in his ab- 
sence, by the oldest minister present ; then 
two persons shall be appointed by accla- 
mation, to constitute the meeting; and 
after that, the Eldership shall be organized 
by electing by ballot, first a Speaker, 
next a Treasurer, and then two Clerks, 
viz : — a journalizing and transcribing 
clerk — all of whom shall hold their office 
till the meeting of the next stated Elder- 
ship. 

Art. 5. The Speaker shall be the pre- 
siding officer of all the meetings of the 
Eldership during the time for which he 
was elected. He shall conduct the busi- 
ness thereof, according to the rules and 
usages of deliberative bodies — he shall en- 
dorse all orders on the Treasurer, and 
shall call a special meeting of the Elder- 
ship, whenever a majority of the standing 
committees of the several annual Elder- 
ships shall require it, and not otherwise. 

Art. 6. The Treasurer shall hold the 
funds of the General Eldership — he shall 
invest or disburse the same, according to 
the warrants of the Speaker — he shall 
also exhibit a report of the receipts, in- 
vestments and disbursements at each con- 
secutive Eldership, and give approved se- 
curity to the Speaker and Clerks for any 
amount that the Eldership may require. 

Art. 7. The Journalizing Clerk shall 
read all papers and documents which the 



Speaker shall lay before the Eldership — 
keep a regular journal of its proceedings, 
and read the journal every morning, of 
the preceding day, during the sitting of 
the same. 

Art. 8. The Transcribing Clerk shall 
transcribe the journal, and such other pa- 
pers as the Eldership may direct, into a 
'protocol, or book of records ; and also 
furnish a copy of the same for publica- 
tion. 

Art. 9. The General Eldership shall 
own and control all the public, joint and 
common property ; such as the printing 
establishment, stereotype plates, copyrights 
of books, and whatever else may come 
into its hands, by way of purchase, be- 
quest, donation or otherwise. 

Art. 10. All publications for general 
use; such as hymn books, newspapers, 
periodicals, &c, shall be under the direc- 
tion of the General Eldership. 

Art. 11. It shall be the exclusive right 
and duty of the General Eldership, to 
elect or appoint the editor or editors of all 
newspapers and periodicals — a publishing 
committee — a board of directors of the 
printing establishment and book concern, 
and all other agents necessary for carry- 
ing out the true principles and plans of 
co-operation. 

Art. 12. The proceeds of all the public 
property shall be divided among all the 
annual Elderships, according to their nu- 
merical strength, or otherwise, as the 
General Eldership may direct. 

Art. 13. All orders from the annual 
Elderships, on the Treasurer of the Gene- 
ral Eldership, for their share of the public 
funds, or any part thereof, shall in all 
cases be issued and signed by a majority 
of the members of their respective stand- 
ing committees. 

Art. 14. The General Eldership shall 
have the exclusive right of arranging and 
settling the boundary lines of all the an- 
nual Elderships. 

Art. 15. All controversies and difficul- 
ties arising between the members of any 
two or more annual Elderships, shall be 
adjusted by a council of the several stand- 
ing committees of the same ; but either 
party may take an appeal from their deci- 
sion to the General Eldership, provided 
notice thereof be given to the chairman of 



184 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD 



the council, or through the paper or regular 
organ of the church, within twenty days 
after the rising of said council. A majority 
of the council, as above constituted, shall 
form a quorum to transact business. 

Art. 16. All matters of controversy or 
dispute which may arise between members 
of the several annual Elderships, shall be 
settled, either by their respective standing 
committees, or in their yearly meetings ; 
and their decision shall in all cases be 
final, except where two-thirds shall sanc- 
tion an appeal, or consent to refer it to the 
General Eldership. 

Art. 17. No person shall be considered 
an accredited Minister in the Church of 
God, without a regular license ; and all 
the preachers in good standing shall have 
their license renewed annually by the 
Elderships of which they are members. 

Art. 18. All persons expelled from any 
given Eldership, shall be treated as such 
by all the rest. 

Art. 19. No preacher shall be trans- 
ferred from one Eldership to another, with- 
out mutual consent. 

Art. 20. No minister shall be eligible 
to an appointment, as a delegate to the 
General Eldership, who shall not have 
held a license for five years previous to 
appointment ; except in new Elderships, 
or in cases where it is unavoidable. 

Art. 21. The General Eldership shall 
have power to employ suitable persons as 
missionaries or agents, whether they are 
members of an annual Eldership or not ; 
provided they go into their employ volun- 
tarily, and give due notice thereof — if 
members of an Eldership, to the standing 
committee, or to the annual Eldership of 
which they are members. 

Art. 22. All persons in the employ of 
the General Eldership shall have the cre- 
dentials expressive of their appointment, 
signed by the Speaker and Clerks thereof, 
to whom they shall also be held account- 
able for the faithful performance of the 
same ; but all such as are ministers of the 
gospel shall be amenable, for their moral 
and religious character, to the annual El- 
dership of which they are members. 

Art. 23. Any resolution or set of reso- 
lutions 3 brought forward by the committee 
on resolutions, shall be acted on imme- 
diately : but any resolution or set of reso- 



lutions offered by a single member of the 
Eldership, shall be referred to the com- 
mittee on resolutions without debate, and 
said committee shall have discretionary 
power to suppress or to return the same, 
either with or without amendments. 

Art. 24. No member shall speak more 
than twice, on the merits of one question, 
whilst under consideration, without leave 
of the house. 

Art. 25. When a question is under de- 
bate, no motion shall be in order, except 
it be to amend, strike out, commit, post- 
pone or adjourn. 

Art. 26. A motion to adjourn shall 
always be in order, and shall be decided 
without debate. 

Art. 27. All questions shall be decided 
by a plurality of votes, and all voting shall 
be done viva voce, except when otherwise 
called for. 

Art. 28. On no question before the El- 
dership shall the yeas and nays be order- 
ed, except they are called for by at least 
one-fourth of the members pi^sent. 

Art. 29. No member shall be permitted 
to withdraw from the Eldership before the 
close of the session, without first obtaining 
leave of absence. 

Art. 30. Two-thirds of the members in 
attendance, at any stated or regular meet- 
ing of the General Eldership, shall have 
power and authority to annul, to add, 
change or amend any article or articles 
of this constitution. 

The General Eldership, also, passed 
the followinsf resolutions : 



RESOLUTION ON THE BIBLE CAUSE. 

Resolved, That we regard the Bible 
cause as being emphatically the cause of 
God ; and, therefore, we earnestly re- 
commend this noble cause to the special 
care and patronage of the " Church of 
God," hoping that she will not be a whit 
behind the most forward in supporting the 
same. 

RESOLUTIONS ON EDUCATION. 

Resolved, That this Eldership consider 
the subject of education of vital import- 
ance, both in a civil and religious point 
of view. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



185 



Resolved, That we recommend to the 
members of the churches to have their 
children liberally educated to the utmost 
extent of their ability. 

Resolved, That we highly approve of 
Sabbath schools, Bible classes, and all 
systems and modes of instruction, calcu- 
lated to impart useful and scriptured 
knowledge to the young and rising gene- 
ration. 



RESOLUTIONS RESPECTING THE DEED- 
ING OF CHURCH PROPERTY. 

1. Resolved, That this General Elder- 
ship recommend to all the brethren in the 
Church of God to have their Bethels, or 
meeting houses, parsonages, &c, deeded 
to the elders of their respective local 
churches, and their successors in office, 
tp be held by them in trust for the church. 

2. Resolved, That we also advise them 
to have inserted in the deed, a provisionary 
clause, transferring and conveying all 
their right, title and interest in, of, and to 
the property of the church so deeded, to 
the annual eldership of the Church of 
God, in the bounds of which it is located, 
in the event that the local church should 
become extinct, or cease to exist. 



RESOLUTIONS RESPECTING A BOOK 
CONCERN. 

1. Resolved, That we recommend tne 
establishment of a general book concern, 
as soon as practicable; and the publica- 
tion of such books and pamphlets as the 
funds will justify, and the wants of the 
churches demand. 

2. Resolved, That the Speaker, Trea- 
surer, and Clerks of this Eldership be, 
and they are hereby constituted a pub- 
lishing committee, and are authorized to 
do all they can towards commencing a 
Book Establishment. 



RESOLUTION ON THE LORD'S DAY. 

Whereas, the sanctification or proper 
observance of the Lord's day is a subject 
of vital importance, intimately connected 
with the glory of God, the salvation of 
the soul, and the moral and political wel- 
fare of our country ; Therefore, 

Resolved, That we heartily and zeal- 
ously recommend to all our brethren of 
the Church of God, to avoid the desecra- 
tion of the Sabbath by travelling, feast- 
ing, sleeping, working, worldly conversa- 
tion, &c. ; but duly to sanctify the same 
by meditation, prayer, reading, worship- 
ping God privately and publicly, accord- 
ing to the requirements of his law. 



RESOLUTIONS ON TEMPERANCE. 

1. Resolved, That we are grateful to 
Almighty God, for his goodness in smiling 
upon the efforts made to promote the 
Temperance cause. 

2. Resolved, That in our opinion the 
time has fully come, when men in every 
condition of life, who have the welfare of 
the human family at heart, should come 
forward and sign the pledge of Total 
Abstinence, and strive to advance the 
noble cause of temperance by precept 
and example. 

3. Resolved, That the friends of tem- 
perance remember, that the cause in which 
they are engaged is a cause whose advo- 
cates and supporters are of no particular 
creed j that its aim is to reform the life, 
and fit men for the society of the good 
here, and under God, for the society of 
the blessed hereafter ; and therefore, they 
should take care not to " fall out by the 
way," but to join in one united effort to 
do something worthy of their day, which 
shall cause their children to rise up and 
call them blessed. 

4. Resolved, That we are sorry that 
there are yet ministers of the Gospel in 



24 



186 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



this country, who are so far influenced by 
selfishness, as to refuse to give their views 
and influence in favor of a cause like that 
of temperance, which is so closely allied 
to that of Christianity. 

5. Resolved, That we consider it incon- 
sistent for professors of Christianity in 
any way to countenance the traffic in in- 
toxicating drink ; and especially to assist 
the rumseller to procure a license by sign- 
ing his petition, which is nothing less 
than signing the death warrant of many 

poor inebriates. 

i 

6. Resolved, That we consider the trafiic 
in intoxicating liquors as a drink, always 
sinful and demoralizing in its results ; and 
that no man is entitled to membership in 
the Church of God who is engaged in it. 



MISSIONARY RESOLUTION AND SOCIETY. 

Resolved, That this Eldership form 
itself into a Domestic and Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society, under the following con- 
stitution, to wit : 



CONSTITUTION OF THE DOMESTIC AND 

FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 

Article 1. This Society shall be called 
The Domestic and Foreign Mission- 
ary Society of the Church of God 
in North America. 

Article 2. The object of this Society 
shall be to employ, send out, and support, 
both Domestic and Foreign Missionaries. 

Article 3. Any person paying annu- 
ally the sum of fifty cents, or upwards, 
shall be a member of this Society. 

Article 4. Any person paying the 
sum of five dollars, for five years in suc- 
cession, or the sum of twenty dollars at 



any one time, 



be a life member. 



Article 5. All the members of the 
General Eldership, who are members of 



the Society, shall constitute a Board of 
Missions, competent to transact all the 
business of the Society; and the Speaker, 
Treasurer, and Clerks, shall be the regu- 
lar officers of the Society, ex-officio ; (pro- 
vided they are members ; if not, they 
shall be elected by the Society ;) and form 
its Executive Committee — three of whom 
shall be a quorum j and shall have power 
to carry on the operations of the Society, 
during its recess, as the Board of Missions 
shall direct 

Article 6. The Society shall meet at 
every regular meeting of the General 
Eldership, at which time the Board of 
Missions shall exhibit a particular account 
of the funds of the Society; of their re- 
ceipts and expenditures; of the Mission- 
aries employed by them, and the places to 
which they are sent. 

Article 7. All the Ministers in the 
Church of God, and all such as shall be 
appointed by them, shall have full power 
and authority to act as agents on behalf 
of this Society, to exert themselves in get- 
ting members to the Society, to receive 
their yearly subscriptions, life subscrip- 
tions, donations, &c, and to transmit them 
to the chairman of the standing commit- 
tees of the several Elderships, and by 
them they shall be forwarded to the Trea- 
surer of the Society. 

Article 8. This Constitution may be 
altered or amended by two-thirds of the 
Board of Missions, at any regular or 
stated meeting of the Society 



BOUNDARIES OF THE ANNUAL ELDER- 
SHIPS. 

1st. The East Pennsylvania Eldership 
shall include the whole of the States of 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, 
east of the Allegheny mountains. 

2d. The West Pennsylvania Eldership 
shall comprehend that part of Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland, and Virginia, which lies 
west of the Allegheny, in connection 
with that part of Ohio, east of a direct 
line from Lake Erie to the Ohio river, 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



187 



along the line between Columbianna and 
Stark counties. 

3d. The Ohio Eldership shall comprise 
the States of Ohio, (Indiana* and Mich- 
igan,) except that part of Ohio contained 
within the boundaries of the West Penn- 
sylvania Eldership. 



* These two States are now included in the 
Indiana Eldership. 



PUBLICATIONS. 

The Church of God has one religious 
newspaper under her patronage, " The 
Church Advocate," published. at Harris- 
burg, Pennsylvania; Bishop John Wine- 
brenner, editor. 

She also publishes several Pamphlets 
or Tracts, and is preparing to publish 
Books. 



188 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



HISTORY 



THE CONGREGATIONALISTS 

BY THE REV. E. W. ANDREWS, 

PASTOR OF THE BUOADWAY TABERNACLE. NEW YORK. 



The origin of the Congregationalists, 
as a modern sect, is commonly ascribed 
to Robert Browne, who organized a church 
in England, in 1583. But it appears pro- 
bable that there were churches formed 
upon congregational principles in the 
reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Mary, 
although it is impossible to speak with any 
certainty respecting them. It is well 
known that Cranmer, the chief promoter 
of the Reformation in England, admitted 
the right of the churches to choose their 
own pastors, and the equality of the clergy ; 
and it is worthy of note that, in the Bible 
published by him, the word ecclesia is 
always rendered congregation. Some of 
the bishops went further, and advanced 
opinions which would now be regarded as 
amongst the distinctive principles of the 
Congregationalists. But the right of any 
individual to judge for himself what the 
scriptures taught in matters of religion 
was not recognized. The government in- 
sisted upon an entire conformity to the 
established church, both in doctrines, and 
in i*ites and ceremonies. The Reforma- 
tion advanced slowly ; for its progress was 
controlled by subtle statesmen, who sought 
the reasons of any innovation, not in the 
word of God, but in the calculations of 
state policy. Many of the leading early 
reformers were greatly dissatisfied at the 
slow progress of the Reformation, and 
would gladly have introduced a more sim- 
ple and scriptural form of worship. Even 
Edward VI., popular as he deservedly was 



with the Protestant party, did not escape 
censure for the indulgence he showed to 
Popish superstitions. It was evident in 
this reign, that a portion of the Protes- 
tants in England were far in advance of 
the standard -set up by the king and the 
prelates ; and that the distance between 
them was daily widening. But the divi- 
ding line between the supporters of the 
hierarchy and the non-conformists was 
not distinctly drawn, until the Acts of 
Supremacy and Uniformity passed, in 
the early part of Elizabeth's reign. From 
this period there was little hope of perma- 
nent reconciliation between the two parties, 
although it was not until about the year 
1565, that separate assemblies were held. 
It is from this time that the Puritans are 
to be regarded as a distinct party. The 
first open attempt to suppress these assem- 
blies seems to have been made two years 
after, when a congregation was arrested 
at Plumbers' Hall, and thirty of them 
confined in Bridewell, for more than a 
year. 

Without enumerating all the points of 
difference between the prelates and the 
Puritans, it may perhaps be doubted 
whether an abrogation of all the rites and 
ceremonies complained of as superstitious, 
would not have allayed the storm that was 
rising against the Establishment, and pre- 
vented, for many years at least, the sepa- 
ration that afterwards took place. How- 
ever this might have been, the attempt to 
enforce these ceremonies led the Puritans 




COTTON MATHER, D.D. 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



189 



to examine more closely, than they had 
hitherto done, the ground of that authority 
so arbitrarily exercised over them. The 
dogmatic Cartwright assailed Episcopacy 
with great boldness, and asserted the 
Presbyterian to be the only scriptural 
form of church government. The cruelty 
and intolerance of the bishops had pro- 
duced a directly opposite effect from what 
they had intended. Instead of coercing 
the non-conformists into submission, a 
spirit of resistance was aroused ; and, as 
is well said by Hallam, " the battle was 
no longer to be fought for a tippet and a 
surplice, but for the whole ecclesiastical 
hierarchy, interwoven as it was with the 
temporal constitution of England." 

The first church formed upon Congre- 
gational principles, of whose existence we 
have any accurate knowledge, was that 
established by Robert Browne ; but it was 
soon broken up, and Browne, with many 
of his congregation, fled to Holland. He 
subsequently returned to England, and is 
said by some historians to have renounced 
the principles he had so earnestly main- 
tained. In the latter part of his life, he 
seems to have been openly immoral and 
dissolute. The church planted by him in 
Holland, after his departure, fell into dis- 
sensions, and soon perished. The char- 
acter of Browne is thus drawn by Ban- 
croft : " The most noisy advocate of the 
new system was Browne ; a man of rash- 
ness, possessing neither true courage nor 
constancy ; zealous, but fickle ; dogmati- 
cal, but shallow. He has acquired histo- 
rical notoriety, because his hot-headed 
indiscretion urged him to undertake the 
defence of separation. . . . The principles, 
of which the intrepid assertion had alone 
given him distinction, lay deeply rooted 
in the public mind ; and as they did not 
draw life from his support, they did not 
suffer from his apostacy." 

The opinions of Browne respecting 
church polity are the same in many re- 
spects as those now held by the Congre- 
gationalists of New England. He main- 
tained,* " that each church, or society of 
Christians meeting in one place, was a 
body corporate, having full power within 



* I abbreviate from Punchard's Hist. Cong, 
p. 247. 



itself to admit and exclude members ; to 
choose and ordain officers ; and when the 
good of the society required it, to depose 
them, without being accountable to classis, 
convocations, synods, councils, or any 
jurisdiction whatever." He denied the 
supremacy of the queen ; and the claim 
of the Establishment to be a scriptural 
church. He declared the scriptures to be 
the only guide in all matters of faith and 
discipline. The labors of a pastor were 
to be confined to a single church, and be- 
yond its bounds he possessed no authority 
to administer the ordinances. One church 
could exercise no jurisdiction over another, 
except so far as to advise or reprove it, or 
to withdraw its fellowship from such as 
walked disorderly. Five orders, or offices, 
were recognised in the church : those of 
pastor, teacher, elder, deacon, and widow ; 
but he did not allow the priesthood to be 
a distinct order from the laity. How far 
these views have been since modified, will 
appear hereafter. 

Such are the outlines of a system pro- 
mulgated by Browne, in tracts published 
by him in 1680, and in 1682. The sepa- 
rating line, between the conforming and 
the non-conforming Puritans, now became 
broad and distinct. The former, recog- 
nising the Church of England as a true 
church, and unwilling to separate them- 
selves from the Establishment, demanded 
only that her discipline should be further 
reformed, and her bishops ranked as the 
head of the presbyters. Neither by the 
supporters of the hierarchy, nor amongst 
this class of the Puritans, was the great 
doctrine of liberty of conscience recog- 
nised. A different standard of uniformity 
was indeed set up by each ; but the prin- 
ciple of ecclesiastical tyranny was as 
plainly to be seen in the implicit obedience 
required to the decrees of synods, as in 
the oath of supremacy. The non-con- 
forming Puritans would enter into no com- 
promise with the Establishment. They 
desired its total overthrow, with all its 
cumbrous and complex machinery, its 
ceremonies and its forms ; and to build 
upon its ruins churches after the simple, 
pure model of the Apostolic days. 

The first martyrs to these opinions were 
two clergymen, Thacker and Cokking, 
who were executed in 1583; ostensibly 



190 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



for denying the queen's supremacy, but in 
fact for dispersing Browne's tracts. Ten 
years afterward, Henry Barrow and John 
I Greenwood were put to death for non- 
conformity. Barrow was somewhat dis- 
tinguished by his publications in defence 
of his sentiments ; and from him his fol- 
lowers were sometimes called Barrowists. 
Percy, an intimate friend of Barrow and 
Greenwood, was executed soon after. 

In 1592 an act was passed, aimed at 
the separatists, by which it was enacted, 
that whoever, over the age of sixteen, 
should refuse to attend upon common 
prayer in some church or chapel, for the 
space of one month, should be imprisoned, 
and if still refusing to conform, should be 
banished the realm. This law, cruel and 
oppressive as it was, was yet a relief to 
the separatists, who had long languished 
in prison, and who now, as banished 
exiles, might hope to find in other lands 
that religious freedom which was denied 
them in their own. How many left Eng- 
land at this time is unknown, most of 
those thus banished went to Holland ; but 
even by the Dutch, who at that time 
understood and practised, far better than 
any other people, the principles of reli- 
gious toleration, they were treated with 
little favor. The cause of this ill-reception 
seems to have been the slanders spread 
abroad respecting them by the English 
prelates, by which the Dutch were made 
to believe that they were factious, quarrel- 
some, and enemies to all forms of govern- 
ment. A better acquaintance soon re- 
moved these bad impressions, and churches 
were planted by the exiles in Amsterdam, 
Ley den, and several other cities, which 
continued to flourish more than a hundred 
years. In the discussion which took place 
in Parliament on the passage of this act, 
Sir Walter Raleigh estimated the number 
of Brownists in England at twenty thou- 
sand, a number, probably, short of the 
truth. 

The separatists who remained in Eng- 
land were, in common with the great body 
of the Puritans, much more kindly treated, 
and allowed greater liberty of conscience 
during the last years of the queen's life. 
The prelates, ignorant of the religious 
opinions of James, her successor, were 
unwilling, by fresh acts of severity, to 



irritate and exasperate their non-conform 
ing brethren. James had been educated 
in the Presbyterian faith, and the Puritans 
fondly hoped that, upon his accession to 
the throne, free permission would be given 
them to worship God as they pleased. 
But their hopes were bitterly disappointed. 
Won by the fulsome flatteries of the bish- 
ops, and made to believe that the demands 
of the Puritans were alike inconsistent 
with the preservation of the hierarchy, 
and the undisturbed exercise of the royal 
prerogatives, James was even more op- 
pressive than his predecessor. At a con- 
vocation held in 1604, of which the bigoted 
Bancroft was president, new canons were 
drawn up, by which conformity was 
rigidly enforced. Excommunication, with 
all its civil penalties and disabilities was 
pronounced against any one who should 
dare to deny the divine authority of the 
established church, the perfect conformity 
of all its rites and ceremonies to the scrip- 
tures, or the lawfulness of its government ; 
or who should separate from its commu- 
nion, and assert that any other assembly 
or congregation was a true or lawful 
church. To these canons, by a royal 
proclamation, dated in July, 1604, all 
were required to conform ; the Puritan 
ministers before the last day of November, 
" or else to dispose of themselves and 
families some other way." During this 
year between three and four hundred Pur- 
itan ministers were silenced or exiled, and 
for many years few summers passed by 
in which numbers did not seek safety in 
flight. 

It is at this period that we first meet 
the name of John Robinson, who has, not 
inappropriately, been called the father of 
modern Congregationalism. Of his early 
life little is known. Probably he was at 
first a conforming Puritan. We first hear 
of him among the separatists, as the pas- 
tor of a church which had been formed in 
the north of England the year previous to 
Elizabeth's death. Harassed by the bish- 
ops, and seeing no prospect of peace at 
home, he and his congregation determined 
to leave their native land, and fly to Hol- 
land. But it was not without hazard and 
suffering that they were able to leave their 
own country behind them and escape. 
The first attempt was unsuccessful through 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



191 



the treachery of the captain of their ves- 
sel, who betrayed their plans to their ene- 
mies, and the whole company was im- 
prisoned for a month. Upon the second 
attempt a part of the church reached Am- 
sterdam in safety. Mr. Robinson and the 
remainder of the church, made another 
unsuccessful attempt, in the spring of 
1608, which is thus graphically described 
by Bancroft : " An unfrequented heath in 
Lincolnshire was the place of secret meet- 
ing. As if it had been a crime to escape 
from persecution, the embarkation was to 
be made under the shelter of darkness. 
After having encountered a night storm, 
just as a boat was bearing a part of the 
emigrants to their ship, a company of 
horsemen appeared in pursuit, and seized 
upon the helpless women and children, 
who had not yet ventured on the surf. 
Painful it was to see the heavy case of 
these poor women in distress ; what weep- 
ing and crying on every side. But when 
they were apprehended, it seemed impos- 
sible to punish and imprison wives and 
children, for no other crime than that they 
would go with their husbands and fathers. 
They could not be sent home, for they had 
no home to go to ! so that, at last, the 
magistrates were ' glad to be rid of them 
on any terms,' ' though in the mean time 
they, poor souls, endured misery enough.' 
Such was the flight of Robinson and 
Brewster, and their followers, from the 
land of their fathers." 

Mr. Robinson and his congregation, 
upon their arrival in Holland, first joined 
themselves to the church at Amsterdam ; 
but owing to the dissensions that had 
broken out amongst its members, at the 
end of a year, they removed to Leyden. 
Amongst the companions of Mr. Robinson 
were several, who afterwards played dis- 
tinguished parts in the settlement of New r 
England. Brewster and Bradford, Carver 
and Winslow, are names which can never 
be obliterated from the page of our history, 
or forgotten by their grateful descend- 
ants. 

Some of them were men of fortune and 
family ; yet so poor were they at this time, 
that Brewster became a printer, Bradford 
a silk-dyer, and many of the others learned 
mechanical trades. But the church ra- 
pidly increased by new immigrations from 



England, and it soon numbered three 
hundred communicants. 

During the ten years that succeeded, 
Mr. Robinson published several contro- 
versial w r orks, mostly in explanation, or 
defence, of his peculiar views. He also 
engaged in a public dispute with Episco- 
pius, the champion of the Arminians, at 
the request of the Calvinistic professors in 
the University of Leyden. If we may 
rely upon Gov. Bradford, the Arminians 
had little reason to be proud of the result. 

The principles of the church at Leyden 
are thus summed up in Belknap's Life of 
Robinson, so far as regards church go- 
vernment, and the sacraments. In their 
doctrinal creed they were strictly Calvin- 
istic. 

1. That no church ought to consist of 
more members than can conveniently 
meet together for worship and discipline. 

2. That any church of Christ is to con- 
sist only of such as appear to believe in, 
and obey him. 

3. That any competent number of such 
have a right, when conscience obliges 
them, to form themselves into a distinct 
church. 

4. That this incorporation is by some 
contract or covenant, express or implied. 

5. That, being thus incorporated, they 
have a right to choose their own officers. 

6. That these officers are pastors or 
teaching elders, ruling elders, and dea- 
cons. 

7. That elders being chosen, and or- 
dained, have no power to rule the church, 
but by consent of the brethren. 

8. That all elders, and all churches, 
are equal in respect of powers and privi- 
leges. 

9. With respect to ordinances, they 
hold that baptism is to be administered to 
visible believers and their infant children ; 
but they admitted only the children of 
communicants to baptism. That the 
Lord's Supper is to be received sitting at 
the table. (Whilst they were in Holland 
they received it every Lord's day.) That 
ecclesiastical censures were wholly spirit- 
ual, and not to be accompanied with tem- 
poral penalties. 

10. They admitted no holy days but 
the Christian sabbath, though they had 
occasionally days of fasting and thanks- 



192 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



giving; and finally, they renounced all 
right of human invention or imposition in 
religious matters. 

Mr. Robinson's opinions respecting the 
Church of England seem about this time 
to have undergone some change. At the 

| commencement of his ministry among the 
separatists, in common with Browne, he 
denounced that church as essentially anti- 
christian, and would neither regard her 
members as brethren, nor hear her minis- 
ters preach. How far his opinions were 
modified is a matter of some doubt. Bay- 
lis says of him, " that he ruined the rigid 
separatists, allowing the lawfulness of 
communicating with the Church of Eng- 
land, in the word and prayers, though not 
in the sacraments and discipline ; that he 
was the principal overthrower of the 
Browneists, and became the author of in- 
dependency." Gov. Winslow says, " Mr. 
Robinson was always against a separation 
from any of the churches of Christ, hold- 
ing communion with the reformed churches 
both in Scotland, France, and the Nether- 
lands ; that the church at Leyden made 
no schism or separation from the reformed 
churches, but, as occasion afforded, held 
communion with them." Yet it does not 
appear that Mr. Robinson was ever willing 
to admit, that the Church of England, as 
a national establishment, was a Christian 
church, although he communed with its 
individual members. 

In the year 1617, Mr. Robinson and 
his church began to think of a removal to 

I America. The reasons, that mainly in- 
duced them to take this step, were the dis- 
soluteness of manners that prevailed in 
Holland, and the consequent danger of 
contamination to which their children 
were exposed. They hoped that, on the 
wild shores of North America, they might 
be instrumental in the conversion of the 
natives, and at the same time build up a 
state, where they might worship God with 
none to molest or make them afraid. 
After some discussion as to the place 
where they should settle, Virginia was 
fixed upon. Two of their number were 
accordingly sent to treat with the Virginia 
company. But the company, though de- 
sirous that they should settle upon their 
territory, could not assure them of liberty 
of conscience. A connivance, if they 



carried themselves peaceably, was pro- 
mised by the archbishop, but an open 
toleration was refused. After much ne- 
gotiation, a patent was at last obtained in 
1619,- and by a contract with some mer- 
chants in London, sufficient pecuniary re- 
sources were obtained to enable them to 
undertake the voyage. 

The vessels not being sufficiently large 
to carry the whole congregation, Mr. 
Robinson remained with the majority at 
Leyden, and Elder Brewster accompanied 
the emigrants. At their departure Mr. 
Robinson preached a sermon, which 
showed a spirit of mildness and tolerance 
truly wonderful in that age, and which 
many, who claim to be the ministers of 
God, would do well to imitate in this. 
" Brethren, we are quickly to part from 
one another, and whether I may ever live 
to see your faces on earth any more, the 
God of heaven only knows ; but whether 
the Lord hath appointed that or not, I 
charge you, before God and his blessed 
angels, that you follow me no further than 
you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus 
Christ. If God reveal any thing to you 
by any other instrument of his, be as 
ready to receive it as ever you were to 
receive any truth by my ministry ; for I 
am fully persuaded, I am very confident, 
that the Lord has more truth yet to break 
forth out of his holy Word. For my 
part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the con- 
dition of the reformed churches, who are 
come to a period in religion, and will go 
at present no further than the instruments 
of their reformation. The Lutherans can- 
not be drawn to go beyond what Luther 
saw. Whatever part of his will our good 
God has revealed to Calvin, they will 
rather die than embrace it ; and the Cal- 
vinists you see stick fast where they were 
left by that great man of God, who yet 
saw not all things. 

" This is a misery much to be lamented, 
for though they were burning and shining 
lights in their times, yet they penetrated 
not into the whole counsel of God ; but 
were they now living would be as ready 
to embrace further light, as that which 
they first received. I beseech you to re- 
member that it is an article of your church 
covenant, that you shall be ready to re- 
ceive whatever truth shall be made known 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



193 



to you, from the written word of God. 
Remember that, and every other article 
i of your sacred covenant. But I must here 
wilhal exhort you to take heed what you 
receive as truth. Examine it, consider it, 
and compare it with other scriptures of 
truth, before you receive it, for it is not 
possible that the Christian world should 
come so lately out of such thick anti- 
christian darkness, and that perfection of 
knowledge should break forth at once. I 
must advise you to abandon, avoid, and 
shake off the name of Browneists : it is a 
mere nickname, and a hand for the mak- 
ing religion, and the friends of religion, 
odious to the Christian world. Unto this 
end I shall be extremely glad if some 
godly minister would go with you, or 
come to you before you can have any 
company. For there will be no differ- 
ence between the unconformable ministers 
and you, when you come to the practice 
of evangelical ordinances out of the king- 
dom ; and I would wish you by all means 
to close with the godly people of England ; 
study union with them in all things, where- 
ever you can have it without sin, rather 
than in the least measure to effect a divi- 
sion or separation from them." 

After leaving Holland, Elder Brewster, 
and that portion of the church which ac- 
companied him, set sail for America ; but 
because of the unseaworthiness of one of 
their vessels, were obliged to turn back to 
Plymouth. Again they set sail, and again 
returned. Leaving the discouraged and 
disaffected behind, the remainder, in all a 
hundred souls, in a single ship, for the 
last time, set forth to find a new home in 
the solitudes of the wilderness. 

The church planted by these exiles at 
Plymouth, was the first church organized 
in New England. To repeat the story of 
their privations and sufferings would only 
be to repeat what every one is already 
familiar with. For ten years they strug- 
gled on with unabated hope, strong in 
their confidence of the protection of Hea- 
ven. In 1629 a new settlement was 
made at Salem. These emigrants were 
Puritans, but had never been ranked 
amongst the separatists. Their principles 
of church government were essentially 
the same with those of the church at Ply- 
mouth, and a harmonious intercourse soon 



commenced between the two settlements, 
which was never interrupted. Very soon 
after the arrival of the emigrants at Salem, 
a day was appointed for the organization 
of a church. The day was spent in fast- 
ing and prayer, and thirty persons gave 
their assent to a confession of faith and 
covenant. A day was also set apart for 
the trial and choice of a pastor and teacher. 
Says Bradford : " The forenoon they spent 
in prayer and teaching ; the afternoon 
about the trial and election, choosing Mr. 
Skelton pastor, and Mr. Higginson teacher; 
and they accepting, Mr. Higginson, with 
three or four more of the gravest mem- 
bers of the church, lay their hands on 
Mr. Skelton, with solemn prayer. Then 
Mr. Skelton did the like upon Mr. Higgin- 
son ; and another day is appointed for the 
choice of elders." By invitation, a dele- 
gation from Plymouth was present at the 
ceremony. It should perhaps be stated 
here, that both Mr. Skelton and Mr. Hig- 
ginson had been previously ordained by 
bishops of the church of England. 

The settlers at Salem expressly denied 
themselves to be separatists ; but it seems 
to have been rather a denial of their name, 
than of their principles. " The New 
England Puritans," says Hutchinson, 
" when at full liberty went the full length, j 
which the separatists did in England." 
So Bradford in his History of Massachu- 
setts says, " That Mr. Skelton, and Mr. 
Endicott, were entirely in sentiment with 
the Plymouth church, as to the errors and 
corruptions of the Church of England, and 
to the propriety of a separation from it. 
They were agreed as to the real indepen- 
dence of the churches, and the perfect 
equality of their ministers or pastors." 
Between the church of Plymouth, and the 
churches subsequently formed at Boston 
and Dorchester, there at all times existed 
a strong friendship ; and the Rev. John 
Colton in 1633, addressed his friends at 
Boston, " to take council with their Chris- 
tian brethren of Plymouth, and do nothing 
to injure or offend them." 

But it should not be forgotten that to 
Mr. Robinson and his church, at Leyden 
in the old world, and at Plymouth in the 
new, we owe the first modern develop- 
ments of the principles of the Congrega- 
tional polity. To their example and suc- 



25 



r 



194 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



cess were, no doubt, owing all the subse- 
quent religious settlements of New Eng- 
land. That all their distinctive opinions 
respecting church government should have 
been adopted by those who at first divided 
them, is an honorable testimony to the 
correctness of their logic ; and a proper 
reward of that firmness of purpose, which 
led them, years before, to separate them- 
selves from the rest of their Puritan 
brethren.- All the early emigrants were 
Congregationalists in discipline. To them 
the Scriptures were a perfect pattern 
in government and worship, as well as in 
faith and doctrine, and to the New Testa- 
ment they looked for the model after which 
every church was to be formed. 

For several years after the landing of 
the Plymouth exiles, Elder Brewster per- 
formed all the duties of a pastor, except 
the administration of the sacraments, but 
steadily refused to be ordained. In 1625, 
Mr. Robinson died, and after his death, 
the church at Leyden was dissolved, a 
part going to Amsterdam, and a part 
afterwards joining their friends at Ply- 
mouth. At the end of ten years the 
colony contained only three hundred souls, 
and its growth was slow compared with 
the growth of its sister settlements. 

In 1630, a church was organized in 
Charlestown. Hutchinson thus describes 
the proceedings : " At Charlestown the 
governor, deputy governor, and the minis- 
ter, Mr. Wilson, on the 30th day of July, 
the fast day, entered into a church cove- 
H nant ; two days after, they allowed five 
more to join them ; and so others, from 
time to time. At length they in form 
chose Mr. Wilson for their minister, and 
ordained him ; but all joined in a protesta- 
tion, that it was not a renouncing of the 
ministry he received in England, but that 
it was a confirmation in consequence of 
the election." Similar modes of organiza- 
tion seem to have followed in the other 
colonies, and distinct churches were 
formed in each, one after another. It does 
not appear, however, that there was any 
uniform plan of church government, until 
Mr. Colton's arrival in 1633. To him 
was owing the introduction of some general 
plans embracing all the churches, "which 
from that time took the name of Congre- 
gational." ' 



In 1632, a new church was formed at 
Duxbury, by colonization from the church 
at Plymouth ; and others were soon after- 
wards formed at Marshfield, Eastham, 
and other places in the neighborhood.' In 
the same manner Connecticut was settled 
in 1635, by colonies from Massachusetts 
Bay. 

To give in detail the ecclesiastical his- 
tory of the separate plantations is impos- 
sible in the limits to which this outline is 
necessarily confined ; and I shall therefore 
confine myself to those events in which 
colonies generally were interested. 

For near a hundred years after the 
planting of the colonies, it is impossible 
to separate their ecclesiastical from their 
political history. A history of the churches 
is a history of the plantations. Without 
intending it, and indeed with principles in 
their full development essentially hostile to 
any connection between the state and the 
church, the Pilgrims so blended together 
religious and political institutions, that 
both religious and political liberty grew 
sickly and feeble from the unnatural union. 

Impelled solely in their emigration by 
pious considerations, civil freedom had a 
subordinate place in their esteem. First 
of all, they wished liberty to worship God 
according to the dictates of their own con- 
sciences. The form of their government, 
and their rights under it, were but a 
secondary matter. But the forms of 
church government, which they consid- 
ered scriptural, were democratic, and their 
political institutions naturally took the 
same form. There were few at first to be 
found who were not members of some 
church ; and therefore the laws relating 
to ecclesiastical matters were, in effect, 
binding upon the whole community. To 
deprive all but church members of the 
privileges of freemen, would in our day 
be most arbitrary and oppressive ; yet it 
can scarcely be deemed to have been so 
at that time, when ninety-nine out of one 
hundred were ranked in that class. From 
this preponderance of one class and one 
interest, is to be traced that intolerant 
spirit, which showed itself in the restric- 
tions of suffrage, and the persecutions of 
the Anabaptists and Quakers. The errors 
of our pilgrim fathers consisted, not in 
the original character of the institutions 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



195 



they founded, but in their refusal so to 
modify them, so as to meet the changing 
circumstances of the times. Where all 
are of one mind, there can be no oppres- 
sion. It is only where the partisans of 
new opinions appear, that tolerance can be 
exercised. The Puritans of New England 
were intolerant, because they did not see, 
that the colonists of 1660, were not the 
emigrants of 1630; they united the state 
and the church, because they forgot that 
the church had ceased to be the state. 

It is by keeping these facts in mind that 
we are able satisfactorily to explain those 
transactions which are seemingly inexpli- 
cable : their dislike to the interference of 
the General Court in religions matters, 
and their admission of the right of the 
civil magistrate to exercise coercive power 
when churches grew schismatical ; their 
intrepid assertion of the principles of po- 
litical liberty in their relations with Great 
Britian, and their arbitrary proceedings 
towards Roger Williams and his follow- 
ers. 

For many years the ministers depended 
upon the voluntary contributions of their 
hearers for their support. It was not until 
1655, that any legislative proceedings were 
had in respect to their maintenance. It 
was at first ordered, that if any should 
refuse to pay, the magistrates should use 
such means as should put them upon their 
duty. But this failing of its intended effect, 
it was soon after ordered, that the ministers 
should be supported by a tax assessed 
upon the congregations. 

Among the remarkable events of this 
early period were the trial and banishment 
of Roger Williams. There seems to have 
been in- the mind of this extraordinary 
man a strange confusion of opinions, 
which manifested itself both in his lan- 
guage and his actions. Whilst to him is 
due the glory of having first promulgated 
the great principle, that there should be a 
general and unlimited toleration for all 
religions ; and that to punish men for 
matters of conscience was persecution : 
yet at the same time he held, that it was 
not lawful for good men to join in family 
prayer with those they judged unregene- 
rate, or at the communion table with those 
who did not perfectly agree with them in 
their religious sentiments. He was banish- 



ed, much to the discontent of the people 
of Salem, with whom he was very popu- 
lar, and where he had made many con- 
verts. He retired to Providence, which 
was without the jurisdiction of Massachu- 
setts, and there laid the foundations of a 
state in which unlimited toleration pre- 
vailed. 

A dispute that arose at this time in con- 
sequence of the teachings of Mr. Williams, 
strongly marks the spirit of the times. 
One of his followers, in the ardor of his 
zeal, cut from the king's colors the cross. 
For this he was reprimanded and turned 
out of his office ; but the public mind 
being divided as to the propriety of his 
conduct, and several pamphlets having 
been written on the subject, the matter 
was at last settled by a compromise : the 
cross being retained in the banners of 
castles and ships, but omitted in those of 
the trained bands, or militia. 

In 1637, began the famous ecclesiastical 
controversy respecting Antinomianism. 
Mrs. Hutchinson, the promulgator and 
chief defender of Antinomian tenets, seems 
to have maintained, according to the sum- 
mary of her opinions in Neal, " that be- 
lievers in Christ are personally united with 
the spirit of God ; that commands to work 
out salvation with fear and trembling be- 
long to none but such as are under the 
covenant of works ; that sa notification is 
not sufficient evidence of a good state ; and 
that immediate revelations about future 
events are to be believed as equally infal- 
lible with the scriptures." These opinions 
soon became the absorbing topics of dis- 
cussion, and divided the whole colony into 
two parties, such as were for a covenant 
of works, and such as were for a covenant 
of grace. As the quarrel continued to 
rage with constantly increasing violence, 
a synod was called, which met at New- 
town. This was the first synod convened 
in New England. It was composed of the 
ministers and messengers or delegates of 
the several churches. There were also 
present certain magistrates, " who were 
allowed not only to hear, but to speak if 
they had a mind." The synod unani- 
mously condemned Mrs. Hutchinson's 
opinions. But she and her followers, not 
being satisfied with this decision, and con- 
tinuing to promulgate, with new zeal, their 



196 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



sentiments, recourse was had to the civil 
power, and she was banished to Rhode 
Island. She subsequently retired to the 
territory of New Amsterdam, where she 
perished by the hands of the Indians. Mr. 
Wheelwright, a clergyman of Boston who 
had embraced her opinions, subsequently 
renounced them, and her party, at least in 
name, became extinct. 

In 1638, was founded Harvard College. 
The origin of this institution was the need 
which our ancestors felt of a body of men 
educated in the country, who might fill the 
places of those who had been educated in 
England. Nothing marks more strongly 
the value which they had placed upon 
learning, and the esteem with which they 
regarded learned men, than their early 
efforts and sacrifices to sustain this col- 
lege, and to establish common schools in 
all the plantations. Reference was no 
doubt at first had, mainly, to the education 
of clergymen, as was the case in the 
foundation of Yale College ; and a large 
proportion of the early graduates of both 
these institutions, became pastors in the 
various colonies. As early as 1646, 
common schools were established by law, 
and provision was made for their support 
in all the towns within the jurisdiction of 
Massachusetts. No provision was made 
in Plymouth till some years after, but the 
children were taught by teachers employed 
by the parents. 

In 1642, in answer to an application 
made from Virginia, to the General Court, 
for ministers of the gospel, three ministers 
were sent ; but the legislature of that co- 
lony immediately passing an act that no 
clergymen be permitted to officiate, under 
the penalty of banishment, but one or- 
dained by some bishop in England, and 
who should subscribe to the constitutions 
of the established church, they were 
obliged to return. This law shows that 
the clergymen of Virginia were no more 
inclined to tolerate dissenters than the New 
England Puritans. Indeed the former 
seem to have been wiser in their intoler- 
ance, for they passed precautionary laws 
against the Puritans before there were any 
in their colony. But the congregation 
collected by these ministers continued to 
flourish for a number of years, although 
under circumstances of great discourage- 



ment. The pastor and teachers were 
banished, some of the members impri- 
soned, and many disarmed, which, says 
an old writer, " was very harsh in such a 
country, where the heathen lie around 
them."* 

On the other hand, the Pilgrims were 
equally intolerant to the Episcopalians, 
who were not allowed publicly to observe 
their forms of worship. Probably, in 
both colonies, religious bigotry was made 
more cruel by their dislike of each other's 
political opinions : Virginia adhering to 
the king, and New England to the Parlia- 
ment. 

About this time Elder Brewster died at 
Plymouth. No man in her early history 
deserves to hold a higher place in the 
grateful recollections of the people of New 
England. In early life he had been secre- 
tary to Davison, Queen Elizabeth's minis- 
ter to Scotland and Holland, in which 
capacity he very much distinguished him- 
self. He inherited considerable wealth, 
but spent it freely to supply the wants of 
his poor persecuted companions. In com- 
mon with them, he suffered the severest 
privations, at Leyden and at Plymouth ; 
yet, says Baylis, " He possessed that 
happy elasticity of mind, which could ac- 
commodate itself with cheerfulness to all 
circumstances. Destitute of meat, of fish, 
and of bread, over his simple meal of 
clams, would he return thanks to the Lord, 
that could suck up the abundance of the 
seas, and of the treasures hid in the 
sands." 

The restrictions which were placed on 
the rights of suffrage caused much dis- 
content in the colony of Massachusetts 
Bay. A petition was presented to the 
General Court, complaining that so many 
of the citizens were debarred from having 
a vote in the elections, and from holding 
office ; and also that so many " good 
people, members of the Church of Eng- 
land," are prohibited the Lord's supper, 
because they will not subscribe the church's 
covenant, and yet " are compelled on Lord's 
day to appear at the congregation." They 
prayed for liberty to the members of the 
Church of England, not scandalous in 
their lives and conversation, to be received j 



Hawk's Ecclesiastical History of Virginia, 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATION ALISTS. 



197 



into the churches ; or else " that liberty- 
be granted them to settle themselves in a 
church way, according to the Reformation 
in England and Scotland ;" with a threat 
of an appeal to the Parliament if their 
petition should be refused. The General 
Court immediately ordered the petitioners 
to be fined and imprisoned ; and the peo- 
ple sustained the court by electing their 
president, Mr. Winthrop, governor every 
year after as long as he lived. This 
severity, which no one can justify, seems 
to have been mainly owing to the threat 
of the petitioners, the Pilgrims being ex- 
ceedingly jealous of any appeals to Eng- 
land, which might authorize the Parlia- 
ment to interfere in the ecclesiastical mat- 
ters of the colonies. 

In 1648, the second synod was held, in 
pursuance of the recommendation of the 
General Court. This assumption of a 
right on the part of the Court to call these 
assemblies, was much complained of by 
the deputies of the congregations, who 
were apprehensive lest the magistrates 
should regard this as a precedent for the 
exercise of their power in more important 
matters. But when it was represented 
that it was a request and not a command 
of the General Court, and that the decisions 
of the synod were not judicial, but merely 
advisory, the deputies consented to meet. 

At this synod an unanimous vote was 
passed in these words : " This synod 
having perused and considered the Con- 
fession of Faith published by the late re- 
verend assembly in England, do judge it 
to be very holy, orthodox, and judicious 
in all matters of faith, and do, therefore, 
fully and freely consent thereto, for the 
substance thereof; only in those things 
which have respect unto church govern- 
ment and discipline, we refer ourselves to 
the platform of church discipline agreed 
upon by this present assembly." The 
platform here referred to is the one gener- 
ally known as the Cambridge Platform. 
This instrument, to which I shall more 
particularly refer hereafter, was in some 
sort regarded as the federal constitution 
of the Congregational Church. It never 
was established at Plymouth, by act of 
government, but was generally conformed 
to in practice. Previous to this synod the 
churches of New England had never 



agreed upon any uniform scheme of disci- 
pline. 

Soon after the dissolution of this synod 
the Anabaptists appeared in Massachu- 
setts, who were followed, after a brief in- 
terval, by the Quakers. The former 
were banished from Massachusetts, and a 
law was passed by the General Court, 
forbidding any one to advocate their prin- 
ciples under the penalty of banishment. 
Mr. Dunstar, who had embraced these 
opinions, resigned his office as President 
of Harvard College. It seems a little 
singular that Mr. Chauncey should have 
been chosen to succeed him, entertaining, 
as he did, the same opinions in substance 
as Mr. Dunstar. The Baptists were more 
favorably received in the colony of Ply- 
mouth, where they settled the town of 
Swanzey. 

The Quakers first appeared in 1656 ; 
two women from Barbadoes, who on their 
arrival, says Neal, " were put in prison, 
and examined by proper persons for to- 
kens of witchcraft." They were sent 
back to Barbadoes, but others soon ar- 
rived. On being ordered to quit the ju- 
risdiction, they refused, and the irritated 
magistrate proceeded to great severities. 
Some were whipped, some fined and im- 
prisoned, and others banished. Nothing 
daunted by their sufferings, those who 
had been banished returned. A law was 
at last passed, punishing all who should 
thus return, with death. This law was 
carried by one vote in the Court of De- 
puties, but it never received the approba- 
tion of the people. Under its provisions 
three Quakers were executed. 

For these barbarous proceedings no valid 
apology ever has been, or ever can be, 
offered. The most that can be said is, 
that they erred with others. King Charles, 
in a letter to Massachusetts, says : " We 
cannot be understood hereby to direct, or 
wish, that any indulgence should be shown 
to those persons commonly called Qua- 
kers." Nor were the principles of reli- 
gious toleration better appreciated, or prac- 
tised, in other countries. But to this re- 
mark Rhode Island forms a most honora- 
ble exception. In Connecticut, and New 
Haven, also, the Quakers suffered but 
little. By degrees these sanguinary laws 
of Massachusetts fell into disuse. 



198 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



In 1661, arose the debates concerning 
the right of the grandchildren of church 
members to the ordinance of baptism. 
The dispute began in Connecticut, several 
years before, in one of the churches at 
Hartford. It originated in the same cause, 
that has been already spoken of, the ex- 
clusion of all but church members from 
the privileges of freemen. This exclu- 
sion, little complained of at first, when 
few were to be found out of the pale of 
the churches, became regarded as a heavy 
grievance, when the number of those, 
thus excluded, was greatly increased by 
the arrival of new emigrants no longer 
actuated by religious considerations. It 
was therefore demanded, that all, who 
were not openly unworthy, should be ad- 
mitted to the church without being re- 
quired to profess a change of heart ; and 
also all baptized persons, and all who had 
been members of churches elsewhere. As 
a step to the accomplishment of these ends, 
it was claimed, that all the children of 
those who had been baptized, upon own- 
ing the covenant, should themselves be 
baptized. It was apparent, that to yield 
to these demands, would be destructive to 
vital piety in the churches, and they were 
therefore strenuously opposed. 

The colonies of Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut, contrary to the advice of the 
colony of New Haven, called a council, 
which met in 1657. In reply to a ques- 
tion respecting the subjects of baptism, it 
was decided by the council, that those 
who, being grown up to years of discretion, 
of blameless life, and understanding the 
grounds of religion, should own the cove- 
nant made with their parents, by entering 
thereinto in their own proper persons, 
should have the ordinance of baptism ad- 
ministered to their children. 

This decision not being regarded as sa- 
tisfactory, and the disputes raging more 
fiercely than ever : a synod was called at 
Boston, to which the same questions were 
propounded that had been previously dis- 
cussed in the council. The answer re- 
specting the proper subjects of baptism, 
was in substance the same ; and it was 
held, that all baptized persons were to be 
considered members of the church, and if 
not openly dissolute, admitted to all its 
privileges, except partaking of the Lord's 



Supper. This decision of the synod was 
strenuously opposed by Mr. Chauncey, 
President of Harvard College, Increase 
Mather, and others of the most distinguish- 
ed ministers in the colonies. It was justly 
judged by them, that to admit unregene- 
rate persons into the pale of the church, 
would be most pernicious to the interests 
of true religion. 

The result seemed to justify their fears. 
In Hartford, in one month, 192 persons 
took the covenant, comprising almost all 
the young people in the congregation. 
The number of those in full communion 
was small.*' " Correct moral deportment, 
with a profession of correct doctrinal opin- 
ions, and a desire for regeneration, came 
to be regarded as the only qualifications 
for admission to the communion. This 
innovation, though not as yet publicly ad- 
vocated by any, there is conclusive proof, 
had become quite extensive in practice, 
previously to 1679. The churches soon 
came to consist, in many places, very con- 
siderably of unregenerate persons ; of 
those who regarded themselves, and were 
regarded by others, as unregenerate. Of 
all these things the consequence was, that 
within thirty years after the commence- 
ment of the eighteenth century, a large 
proportion of the clergy throughout the 
country were either only speculatively 
correct, or to some extent actually erro- 
neous in their religious opinions — main- 
taining regularly the forms of religion, but 
in some instances having well-nigh lost, 
and in others, it is to be feared, having 
never felt, its power." 

One of the warmest defenders of the 
Half-way Covenant, as it was called, was 
Mr. Stoddard, minister at Northampton, 
who carried on a public controversy re- 
specting it, with Increase Mather, of Bos- 
ton. He maintained, that it was the duty 
of unconverted persons to come to the 
Lord's Supper, " though they knew that 
they had no true goodness, or gospel holi- 
ness." His grandson, President Edwards, 
at first adopted his opinions, but subse- 
quently renounced them ; and wrote with 
great ability to disprove them. The Half- 
way Covenant continued to be used for 



* Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, ar- 
ticle Congregationalists. 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



199 



many years ; but after a bitter experience 
of the pernicious consequences attending 
it, it was laid aside in all the orthodox 
Congregational churches. 

After the restoration of Charles II. 
many of the ejected ministers sought a 
refuge in New England. For the twenty 
years previous, there had been but little 
emigration to the colonies, the Parliament 
tolerating at home all sects but the Episco- 
palians. 

The persecutions against the Quakers 
still continuing, though with much less 
severity than at first, a letter was written 
in 1669, by Dr. Goodwin, and Dr. Owen, 
and others of the leading Independents in 
England, to Massachusetts, recommending 
them " to put an end to the sufferings and 
confinement of the persons censured, and 
to restore them to their former liberty ; 
and to allow them to practise the princi- 
ples of their dissent, if unaccompanied 
with a disturbance of the public peace/' 
The tolerant counsels of this letter were 
not immediately complied with, but the 
severity of the laws was gradually miti- 
gated. 

In 1658, a Confession of Faith was 
adopted by the English Congregational 
churches, at a convention held in the 
Savoy which, with a few variations, was 
the same as that agreed to by the West- 
minster Assembly. This confession was 
approved of by a synod convened at 
Boston, in 1680, and is to this day consi- 
dered a correct exposition of the opinions 
of the Congregationalists. 

New articles of discipline were adopted 
by the churches of Connecticut, at an 
assembly of ministers and delegates held 
at Say brook in 1708. The Say brook 
Platform differs from the Cambridge Plat- 
form chiefly in the provision that it makes 
respecting councils and associations. This 
synod was held in pursuance of an Act 
of the Legislature, ordering it to draw up 
a form of ecclesiastical discipline. The 
expenses of the ministers and delegates 
were to be paid from the public treasury. 

The system agreed upon by the synod 
was presented to the Legislature, at their 
next session, by whom it was approved in 
the following terms : " This Assembly do 
declare their great approbation of such an 
happy agreement ; and do ordain, that all 



the churches within this government that 
are, or shall be, thus united in doctrine, wor- 
ship, and discipline, be, and for the future 
shall be, owned, and acknowledged, and 
established by law; provided always, that 
nothing herein shall be intended or con- 
strued to hinder or prevent any society or 
church that is, or shall be, allowed by the 
laws of this government, who soberly differ 
or dissent from the United Churches, hereby 
established, from exercising worship and 
discipline in their own way, according to 
their consciences." The synod also gave 
their assent to the Confession of Faith 
adopted by the synod at Boston, 1680. 

About the year 1740, New England 
was blessed with a powerful revival, which 
embraced all the colonies. Some extrava- 
gances, which attended it in Connecticut, 
gave rise to an Act of the Legislature, by 
which ministers were forbidden to preach 
out of their own parishes, unless expressly 
invited by a clergyman and the major part 
of his church ; and if any evangelist 
preached, without being requested to do 
so by the inhabitants, he was to he sent 
as a vagrant out of the limits of the colony. 
Two parties arose among the people and 
in the Legislature, frequently called the 
old and the new lights, who bestowed on 
each other the epithets of cold, dead 
preachers, formalists, and Arminians, on 
the one hand, and of enthusiasts and fana- 
tics, on the other. Much opposition was 
manifested to the interference of the Legis- 
lature, as being contrary to the liberty of 
conscience. 

As early as 1750, the principles of the 
Unitarians had been extensively adopt- 
ed by members of the Congregational 
churches. There was not, however, be- 
tween such, and those who held fast to 
the faith of their fathers, an open separa- 
tion, until some years later. In 1765, 
several churches in Boston ceased from 
their confessions of faith, and many others 
followed in their footsteps. Harvard Col- 
lege fell into the hands of the Unitarians, 
and is now under their control. But the 
Congregational form of church govern- 
ment is still retained by the Unitarian 
churches. 

During the French, and still more dur- 
ing the revolutionary war, religion suf- 
fered much, great laxity of morals pre- 



200 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



vailed, and very many were avowed in- 
fidels. But the disastrous result of the 
French revolution opened the eyes of 
many to the insufficiency of human rea- 
son, as a guide in religion, and to the 
importance of Christianity, as the safe- 
guard and preservative of all govern- 
ments, especially of republics. 

Great efforts were also made by the 
clergy to prevent the further progress of 
infidel principles ; and a revival of reli- 
gion which commenced in Connecticut, 
and spread throughout New England, was 
followed by the happiest consequences. 
At the present day, probably in no por- 
tion of the world, will fewer infidels, or 
openly immoral men be found, than in the 
New England states. 

The connection that existed between the 
Congregational system of church polity, 
and the civil power, was severed in most 
of the colonies by the revolution. In 
none of the new constitutions was there 
any provision made for the support of any 
particular form of worship by law. It 
will be useful to glance at some of the 
early laws of New England, both because 
they have been much misrepresented and 
misunderstood, and because they may 
serve us as landmarks, by which we may 
judge of our progress in religious free- 
dom. 

Most of the religious, and many of the 
political disputes, which arose in the early 
history of New England, are to be traced 
to the unfortunate connection that existed 
between the churches and the civil autho- 
rities. The manner in which the connec- 
tion grew up, has been already alluded to. 

Both in Massachusetts and Connecticut 
all the citizens were obliged by law to 
support public worship, and church rates 
were collected in the same way as town 
rates. But to this there was one excep- 
tion : the salaries of the Boston ministers, 
down to 1700, were paid by voluntary 
contributions, collected after divine ser- 
vice, and given to them by the deacons 
every Monday morning. Every church 
first chose its own pastor, and, if the ma- 
jority of the inhabitants of the town con- 
curred, he was supported by an assessment 
upon the inhabitants. If the town did not 
concur, a council was held of the elders, 
or messengers of the three, or five neigh- 



boring churches, and if they approved 
of him, whom the churches had chosen, 
he was appointed their minister. Before 
a church could be gathered, it was neces- 
sary that the consent of the magistrates 
should be obtained, . and if a minister 
preached to such a church, he was liable 
to a penalty. If the councils called to 
settle disputes did not agree, or if the con- 
tending parties were contumacious, " it 
was a common thing for the civil magis- 
trate to interfere, and put an end to the 
dispute." In Connecticut the interference 
of the Asssembly in religious matters was 
frequent. 

All persons were obliged, under a pe- 
nalty of five shillings for every neglect, to 
attend public worship on Sunday and 
other days set apart to devotional exer- 
cises. It was not, however, obligatory 
on any one to attend the Congregational 
churches. Every one was allowed to 
worship peacefully in his own way, by 
applying to the General Court, and de- 
claring his wishes. Church censures 
were declared invalid to depose, or de- 
grade any man from any civil office, 
authority, or dignity, which he should 
sustain in the colony. 

In a declaration of the General Court, 
it is said : " That the civil magistrate had 
power and liberty to see the peace ordi- 
nances and rules of Christ observed in 
every church according to his word, and 
also to deal with every church member 
in a way of civil justice." So in Hal- 
bard's Survey of the Cambridge Platform : 
" Church government and civil govern- 
ment may very well stand together, it 
being the duty of the magistrate to take 
care of matters of religion." 

The Congregational form of church 
government, although not in name, yet in 
effect, was the established ecclesiastical 
system of Massachusetts, and of New 
England generally. In the former co- 
lony, no other form was tolerated for the 
first fifty years, and towns were required 
to settle ministers of that denomination. 
The law afterwards became more favor- 
able to the Quakers, Anabaptists, and 
Episcopalians. But at first, polls were 
alone exempted, while the estate was 
taxed for the support of the Congrega- 
tional clergv. 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATION ALISTS. 



201 



It is evident to every thinking man, 
that any connection between the state and 
the church, is utterly hostile to the genius 
of Congregationalism. Indeed, the term 
church, in the sense in which it is used, 
when we speak of the Church of England, 
or the Presbyterian Church, is wholly in- 
applicable here. Any body of men, unit- 
ing together for religious purposes, con- 
stitutes a church, perfect and complete in 
all its parts. It is therefore that we speak 
of the Congregational churches, as we 
speak of .the United States ; each having 
an independent existence, and still sove- 
reign, except so far as it has given up its 
rights by the act of union. That there 
may be a union between the state and 
church, the latter like the former must be 
an organized body, harmonious in its 
parts, and pervaded by a principle which 
is the law of its being, imperative, perma- 
nent, and universal. Such can never be 
the case with the Congregational churches ; 
for there is no common law, other than 
the scriptures, to which they are obedient. 
Between the states and such a multitude 
of isolated independent communities there 
can be no union ; and that any connection 
ever existed between them was owing to 
that peculiar combination of circumstances, 
which for many years made them one ; a 
unity, rather than a union of distinct bodies. 

In 1801, a plan of union was adopted 
between the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church and the General 
Association of Connecticut, with a view 
" to promote union and harmony in those 
new settlements which are composed of 
inhabitants from those bodies." By this 
plan, a Congregational church, if they 
settled a Presbyterian minister, might still 
conduct their discipline according to Con- 
gregational principles ; and on the other 
hand, a Presbyterian church with a Con- 
gregational minister retained its peculiar 
discipline. Under these regulations many 
new churches were formed, which after a 
time came under the jurisdiction of the 
General Assembly. 

In 1837, this plan of union was abro- 
gated by that body, as unconstitutional ; 
and several synods, which had been at- 
tached to it in consequence of the plan, 
were declared to be out of the ecclesiasti- 
cal connexion. 



The principles of the modern Congre- 
gationalists, as has been already said, 
differ but little from those held by John 
Robinson and the church at Leyden. 
The foundation and fundamental princi- 
ples of their church polity is this : that a 
church is a company of pious persons, 
who voluntary unite together for the wor- 
ship of God. From this definition, as a 
starting point, their whole system may 
logically be deduced. It is a voluntary 
union in this, — that every individual ex- 
ercises his own judgment respecting the 
church with which he shall connect him- 
self, acting in obedience to that law of God 
which commands all his children to become 
members of some visible church. Being, 
then, in a sense, self-created, each church 
is entirely independent of every other, ex- 
cept so far as it is bound by those laws of 
Christian intercourse which govern socie- 
ties equally with individuals. It has the 
power to elect its own officers, to admit 
and to exclude members ; in short, to do 
all those acts which are recognized in the 
scriptures as coming within the province 
of a Christian church. 

To the scriptures the Congregationalists 
appeal, as their only guide in all matters 
both of faith and polity. They believe that 
this system of church government is taught 
in the sacred writings, and sanctioned by 
the usage of the Apostles and the early 
Christians. Creeds and confessions of 
faith, though used as formularies, are 
never to be regarded as tests of orthodoxy. 
They are merely compendiums of all the 
essential doctrines to which every one is 
expected to subscribe : convenient guides 
in the examination of candidates, but not 
standards of religious truth. In this light 
are the various confessions of faith, which 
at different times have been adopted by 
synods, to be regarded. No one of them 
has any further authority than as being the 
expression of the opinions of good and wise 
men. They have no claim to infallibility. 
By the Bible they are to be measured, 
and no doctrine which cannot be found in 
it is to be received, however endeared to 
us by its associations, or venerable by its 
antiquity. This strict adherence to the 
scriptures, as the only rule of faith and 
practice, must necessarily prevent many 
of those erroneous opinions, and that 



26 



202 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



credulous reliance upon tradition, which 
are too apt to characterize those who fol- 
low the Bible only at second hand. 

Probably no part of the Congregational 
polity has been so much misunderstood, as 
the union which exists between the indi- 
vidual churches. The idea of a central 
legislative and judicial power, which 
marks all other ecclesiastical systems, is 
here unknown. Councils and synods are 
merely advisory bodies, composed of dele- 
gates from the various churches, within 
certain local limits. They are, so to 
speak, a kind of congress, where the 
representatives of independent churches 
j meet, to consult with each other respecting 
! matters of general interest. But they be- 
I come parties to no articles of union, which 
| make the decisions of their representatives, 
| thus convened, of binding authority. Each 
church is at liberty to accept or reject 
I their decisions. As the judgments of im- 
partial, wise, and good men, they will de- 
I servedly have great influence with all who 
are unprejudiced ; but they are mere re- 
commendations, not laws. 

These councils are sometimes mutual, 
sometimes ex parte, and sometimes stand- 
ing, or permanent. A mutual council, as 
the term denotes, is one called by the con- 
sent of both parties ; an ex parte council, 
one which either party in the dispute may 
call, without the concurrence of the other. 
These councils are usually composed of 
the pastor and a lay delegate from each 
of the neighboring churches ; the disputing 
parties, by letters missive, designating the 
churches whose c unsel they desire, and 
each of the churches thus addressed elect- 
ing its own delegate. 

Standing, or permanent councils are 
almost entirely confined to Connecticut. 
By the articles of discipline adopted at 
Saybrook, all the churches are consocia- 
ted for mutual assistance in their ecclesi- 
astical concerns. The pastors and churches 
of a county usually form one or more con- 
sociations ; and all cases, which cannot be 
determined without the aid of a council, 
are brought before this body. Mutual and 
ex parte councils have therefore, in great 
measure, gone into disuse in that state. 

In has been a question somewhat con- 
troverted, whether the decisions of the 
consociations are final. In practice, how- 



ever, they have generally been so regard- 
ed. Some advantages are doubtless pos- 
sessed by this system over the others, es- 
pecially as offering a speedy termination 
to disputes ; but it must be admitted that 
consistency demands that every church 
should be its own judge in the last resort. 

If a church should refuse to follow the 
advice of a council, and the case should 
be such as to warrant it, the other churches 
would withdraw their fellowship from it. 
Such a step would only be justifiable when 
its offences are such as no longer to permit 
the other churches to recognise it as a 
Christian church. 

Difficult as it may seem in theory, for 
so many independent sovereignties to pre- 
serve uniformity in doctrine and harmony 
in action : yet it is believed that no reli- 
gious denomination, for the last two hun- 
dred years, has swerved less from the 
principles of its early defenders, or main- 
tained more perfect harmony amongst its 
members. This, no doubt, in a great 
measure, is to be ascribed to the constant 
appeal to the Bible as the guide in all 
matters of controversy. 

The only church officers now recogni- 
sed by the Congregationalists are pastors 
and deacons. In this respect they differ 
from the early churches, who admitted 
five orders, pastors, teachers, ruling elders, 
deacons, and deaconesses. The office of 
deaconess was soon dropped. Those of 
teacher, and ruling elder, were longer re- 
tained. According to Cotton Mather, the 
churches were nearly " destitute of such 
helps in government" about the year 1700. 
The office of elder went into disuse in the 
church at Plymouth in 1745. 

In general, the ordination of a pastor 
was by the imposition of the hands of 
his brethren in the ministry ; but, in a 
few instances, by the imposition of the 
hands of some of the lay brethren. One 
instance is mentioned, as having taken 
place at Taunton in 1640, where the or- 
dination was performed by a schoolmas- 
ter and a husbandman, although two 
clergymen were present. " This," says 
Hutchinson, " at this day would be gene- 
rally disapproved of and discountenanced, 
although it might not be considered as in- 
valid." Other instances are mentioned 
by the early historians of New England. 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



203 



The Cambridge Platform holds the fol- 
lowing language : " This ordination we 
account nothing else but the solemn put- 
ting a man into his place and office, 
whereto he had a right before by election, 
being like the installation of a magistrate 
in the commonwealth ordination ; there- 
fore it is not to go before, but to follow, 
election. The essence and substance of 
the outward calling of an ordinary officer 
in the church does not consist in his ordi- 
nation, but in his voluntary and free elec- 
tion by the church, and his accepting of 
that election. Ordination does not con- 
stitute an officer, nor give him the essen- 
tials of his office. In such churches, 
where there are elders, imposition of hands 
in ordination is to be performed by the 
elders. In such churches, where there 
are no elders, imposition of hands may be 
performed by some of the brethren, or- 
derly chosen by the church thereto." 

At the present day lay ordination, un- 
der ordinary circumstances, would be re- 
garded, by the great majority of Congre- 
gationalists, as highly improper, and pro- 
bably, by some, as invalid. 

Deacons are chosen by votes of the 
church. The practice in their ordination 
has not been entirely uniform.* One in- 
stance is mentioned where they were or- 
dained without the imposition of hands. 
But, in general, the practice seems to have 
been that the pastor and elder both laid on 
hands ; the pastor then prayed, and gave 
the charge, and the elder prayed. At 
present, ordination by imposition of hands 
is the custom in the majority of churches. 
The ministers of the neighboring congre- 
gations are not invited to assist in the 
ceremony, as the office of deacon is purely 
local, and does not extend beyond the par- 
ticular church for which he is chosen. 

The common practice in the dismission 
of a pastor is to call a mutual council. 
Should either the pastor or the congrega- 
tion refuse to join in a mutual council the 
other party might then call a council ex 
parte. 

In all the states, where Congregational- 
ists are found, there exists some union or 
association of ministers, embracing all 
within certain local limits. These meet- 



* Thatcher's History of Plymouth. 



ings are usually held at intervals of seve- 
ral weeks. The object of these meetings 
is personal improvement, and assistance 
by mutual counsel and advice. 

The power of licensing ministers, is 
now generally entrusted to the associations 
of pastors. For many years after the 
settlement of the country, there was no 
regular way of introducing candidates 
into the ministry. " When they had 
finished their collegiate studies," says 
Trumbull, " if they imagined themselves 
qualified, and could find some friendly 
gentleman in the ministry to introduce 
them, they began to preach without an 
examination, or recommendation from any 
body of ministers or churches. If they 
studied a time with any particular minis- 
ter or ministers, after they had received 
the honors of college, that minister, or 
those ministers, introduced them into the 
pulpit at pleasure, without the general 
consent and approbation of their breth- 
ren." To remedy the evils necessarily 
resulting from such laxity, the present 
system was adopted, and no one is now 
regarded as duly authorized to preach 
until he has undergone an examination by 
some association, fend is recommended by 
it to the churches as properly qualified. 

The organization of the churches as it 
exists in Connecticut, under the Saybrook 
Platform, has been already spoken of. A 
similar system, in most respects, has been 
adopted by the Congregationalists in other 
states. 

In Massachusetts, a general association 
was formed in 1803, which now includes 
twenty-two distinct associations, and near- 
ly all the Trinitarian clergy of the de- 
domination in the state. 

In Vermont, a general convention of 
the Congregational ministers and churches, 
is held yearly, to which every association, 
presbytery, county conference, or conso- 
ciation, sends two delegates. This body 
held its first session in 1796. 

In New Hampshire, a pastoral conven- 
tion was formed in 1747, including " those 
Congregational and Presbyterian minis- 
ters of that state, who own or acknow- 
ledge the Westminster Assembly's Shor- 
ter Catechism as containing essentially 
their views of Christian doctrine." This 
organization continued until 1809, when a 



204 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS 



general association was formed, which 
held its first meeting the same year. 

The ecclesiastical system of Maine is 
different from that of the other New 
England states in this, that it has no gene- 
ral association or convention of ministers. 
Each county, or other convenient district, 
has its own conference, which is express- 
ly forbid the exercise of any authority or 
control over the churches. In 1823, a 
general conference was formed, to which 
delegates are sent from each county con- 
ference ; but " no ecclesiastical power or 
authority shall ever be assumed by it, or 
by the delegates to it." 

In Rhode Island, an evangelical asso- 
ciation of ministers was formed in 1808. 
The next year the name was changed to 
that of the " Evangelical Consociation," 
by which it is now known. It has merely 
an advisory jurisdiction over the churches. 

In Michigan, a general association was 
formed in 1842. By its articles of union, 
no judicial authority can be exercised 
over the ministers, or churches belonging 
to it. Its prospects are thought to be 
highly encouraging. 

In New York, manji churches, origi- 
nally founded by Congregationlists, and 
after the Congregational model, have, 
from a desire of harmony, and a more 
perfect union with their brother Chris- 
tians, of the same doctrinal faith, adopted 
wholly or in part the Presbyterian disci- 
pline. In 1834, those churches who had 
retained the Congregational discipline 
formed a general association, in which 
both churches and ministers are repre- 
sented : lay delegates representing the 
former. 

In Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas, there have 
likewise been formed general associations. 
Though the number of members in Kansas 
is at present very small, yet every indica- 
tion points to a rapid increase. In Ohio, 
Wisconsin, and Minnesota, general con- 
ferences exercise a supervision over the 
concerns of the Church. 

The number of ministers in the U. S. is 
reported, during the present year (1858) 
at 2656, the churches at 2909, and mem- 
bers at 225,393. There are six theological 
seminaries connected with the Congrega- 
tional denomination, four of which are lo- 
cated in New England, one in Ohio, and 



one in Illinois. Ten weekly journals, ably 
conducted, are now the efficient agents for 
the dissemination of Congregational doc- 
trines * throughout the United States. 

So far as the political and social bless- 
ings of a people flow from their religious 
institutions, no greater praise can be de- 
manded for the religious principles and 
polity of the Pilgrims, than that they be 
judged of by their fruits. The harmony 
between their ecclesiastical and political 
forms of government is apparent ; nor is 
it too much to say, that the republicanism 
of the church was the father of the re- 
publicanism of the state. The English 
prelates were not far wrong, when they 
censured the Puritans as cherishing prin- 
ciples which, in their development, would 
overthrow both hierarchal, and regal des- 
potism. " In New England the war of 
the Revolution commenced. "f In New 
England was devised, and carried into 
effect, that system of school education, 
which has made her people more generally 
intelligent than the people of any other 
portion of our continent. In New Eng- 
land, at the present day, is to be found 
less immorality, vice, and unbelief, than 
exists in any other country of equal ex- 
tent upon the globe. When we recollect, 



* The Cambridge Platform is regarded as the 
ground- plan of Congregationlism in this coun- 
try. The system of church polity was drawn 
up by the synod which met at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, in the year 1648. At this time 
the whole number of churches was thirty-nine 
in Massachusetts, four in Connecticut and 
three in New Hampshire. This was twenty- 
seven years after the landing at Plymouth, and 
seventeen after the settlement of Boston. 

Congregationalism was confined almost ex- 
clusively to the New England States until so 
late as the year 1800. Since that time this 
denomination has extended considerably into 
many of the other States of the Union. 

In the year 1840 there were in the Middle and 
Western States, 325 churches ; in the six New 
England States, 1,270 churches ; total in the 
United States, in round numbers, one thousand 
six hundred. In England, the writer says, it 
has been estimated that the Congregational 
churches are 1853 ; in Wales, 463 ; in Scot- 
land, 103 ; in Ireland, 24 ; in British Provin- 
ces, 78; all which, added to those in this 
country, make the total of Congregational 
churches in Great Britain and America, some- 
thing over four thousand. — C. Observatory. 

■j- Daniel Webster. 




JOHN H. LIVINGSTON, D.D. 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



205 



! that for near two hundred years after its 
; settlement, there was scarcely a single 
| church of any other denomination within 
| its limits, " to Congregationalists and to 
| Congregational principles it must chiefly be 
ascribed, that New_ England is what it is." 
Those who desire more particular in- 
formation of the principles of the Con- 
gregationalists, are referred to " Punchard 
on Congregationalism," the second edition 



of which has just been published. It is 
a full, impartial, and able work. A his- 
tory of Congregationalism by the same 
author will, when completed, be a very 
valuable addition to our stock of histori- 
cal knowledge. Much information will 
also be found in Dr. Bacon's " Church 
Manual," Mr. Mitchell's "Guide," Dr. 
Hawes' "Tribute to the Pilgrims," and 
Prof. Upham's "Ratio Disciplinse." 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 

BY W. C. BROWNLEE, D. D., 

OP THE COLLEGIATE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH IN NEW YORK. 

REVISED AND EXTENDED BY REV. WM. J. R. TAYLOR, 

MINISTER OF THE THIRD REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA. 



NAME. 
The name of Reformed Protestant 
Dutch is derived from its historical asso- 
ciations and reminiscences. The term 
Protestant was applied, in the sixteenth 
century, to the Reformers, and those who 
denied the authority of the Pope and re- 
jected the unscriptural doctrines of the 
Church of Rome. The name arose in 
1529, when six princes of the German 
empire formally and solemnly protested 
against the decrees of the Diet of Spires ; 
and it has since been the distinctive term 
in universal use, as applied to the blessed 
Reformation. During the progress of the 
Reformation, a difference occurred among 
the Protestants on some points, and parti- 
cularly in reference to the real presence 
of Christ's humanity in the sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper. Those who held to 
it, with the great Reformer, Luther, were 
.called Lutherans, and those who rejected 
it, Reformed. When the Reformation 
from popery took rise, it advanced at the 



same time in Switzerland, France, the 
Netherlands, Scotland, and England, 
through the labors of Calvin, Zuinglius, 
Knox, Cranmer, and others. The Re- 
formed churches of France, Switzerland, 
Holland, Germany, and Scotland, were in 
close affinity with each other, not only in 



holding; the doctrines of 



grace, as em- 



braced in common by all the churches of 
the Reformation, but in their views of the 
Lord's Supper, before referred to, and also 
of Presbyterian church government and 
order. The name of our Church derives 
Reformed from the portion of the early 
Protestant churches so termed, and Dutch 
from the branch of the Reformed Church 
formed and organized in Holland. 

The General Synod was incorporated 
many years since, by the Legislature of 
the State of New York, by the name and 
style of the " General Synod of the Re- 
formed Protestant Dutch Church in 
North America." The denominational 
name is exnressive of the sentiments to 



206 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



which she adheres in her doctrinal views, 
as well as indicative of her origin. It was 
proposed, a few years ago, to change our 
denominational name to "Reformed 
Church ;" but it was thought inexpedient 
by a large majority of the General Synod, 
almost all our individual churches being 
incorporated under the names of " Re- 
formed Protestant Dutch Church," or " Re- 
formed Dutch Church." As our churches 
are all under the General Synod, they 
adopt either of these names, to identify 
themselves with the denomination with 
which they are connected. Our denomi- 
nation is frequently confounded with the 
Lutheran and German Reformed churches, 
as many apply the term " Dutch" to them, 
when it properly and distinctively be- 
longs to us. 

THE REFORMED CHURCH OF HOLLAND. 

At an early period of the Reformation 
in Germany, the spirit of religious inquiry 
became excited in the Netherlands. A 
contest of unexampled severity, for civil 
and religious liberty, against the colossal 
power of the Empire and the Papacy en- 
sued. There is no spot in Europe in 
which, during the sixteenth century, so 
many thrilling incidents occurred, as in 
the struggle in the Netherlands, which 
ended in the independence of the seven 
Northern provinces, or Holland, and in 
the subjugation of the ten Southern pro- 
vinces, or Belgium, to the imperial and 
papal sway. The martyrology of the 
Netherlands during this struggle, would 
furnish as rich a page as can be drawn 
from any other field. The confessors, 
" scattered and peeled," holding their lives 
in their hands, amid the violent and ex- 
cruciating death of thousands for the 
truth's sake, bore a noble and persevering 
testimony. They termed their churches, 
at the time when they were first formed, 
"the churches under the Cross." In 1563 
the ministers and confessors of the truth 
held a meeting at Antwerp, and formed a 
Synod of the churches, and adopted a 
system of principles and rules which laid 
the foundation, and in a great measure 
formed the full texture of church govern- 
ment and order adopted by subsequent 
Synods. After the emancipation and in- 



| dependence of the seven Northern pro- 
vinces, or Holland, they rapidly and stea- 
dily advanced to signal prosperity, com- 
mercial, naval, and political, so as to rank 
among the first States of Europe. The 
Reformed Church of Holland soon be- 
came distinguished among the churches 
of the Reformation, for her well-trained 
theologians, her devoted pastors, and the 
combined evangelical purity of faith and 
experimental and practical godliness which 
characterized her. Such she was in the 
seventeenth century. No branch of the 
Reformed Church was in more intimate 
correspondence and sympathy with the 
other branches, than that of Holland. 
Her bosom was the refuge and the resting- 
place of the persecuted Huguenots, Wal- 
denses, the Covenanters of Scotland, and 
the exiled Puritans. Her universities 
were resorted to from various parts, and 
many youth were trained in them who 
became shining- lights in other countries. 
The works of her divines of that day still 
retain their high reputation, and are sought 
after. Such, at that time, was the " Re- 
formed Church of Holland," from which 
the Reformed Dutch Church here traces 
its origin. 



REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH IN NORTH 
AMERICA. 

The Reformed Dutch Church was 
planted here by emigrants from Holland, 
who formed the colony of the New Neth- 
erlands, under the authority of the States 
General, which was transferred to the 
British crown, and obtained the name of 
New York, in 1664. The first occupation 
of what is now New York took place in 
1613 ; but it was confined to a mere mili- 
tary post, connected with the opening of 
the fur trade. The first agricultural set- 
tlement was made about 1624. Care was 
taken to send along with the first settlers 
a minister and schoolmaster; and they 
were distinguished by attachment to the 
faith of the Fathers of the Reformation, 
and reverent and punctual attendance on 
the means of grace. During the Dutch 
colonial government, the population gradu- 
ally increased, and several new churches 
were formed. After the colony surren- 
dered to the British, in 1664 emigration 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



207 



from Holland in a very great degree 
ceased. For a length of time, however, 
the Dutch inhabitants had a preponderance 
in numbers and wealth, and the natural 
increase, aided by a small emigration, 
gradually extended their settlements. 
They received their ministers from Hol- 
land, and continued their ecclesiastical 
subordination to the Classis of Amsterdam. 
Towards the middle of the last century, 
much discussion and feeling arose in rela- 
tion to the expediency of forming entirely 
independent church judicatories, and 
training and ordaining our own ministers. 
This led, for a season, to the formation of 
two distinct bodies, in reference to the 
differing views on these points. The dif- 
ference was adjusted in 1771, by the mu- 
tual adoption of the Articles of Union 
proposed by the Classis of Amsterdam, at 
the instance of Dr. Livingston, returning 
from a course of theological studies at 
Utrecht, and who afterwards remained so 
long a blessing to our Church. The dis- 
tinct organization was then unitedly and 
harmoniously made, since which the 
Church has moved on its way steadily and 
peacefully. 

The history of this protracted contro- 
versy must be known by those who would 
understand the character and position of 
this ancient church. The Dutch West 
India Company were the first who carried 
the ministers of the gospel from Holland 
to our shores. This was done in answer 
to the petitions of the pious immigrants 
who had settled in this province, then 
called New Amsterdam. And as the 
members of the Dutch West India Com- 
pany were citizens of Amsterdam, these 
petitions were, of course, put into the 
hands of the ministers of that city, as the 
fittest persons to select good and suitable 
pastors for the rising churches abroad. 
By these ministers was the whole manage* 
ment thereof brought before the Classis 
of Amsterdam ; and they promptly under- 
took the important charge of providing 
an able ministry for America. The min- 
isters, thus provided, were ordained and 
sent as missionaries to these shores, by 
that classis, with the consent and appro- 
bation of the Synod of North Holland, to 
which that classis belonged. And under 
their paternal and fostering care, and the 



labor of the able ministers who came 
among them, these churches grew and 
increased in number and strength con- 
tinually. 

This minute detail was necessary to 
throw light on an important matter, out 
of which arose consequences, in future of 
the deepest interest to our church. It re- 
veals the reason why the Dutch American 
churches were brought into such close 
connection with the Classis of Amsterdam, 
and through that classis, with the Synod 
of North Holland, to the entire exclusion 
of all the other classes and synods of the 
national church. And it shows why, in 
process of time, this connection brought 
about the entire dependence, and the im- 
plicit subordination of these American 
Dutch churches to that classis and that 
synod. So much so, that they claimed 
the entire and exclusive right of selecting, 
ordaining and sending ministers to these 
churches. They went farther; they 
claimed the exclusive power of deciding 
all ecclesiastical controversies and diffi- 
culties which might arise in all the Dutch 
churches in the provinces. 

This was, at first, casually, and by a 
silent understanding, vested in that classis, 
by the young and weak churches here, 
and not objected to by the other synods 
in Holland, or by the older and more ex- 
perienced ministers. This dependence 
was not at first anticipated ; and what was 
only casually allowed, was afterwards 
claimed by the Classis of Amsterdam with 
unyielding obstinacy; and it was main- 
tained successfully by a party here, as well 
as by the members of that classis who had 
so long held the authority, and who deemed 
that supervision essential to the well-being 
of the churches here. They used all their 
influence to preserve that connection with 
the old classis and its vassalage. They 
represented the American churches as 
very weak and destitute, and as utterly 
incapable of acting independent of their 
ecclesiastical fathers in Holland, and even 
of supplying their own wants. 

In 1737, the first movement was made 
by five prominent ministers, Messrs. Gr. 
Dubois, Haeghoort, B. Freeman, Van Sant- 
fort, and Curtenius. They did not ven- 
ture to adopt the bold measure of renoun- 
cing the abject dependence on the parent I 



208 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



classis. They merely proposed to form an 
assembly for counsel and free internal in- 
tercourse, and any ecclesiastical business 
not inconsistent with this dependence on 
Holland. This they called a coetus. A 
plan was adopted, and rules formed for its 
regulation ; and it was sent down to the 
churches for their concurrence. On the 
27th of April, 1738, the day appointed by 
the five ministers to receive the reports 
from the churches, a convocation of min- 
isters and elders met in New York.* 

The several reports of the churches in- 
duced the convention to adopt the plan 
without opposition ; and it was sent to the 
Classis of Amsterdam for their ratification. 
This they presumed they should promptly 
obtain ; for there was nothing in the pro- 
jected coetus which did, in fact, really 
curtail any of the power of that classis. 
Yet it was not until ten years after this 
that they received an answer, by the Rev. 
Mr. Van Sinderin, from Holland j for it 
was in the month of May, 1747, that the 
convention was summoned to receive the 
answer of the classis, which, though a 
long delay, gave its entire approbation and 
concurrence. On the appointed day only 
six ministers were present. These having 
received the act of the classis, did nothing 
more than issue their call for the first 
meeting of the coetus, on the second 
Tuesday of September, 1747, in the city 
of New York. 

On the day appointed the representa- 
tives of the churches met in coetus ; and, 
although the plan had received the full 
approbation of the mother church, still 
there was a most decided opposition to it. 



* The following are the names of these emi- 
nent men : — the Rev. G. Dubois, and the elders, 
Anthony Rutgers and Abraham Lefferts ; the 
Rev. Mr. Freeman, and the elders, Peter Ne- 
vius and Dirk Brinkerhoef ; the Rev. Mr. Van 
Santford, and the Elder Goosen Adriance ; the 
Rev. Mr. Haeghoort, and the Elder Van Dyck ; 
the Rev. Mr. Curtenius, of Hackensack, and 
his elder, Mr. Zabriskie; the Rev. Theodorus 
J. Frelinghuysen, of Raritan (a most distin- 
guished man of God, and greatly blessed in his 
ministerial labors ; he had five sons, ministers ; 
and two daughters, married to ministers), and 
the Elder H. Fisher; the Rev. Mr. Ericksen, 
and the Elder J. Zutveen ; the Rev. Mr. Bohm, 
of Philadelphia, with the elder, Mr. Sny- 
der ; the Rev. Mr. Schuyler, of Scoharie, with 
the elder, Mr. Spies. 



This opposition was made by Dominie 
Boel, of the church of New York, and 
by Mr. Mancius of Kingston, Mr. Frey- 
enmoet, and Mr. Martselius. Mr. Fre- 
linghuysen could not prevail with his 
church to accede to the coetus ; but it re- 
ceived his own decided support. And it 
was soon ascertained that those who op- 
posed the whole of this narrow and ineffi- 
cient scheme, were correct, whatever may 
have been their avowed motives. It 
effected no good purpose which could not 
have been gained without it. It was a 
meeting merely for fraternal intercourse 
and advice. This could have been at- 
tained without a formal coetus. It gave 
the pastors no powers; they could not 
meet as bishops, who had. each their 
church; they had no power to ordain 
ministers; they could try no cases re- 
quiring ecclesiastical investigation ; they 
could not even settle ecclesiastical dis- 
putes, without the usual consent of the 
Classis of Amsterdam. Its utter unfitness 
to promote the interests of the church 
became apparent to all, except those in 
the slavish interests of fatherland. No- 
thing but an independent classis could do 
this. They must have power to ordain ; 
they must have their own court to try 
cases. The church was suffering exceed- 
ingly, said those who had got a coetus, but 
wished a coetus clothed with the power of 
a classis. But this met with a renewed, 
fierce opposition. " Shall we throw off 
the care and paternal supervision of the 
Classis of Amsterdam ? Shall we venture 
to ordain ministers ? Shall we set up our- 
selves as judges ? Where can we get such 
learned ministers as those from Holland ? 
And can any of us judge of their fitness, 
and learning, and piety V 1 Such was the 
feeling and declamation of the Conference 
party. 

On the contrary, the Coetus party ap- 
pealed to their brethren on the necessity 
of having youth trained here for the min- 
istry. " We must have academies and a 
college. The English language is ad- 
vancing on us : we must have a ministry 
to preach in English, or our youth will 
abandon us in a body. And the expense 
of sending for ministers is becoming op- 
pressive; not to speak of the great ex- 
pense and privation sustained by us who 



are parents, in sending our sons to Hol- 
land to be educated, so as to be able to 
preach in Dutch. And you all know/' 
they added, " how many years have some- 
times elapsed between the time of a call 
sent to fatherland, and the coming of a 
pastor; and sometimes churches have 
been disappointed entirely. None have 
responded to their call. And even, in 
certain cases, some ministers have come 
out who were not only unpopular, but ab- 
solutely disagreeable. Is it not unendur- 
able, that the churches should have no 
choice of their pastor ? Men, accustomed 
to a national church and its high-handed 
measures have come among us, who have, 
of course, views and habits entirely differ- 
ent from those of our fellow-citizens and 
Christians in Holland. Need we remind 
you of the distractions and divisions caused 
by these obstinate men, who, instead of 
harmonizing with the people, and winning 
their confidence, have imprudently op- 
posed them, and rendered their ministry 
odious and unsuccessful? Besides, is it 
not humiliating and degrading to these 
churches, and to us all, that we should be 
deprived of the power of ordaining minis- 
ters? And we must send abroad for 
ministers, as if none here were fit to 
minister in holy things ! It is an impu- 
tation on our sons ; is is an imputation on 
us, in the ministry here ; as if they were 
unfit for the holy work, and as if we had 
only half of the ministerial office ! We 
declare this bondage to be no longer 
tolerable, and it ought no longer to be 
endured." 

Such was the bold language now used 
by the Coetus party, both ministers and 
laymen. And as a goodly number had, 
by the permission of the Classis of Am- 
sterdam, been ordained, by special favor, 
all these, to a man, took a bold stand 
against this dependence on Holland. They 
never felt that attachment to the classis, 
which bound down, in slavish adherence, 
those whom it had sent out hither. They 
had no prejudices; they saw the painful 
grievances under which their fathers 
smarted ; and they felt the power of the 
arguments and appeals, so urgently pressed 
by all, to seek an independent ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction of their own. They 
spoke out with warmth on the subject. 



They even ventured to charge the church 
of their forefathers with injustice to the 
ministry here, and actual tyranny over 
them. They withheld what Christ, the 
King of Zion, never authorized them to 
withhold from the true ministry. They 
demanded of her to do them and herself 
justice, by conveying to them all the 
powers of the ministry, which she had 
received, as it respected doctrine, and 
sacraments, and discipline. 

All these appeals made a most powerful 
impression on the people. Many churches 
came over to their measures; and even a 
few of the European ministers candidly 
acceded. And they no longer concealed 
their fixed determination to commence a 
system of measures to withdraw these 
American churches from this abject sub- 
ordination to the Classis of Amsterdam 
and the Synod of North Holland. 

This plan was matured in 1754. In 
the coetus of the preceding year a motion 
had been entertained to amend the plan 
of the coetus, by converting it into a 
regular classis, with all its proper powers. 
A plan was drafted for this purpose ; 
adopted with great unanimity by thoso 
present; and formally transmitted to the 
churches for their concurrence. 

Upon this there commenced a scene of 
animosity, division, and actual violence, 
compared to which, all the former wrang- 
lings were utterly nothing. It was the 
beginning of a war waged for fifteen 
years with unmitigated fury ! The Con- 
ference party met and organized them- 
selves into a firm body of opposition in 
1755. They were the following : Domi- 
nies Ritzma and Deronde, of the church 
of New York; Curtenius, Haeghoort, 
Vanderlinde, Van Sinderin, Schuyler, Ru- 
bel, Koch, Kerr, Rysdyck, and Freyen- 
moet. The Coetus party embraced all 
the rest, who are mentioned in a pre- 
ceding note, with the exception of the 
above names. These formed two hostile 
bodies resolutely pitted against each other, 
and apparently resolved never to yield. 
The peace of neighborhoods was disturbed; 
families were divided ; churches torn by 
factions. Houses of worship were locked 
up by one faction against the other. Tu- 
mults and disgraceful scenes frequently 
occurred on the holy Sabbath, and at the 



27 



210 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



doors of churches. Ministers were occa- 
sionally assaulted in the very pulpit; and 
sometimes the solemn worship of Grod 
was disturbed and actually terminated by 
mob-violence. In these scenes the Con- 
ferentie party were usually noted as the 
most violent and outrageous. But, on 
both sides, a furious zeal prompted many 
to shameful excesses, and a most painful 
disgrace of the Christian name. 

The more moderate and prudent de- 
plored these evils and growing mischiefs, 
but they could find no remedy. No indi- 
vidual, no body of Christian men, was 
found to act as mediator. The two par- 
ties would listen to no overtures. Hum- 
ble Christians wept over the revolting 
scenes, and the impending ruin of their 
church ; hope deserted their fainting 
hearts; and many of them retired, from 
such unhallowed scenes, to the bosom of 
a peaceful and Christian communion in 
other churches. 

The Conferentie party called in the aid 
of the Holland Church. They addressed 
a letter to the Classis of Amsterdam, in 
1755; a second one in 1756; a third in 
1760; a fourth in 1761. In these they 
uttered their inflammatory complaints, 
that the American churches were attempt- 
ing to throw off their submission to their 
lawful authority, and to form an inde- 
pendent body, with powers equal to those 
of the mother church ! And in reply to 
these, too many of the ministers of that 
classis lent their aid to foment fresh trou- 
bles, and .defeat the efforts of the church 
to become independent of them. 

When this violent schism took place, 
the two parties of Coetus and Conferentie 
were nearly equal in point of numbers. 
But there was a marked difference in 
their character, and the spirit of their 
preaching. The Conferentie pastors were 
men of greater learning, but they were 
cold, and heavy, and spiritless. Their 
discourses had more of the air of a pro- 
fessor's lecture from the chair, than of a 
popular and heart-stirring address to a 
mixed audience. The Coetus party were 
zealous, ardent, practical in their popular 
addresses, and indefatigable in their pas- 
toral duties. Hence they soon had the 
mass of the pious people with them, who 
applauded them and sustained them in 



their trials and labors of love, while the 
unsound and heartless vehemently op- 
posed them. The anecdote told of that 
devoted and pious Dominie, Dr. Meyer, 
of Esopus, now Kingston, will illustrate 
this. He had one Sabbath preached the 
holy doctrine of regeneration by the Holy 
Ghost, its true nature, and its necessity, 
and he had closed with a heart-searching 
examination of the souls of his audience, 
giving marks of its existence in them, and 
the evidences of their not having the new 
birth. When he came down from the 
pulpit, one of the elders refused to give 
him, as usual, the right hand of fraternal 
recognition and approbation, as is the de- 
lightful custom in our church. "Ah! 
Dominie/' cried he, " I cannot give you 
my hand of approbation ; I cannot stand 
that; flesh and blood cannot endure that 
doctrine !" " True, very true/' said Dr. 
Meyer, — "therefore is it the more mani- 
festly Christ's holy doctrine; and there- 
fore do I cease not to preach it." Many 
such scenes occurred in those days of dis- 
sension in the churches. 

During this period, another painful 
source of difficulties occurred, which 
caused to our church the loss of many 
most valuable families. I allude to the 
introduction of preaching in English in 
the churches. The English had been, for 
a century, the language of the govern- 
ment, its officers, and influential men. It 
was evident to the great mass of the 
Dutch youth, that it must, in the issue, 
be the language of the country. Causes 
were tried in English — all the pleadings 
were in English. The youth mingled 
with increasing multitudes of youth, who 
spoke nothing but English ; and the best 
education in the city, and in the neigh- 
boring colleges, was all conducted in 
English. Hence the youth of both sexes 
labored to be master of English. In the 
progress of years, the great body of the 
youth could not understand a sermon in 
Dutch. They demanded English preach- 
ing. All the more prudent, and all who, 
by a wise forecast, saw the utter desertion 
of the Dutch churches by the youth, in 
the course of another generation at least, 
unless English preaching were introduced, 
united their efforts with the youth, and 
urged the necessity of having English 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



211 



preaching forthwith, as well' as Dutch 
preaching. This was long and keenly 
resisted. Those whose spirits had been 
so long sharpened by the vehement con- 
tentions of the home and foreign parties, 
alluded to by us, carried an unusual 
warmth, and obstinate pertinacity, into 
this new conflict. The youth and their 
friends did not, perhaps, use the neces- 
sary soothing spirit of persuasion. They 
saw the justness of this requirement so 
clearly, that they had not the necessary 
patience to bear with the venerable men 
who clung to their dear, their own native 
tongue — the language of dear old Hol- 
land — which they so tenderly loved. To 
take from them their native tongue seemed 
to them as being driven into exile, among 
men whose tongue was to them barbarous ! 
It was a hard struggle. But the venera- 
ble consistory of the church of New York 
were constrained at last to yield. For 
they loved their church, they loved their 
dear children; and they saw many of 
them already gone to other denomina- 
tions, where they could understand the 
speakers. Yet, even this compliance 
made us lose a goodly number of the old 
people and younger heads of families. 
And they were without any reasonable 
excuse j for they understood the English 
as well as the Dutch. But they left 
their fathers' church, because they failed 
in their effort at victory! And, hence, 
not a few made this remark, as they re- 
tired into the Episcopal Church, — " Well, 
since we must have English, let us go 
where we shall get the language in the 
purest form V 

This was not the first movement in 
our church to secure English preaching. 
The Rev. Dr. Dewitt, who is now pre- 
paring a full history of the Dutch Re- 
formed Church, has drawn my atten- 
tion to a fact not generally known. It 
is this : about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century, a formal request was 
sent by our church, to Holland, for a 
Dominie to be a colleague to Dominie 
Megapolensis, who should also preach to 
the people in English. In answer to 
this, was Dominie Drisius (in Dutch, 
Dries) sent out. He arrived in 1653. 
He had been a pastor in the Dutch Re- 
formed Church in the city of London. 



He preached in Dutch, in English, and 
in French.* 

But the first man who preached exclu- 
sively in English, in the collegiate church, 
was the Rev. Dr. Laidlie, He was a na- 
tive of the South of Scotland, a graduate 
of Edinburgh University. He had been 
a pastor of the Church of Flushing, in 
Zealand, in Holland. From that he was 
called by the consistory, and he arrived 
and entered on his ministry in 1764. f 
His first sermon I have read in manu- 
script. His text was, 2 Cor. v. 11 : 
" Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we 
persuade men." It was preached to an 
immense audience. And a signal revival 
of religion soon commenced under his 
zealous ministration, and the church 
greatly flourished. I have heard some of 
the aged people tell this anecdote of him. 
On a certain occasion, when he had, in a 
prayer meeting, uttered a fervent and 
heavenly prayer, the aged people gathered 
round him, and said — "Ah! Dominie, 
many an earnest prayer did we offer up 
in Dutch, for your coming among us; 
and, truly, the Lord has answered us in 
English, and has sent you to us !" 

The members of the Coetus party had, 
in view of forming an independent eccle- 
siastical constitution, for some time turned 



* This excellent and indefatigable pastor 
officiated frequently on the north side of Staten 
Island, in French, in a church formed there, 
in that French settlement. These were Hugu- 
enots, who were driven from France, at the 
revoking of the edict of Nantz, by the inhuman 
tyrant Louis XIV. These eminent sufferers 
for Christ's cause and crown, afterwards united 
with their brethren, the Dutch, and formed that 
church which continues and nourishes there 
to this day, near Port Richmond. The nu- 
merous prominent men there still bear the 
honored name of their noble progenitors, the 
Huguenots, who suffered the loss of their coun- 
try, their property, and everything but their 
Christian honor and religion! And they are 
dear unto us for their fathers' sake. 

f Dr. Laidlie was an amiable and very ac- 
complished gentleman, a devotedly pious Chris- 
tian, a popular, evangelical, and zealous 
preacher ; of unusual dignity, and commanding 
eloquence in the pulpit. This is the character 
of Dr. Laidlie, as drawn by his, then, young 
colleague, Dr. Livingston. Dr. L. died in 1778, 
at Red Hook, in his exile from his church, 
caused by the British army, which then occu- 
pied New York. 



212 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



their earnest attention to the establishment 
of a seminary for the education of the 
future ministry, at home. And they had 
communicated this intention to the Classis 
of Amsterdam. The late Dr. Livingston, 
being at that time in Holland, pursuing 
his studies, had entered zealously into the 
plan of promoting this double project. He 
had gained the approbation of many of 
the principal ministers in Holland, to the 
purpose of forming an ecclesiastical con- 
stitution in America, similar to that of 
fatherland. This consent, it seems, was 
sought and gained, in order, if possible, 
to induce the brethren of the conferentie 
to unite with them in the enterprise ; for 
they would do nothing without that con- 
sent. And this consent of the enlightened 
ministers of Holland prescribed an express 
condition, which was precisely what the 
brethren of the coetus wished for, and an- 
ticipated. It was expressly required that 
the American church should proceed to 
make an immediate and adequate provision 
for a theological professorate. For they 
assured the American brethren, that they 
could not maintain any relation with a 
church who neglected to secure a thorough 
education for the youth seeking the holy 
ministry. Yet even this did not conciliate 
the conferentie. They utterly opposed 
every plan which would cut off their de- 
pendence on Holland, or would go to in- 
troduce any ministers but those educated 
in fatherland, in Dutch ! 

Several schemes were proposed. One 
was, that a local union should be formed 
on the part of the coetus with the flourish- 
ing College of Princeton. This seemed 
to be the first and favorite scheme of Dr. 
Livingston, while he was in Holland, in 
consequence of a consultation he had with 
the venerable Dr. Witherspoon, at that 
time on a visit to Holland, previously to 
his coming to Princeton. This was op- 
posed by the coetus, and also by the Classis 
of Amsterdam. Another plan was, to have 
a theological professorship in King's Col- 
lege, now Columbia College, in New York.* 
This was objected to by both parties. The 



* Those who have looked into the charter of 
this venerable college, among others the late 
Rev. Dr. Knox, one of the trustees, are of 
opinion that the Dutch are entitled to a profes- 
sorate in this college. * 



coetus, speaking the sentiment of the great 
body of the people, said, "No, we shall 
be independent of Holland, and of every 
other body here. We must have a college 
and a theological school of our own." 
And with a noble and pious resolution, 
they gained their grand object. A college 
was founded, called "Queen's College," 
after the queen of King George III., a 
High-Dutch princess, who, it was under- 
stood, would kindly patronize it. The 
charter of this college was dated in 1770 ; 
and it was " instituted for the education 
of the youth in the learned languages, 
the liberal and useful arts and sciences, 
and especially in divinity." 

This noble step in the advancement of 
the church, which ought to have been 
hailed by every friend of the Dutch 
Church, was the signal for a fresh out- 
burst of the war of opposition on the part 
of the brethren of the conferentie; and to 
such an extent was this unnatural war 
carried on in the bosom of the church, 
that it began to excite alarm for the very 
existence of the Dutch Church. Reflect- 
ing and pious men now apprehended that 
she must soon sink into insignificance, 
and by degrees be absorbed by the sur- 
rounding denominations, and cease to exist 
as a distinct church in this land ! 

The churches of New York and of Al- 
bany were the two who kept aloof from 
this distressing party warfare, and were 
styled neutrals. Two of the dominies of 
New York, namely, Messrs. De Ronde 
and Ritzema, were strong partisans. The 
former was the most ardent in opposing 
English preaching ; the latter, in stoutly 
defending the principles of the conferentie. 
He and the learned Dominie Leydt, of 
New Brunswick, were perhaps the ablest 
writers on this long and vexed question. 
The latter was a masterly writer in de- 
fence of the coetus. 

The next period in the history of our 
church, extending from 1771 to 1784, 
opened with the best prospects. It was 
like the bright rising of the sun, after a 
long, dreary, and most melancholy winter. 
It brought peace, harmony, and prosperity 
to the churches, in the healing of the di- 
vision between the coetus and conferentie. 

The fervent prayers of (rod's people 
had never ceased to ascend to heaven for 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



213 



this object, even in our darkest days; and 
divine Providence wrought a great deli- 
verance, The happy instruments were 
the late Dr. Livingston and those eminent 
men in New York with whom he corres- 
ponded, particularly Abraham Lott, by 
whom he was regularly advised of the 
state of affairs going on here. This great 
and good man of God felt deeply for the 
church, and was resolved to lose no op- 
portunity of engaging the whole influence 
of his friends in Holland, to put an end 
to these most unnatural and painful scenes. 
He was convinced that the brethren of 
the conference would yield readily to what 
the Classis of Amsterdam would enjoin on 
them. Hence his first object was to in- 
duce the North Synod to appoint that 
classis the standing committee, with full 
powers to transact the affairs of the Ame- 
rican church. He waited on that synod 
at its meeting at Edam, in 1769, and, 
through the influence of prominent mem- 
bers, he gained his point without any 
opposition. 

Having thus got the whole power into 
the hands of that classis, his next object 
was to prevail with the classis to accede 
to the plan proposed by the coetus. He 
placed before them the arguments em- 
ployed for years by those brethren here, 
and urged on them the necessity of giving 
the church here the power to ordain as 
well as educate her own ministry. He 
succeeded completely. For such were 
the candor, the piety, and the liberal 
views of the Holland ministers, when the 
whole matters in controversy were fairly 
and fully set before them, that they no 
longer resisted the most righteous claims. 
And by the kindness of God, who watches 
over his church, and moves the hearts of 
all men, a liberal plan was arranged : 
general principles were adopted to remove 
the existing difficulties ; to conciliate the 
contending parties; to take measures to 
provide a well-educated ministry; and 
secure the necessary and unshackled right 
to license and ordain their own ministers. 

Having finished his studies, and having 
taken the degree of Doctor in Divinity 
after a rigid examination, Dr. Livingston 
returned home in 1770, and accepted the 
call presented to him from the Collegiate 
Church. He lost no time in gradually 



winning over influential and good men to 
the plan of conciliation, which he had 
brought with him. In 1771 he induced 
the consistory of his church to call a con- 
vention. There was not a more likely 
mode of succeeding. That consistory and 
church had unbounded influence with all 
the pastors and churches. The fraternal 
call was promptly responded to, and in 
October, 1771, the convention met in 
New York. It was a full meeting, and it 
displayed a kind temper and evangelical 
spirit. Ministers and elders there met in 
cordiality, who had not met nor spoken to 
each other for years ! This disappointed 
the enemy, and filled with joy the hearts 
of God's children. The Holy Spirit seemed 
to pervade the assembly, and shed peace 
and love in the hearts of all, in answer to 
the fervent prayers offered up.* 

The first business was to appoint a large 
committee of the most distinguished per- 
sons to mature a plan of union and church 
government. The committee was a most 
judicious one; it consisted of six minis- 
ters and as many elders. Dr. Livingston 
and Dr. Westerlo, with the Elders I. 
Roosevelt and N. Gansevoort, were ap- 
pointed to represent the two great churches 
that had been neutrals in the violent con- 
test, namely, those of New York and 
Albany; the Rev. Dr. Hardenberg, Mr. 
Ver Breyck, and the Elders H. Fischer 
and P. Zabriskie, to represent the Ccetus 



* The following were the members of this 
famous convention : 



ELDERS. 

Is. Roosevelt, 
J. Van Santen, 
C. Sebring, 
E. Byvank, 
N. Gansevoort, 
Hendrick Fischer, 
Englebert Lott, 
J. Rapeljie, 
G. De Murray, 
C. Vander Meulen 
R. Snedecker, 
John Sickles, 
R. Van Houten, 
Jacobus Elting, 
Adrian Wynkoop, 

John Schunema, 

William Jackson, Abraham Sickles, 

Hermanus Meyer, 

Dirck Romeyn, 

J.M.Van Harlingen 

J. H. Goetschius, 



J. N. Livingston, 
L. De Ronde, 
Archibald Laidlie, 

E. Westerlo, 
John Leydt, 
Jo. C. Rubbell, 
U. Van Sinderin, 
W. Kuypers, 
J. R. Hardenberg, 
Isaac Rysdyck, 
M. Schoonmaker, 
S. Ver. Breyck, 



Garrit Leydecker, 
David Morinus, 
Cornelius Dubois, 

B. Vanderlinden, 



L. Pawlin, 
J. Van Arsdalen, 
Peter Zabriskie, 
D. Herring, 
Michael Moor, 
G. Tingens, 
A. Zipkens, 
Adolphus Meyer, 
Stephen Zabriskie 



New York. 



Albany. 

New Brunswick. 
Kings Co., L. I. 
A 

Hackensack. 

Raritan. 

Poughkeepsie. 

Gravesend. 

Toppan. 

Kingston. 

Kaatskill. 

Bergen. 

Pompton. 

Marbletown. 

Millston. 

Hackensack. 

Eng.Neighborhood. 

Ackquakenonk. 

Freehold. 

Haerlem. 

Paramus. 



party ; and the Rev. Messrs. Rysdyck and 
De Ronde, with the Elders J. Van Santen 
and R. Snedecker, to represent the Con- 
ferentie party. 

As soon as this committee met, Dr. 
Livingston laid before them the plan 
which he had brought with him from 
Holland, and which he had hitherto shown 
to no one. The scheme embraced three 
important objects: First, The internal 
arrangements, church government, and all 
the usual powers of classis. Second, The 
measures best calculated to heal all ani- 
mosities and divisions. Third, The con- 
ducting of a correspondence with the 
parent church of Holland. It met with 
the kindest reception in the committee. 
After a few additions and amendments 
were proposed, it was adopted, and brought 
forward to the convention. Here it was 
again fully discussed with the best feelings. 
The members on each side seemed to vie 
with the other in applauding it ; and finally 
it was adopted without one dissenting vote ! 
It now only needed the final approbation 
of the Classis of Amsterdam. Accord- 
ingly, it was transmitted to them. And 
the convention adjourned, to meet in Oc- 
tober, 1772, to receive their final answer. 
That answer came, conveying to their 
dear American brethren the fullest and 
most perfect approbation of the union, and 
all the measures adopted, and concluded 
with their fervent prayers for the pi-os- 
perity of the American church. The con- 
vention heard the letter with emotions of 
joy and gratitude, and it was with the 
greatest cordiality signed by every mem- 
ber of the meeting, while they praised God 
for the happy consummation ! 

The most distinguished promoters of 
the union, and the independence of our 
church, were these : Dr. Laidlie, and Dr. 
Livingston, of New York; Dr. Westerlo, 
of Albany; Dr. Romeyn, of Schenectady ; 
Dr. Hardenberg (afterwards the first pres- 
ident of Queen's College), and Mr. Leydt, 
of New Brunswick ; Mr. Breyck, of Tap- 
pan, and Mr. Rysdyck, of Poughkeepsie. 
This distinguished man had all along been 
a keen conference partisan. But as soon 
as he heard the wise and fraternal plan 
of union, he cordially gave it his support, 
and brought his friends and people over 
to the same course. 



The first period of the Dutch Reformed 
Church in this land extends from the first 
organization of the church unto the year 
1664, when the province was invaded and 
seized by a British army, and placed 
under the government of the Duke of 
York and Albany, who was afterwards 
James II., and who abdicated the British 
throne. 

During this period, the church of New 
Amsterdam, now New York, was estab- 
lished; also, the church in Albany, in 
Flatbush, in New Utrecht,- in Flatlands, 
and Esopus, now Kingston. The colle- 
giate church of New York was organized 
as early, it is believed, as 1619. This is 
so stated in a manuscript of the late Dr. 
Livingston, on traditionary documents. 
And in another, he stated that a document 
is still extant, containing the names of 
members of that church, in 1622.* In 
the sketch of the history of the Dutch 
Church by Dr. Romeyn,| it is conjectured 
that the Collegiate Church was organized 
first. But Dr. Livingston, in one of his 
manuscripts, has said that "in Albany 
they had ministers as early as any in New 
York, if not before them." The authentic 
records, now in possession of the Colle- 
giate Church, commence in the year 1639, 
and in them we find the acts of the con- 
sistory, and bating some omissions, a list 
of ministers, elders, and deacons, with the 
members, together with the baptisms, and 
marriages, from that period. And these 
records have been continued down to this 
day. 

The first minister in New York was 
the Rev. Everardus Bogardus, whose de- 
scendants are among us at this day. It 
would appear that he had been a pastor 
for a long period; but we can find no 
correct date of his arrival here, nor the 
length of the time of his ministry. There 
is a tradition, among his descendants, that 
he became blind, and returned to Holland. 
This may in part be true ; for I am in- 
debted to the Rev. Dr. Dewitt for the 
fact, that in returning to Holland, in the 
same ship with G-ov. Kiest, he was ship- 
wrecked and lost with the rest. We find 
the names of only two Dominies between 



* Dr. Gunn's Life of Dr. Livingston, pp. 79, 81. 
f In the Christian's Magazine. 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



215 



him and the capture of the city in 1664 : 
these were I. and 8- Megapolensis. The 
latter was a practising physician, as well 
as a minister. 

The first place of worship, erected by 
the colony, in the New Netherlands, has 
generally been supposed to be that small 
edifice which stood close down on the 
water's edge, and within the fort of New 
Amsterdam, and on the place now called 
the Battery. But I am indebted to the 
late Rev. Dr. Knox, and the distinguished 
antiquarian, Dr. Rapelje, for the fact, that 
the first church of Christ was reared on a 
spot near the lower end of Stone street. 
That in the fort was the second, and was 
erected in 1642. This was, in process of 
time, transferred to the site on which the 
late Garden Street Church stood. The 
church erected by G-ov. Stuyvesant, on his 
farm, or as it is styled in Dutch,, his 
Bowery, was probably the next. But no 
true dates can be discovered, or correct 
list of his chaplains. The celebrated 
Henry Solyns was one of them ; he also 
ministered in the Dutch Church in 
] Brooklyn.* 

The second period of the Dutch Church 
extends from the surrender of the province 
in 1664 to 1693. The condition of the 
church was now materially changed, as 
might be anticipated. The English strove 
to shear it of its glory as the church of 
the province, and the grand branch of the 
National Church of Holland. But the 
Dutch, at the surrender in 1664, and more 
fully in the treaty of peace, concluded in 
1676, had taken care to secure their 
spiritual rights. It was expressly stipu- 
lated that the rights of conscience, with 
regard to worship and discipline, should 
be secured to the Dutch inhabitants. It 
may appear strange that this high privi- 
lege should have been granted to the 
Dutch here, at that time, when a furious 
persecution was carried on by the brother 
of James, Charles II., against the Scottish 



* Henry Solyns was a most amiable, learned, 
and accomplished Dutchman. He retired to 
Holland early in life, at the earnest request of 
his aged father, who was anxious to embrace 
him before he died. A Latin poem by him, 
addressed to the venerable Cotton Mather, on 
the appearance of his great work, " Magnalia 
Americana," is still extant in some of the edi- 
tions of the learned New Englander's work. 



Covenanters, and their nation. But it is 
to be remembered, that James, Duke of 
York and Albany, was a decided and even 
bigoted Roman Catholic. And the Papists 
were themselves, at that time, under se- 
vere laws and penalties, depriving them 
of liberty of conscience. James had been 
striving to obtain toleration for others, 
that he might obtain it for those of his 
own creed. Hence he had taken care to 
grant the rights of conscience to the 
Dutch, with a view to open the way for 
the Roman Catholics. His bigotry wrought 
this one good result. 

Under this sacred grant, the Dutch 
Church maintained still a high ascen- 
dency. The mass of the population be- 
longed to her; the members were among 
the most wealthy and influential indivi- 
duals in the colony; and the distinguished 
Governor Stuyvesant, and the great offi- 
cers of the former government, were elders 
and members in full communion. She 
was not only the predominant, but, beyond 
any comparison, the most respectable 
church in the whole colony. Owing to 
this influence, and the mild sway of the 
British, the Dutch Church still kept up 
her correspondence with the Classis of 
Amsterdam ; she still owned its full power 
and authority. And that classis and the 
North Synod still exercised their former 
care and power over all ecclesiastical mat- 
ters here, as formerly. 

During this period, we must notice a 
certain assumption of power by the oldest 
churches of New York, Albany, and Eso- 
pus, now Kingston. As new churches 
sprung up in the vicinity of each of these, 
the ministers of these old and powerful 
establishments claimed and exercised a 
superintending power over all these coun- 
try churches. This, by some, has been 
deemed not quite consistent with the strict 
course of Presbyterian church power. 
But it was exactly similar to what oc- 
curred in the days of the Scottish Re- 
former, John Knox. They had in those 
days their superintendents,* who visited 
vacant churches, and formed new churches, 
and directed preachers on their route of 



* The English word for Bishops ; I mean 
strictly scriptural bishops, not diocesan bishops 
— a human invention, originated by human 
power in the church. 



216 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



missionary duty. But they never acted 
as diocesan bishops over other officiating 
pastors. It was assumed in Scotland and 
in this province, to meet the extraordinary 
wants of a people calling loudly for pas- 
tors to break the bread of life to them. 
These wants the old Dominies labored to 
supply, in the absence of a sufficient num- 
ber of pastors. And if they considered 
it an infringement on their prerogatives 
if any minister ventured to officiate in 
these churches without their approbation, 
it was no severer, nor a more improper 
rule on their part, than the salutary rule 
now existing with the strictest propriety 
in each of our classes; namely, that no 
strange minister, nor itinerant preacher, 
shall preach in any of our vacant churches 
without the approbation and leave of a 
committee of ministers, appointed as a 
species of superintendents. Such was the 
state of the Dutch Church at this period. 
It was eminently distinguished by its 
numbers, wealth and piety ; and such was 
its flourishing condition until 1693. 

The third period of our church extends 
from 1693 to 1737. That jealousy and 
spirit of exclusiveness, which has charac- 
terized one branch of the Reformed 
churches, now began to put itself forward 
in a formidable manner, against the equal 
rights of the Dutch Church and other de- 
nominations. This was no less than a too 
successful attempt, by English influence, 
to place the Episcopal Church on a civil 
establishment. These plans of the Eng- 
lish people were not concealed. They 
seemed to be resolved to create a union 
of church and state, and to give a civil 
establishment to Episcopacy in all the 
British provinces. It was attempted, 
mainly, in Virginia and New York. That 
sect was to be the exclusive church, — the 
Church. And all the citizens were to be 
taxed for its support j and all other Chris- 
tians were gravely pronounced to be "dis- 
senters" from "the Church."* 



* Some are still so bigoted as to allow them- 
selves to violate the feelings of their fellow- 
Christians, by denominating those "dissenters" 
who do not worship in their church. This 
might have received some countenance on the 
part of those who enjoyed the palmy days of a 
civil establishment here. But, inasmuch as we 
obtained, by the glorious and successful war 
of the American revolution, this extraordinary 



Previous to the times of the bigoted 
Gov. Fletcher, a delightful courtesy and 
Christian intercourse prevailed between 
the Dutch Church and the Episcopalian 
Church. 

It is a fact, that the first rector of Trin- 
ity Church, in New York, was inducted 
into office, December, 1697, in the Dutch 
Church in Garden Street; and it is equally 
a fact, that the distinguished Dominie 
Henry Solyns, the pastor of the Dutch 
Church, and Dominie J. P. Nucella, of 
Kingston, did actually officiate on this im- 
portant occasion ! And that Rev. Rector, 
Mr. Vesey, officiated in the Garden Street 
Church, alternately with the Dutch, until 
Trinity Church was finished ! 

In 1779, this minute is found on the 
records of the Trinity Church : "It being 
represented that the old Dutch Church is 
now used as an hospital for his majesty's 
troops, this corporation, impressed with a 
grateful remembrance of the former kind- 
ness of the members of that ancient 
church, do offer them the use of St. 
George's Church to that congregation for 
celebrating divine worship." It was grate- 
fully accepted, and a vote of thanks was 
kindly offered in return, for the use of that 
church. I delight to add, that Gov. Bur- 
net, the son of the illustrious historian 
and Bishop Burnet, presented an organ 



boon, along with our civil liberties — namely, a 
full and complete deliverance from a civil esta- 
blishment of the Episcopal Church, we cannot 
possibly conceive any reason, on the part of 
any man, who has heard of the said revolution, 
and the breaking down thereby of that civil 
establishment, why we should be called dis- 
senters ! 

But, we only state historical facts when we 
say the Episcopalians are the dissenters. They 
are dissenters from the famous Reformed 
Churches of France, of Holland, of Germany, 
of Switzerland, of Scotland ; and all their other 
Presbyterian brethren in Ireland and the United 
States. They are, moreover, dissenters from 
the Waldenses, Albigenses, and the ancient 
British Christians, called Culdees, who sus- 
tained the true primitive apostolical churches 
in England until the sixth century, and who 
withstood Popery in Ireland and Scotland until 
the year 1172. These were, strictly speaking, 
Presbyterians. See the History of the Culdees, 
by Dr. Jamieson, jointly with Sir Walter Scott, 
quarto, Edinburgh ; and the History of the 
Waldenses, &c, by John Paul Perrin ; also by 
Sir Samuel Moreknd; and Sager's Historie 
Generale des Eglises Vaudoises. 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



217 



to the Dutch Church in Garden Street. 
It was destroyed during the revolutionary 
war. 

This encroachment of intolerance and 
bigotry was originated, ostensibly, by the 
folly of Grov. Fletcher. His project was 
brought forward and urged with the un- 
usual intolerance of the age. He was a 
man of inordinate warmth and boldness, 
and withal a bigoted Episcopalian, even to 
a degree of fanaticism. He knew no 
other church ; with him no man merited 
the name of Christian, who was not of his 
sect; and there was no recognised ministry 
or sacraments but of his church. He was 
a thorough disciple of Laud. There was 
an air of bigotry in all this scheme. The 
Episcopalians were a mere handful, com- 
pared to the great masses of the popula- 
tion, and they were chiefly in the city of 
New York, and some were scattered over 
the adjacent counties, and they consisted 
chiefly of the officers of government, their 
dependents, and the military. These were 
"the church." And the idea of estab- 
lishing these into a church, to be sup- 
ported by taxes levied on the mass of the 
people, was so unjust, so unreasonable, 
and so absurd, that no one but Gov. 
Fletcher could have entertained it soberly 
for a single moment. Hence the House 
of Assembly resisted him, and declared the 
project wicked and absurd. Resistance 
only warms bigotry and rouses fanaticism 
into ardor. He never lost sight of his 
project. But he exercised all the arts of 
Jesuitism to carry his point : some of the 
members he flattered and cajoled; some 
he imposed on by fallacious promises; 
some he threatened and bullied into com- 
pliance. At last, the Assembly, with ex- 
treme reluctance, yielded to his plan, and, 
in 1693, passed an act establishing the 
Episcopal Church in the city and county 
of New York, and in the counties of West 
Chester, Richmond, and Queens. And 
the hand of the astute Jesuit was visible 
in the drawing of the act, and in the cun- 
ning management of the whole affair. 
The inhabitants of these counties and the 
city were instructed to choose ten vestry- 
men and two churchwardens. The Dutch 
Church and Presbyterians had no elder 
or deacon to mingle with the above "apos- 
tolic number/' and these twelve officials 



of Gov. Fletcher were to have all the 
appointing power of the ministry who were 
to officiate. It is very true, the act did 
not precisely specify that the clergy should 
be of the Episcopal order, and no other. 
The half unwilling and long reluctant 
Assembly left this open. There was even 
an "explanatory act" got up some time 
afterwards, declaring that "dissenting 
ministers might be chosen." But this 
was quite a harmless enactment, to which 
the bigoted governor cheerfully lent his 
signature. For he was certain that all 
was safe, and that no dissenting minister, 
that is, no "unordained" clergyman, could 
be chosen by his devoted and equally 
bigoted vestrymen. And this was, in fact, 
the case. No minister of the Dutch or 
Presbyterian Church was ever chosen to 
officiate. 

Thus, from 1693 to 1776, that is, for 
eighty- three years, the Dutch, English, 
and Scotch Churches, and all other non- 
Episcopalian inhabitants of the city and 
county of New York, Queens, Richmond, 
and West Chester counties, were placed 
under a galling yoke. Besides supporting 
their own ministers, they were forced by 
an unrighteous law to support, by taxes 
levied on them, the small sect of the Epis- 
copalians ! And it was only by the glo- 
rious war and deliverance of the revolu- 
tion, that the people were set free from the 
union of church and state; and from the 
establishment of a peculiar sect of religion 
in these United States. 

During this civil establishment, many 
who sought the "loaves and the fishes," 
left the communion of the Presbyterian 
and Dutch Churches, and went into the 
favored society. For, in every religious 
society there are many individuals who 
are ready to join a dominant party, where 
they can enjoy the favor of the rulers, and 
be in the way of appointments to office ; 
and also be freed from the expense pressed 
on dissenters. But the result, on the 
whole, was not unfavorable to the spiritual 
interests of the Dutch Church. She lost 
only, generally speaking, the worldly men, 
and some turbulent members who loved 
not the pure and strict discipline of the 
church. In this period the doctrines of 
grace were faithfully preached, and divine 
ordinances administered in purity. The 



218 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



ministry, with some few exceptions, were 
learned, exemplary, and indefatigable; 
and the great body of the population, 
regular and moral, and attached to the 
church of their Dutch fathers, which had 
been so long preserved, without interrup- 
tion, and with little opposition. 



THE DOCTRINES OF THE DUTCH RE- 
FORMED CHURCH. 

The doctrines of our church are those 
which, in common with all the branches 
of the Reformed Churches, we have re- 
ceived from the reformers. These blessed 
doctrines were taught the church by the 
prophets and apostles, by the command 
of our Lord, the only king and head of 
the church. They are contained in the 
holy scriptures of the Old and New Tes- 
taments, and in them alone. For, in con- 
cert with the church of God, in all ages, 
we reject traditions and expositions of the 
fathers, except only as they strictly and 
rigidly agree with the Holy Bible, the 
only and all-sufficient rule of faith and 
practice. These doctrines we hold as they 
were taught by Luther and Calvin, so far 
as they taught as Paul and the other in- 
spired writers taught. 

We receive as our creed the Confession 
of Faith, as revised in the national synod 
of the Council of Dort, in the years 1618 
and 1619, consisting of thirty-seven arti- 
cles; with the Heidelberg Catechism; the 
compend of the Christian religion ; the 
canons of the Council of Dort, on the fa- 
mous five points : — I. Predestination. II. 
Definite atonement of Christ. III. and IV. 
Man's entire corruption and helplessness, 
and his conversion by God's grace alone. 
V. Perseverance of the saints in grace. 

These doctrines have been received as 
their creed by all the churches of God, 
whose honored representatives were mem- 
bers of the Council of Dort, namely : 1. 
England and Scotland ; 2. The Electoral 
Palatinate; 3. Hesse; 4. Switzerland; 5. 
The French Churches ; 6. South Holland ; 
7. North Holland; 8. Zealand; 9. Pro- 
vince of Utrecht; 10. Friesland; 11. 
G-roningen; 12. Omland; 13. Drent; 14. 
The Republic and Church of Bremen ; 

15. The Republic and Church of Emden ; 

16. Gelderland; 17. Zutphen; 18. Wet- 



teraw ; 19. The Republic and Church of 
Geneva; 20. Transylvania; and 21. The 
German Reformed Church. 

These doctrines, usually called Calvin- 
istic, or rather the doctrines of the Re- 
formed Church, are the same precisely as 
those expressed in the Thirty-nine Articles 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, with 
some few exceptions ; such, for instance, 
as that in relation to church government, 
which is characterized by diocesan bishops. 
With us, and all other churches, each 
pastor who presides over a church is 
strictly, according to the word of God, a 
Christian bishop. For, by the testimony 
of Paul (Acts xx. 5, 17, and 28), every 
presbyter or teaching elder is a bishop. 

We refer the reader for further parti- 
culars in reference to the Reformed 
Churches, and our church, as one of them, 
to our Confession of Faith, catechism, and 
canons, in the book of our church. This, 
we repeat, is the canonical book also of 
the German Reformed Church, the French 
Church, and the Swiss Church. These 
are usually bound up with our psalms and 
hymns, and are in everybody's hands who 
chooses to examine them. 

In regard to our " liturgy," we have to 
state that it contains, as every one sees, 
prayers carefully adapted to persons in 
various circumstances, public and private. 
But these are designed, now, simply as 
models, not as regular forms. When the 
early reformers, by the grace of God, led 
"the church" out of the long captivity of 
modern Babylon, they found their people 
extremely ignorant. Hence they needed 
helps. They were children, and crippled 
in their walk. They needed crutches to 
lean on in their early helplessness. But 
now, we consider our ministers, elders, 
deacons, and members of our church, as 
no longer little and lisping children, aud 
cripples needing crutches. These crutches 
we throw away, and we. walk without 
them ! This we do because the Spirit of 
God is really given to all who ask of him 
help in prayer. But we have no desire 
to interfere with those of our reformed 
brethren who deem themselves, as yet, 
incapable of doing without these helps for 
the weak ones of the flock. 

The only part of our liturgy which is 
enjoined to be read, is this : the Form of 



Baptism, in order to preserve the uni- 
formity of vows ; together with the short 
prayer, before the vows taken by the 
parents; and also the formula of the holy 
communion of the Lord's Supper. This 
the minister reads, while all the members 
carefully and devoutly follow him, with 
the form open before them, in their seats. 
This is the amount, and the proper use of 
our liturgy. 

CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 

Our form of government is that which 
has been adopted by all the churches of 
the Reformation in Holland, France, 
Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, with the 
exception of England, which is governed 
by diocesan bishops, and of the famous 
Puritans of Old and New England, whose 
form is that of independency. We refer 
to our form in our Book of the Church. 
Our primary court is that of the consistory, 
the same as that called a session in the 
Presbyterian Church. This consists of 
the three distinct offices : ministers or 
bishops, elders, and deacons. The dea- 
cons in our church have no right to preach. 
We adhere strictly to the scriptural insti- 
tution of that office, as detailed in Acts vi. 
They have the^are of the poor; and take 
charge of the alms and the proper distri- 
bution of them. Our church discounte- 
nances the office of trustees, especially of 
a board of trustees, whose members are 
not even required to be members of the 
Church in full communion. The most 
general, I may say the universal, practice 
of ecclesiastical arrangement with us, is 
this : the pastors and elders meet as a 
j spiritual court, to transact spiritual con- 
j cerns, such as the admission of members, 
i exercising discipline, &c. The deacons 
meet statedly, to make provision for the 
| poor and make distributions. And the 
j consistory, composed of the pastor, elders, 
j and deacons, meets for the transaction of 
I all temporal business relating to their own 
| church. On important occasions, such as 
that of calling a minister, the Great Con- 
sistory is called together. This is com- 
posed of all those individuals who have 
been at any time elders and deacons in 
the Church. 



* This is only an advisory body, 



The next court in our Church is the 
Classis, corresponding precisely to the 
Presbytery in our sister churches. This 
is composed of a minister and an elder 
from each distinct church, under the care 
of the classis. 

The next court is the Particular Synod. 
Of these we have three, namely, the Synod 
of New York, the Synod of Albany, and 
the Synod of Chicago. These consist of 
two ministers and two elders from each 
classis within its bounds. 

The highest court, from which there is 
no appeal, is the General Synod. This 
also is a representative body. It is com- 
posed of three ministers and three elders 
from each classis throughout the entire 
Church. At its first organization, this 
court met triennially; now it meets an- 
nually, for the despatch of all business 
belonging to the Church. 

The elders and deacons of our churches 
are elected for the term of two years; but 
in order to avoid the inconvenience of an 
entire change at one time, the elders and 
deacons are classed in such manner, that 
the term of service of one half the num- 
ber expires at the end of the year, so that 
one half of the whole number of elders 
and deacons may be elected annually. 
This does not prevent the re-election of 
one or all of the same persons for another 
term, if thought expedient by the church. 
This feature in the constitution of our 
Church is more congenial with the civil 
institutions of our country than the plan 
of choosing these officers for life ; and is 
believed to be more conformable to the 
earlier practice of the Christian Church, 
and to the true genius of Presbyterian 
church government. It may, however, 
appear to some, who have not seen its 
operation, to be of doubtful expediency; 
but in the Reformed Dutch Church it has 
been in operation since the Reformation, 
and has stood commended for its practical 
excellence. Our plan makes the consis- 
tory, for the time being, more truly the 
representative of the church than the 
other, secures the best talent, and the 
most exemplary piety in the church for 
these important offices, as well as affords 
an easy method of releasing unacceptable 
officers from its service. We believe, also, 
that our plan of church government has a 



220 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



decided preference over Congregational 
government, inasmuch as we have a judi- 
catory for the trial of offending members, 
composed of men (elders) selected from 
the Church for their talents, piety, and 
discretion, while in the other all the male 
members of the Church constitute the 
court. In civil society, such a course 
would be novel indeed. Who would wish 
to have a case tried by the freeholders or 
male inhabitants of a town, instead of a 
court composed of three, five, or seven 
judges, selected for their appropriate 
qualifications ? The system of appeal to 
higher judicatories, in the exercise of 
Presbyterian church government, gives 
ample security for an impartial and equi- 
table investigation, removed from the 
passing excitements and local influences 
to which the other system is exposed. 

In the admission of candidates for the 
ministry, previous to licensure or ordina- 
tion, they are required to. subscribe their 
names to a document, in which they ex- 
press their reception of the doctrines con- 
tained in our standards, and promise 
" diligently to teach and faithfully to de- 
fend the aforesaid doctrines, without either 
directly or indirectly contradicting the 
same, by their public preaching or wri- 
tings ) and that if hereafter any difficulties 
or different sentiments concerning the 
aforesaid doctrines should arise in their 
minds, they engage that they will neither 
publicly nor privately propose, teach nor 
defend the same, either by preaching or 
writing, until they have first revealed such 
sentiments to the consistory, classis, or 
synod, that the same may be there ex- 
amined : and further, if at any time the 
consistory, classis, or synod, upon sufficient 
grounds of suspicion, and to preserve the 
uniformity and purity of doctrine, may 
deem it proper to require of them a far- 
ther explanation of their sentiments con- 
cerning any particular article of the Con- 
fession of Faith, the Catechism, &c, they 
promise to be always willing and ready to 
comply with such requisitions, under the 
penalty, in the case of refusal, to be sus- 
pended from their office." This strictness 
has undoubtedly had a salutary effect in 
preserving the orthodoxy and harmony of 
our Church, by interposing obstacles in the 
way of ministers uniting with us who are 



unstable in matters of doctrine, or desirous 
to promote heresy, and also in disposing 
such ministers, if among us, to go out from 
among us. 

Persons are admitted to the communion 
of the church, upon examination by the 
consistory, with respect to their experi- 
mental acquaintance with religion, and 
their belief of the fundamental truths 
contained in the " Compendium of the 
Christian Religion." The paragraph ap- 
pended to this summary of Christian doc- 
trine is as follows : " Yv'hen those persons, 
who incline to become members of the 
Church, thoroughly know and confess 
these fundamental truths, they are then to 
be asked whether they have any doubts 
on any point concerning the doctrine, to 
the end they may be satisfied j and in case 
any of them should answer in the affirma- 
tive, endeavors must be made to convince 
them, out of the Word of God ; and if 
they are all satisfied, they must be asked 
whether they purpose, by the grace of 
God, to persevere in this doctrine, forsake 
the world, and lead a new and Christian 
life. Lastly, they are to be asked whether 
they will submit themselves to Christian 
discipline. Which being done, they are 
to be exhorted to peace and concord with 
all men, and to reconciliation, if there is 
any variance subsisting between them- 
selves and their neighbors." 

The Lord's Supper is declared in our 
catechism to be instituted for those " who 
are truly sorry for their sins, and yet trust 
they are forgiven them for Christ's sake, 
and that their remaining infirmities are 
covered by his passion and death, and who 
also earnestly desire to have their faith 
more and more strengthened, and their 
lives more holy." 

At the baptism of children, parents ac- 
knowledge " the doctrine contained in the 
Old and New Testaments, and in the Ar- 
ticles of the Christian faith, and which is 
taught in our Church, to be the true and 
perfect doctrine of salvation," and engage 
to see them, when come to years of discre- 
tion, instructed and brought up in, or help, 
or cause them to be instructed therein, to 
the utmost of their power." Provision is 
accordingly made for the instruction of 
the children and youth of our Church. It 
is stipulated in the call made to every 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



221 



minister who becomes a stated pastor, 
among other things, that he should edify 
the congregation, and especially the youth, 
by catechetical instruction. This is 
deemed of such importance, that the fol- 
lowing questions are annually addressed 
by each classis to every minister and dele- 
gate present : — 



" Is the Heidelberg Catechism regularly 
explained, according to the Constitution 
of the Reformed Dutch Church ? 

il Are the catechizing of the children, 
and the instruction of the youth, faithfully 
attended to ? 

" Is family visitation faithfully per- 
formed ?" 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE CHURCH. 

The institutions of our Church are, 1. A Col- 
lege. 2. A Theological Seminary. 3. Board 
of Foreign Missions. 4. Board of Domestic 
Missions. 5. Board of Education. 6. Board 
of Sabbath School Union. 7. A Board of Pub- 
lication. 8. Widows' Fund. 9. A* Sustentation 
Fund. All are under the supervision of the 
General Synod. 

The attention of the Reformed Church in 
Holland, as well as that in America, has been 
uniformly directed to the means for training a 
learned, as well as pious ministry. In the dis- 
cussions which agitated our Church here about 
the middle of the last century, iu reference to 
the propriety of erecting independent ecclesi- 
astical judicatories, and educating our own min- 
istry, one argument used in opposition was, that 
we had not adequate means for the education 
of our ministry, and that we would lose the 
great benefit of the Universities of Holland. 
The friends of the measure constantly kept in 
view the organization of a literary institution, 
and as early as 1770 a charter was obtained for 
a College, called Queens College, to be located 
at New Brunswick, New Jersey. Its name was 
afterwards changed into that of Rutgers College, 
after the name of its munificent patron, the 
late Col. Rutgers, who was a gallant revolu- 
tionary officer, and an eminent man of God in 
the church. 

After many years of struggling feebleness, 
this college now occupies a high position among 
its sister institutions. The President is the Hon 
Theodore Frelinghuysen, a gentleman of na- 
tional reputation as a statesman, lawyer, phi 
lanthropist, and Christian. He has held the 
office since 1850. An able faculty surround 
him, and give character to the college. New 
buildings have been erected during the last few 
years on either side of the main edifice, which 
was begun in 1809, and finished at a cost of 
thirty thousand dollars. The number of stu- 
dents has greatly increased, and the institution 
is now (1858) more prosperous than at any 
preceding period. 

Rutgers College is well regarded as the 
child of the Reformed Dutch Church in North 
America. For many years it held a direct con- 
nection with the General Synod, in pursuance 
of certain covenants which defined their mutual 
relations. Latterly, however, excepting the 
connection resulting from the tenure and man- 
agement of certain funds, the government of 



the College has been practically independent of 
the Synod, although the Theological Profes- 
sors of the Synod give regular instruction in 
the College, in addition to their theological 
duties. The history of this institution shows, 
that although it is not, in the strict sense of the 
term, even a denominational college, yet the 
Reformed Dutch Church has always fostered it 
as her own child, and that the great object spe- 
cified in its charter has been sacredly carried 
out, viz : " for the education of youth in the 
learned languages, liberal and useful arts and 
sciences, and especially in divinity, preparing 
them for the ministry and other good offices," 
and that the Reformed Dutch Church "might 
be properly supplied with an able, learned, and 
well qualified ministry." Nearly all of its funds, 
its Presidents and Professors, and its students, 
have come from the Church to which it owes its 
being, and which has nurtured it for generations 
amid her prayers and tears and benefactions. 
The Presidency of the College has been held by 
the following eminent men : — 

Rev. Jacob R. Hardenbergh, D.D. ; appointed 
1786; died 1790. Rev. John H. Livingston, 
D.D., S.T.P.; appointed 1810; died 1825. Rev. 
Philip Milledoler, D.D., S.T.P. ; appointed 1825 ;. 
resigned 1840; died 1852. Hon. Abraham 
Bruyn Hasbrouek, LL.D. ; appointed 1840; 
resigned 1850. Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, 
LL.D. ; appointed 1850. 

The importance of a regular Theological Pro- 
fessorship was continually kept in view, in con- 
nection with an independent ecclesiastical or- 
ganization in America, and frequent references 
were made to it. After the Revolutionary War, 
in 1784, a Theological Professor was chosen. 
The persons invested with this office retained 
their pastoral relation and office until means 
should be provided for the endowment and 
establishment of a Theological Seminary. This 
Seminary was founded and opened at New 
Brunswick in 1810. It was the first Theolo- 
gical Seminary among all the Christian denomi- 
nations in the United States. It has three 
Professors, and now (1858) numbers fifty 
students. The Rev. Dr. John H. Livingston 
was its first Professor. He had been appointed I 
Professor of Theology in 1784, and removed to 
New Brunswick, N. J., in 1810, where he re- 
mained in that office, and as President of Queens 
College, until his death in 1825. The Seminary 
opened with five students. For some years Dr. 
Livingston was its sole Professor. Subse- 
quently, after years of trial and persevering 



222 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



effort, funds were raised which completed the 
endowment of two other professorships. The 
last of these was accomplished in 1831. For 
these noble endowments the Church is princi- 
pally indebted to the zealous efforts of the late 
Rev. Drs. Ludlow, Knox, and Schoonmaker, 
and Messrs. J. R. Hardenbergh, C. Heyer, and 
Abraham Van Nest, who alone survives his 
colleagues. 

Until 1856 the exercises of the Seminary 
were held in the college building. The growing 
inconveniences of this arrangement, and the 
necessity of procuring a home for students who 
have the ministry in view, where they could 
have cheap board and free rooms, and more in- 
timate associations, with other considerations 
of advantages to both institutions, led in 1855 
to the plan for the erection of a capacious 
building for these uses. 

By the munificence of a Christian lady of 
Philadelphia, Mrs. Anna Hertzog (who gave 
over $31,000 for the purpose), and that of gen- 
tlemen in New Brunswick who gave the spa- 
cious grounds, and by the additional gifts of 
other friends of the institution in various parts 
of the Church, this great object has been ac- 
complished. " The "Peter Hertzog Theological 
Hall" was dedicated in September, 1856, as the 
home of our school of the prophets. The whole 
property is valued at about $70,000. It is now 
nearly filled with students, all of whom have 
the ministry in view. 

In addition to the endowment of the three 
professorships, and the above mentioned pro- 
perty, the General Synod possesses the Van 
Bunschoten Fund — bequeathed in 1814 by Rev. 
Elias Van Bunschoten — and now amounting to 
about $20,000, and other educational funds, 
consisting of legacies, scholarships, and various 
trusts for the support of pious and indigent 
youth during their studies for the ministry, 
which amount in the aggregate to somewhat 
more than $40,000. The total amount of all 
these funds, invested for ministerial education, 
support of professors and students, exclusive 
of the Theological Hall property, cannot be less 
than $155,000. 

The Parochial School system, which was a 
part of the original system of our Church, has 
lately been revived with signal success. The 
Sabbath School enterprise, especially in its 
missionary aspects, has been given a new promi- 
nence under the recent reorganization of the 
Sabbath School Board of the Church. The 
Board of Education assists indigent young men 
in their endeavors to obtain an education for 
the gospel ministry, and now has about eighty 
young men under its care. 

To the Board of Foreign Missions is com- 
mitted the entire supervision of the missions 
of the Church in foreign lands. We have now 
one mission at Amoy, in China (which was begun 
in 1844, by Rev. Messrs. Pohlman and Doty), 
consisting of three missionaries and their wives, 
who will soon be joined by three others now 
on their way thither. This is one of the most 
successful and interesting missions in the old 



world. We have another mission in the district 
of Arcot, India, composed of five brothers and 
their wives, and a sister. This is the celebrated 
Scudder missionary family. Their father, Rev. 
John Scudder, M. D., was for over thirty years 
a missionary in Ceylon and India. He died in 
1855. This mission (which will soon be en- 
larged by two more laborers) constitutes the 
Classis of Arcot The first missionaries of our 
Church were Rev. Dr. Scudder and wife, and 
Rev. David Abeel, who was also the first Ame- 
rican seaman's chaplain to Canton, and the first 
missionary of the Reformed Dutch Church in 
China. He died in 1846, at Albany, N. Y., aged 
42 years. Dr. Cornelius V. A. Van Dyck, at a 
later date went to Syria, where he still labors, 
and is regarded as one of the first of living 
Arabic scholars. In 1836 the first company of 
nine missionaries of our Church embarked for 
Java. Other companies afterward joined them. 
The Dutch government permitted them to settle 
only in Borneo, where the mission among the 
Dyaks was begun. Sickness, death, the trans- 
fer of some to China, the return of others to 
this country, and other causes, led to the aban- 
donment of this mission in 1850. 

From 1817 until 1826 our Church co-operated 
in the United Foreign Missionary Society, which 
then was merged in the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions. From 1832 
until 1857 we were united by special compact 
with the latter great missionary body. The 
General Synod, in June, 1857, severed this long 
and pleasant and profitable union. The sole 
reason for this action was to promote our own 
missionary interest and activity, and to bring 
us into direct contact with the missionaries and 
with the heathen world. The result has already 
justified this action. 

The Board of Domestic Missions has operated 
successfully in aiding and strengthening many 
feeble churches in the region of the Atlantic 
States, furnishing their sphere of operation, and 
has of late years sent forth and employed many 
laborers in the cities, villages, and new settle- 
ments in the Western States. Its operations are 
confined to no section of the Church. Since 
1848, when it was reconstituted, it has accom- 
plished a great work, both of church extension 
and of church establishment. Special attention 
has been paid to the colonies of Hollanders in 
the West and East, and to the wants of the 
German population, in both of which commu- 
nities there has been a large accession of 
churches, mission stations, and pastors and 
missionaries. During the last year the Board 
has aided, in whole or in part, seventy-five 
churches and stations. In ten years its work in 
the Western States has resulted in the growth 
of the Church from a few feeble churches and 
stations to the establishment of the Particular 
Synod of Chicago, which numbers four classes 
and forty-two organized churches, besides a 
number of missionary stations. 

The Board of Publication was founded in 1854, 
and is designed to provide a sound religious 
literature for the churches. 




A. CAMPBELL. 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH. 



223 



The Widows' Fund is for the relief of super- 
annuated ministers, and the widows and chil- 
dren of deceased ministers, who may have paid 
the stipulated annual contribution to its funds. 
This fund now amounts to more than $16,000. 

The Sustentation Fund is to be used for the 
aid of disabled ministers, and the families of 
deceased ministers, when such may be in need. 

RELATION TO OTHER ECCLESIASTICAL 
BODIES. 

Our General Synod holds what is termed a 
correspondence with the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church. Some other ecclesi- 
astical bodies, agreeing with us in doctrine, are 
so far in fellowship with us, that their minis- 
ters, having a call from any of our churches, 
are received into our connection in the same 
manner as those coming from corresponding 
bodies, after examination. 

Notwithstanding the word Dutch in our de- 
nominational name may look forbidding to some, 
we have churches in which there are very few 
members of Dutch descent, and we have minis- 
ters and many members in our connection, who 
have been reared in the Congregational churches 
of New England, and the different parts of the 
Presbyterian Church, besides some in other 
denominations. 

Our Church has been distinguished by a 
steady and united adherence to her standards 
and order, and at the same time dwelling in 
kind and friendly relation to, and avoiding col- 
lision with other evangelical denominations. 
She has enjoyed peace within her own bosom, 
while agitating questions have troubled, and 
even rent, other churches. She has borne a 
full proportionate share in contributions to the 



Christian benevolent institutions, as the Ame- 
rican Bible Society, the American Tract Society, 
and others. 

It is a pleasure for the compiler to add, as a 
token of this spirit, that the celebrated Noon- 
day Prayer Meeting, which is held daily in Ful- 
ton Street, New York, and which has been one 
of the bright lights of the present '■'■great awa- 
kening" (1857-8), was originated and has been 
under the control of the consistory of the Colle- 
giate Reformed Dutch Church in that city. The 
history of this prayer meeting, although it is 
strictly a Union meeting, written by Rev. Dr. 
Chambers, one of the pastors of the Collegiate 
Church, and lately published by the Board of 
Publication, contains one of the most wonderful 
records of Divine grace that has ever been given 
to the world. The consistory of the Old North 
Dutch Church, which had been almost deserted 
on account of the removals of its congregation 
from the lower part of the city, in June, 1857, 
instituted an organized missionary effort among 
the neglected masses of the down-town wards. 
An excellent, pious, and intelligent layman, Mr. 
Jeremiah C. Lanphier, was employed for car- 
rying on this work. The old church was made 
practically a free church, and strangers at the 
hotels and people residing in the vicinity were 
invited to the services. A mission Sabbath 
School was organized, and on the 23d day of 
September, 1857, at 12 o'clock, M., the first 
noonday prayer meeting for business men was 
held. Six persons only attended it. The next 
week there were twenty ; the next forty. Then 
it was held daily; and from thence "Its line 
has gone out into all the earth." Its history 
belongs to that of the Universal Church, and, 
like the New Jerusalem, "the glory of God 
doth lighten it." 



HISTORY 



THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST 



BY PROF. R. RICHARDSON, OF VIRGINIA. 



il 



THEIR RISE, PROGRESS, FAITH, AND 
PRACTICE. 

The religious society, whose members 
prefer to be known by the primitive and 



unsectariah appellation of " Disciples of 
Christ," or by that of " Christians/' the 
title first given to the followers of our Lord 
at Antioch, A. D. 41, but who are vari- 



ously designated in different sections, as 
"Baptists," "Reformed Baptists," "Re- 
formers," or " Campbellites," had its origin 
in an effort made, a few years since, to 
effect a union of the pious of all parties, 
by the ties of a common Christianity. 
■' This was at first proposed by Thomas 
Campbell, who had long been a minister 
Ojf high standing in the " Secession" branch 
of the Presbyterian Church, in the north 
of Ireland, and who had been at all times 
characterized by his love for the Bible, and 
for godly men of all parties, without res- 
pect to sectarian differences. Having 
visited the United States, as well for the 
recovery of his health, which had become 
much impaired, as with a view to a per- 
manent location, he employed his time for 
nearly three years in supplying with min- 
isterial labor, the destitute churches of the 
Seceder connexion in Western Pennsylva- 
nia. During this period, he experienced 
much opposition and persecution from 
some of the ministers of his own party, in 
consequence of the liberality of his reli- 
gious views, and was, at one time, formally 
arraigned before the ecclesiastical tribunal, 
under a charge of favoring a communion 
with other parties, which was regarded as 
a laxity in regard to the Testimony of this 
particular sect. Shortly after these con- 
troversies, Mr. Campbell's family set out 
from Ireland, under the charge of his 
eldest son Alexander, then a young man, 
and arrived in Washington County, Penn- 
sylvania, where they all took up their 
abode, and where Thomas Campbell con- 
tinued his ministerial labors. 

Continually deploring, however, the 
divided and distracted condition of the re- 
ligious community at large, and deeply 
convinced that its divisions were unneces- 
sary, unscriptural, and most injurious to 
the interests of religion and of society : 
he at length formed the resolution to make 
a public effort for the restoration of the 
original unity of the church. Being joined 
in this resolution by his son Alexander, 
whose views of religion had been much 
liberalized and extended by an intimacy 
with Greville Ewing and the Independents 
of Glasgow, in Scotland, during his studies, 
which he had just completed at the uni- 
versity in that city; and whose talents, 
learning, and energy have, since this 



period, so widely disseminated the princi- 
ples of union then adopted : an attempt 
was made, in the first instance, to obtain 
the co-operation of the people and minis- 
ters with whom he stood associated. 

The great fundamental point urged at 
this juncture was, that in order to Chris- 
tian union, and the full influence of the 
gospel, it was absolutely necessary that 
the Bible alone should be taken as the au- 
thorized bond of union, and the infallible 
rule of faith and practice ; in other words, 
that the revelations of God should be 
made to displace from their position all 
human creeds, confessions of faith, and 
formularies of doctrine and church gov- 
ernment, as being not only unnecessary, 
but really a means of perpetuating^ divi- 
sion. Containing, indeed, much truth, 
and embracing, for the most part, the 
great leading facts and doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, each one, it was argued, superad- 
ded unfortunately its own peculiar theory 
of religion, and blended with the Chris- 
tianity common to all, speculative opin- 
ions respecting matters not revealed, which, 
nevertheless, were, in these theological 
systems, exalted to an equal authority 
with the undoubted facts of the gospel. 
These conflicting opinions, uncertain for 
want of clear scriptural evidence, were, 
whether true or false, unimportant in them- 
selves, as contrasted with the great and 
plainly revealed truths of Holy Writ ; and, 
as derived from human reason, and being 
the offspring of human weakness, were 
regarded as constituting essentially human 
religions, and as being therefore wholly 
devoid of any regenerating or saving effi- 
cacy. It was conceived to have been a 
small matter, that the Lutheran Reforma- 
tion should have freed the church from 
the religion of the priest, if she persisted 
in substituting for it the religion of men, 
rather than the religion of God, as God 
himself had given it. For, while it was 
admitted that the various formularies of 
religion contained the great and leading 
points of Christianity, and the pleasing 
reflection could be indulged that almost 
all parties were agreed in those, as, for 
instance, briefly summed up in the Nicene, 
or Apostles' Creed : it was urged, that the 
various systems of human opinions, com- 
mingled with these truths, had so diluted, 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



225 



weakened, an^ even perverted them, as to 
have deprived them in a great measure 
of their power in the salvation of the 
world ; so that the gospel, in the hands of 
Protestantism, and become a vague, con- 
tradictory, incomprehensible religion, quite 
unable to effect the conversion of the 
world, or accomplish the grand, extensive, 
and blessed results, for the attainment of 
which, the religion of Christ, in its con- 
centrated purity, was so admirably fitted. 
It was therefore proposed, that all human 
creeds, as being incomplete if they con- 
tained any thing less than the Bible — un- 
worthy of credit, if they contained any 
thing more upon the subject of religion, 
and in either case, as highly injurious for 
the reasons above given, should be indis- 
criminately repudiated by the churches, 
and that the Bible itself, and more espe- 
cially the New Testament, as containing 
the clear development of the religion of 
Christ, should be, as was undeniably the 
case in primitive ages, the creed, the con- 
fession, and the guide of all. 

The plea that human creeds and disci- 
pline were necessary to preserve purity 
of doctrine and government in the church, 
was totally rejected, as disproved by the 
well known fact ihat they had failed to do 
this, and also as an imputation upon the 
divine goodness and wisdom, implying 
that God was unwilling to give a sufficient 
revelation, and left something for men to 
supply ; or that men could express the 
truths revealed, in better words, and in 
expressions less liable to misconstruction, 
tnan those selected by the Holy Spirit. 
On the other hand, it was insisted, that 
the Scriptures, interpreted in conformity 
with the fixed laws of language, could 
convey but the same ideas to all unbiassed 
minds respecting every thing necessary 
to salvation ; and that if, perchance, dif- 
ference of sentiment should arise, respect- 
ing minor and incidental matters, these 
inferences or opinions were to be distin- 
guished from faith, and were neither to be 
made a term of communion, nor imposed 
by one Christian upon another. Or, to 
express the whole in the language em- 
ployed by Thos. Campbell, " Nothing 
was to be received as a matter of faith or 
duty, for which there could not be pro- 
duced a Thus sailh the Lord, either in 



express terms, or by approved scripture 
precedent."' 

This overture for a religious reforma- 
tion being rejected by the seceders as a 
body, but embraced by some members : 
an application was made to the pious of 
all the parties in the vicinity, and a " de- 
claration and address" drawn up and 
printed, in which all were invited to form 
a union upon the principles above stated. 
A considerable number of individuals re- 
sponded to this appeal, and a congrega- 
tion was immediately organized upon 
Brush Run, in Washington county, on the 
7th of September, 1810,* where a house 
of worship was erected, and where minis- 
terial duties were performed conjointly by 
T. Campbell and his son Alexander, who 
had been duly ordained pastors of the 
church. 

It is proper to remark here, that the 
members of this congregation were not 
associated together in a loose and inform- 
al manner, at its formation. On the con- 
trary, it was deemed absolutely necessary 
that every one, in being admitted, should 
give some proof that he understood the 
nature of the relation he assumed, and 
the true scriptural ground of salvation. 
Each applicant, therefore, was required to 
give a satisfactory answer to the question : 
" What is the meritorious cause of the 
sinner's acceptance with God V Upon 
expressing an entire reliance upon the 
merits of Christ alone for justification, 
and evincing a conduct becoming the 
Christian profession, he was received into 
fellowship.! Such was the humble origin 
of a reformation, now widely extended, 
which did not, as is often the case, pro- 
ceed from the fire of enthusiasm, but was 
the offspring of calm and long continued 
deliberation, frequent consultation, and pa- 
tient, laborious, and prayerful investiga- 
tion of the Holy Scriptures ; and which 
had never for its object to add a new sect 
to those already existing, but was design- 
ed, from its very inception, to put an end 
to all partisan controversies, and, far from 
narrowing the basis of Christian fellow- 
ship, to furnish abundant room for all be- 



* See Supplement to this article. 
f For want of these proofs, two persons 
were rejected at the first meeting'. 



29 



226 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



lievers upon the broad ground of the 
Bible, and a common reliance upon the 
merits of Christ. 

Much devotion and interest was mani- 
fested by the church of Brush Run, and 
the utmost peace and harmony prevailed 
amongst its members for a number of 
months. Most of them being poor, they 
were unable to finish the interior of the 
frame meeting house which they had 
erected, and were accordingly wont to as- 
semble in it, without fire, during the in- 
clemency even of winter. They were 
also in the habit of visiting often at each 
other's houses, and spending whole nights 
in social prayer ; searching the scriptures, 
asking and answering questions, and sing- 
ing hymns. Their affections seemed to 
be elevated above the love of party, by the 
love of Christ ; and the deeply implanted 
prejudice of a sectarian education and 
training, appeared to have died away be- 
neath the overshadowing influence of di- 
vine truth. 

A circumstance occurred, however, after 
some time, which showed that these pre- 
judices nad power to revive ; and that, 
like noxious weeds, they were more hardy 
and enduring than the things that are sal- 
utary to men. This circumstance was 
the presentation, by a member, of the 
subject of infant baptism, which at once 
necessarily brought up the question so 
often debated between Baptists and Pedo- 
baptists : whether or not this ordinance 
could be scripturally administered to in- 
fants ? Mr. Campbell, sen., entered upon 
the discussion of the subject, with his im- 
pressions in favor of the affirmative ; but 
he examined the question with so much 
impartiality in a series of discourses, that 
a number of his hearers became convin- 
ced thereby, on the contrary, that the 
practice of infant baptism could not be 
sustained by adequate scripture evidence; 
and the mind of his son Alexander espe- 
cially, was, after a full examination of the 
subject, led to the conclusion, not only 
that the baptism of infants was without 
scriptural authority, but that immersion in 
water, upon a true profession of faith in 
Christ, alone constituted Christian bap- 
tism. Upon stating to his oldest sister, 
his conclusions, and his intention to com- 
ply with what he conceived to be the re- 



quisitions of the gospel, she informed him 
that her convictions and intentions had for 
some time been the same; and, upon 
stating the matter to their father, he pro- 
posed that they should send for a Baptist 
preacher, and attend upon the ministration 
of the ordinance in the immediate region 
of their labors. Before the appointed 
time, Thomas Campbell himself, together 
with several other members of the Brush 
Run congregation, became so forcibly im- 
pressed with the same convictions, that 
they were prepared to accompany them, 
and all were immersed, upon the simple 
profession of faith made by the Ethiopian 
eunuch, (Acts viii. 37,) by Elder Luse of 
the Baptist community, on the 12th June, 
1812. 

This was an important occurrence in 
the history of this little band of reform- 
ers ; for it not only revived the educa- 
tional prejudices of all those who were 
unfavorable to immersion, or attached to 
infant baptism, and induced them imme- 
diately to withdraw themselves from the 
church ; but it was the means of bring- 
ing the remainder, who now constitu- 
ted a congregation of immersed believ- 
ers, into immediate connexion with the 
Baptists. For, although disinclined to a 
combination with any religious party, 
known as such, they deemed the princi- 
ples of the Baptists favorable to reforma- 
tion and religious freedom, and believed 
that as they had it in their power to pre- 
serve their own independence as a church, 
and the integrity of the principles of their 
first organization, a connexion with the 
Baptists would afford them a more ex- 
tended field of usefulness. Accordingly, 
in the fall of 1813, they were received 
into Redstone Baptist Association, care- 
fully and expressly stipulating at the same 
time, in writing, that " No terms of union 
or communion other than the holy scrip- 
tures should be required." 

The novelty of those simple views of 
Christianity which Alexander Campbell 
as messenger of the church of Brush Run 
urged with much ability upon the associa 
tion, began immediately to excite consider 
able stir in that body, with whom an op 
position to human creeds and to claims of 
jurisdiction over the churches, found but 
little favor. With the more liberal-mind- 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



227 



ed Baptists, however, Mr. Campbell's views 
gradually prevailed ; and so high became 
the confidence of the Baptist community, 
in general, in his talents and knowledge 
of the scriptures, that he was selected, 
after some time, to debate the question of 
Christian baptism with Mr. J. Walker, a 
minister of the secession church. This 
debate, held at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, in 
June, 1820, being afterwards published, 
greatly contributed to extend Mr. Camp- 
bell's celebrity, as well as to diffuse abroad 
among the Baptists his views of the Chris- 
tian institution. The same result followed 
a second debate upon the same subject, 
which grew out of the first one, and which 
he hold, in 1823, at Washington, in the 
State of Kentucky, with Mr. McCalla of 
the Presbyterian church, so that the views 
of Mr. Campbell became generally diffused 
among the Baptist churches of the western 
country Meanwhile, a jealousy on the 
part of some leading members of the 
Redstone Association, of his increasing 
popularity and commanding talents, led 
them to inveigh against his principles as 
innovating and disorganizing ; and finally 
created so much dissension in that body, 
and so much animosity towards the church 
of Brush Run, that the latter, in order to 
avoid its effects, dismissed about thirty 
members, including Alexander Campbell, 
to Wellsburg, Virginia, where they were 
constituted as a new church, and, upon 
application, were admitted into the Ma- 
honing Association of Ohio, with some of 
whose members they had already formed 
a favorable intimacy. This body proved 
much more liberal in its views ; and after 
the bickerings and dissensions of nearly 
ten years at Redstone, the reformers were 
pleased to find in it not only liberality of 
feeling, but a disposition to follow impli- 
citly the dictates of the scriptures. Various 
meetings of preachers were held to con- 
sider and investigate the ancient and apos- 
tolic order of things ; and at length nearly 
the whole association came by degrees 
into the views presented ; so that, in the 
year 1828, it rejected finally all human 
formularies of religion, and relinquished 
all claim to jurisdiction over the churches ; 
resolving itself into a simple annual meet- 
ing for the purpose of receiving reports of 
the progress of the churches ; for worship, 



and mutual co-operation in the spread of 
the gospel. 

The influence of so large a number of 
churches, embracing a considerable por- 
tion of the Western Reserve, with several 
able preachers, necessarily gave great ex- 
tension to the principles advocated by Mr. 
Campbell. It was but a short time, how- 
ever, until the abandonment of usages long 
cherished by the Baptists, and the intro- 
duction of views and practices not com- 
monly received by them, gave rise to so 
much umbrage and opposition on the part 
of the adjoining churches, composing the 
Beaver Association : that this body were 
induced, being not a little influenced also 
by the persevering hostility of- that of 
Redstone, to denounce as heretical, and 
exclude from their fellowship, all those 
churches which favored the views of the 
reformers. The schism, thus produced, 
was soon extended to Kentucky, to eastern 
Virginia, and in short to all those Baptist 
churches and associations into which the 
views of Mr. Campbell had been intro- 
duced by his debates and writings ; the 
Baptists, in all cases, separating from their 
communion all who favored the senti- 
ments of the Disciples, being unwilling to 
concede even permission to believe the 
plain dictates of the scriptures to those 
who freely granted to them, without a 
breach of fellowship, unrestricted liberty 
of opinion. 

The Disciples, thus suddenly cut off 
from their connection with the Baptists, 
formed themselves every where into dis- 
tinct churches, independent of each other's 
control, but holding the same sentiments, 
having the same fellowship, and continu- 
ing to carry out the great principles ori- 
ginally professed, exhorting all men to 
return to the Bible alone, as the only rule 
of faith, and, in the language of Thomas 
Campbell, to co-operate together for " the 
restoration of pure primitive apostolic 
Christianity, in letter and spirit ; in prin- 
ciple and practice." 

The prescriptive measures of the Bap- 
tist clergy, and the persecuting spirit by 
which they had been often guided, proved, 
as has ever been the case, favorable to the 
cause they labored to overthrow. No 
sooner had a separation been effected, than 
prejudices began to subside, and misap- 



228 



HISTORY" OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



prehensions to be corrected, as the excited 
feelings which produced them gradually 
died away. Many intelligent Baptists came 
over, from time to time, to the ranks of 
the Disciples, and many others were ad- 
mitted to fellowship with the latter, with- 
out being excluded from communion with 
their Baptist brethren. Indeed, many of 
the Baptist clergy, as the objects of the 
Disciples became better understood, came 
to approve them ; and even to a certain 
extent to adopt their sentiments. So great 
has been the approximation, that the most 
friendly feelings now almost every where 
exist between the Disciples and the Bap- 
tists ; and those very points, as, for in- 
stance, the rejection of creeds, and baptism 
for remission of sins, which were at first 
regarded as most objectionable, are at 
length adopted and publicly maintained by 
certain of the most talented Baptist minis- 
ters and editors in the Union. 

Meanwhile the Disciples have rapidly 
increased in number, not by these acces- 
sions from the Baptists so much, as by a 
general diffusion of their principles amongst 
all parties, and especially by an almost 
unprecedented success in the conversion 
of those who had not as yet embraced any 
of the religious systems of the day. Many 
have come over from the Presbyterians ; 
some from the Episcopalians and from the 
Luther ians ; among the latter, two well- 
educated ministers ; but more, both of 
preachers and people, from the Methodists. 
A few Universalists have united with them, 
renouncing their own distinguishing tenets ; 
some Roman Catholics also ; some Tunk- 
ers ; English and Scotch Baptists, and In- 
dependents. Indeed, some from almost 
every party have renounced their conflict- 
ing opinions, and adopted the faith and 
doctrine of the primitive church. It is 
also to be noted, that a great many sceptics 
and infidels have been converted through 
the labors of Mr. A. Campbell, and espe- 
cially by his able defence of Christianity 
against Mr. Owen, in a public debate held 
in the city of Cincinnati, in the year 1829, 
which was published and extensively cir- 
culated in this country, and republished in 
England. Many of the writings of Mr. 
Campbell and his fellow-laborers have been 
republished in England, where the Disciples 
are becoming numerous. Their churches 



are found also in Wales and in Ireland. 
In the United States, they are most numer- 
ous in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Missouri, and Virginia. There are a few 
churches in the British provinces. The 
whole number of communicants in the 
United States, so far as has been ascer- 
tained, is believed to fall but little short of 
200,000. 

It' will not be necessary to say much of 
the faith or practice of this society, after 
the above history of its origin and pro- 
gress. From this it will appear evident 
that it is founded upon the two great dis- 
tinguishing principles of the Lutheran Re- 
formation, to wit: "the taking of the Bible 
alone as the rule of faith, to the entire 
exclusion of tradition ; and the relying 
only upon that justification that is obtained 
through faith in Jesus Christ."' Through 
all the various phases imposed upon this 
new effort at reformation, by its relative 
position to different points of Christian 
doctrine, or to sectarian parties, its real 
position has never changed : it has pre- 
served its identity, and reflected more or 
less upon the whole community the light 
of divine truth. The controversies which 
have attended its progress, have been 
neither few nor unimportant ; but their 
object has ever been the exhibition and 
defence of truth ; and, though it were too 
much to say that imperfect views, and in- 
considerate expressions have not, at times, 
proceeded from even the most prudent of 
its advocates, giving rise to various mis- 
conceptions and misrepresentations on the 
part of its opposers : it may safely be as- 
serted, that there has been, from the begin- 
ning, an unwavering devotion to the cause 
of primitive Christianity, of Christian 
union, and of an entire conformity of the 
church to the requirements of the sacred 
volume. 

One circumstance peculiar to the society 
deserves notice here. It is this : that its 
knowledge of the Christian institution, and 
its conformity to its requirements have 
been progressive. Unlike the various 
sects which are founded upon human 
creeds and confessions, and which are, by 
virtue of their very constitution, forbidden 
ever to get beyond the imperfect know- 
ledge, or to differ from the ignorance of 
the men who composed their formularies : 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



229 



this society cast itself, without fear, upon 
the broad and free expanse of divine reve- 
lation itself; unrestricted by the narrow 
boundaries of parties or sects, and un- 
daunted by human animadversion, to seek 
the pearls and treasures of divine truth. 
Thrown thus upon the scriptures alone for 
religious instruction, by the fundamental 
principle of their association, it would say 
but little, indeed, for the perspicuity, depth, 
and perfection of the Bible, if, during the 
protracted investigations and discussions, 
carried on by members of acknowledged 
learning and talent, there had been nothing 
more learned of the Christian institution, 
than was known and realized at first. 
The truth is, that the different character- 
istic points of primitive Christianity were 
developed in succession. The object, 
however, has been one from the beginning 
— to disinter the edifice of ancient Chris- 
tianity from the rubbish which so many 
ages had accumulated upon it; and the 
beauty of those portions which were first 
exposed, only induced greater exertion to 
bring others into view. It was the unity 
of the church which first struck the atten- 
tion : the subsequent submission to immer- 
sion is only one example, among others, 
of that progression which consistency with 
their own principles required. Thus, it 
was not until about ten years after this, 
that the definite object of immersion was 
fully understood, when it was recognised 
as the remitting ordinance of the gospel, 
or the appointed means through which the 
penitent sinner obtained an assurance of 
that pardon, or remission of sins, procured 
for him by the sufferings and death of 
Christ. Nor was it until a still later 
period, that this doctrine was practically 
applied, in calling upon believing penitents 
to be baptized for the purpose specified. 
This view of baptism gave great impor- 
tance to the institution, and has become 
one of the prominent features of this re- 
formation. 

The practice of weekly communion is 
another characteristic. This was adopt- 
j cd at the very beginning, as the well- 
| known and universally admitted custom 
| of the apostolic age. Their views of the 
! nature and design of this ordinance, differ 
1 not from those of Protestants in general. 
i They are not in favor of " close com- 



munion," as it is termed, nor do they pro- 
hibit any pious persons who feel disposed 
to unite with them in the commemoration 
of the Lord's death. Their manner of 
dispensing the ordinance is simple and im- 
pressive, conformable to the example of 
Christ, and the injunction of Paul. (1 
Cor. xi.) 

They are accustomed to set apart the 
first day of the week, not as a Jewish or 
a Christian sabbath, but as commemora- 
tive of the resurrection of Christ, and to 
be devoted to scripture-reading, medita- 
tion, prayer, and the ordinances of public 
worship. These are prayer and praise ; 
teaching and exhortation ; the Lord's Sup- 
per, and the fellowship or contribution for 
the poor, in accordance with Acts xi. 42. 

As to government, each congregation 
is independent of every other, managing 
its own affairs, and electing its own offi- 
cers. Of the latter, three classes are re- 
cognised : elders or bishops, deacons, and 
evangelists. The functions of elders and 
deacons are restricted to each individual 
church and its vicinity. The evangelists 
are usually itinerant, except in cities and 
towns, and are supported by the voluntary 
contributions of their brethren. A co- 
operation of the churches, for the spread 
of the gospel, is regarded as scriptural, 
and is now urged as highly necessary to 
a more effective system of evangelical 
labor. 

In the proclamation of tlie gospel to 
sinners, their practice is of course regu- 
lated by their views of the state of man, 
and the nature of the Christian institu- 
tion. They regard the unconverted as in 
a state of separation and alienation from 
God, dead in trespasses and sins ; and 
look upon the gospel as the power of God 
to the salvation of every one who believes 
it. They conceive that this Word of God, 
is that incorruptible seed of which the chil- 
dren of God are born ; God, having, ac- 
cording to his own will, begotten them 
" by the word of truth, that they might 
be a kind of first fruits of his creatures !" 
They believe that the word is thus the 
means employed- by the Holy Spirit, in 
the conversion of men ; and that the di- 
vine testimony itself is the source of that 
faith by which the gospel is received to 
the saving of the soul, for, in the Ian 



230 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



guage of scripture, that " faith comes by- 
hearing; and hearing, by the word of 
God." They regard the kingdom of 
Christ as a spiritual one, first formally 
and publicly set up on the day of Pente- 
cost (Acts ii.), upon the exaltation and 
coronation of Christ, as evinced, upon that 
occasion, by the descent of the Holy 
Spirit. They believe that the apostle 
Peter, to whom Christ had committed the 
keys of the kingdom, did, on that day, 
give admission to the believing and peni- 
tent Jews, in exact conformity with the 
nature and requisitions of the gospel, and 
that all should be admitted noiv, upon the 
same principles, and in the same manner. 
That is to say, that upon a sincere belief 
of the testimony borne by prophets and 
apostles, respecting the birth, the life, the 
character, the death, resurrection, and as- 
cension of Christ, accompanied by a true 
repentance, the sinner is to be immersed 
for the remission of sins, and the recep- 
tion of the Holy Spirit, and is then to be 
added to the church, to walk in the com- 
mandments of the Lord, and manifest the 
graces of Christian character. If then 
they have any theory of conversion, it is 
simply that of the natural order of cause 
and effect ; the Holy Spirit, through the 
divine testimony, being conceived to pro- 
duce the faith of the gospel ; this faith 
leading to repentance, to reformation, and 
consequent obedience to the commands of 
the gospel ; and this obedience securing 
the immediate enjoyment of its promised 
blessings, the pardon of sins, and the in- 
dwelling of the Holy Spirit. The posses- 
sion of the Holy Spirit is regarded as the 
evidence of sonship to God, and as the 
earnest of the spiritual and glorious in- 
heritance promised to the righteous. 

As a means of sanctification and growth 
in knowledge, the diligent study of the 
holy scriptures is every where earnestly 
enjoined. It may be safely affirmed, that 
no denomination in our country is so fa- 
miliar with the contents of the Bible, al- 
though there is yet, doubtless, great defi- 
ciency in this respect with many. But, it 
is believed, that in this there is a pro- 
gressive improvement, and a more special 
attention paid to the instruction of the 
young in the sacred volume, in families 
and Sunday schools. 



With regard to the Divine Being, and 
the manifestations of the Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit, by which he is revealed, the 
Disciples hold no sentiments incongruous 
with those of the parties who call them- 
selves " evangelical." It is true, that 
their peculiar position has subjected them 
to much misrepresentation upon this sub- 
ject, as well as upon others. For, be- 
cause they felt it their duty to confine 
themselves to the very language of scrij)- 
ture, in relation to every subject of which 
it treats, they have been unwilling to use 
those scholastic terms and phrases, which 
the wisdom of men has substituted in its 
room ; and this, not only on account of 
the principle involved, but from a fear of 
introducing, along with unscriptural ex- 
pressions, unscriptural ideas. Neverthe- 
less, although they use not the words 
Trinity, Triune, &c, they receive every 
thing which the scripture affirms of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 
giving to every expression its full and ob- 
vious meaning. They hold that the Word 
whicli was in the beninning with God, 
and which was God, and by whom all 
things were made, became flesh and dwelt 
among men, manifesting his glory, the 
glory of the only begotten of the Father, 
full of grace and truth ; and that all men 
should honor the Son, even as they honor 
the Father. And with respect to the 
Holv Spirit, they believe that he is the 
" Spirit of God*" the " Comforter," the 
" Spirit of Christ," who spoke by pro- 
phets and apostles, filling them with di- 
vine wisdom and power ; and that he is 
" the gift of God," " to those who ask 
him," w r ho are made "the habitation of 
God through the Spirit," by whose pre- 
sence they are rendered " temples of the 
living God," and "sanctified," "renewed," 
and " saved." 

As it respects practical Christianity, the 
Disciples enjoin an entire conformity to 
the divine will, in heart as w T e!l as life. 
The fruit of the Spirit they believe to con- 
sist " in all goodness, righteousness and 
truth." They think that the standard of 
piety and morality cannot be elevated too 
highly, and that the personal holiness of 
the professed followers of Christ, is the 
great object to be accomplished by the in- 
stitutions of the gospef. They regard 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



231 



these as a means of salvation, only as 
they prove to be a means of renovation ; 
knowing that " nothing avails in Christ 
Jesus but a new creature," and that " with- 
out holiness no one shall see the Lord." 
They are the more careful, therefore, to 
maintain the ancient simplicity and purity 
of these institutions, which are thus divinely 
adapted to the accomplishment of an ob- 
ject so greatly to be desired. 

Nor do the Disciples neglect the claims 
of society at large, as it respects its general 
improvement, and the amelioration of its 
condition, by the benevolent associations 
through which the Bible has been circu- 
lated abroad, and temperance and morality 
promoted with a success so signal, as 
clearly to display the finger of God. They 
strongly advocate the universal education 
of the people, as the best means of pro- 
moting human happiness, and of preparing 
the way for the universal spread of the 
gospel, and the introduction of that happy 
era, for which they, in common with other 
Christians, look, when the " tabernacle of 
God" shall be " with men ;" when he 
" shall dwell with them, and they shall be 
his people, and God himself shall be with 
them, and be their God." They have 
already under their charge many semina- 
ries of learning, and, among these, two 
colleges. One of these, Bacon College, 
at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, is respectably 
endowed, furnished with a handsome col- 
lege edifice, and in a very flourishing con- 
dition. The other, Bethany College, Vir- 
ginia, is near the residence of Alexander 
Campbell, who is president of the institu- 
tion. Its plan and its buildings are exten- 
sive, being designed for the education of 
the whole man, physical, intellectual, and 
moral. Its success has been very great, 
and although it has only commenced its 
third session, it already ranks in number 
of students, and in character, with the 
oldest institutions in the country. 

Such being the faith and practice of the 
Disciples of Christ, their rapid increase in 
number may be attributed to the fact, that 
they have kept steadily before the com- 
munity the claims of that common Chris- 
tianity in which most parties are agreed. 
This agreement includes every prominent 
feature of the Reformation, without an ex- 
ception. However, parties may differ 



about their creeds, all agree with the Dis- 
ciples in receiving the Bible. However 
various the views of different sects in 
scholastic theology, all pretty much agree 
with the Disciples in justification by faith, 
and in the necessity of repentance and 
reformation of life. However the former 
may contend with each other about sprink- 
ling and pouring, as modes of baptism ; 
all agree with the Disciples, and with each 
other, that immersion, at least, is undis- 
puted baptism, and the only mode in which 
there is universal agreement. Nay, even 
in regard to the object of this institution, 
the different confessions of faith are almost 
entirely agreed, stating, in their respective 
articles upon baptism, that it is, to adopt 
the words of the Westminster Confession, 
" The sign and seal of regeneration ; of 
remission of sins, and of giving up to God 
to walk in newness of life." The same 
sentimental agreement may be predicated 
of weekly communion ; the observance of 
the Lord's day, &c, and most happily of 
the great design of the observance of re- 
ligion, the promotion of holiness and right- 
eousness of life. Thus, having for their 
object to unite all Christians together in 
the common faith, without regard to differ- 
ence of opinion ; and in the full enjoy- 
ment of the common salvation, without 
respect to sectarian distinctions : the Dis- 
ciples labor in joyful hope to aid in bung- 
ing about that happy period when all shall 
be united " by the unity of the spirit and 
the bond of peace, in one body and one 
spirit ; in one hope of their calling ; one 
Lord ; one faith ; one baptism ; one God 
and Father of all, who is above all, and 
through all, and in all." 



SUPPLEMENT. 

Christianity is a system of religion 
and morality instituted by Jesus Christ, 
primarily taught his apostles, and recorded 
in the New Testament. It has for its im 
mediate object the amelioration of the 
character and condition of man, morally 
and religiously considered, as far as pos 
sible in this life, and ultimately his com 
plete salvation from the guilt, the love, the 
practice, and punishment of sin. It con 



232 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



sists in the knowledge, belief, and obe- 
dience of the testimony and law of Jesus 
Christ, as taught by his apostles, and re- 
corded in the New Testament. It has 
many professional opposites, many rivals 
to contend with, all of which, however, 
may be reduced to three classes, viz : 
infidels, heretics, and schismatics. The 
first of these reject, the second subvert, 
and the third corrupt Christianity, and, of 
course, measurably destroy its benign and 
blissful effects. 

In order to defend the Christian institu- 
tion against the rival influence of these 
opponents, we must meet each of them 
respectively with the proper arguments. 
The infidels of every class, having no 
counter testimony to exhibit against the 
divine authority and authenticity of our 
sacred records, nor any thing comparable 
as a substitute to present to our reception, 
I stand convicted of the most unreasonable 
j obstinacy in rejecting a revelation, not 
j only confirmed by every kind of accom- 
j panying evidence which the nature of the 
i thing could justly require, but which also 
■ goes to confer upon the believing and obe- 
dient the greatest possible happiness, in- 
tellectual and moral, of which they are 
capable in existing circumstances, and of 
which our nature can be made capable in 
a blissful immortality. 

But as it is from the perversions and 
corruptions of Christianity, and not from 
professed infidelity, that the proposed re- 
formation is intended, we would most re- 
I spectfully submit the following queries to 
the consideration of all concerned, for the 
purpose of bringing the subject fairly be- 
fore them. 

Queries. — 1. Is not the Church of 
Christ upon earth essentially, intentionally 
one ; consisting of all those, in every place, 
that profess their faith in Christ, and obe- 
dience to him in all things according to 
the scriptures, and that manifest the same 
by their tempers and conduct, and of none 
else, as none else can be truly and pro- 
perly called Christians. 

2. Should not all that are enabled 
through grace, to make such a profession, 
and to manifest the reality of it in their 
tempers and eonduct, consider each other 
as the precious saints of God, love each 
other as brethren, children of the same 



family and father, temples of the same 
spirit, members of the same body, subjects 
of the same grace, objects of the same 
divine love, bought with the same price, 
and joint heirs of the same inheritance ? 
Whom God hath thus joined together no 
man should dare to put asunder. 

3. Is not division among Christians a 
pernicious evil ? — Anti-christian, as it de- 
stro3 r s the visible unity of the body of 
Christ, as if he were divided against him- 
self, excluding and excommunicating a 
part of himself? — anti-scriptural, as being 
strictly prohibited by his sovereign autho- 
rity — a direct violation of his express 
command — anti-natural, as it excites 
Christians to contemn, to hate and oppose 
one another, who are bound by the highest 
and most endearing obligations to love 
each other as brethren, even as Christ has 
loved them ? In a word, is it not produc- 
tive of confusion, and of every evil work? 

4. Is not the Christian community in a 
sectarian condition, existing in separate 
communities, alienated from each other ? 

5. Is not such a condition the native 
and necessary result of corruption ; that 
is, of the introduction of human opinions 
into the constitution, faith or worship of 
Christian societies ? 

6. Is it not the common duty and inte- 
rest of all concerned, especially of the 
teachers, to put an end to this destructive 
anti-scriptural condition ? 

7. Can this be accomplished by con- 
tinuing to proceed as hitherto ; that is, by 
maintaining and defending each his fa- 
voiite system of opinion and practice] 

8. If not, how is it to be attempted and 
accomplished, but by returning to the ori- 
ginal standard and platform of Christianity, 
expressly exhibited on the sacred page of 
the New Testament scripture ? 

9. Would not a strict and faithful ad- 
herence to this, by preaching and teach- 
ing precisely what the apostles taught and 
preached, for the faith and obedience of 
the primitive disciples, be absolutely, and 
to all intents and purposes, sufficient for 
producing all the benign and blissful in- 
tentions of the Christian institution '! 

10. Do not these intentions terminate 
in producing the faith and obedience that 
justify and sanctify the believing and obe- 
dient subject ? 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



233 



1 1 . Is not every thing necessary for the 
justification and sanctification of the be- 
lieving and obedient, expressly taught and 
enjoined by the apostles in the execution 
of their commission for the conversion and 
salvation of the nations ; and fully re- 
corded in the New Testament 1 

12. If so, what more is necessary, but 
that we expressly teach, believe and obey, 
what we find expressly recorded for these 
purposes ? And would not our so doing, 
happily terminate our unhappy, scanda- 
lous, and destructive divisions '.' 

The two following queries are subjoined 
for the sake of a clear definition of the 
leading and comprehensive terms, viz., 
faith and obedience — which comprehend 
the whole of the Christian religion. 

13. Are not law and obedience, testi- 
mony and faith, relative terms, so that 
neither of the latter can exist without the 
former? that is, where there is no law, 
there can be no obedience ; where there is 
no testimony, there can be no faith. 

14. Again, is not testimony necessarily 
confined to facts, and law to authority, so 
that without the latter the former cannot 
be ? that is, where there are no facts, there 
can be no testimony — where no authority, 
no law. Wherefore, in every case, faith 
must necessarily consist in belief of facts ; 
and obedience, in a practical compliance 
with the expressed wdl or dictates of au- 
thority. By facts is here meant some 
things said or done. 

Conclusion. — Upon the whole, these 
things being so, it necessarily follows, that 
Christianity, being a divine institution, 
there can be nothing human in it ; conse- 
quently it has nothing to do with the doc- 
trines and commandments of men ; but 
simply and solely with the belief and obe- 
dience of the expressly recorded testimony 
and will of God, contained in the holy 
scriptures, and enjoined by the authority 
of the Saviour and his holy apostles upon 
the Christian community. 

Reflections. — The affirmative of each 
of the above propositions being, as we 
presume, evidently true, they most cer- 
tainly demand the prompt and immediate 
attention of all the serious professors of 
Christianity, of every name. The awful 
denunciations and providential indications 
of the divine displeasure against the pre- 



sent anti-christian state of Christendom, 
loudly call for reformation ; — the personal 
and social happiness of all concerned, and 
the conversion of the unbelieving part of 
mankind equally demand it. Neverthe- 
less, we are not authorized to expect, that 
any party, as such, will be induced by the 
above considerations, or by any other that 
can possibly be suggested, spontaneously 
and heartily to engage in the work of self- 
reformation. The sincere and upright in 
heart, however, ought not to be discour- 
aged at the inattention and obstinacy of 
their brethren ; for had this been the case 
in times past, no reformation had ever 
been effected. It becomes therefore the 
immediate duty and privilege of all that 
perceive and feel the necessity of the pro- 
posed reformation, to exert themselves by 
every scriptural means to promote it. 
Seeing the pernicious nature and anti- 
scriptural effects of the present corrup- 
tions of Christianity, both upon professors, 
and non-professors, in producing aliena- 
tions amongst the former, in direct oppo- 
sition to the law of Christ, and in casting 
, almost insuperable obstacles in the way of 
the conversion of the latter : the serious 
and upright of all parties must feel con- 
scientiously bound to endeavor, to the 
utmost of their power, to effect a genuine 
and radical reformation ; which, we pre- 
sume, can only be effected by a sincere 
conformity to the original exhibition of 
our holy religion, the divinely authorized 
rule and standard of faith and practice. 
To such, therefore, we appeal ; and for 
the consideration of such alone, we have 
respectfully submitted the above queries. 

" Now I beseech you, brethren, by the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all 
speak the same thing, and that there be no 
divisions among you ; but that ye be per- 
fectly joined together in the same mind and 
in the same judgment." (Paul, 1 Cor. i. 10.) 

" Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and 
said, Father, I pray for them who shall 
believe on me through the word of my 
apostles, that they all may be one ; as 
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that 
they also may be one in us : that the 
world may believe that thou hast sent me : 
that the world may know that thou hast 
sent me; and hast loved them as thou hast 
loved me." (John xvii.) 



30 



:34 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



" In vain do they worship me, teaching 
for doctrines the commandments of men." 
(Matt, xv.) 

" From the days of your fathers ye are 
gone away from mine ordinances, and 
have not kept them. Return to me, and 
I will return to vou, saith the Lord of 
hosts." (Mai. hi. 7.) 

" Come out of her, my people, that ye 
be not partakers of her sins, and that ye 
receive not of her plagues." (Rev. xviii. 

4 -) 

"He that testifieth these things saith, 
Surely I come quickly ; Amen. Even so 
come, Lord Jesus." 

As a striking instance of the necessity 
and importance of the proposed reforma- 
tion, we present the following extract from 
the Boston Anthology, which, with too 
many of the same kind that might be ad- 
duced, furnishes a mournful comment upon 
the text — we mean upon the sorrowful 
subject of our woful divisions and corrup- 
tions. The following reply to the Rev. 
Mr. Cram, missionary from Massachusetts 
to the Senecas, was made by the principal 
chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations, in 
council assembled at Buffalo Creek, state 
of New York, in the presence of the 
agent of the United States for Indian Af- 
fairs, in the summer of 1805: "I am 
come, brethren," said the missionary, " to 
enlighten your minds, and to instruct you 
how to worship the Great Spirit agreeably 
to his will, and to preach to you the gospel 
of his Son, Jesus Christ. There is but 
one way to serve God, and if you do not 
embrace the right way, you cannot be 
happy hereafter." To which they replied, 
" Brother, we understand your religion is 
written in a book. You say that there is 
but one way to worship and serve the 
Great Spirit. If there be but one religion, 
why do you white people differ so much 
about it ? Why not all agree, as you can 
all read the book? Brother, we do not 
understand these things. We are told 
your religion was given to your fore- 
fathers. We also have a religion which 
was given to our forefathers. It teaches 
us to be thankful for all the favors we re- 
ceive, to love one another, and to be united. 
We never quarrel about religion. We are 
told you have been preaching to the white 
people in this place. Those people are 



our neighbors : we are acquainted with 
them. We will wait a little, to see what 
effect your preaching has upon them. If 
we find it does them good, makes them 
honest, and less disposed to cheat Indians, 
we will then consider again what you have 
said." Thus closed the conference ! Alas ! 
poor people ! how do our divisions and 
corruptions stand in your way ? What a 
pity that you find us not upon original 
ground, such as the apostles left the pri- 
mitive churches ! Had we exhibited to 
you their unity and charity ; their humble, 
honest, and affectionate deportment towards 
each other, and towards all men, you 
would not have had those evil and shame- 
ful things to object to our holy religion, 
and to prejudice your minds against it. 
But your conversion, it seems, awaits our 
reformation — awaits our return to primi- 
tive unity and love. To this may the God 
of mercy speedily restore us, both for your 
sakes and for our own ; that Ibis way may 
be known upon earth, and his saving 
health among all nations. Let the people 
praise thee, O God ; let all the people 
praise thee. Amen and amen. 

Upon the whole, we appeal to every 
candid mind, that has one serious thought 
upon the great subject of Christianity : is 
not the necessity of a religious reforma- 
tion among professed Christians most con- 
vincingly evident, and universally ac- 
knowledged, by the serious of all denomi- 
nations ? We appeal, then, to all con- 
cerned, what should be its character ? 
Should it be divine or human ? Should it 
be the simple belief and obedience of the 
word and testimony of God, or of the 
opinions and dictates of men? You will, 
no doubt, say of the former. So say we ; 
and yet, strange to tell, ail the sects are 
offended. And why 1 We shall leave it to 
them to say ; for they have not yet, no, 
not one of them, presented any relevant 
reason, why we should desist from urging 
the indispensable duty, absolute necessity, 
and vast importance of the reformation for 
which we plead. They have not presented 
us with the detection of one single error 
in our premises. We shall conclude our 
humble appeal by respectfully assuring all 
concerned, that if they, or any of them, 
will convince us of any error, either of 
faith or practice, that we will candidly re- 



HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



235 



linquish it, and thank God and man for 
the discovery. Also, that if they will 
show us how we may, without giving 
offence, plead the cause of a reformation, 
which involves the glory of God and the 
happiness of mankind, we shall thankfully 
adopt it. 

For the assistance and satisfaction of 
our inquiring friends, who wish to avail 
themselves of the luminous fulness of the 
holy scriptures upon the great subject 
under consideration, we subjoin the follow- 
ing analysis of the sacred oracles, and the 
great salvation which they exhibit ; by the 
due consideration of which the scriptural 
evidence and certainty of what is intended, 
will, we hope, be apparently obvious. 

ANALYSIS OF THE SACRED ORACLES. 

The Bible consists of two volumes — the 
Old Testament and the New. Each of 
these consists of histories, prophecies, 
moral dictates, divine institutions, and de- 
votional exercises. The Old Testament 
contains three distinct dispensations of re- 
ligion, and predicts a fourth, which is con- 
tained in the New, viz : 1st. The primitive 
or Edenic — delivered to our first parents 
immediately after their creation. 2d. The 
Patriarchal — also delivered to our first 
parents immediately after their fall. 3d. 
The Israelitish or Mosaic — delivered to the 
Israelites by Moses. And the 4th, called 
the - Christian, — exclusively contained in 
the New Testament. Concerning these 
two volumes we observe, that although 
the scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments are inseparably connected, making 
together but one perfect and entire revela- 
tion of the divine will, for the edification 
and salvation of the church ; and, there- 
fore, in that respect cannot be separated : 
yet as to what directly and properly be- 
longs to their immediate object, the New 
Testament is as perfect a constitution for 
the worship, discipline, and government of 
the New Testament church, and as per- 
fect a rule for the particular duties of its 
members, as the Old Testament was for 
the worship, discipline, and government of 
the Old Testament church, and the parti- 
cular duties of its members. 

Also, that in order to enjoy a clear and 
comprehensive knowledge of what we read 



upon every subject in the sacred volume, 
the following things should be duly con- 
sidered, viz : Who speaks ; to whom he 
speaks ; what he says ; why he says it ; 
when ; and where he said so. 



ANALYSIS OF THE GRAND DOCTRINAL 
TOPICS CONTAINED IN THE BIBLE. 

1. The knowledge of God. 2. Of man. 
3. Of sin. 4. Of the Saviour. 5. Of 
his salvation. 6. Of the principle and 
means of enjoying it. 7. Of its blissful 
effects and consequences. 

These are the grand doctrinal topics 
which the scriptures were specially de- 
signed to teach, in the knowledge, belief, 
and practical influence of which consists 
our present salvation. 



ANALYSIS OF THE GREAT SALVATION. 

I. Of its concurring causes. — 1. The 
prime moving or designing cause* — the 
love of God. 2. The procuring cause — 
the blood of Christ. 3. The efficient 
cause — the Holy Spirit. 4. The instru- 
mental cause — the gospel and law of 
Christ, or the word of truth. 

II. Of the principle and means of en- 
joyment. 

1. OF THE PRINCIPLE. 

The sole principle of enjoyment is be- 
lief or faith. 

2. OF THE MEANS. 

I. The prime instituted means of enjoy- 
ment is baptism. 2. Prayer. 3. Church 
fellowship in the social ordinances. 4. 
The Lord's day. 5. The Lord's Supper. 
6. The prayers. 7. The praises. 8. The 
teaching of the word. 9. The contribu- 
tion for charitable purposes. 10. Reli- 
gious conversation. 11. Studious perusal 
and meditation of the holy scriptures. 1 2. 
All manner of good works — called works 
of faith and labors of love, &c, all of 
which are but means of enjoyment — not 
of procureme?it. " For eternal life is the 
gift of God, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." 



236 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



III. Of the present and proper effects 
of this salvation. — These are justifica- 
tion, adoption, sanctification, assurance 
of God's love, peace of conscience, joy- 
in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, 



and perseverance in it to the end of our 
race. 

IV. Of its ultimate effects. — These are 
a glorious resurrection and a blissful im- 
mortality. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 



BY REV. A. B. CHAP1N, 

RECTOR CHRIST CHURCH, WEST HAVEN, CONN. 



In attempting to sketch an outline of the 
Rise and Progress, Faith and Practice 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States, the writer feels how impos- 
sible it is in so brief a space to give an 
account that will be regarded as accurate 
and impartial by those belonging to that 
body, or which shall convey an accurate 
and impartial idea of the same to others. 
The principal reasons of this, are : (1) 
the extent of the field ; (2) the variety of 
topics necessarily embraced in it ; (3) 
want of acquaintance with many of them, 
on the part of readers in general ; and 
(4) more than all, the different senses in 
which theological language is employed, 
by those different schools of theology 
which represent the various religious de- 
nominations in the land. These, and 
other causes of less consequence, render it 
impossible to make full or complete state- 
ments in regard to all the topics brought 
into view ; and the writer has chosen to 
give the most concise, and as the best 
adapted to this work, a brief account of 
the doctrinal system of the church, as 
seen in its practical operation ; divested 
as much as possible of technicalities, and 
avoiding, so far as practicable, the use of 
terms that bear different senses in the 



mouths of those professing different sys- 
tems of faith. This will be done as 
strictly as possible in the language of the 
Liturgy, Articles, Offices, and Homilies 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; and 
on points where any thing else is neces- 
sary, to combine its practical theory into 
a logical system, the writer has followed 
that author who is regarded by all parties 
as being the best exponent of the teaching 
of the church, the judicious and immortal 
Hooker. 

On only two points has the writer of 
this article ventured language which may 
seem to differ from that of Hooker. It is 
generally conceded, that in the doctrine 
of Flection, Hooker has not spoken with 
his usual clearness and force ; a deficiency 
which has been supplied by Faber in his 
Treatise On the Primitive Doctrine of 
Election, the truth of which is assumed 
in this account. The other point, upon 
which the language of this article may- 
seem to be different from that of Hooker, 
but which is intended to convey the idea 
clearly involved in what he says, is in re- 
gard to what is meant by the go~ace of the 
Sacraments. And as here lies one great 
cause of misapprehension of the church's 
teaching, a word of explanation seems to 




WILLIAM WHITE, D,T>, 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



237 



be called for. The point in question will 
be seen most clearly by looking at it in 
contrast with other theories in relation to 
the same. 

There are three different theories preva- 
lent, in regard to the nature of one con- 
nection with the first, and of that grace 
which unites us to the second Adam, 
which must be mentioned. ( 1 ) The first, and 
at present that which is probably the most 
prevailing in the popular mind, teaches, 
that our connection with the first Adam, 
is one of external circumstances, of de- 
rivative bodily constitution ; but not an 
identity or sameness of that internal and 
spiritual essence which constitutes the very 
nature of the soul. With such, the effects 
of the fall are not supposed to extend to 
the soul, each soul being a direct and 
immediate emanation from the Deity, as 
much as was that of Adam in the first in- 
stance. By such, the soul of every man, 
before moral action, is supposed to be free 
from all corruption or stain of guilt, so 
that man is involved in no other conse- 
quence of the sin of Adam, than such as 
results from external circumstances, inclu- 
ding of course bodily constitution. And 
as the soul sins, whenever it does sin, by 
means of a motive power external to 
itself, leading it into transgression, through 
its own voluntary act ; — so, when it is re- 
newed again to God, it is by a similar 
external motive power, leading it to obey 
through its own voluntary act. These 
consider grace to be merely the favor of 
God, and the aid of the Holy Ghost, to 
be in all cases, an aiding, supporting, and 
strengthening influence, operating by ex- 
ternal means, — never an internal, spiritual 
re-vivifying essence, acting as a renewing 
principle of internal life. 

(2.) Another, and once the most preva- 
lent opinion in this country, on this sub- 
ject, is, that our relation to Adam is such, 
that all the consequences of his sin are 
accounted or imputed to us, by an outward 
and formal transfer made in the Divine 
mind, so as to render us personally and 
individually responsible for the conse- 
quences of his sin. With such, we are 
renewed again to God, by the evective 
energy of the Almighty, the righteousness 
and merits of Christ, whenever such 
renewal takes place — being made over or 



imputed to our account, in the same out- 
ward and external manner. 

(3.) The third opinion, and that im- 
plied in all the teaching of the church, is, 
that our connection with the first Adam 
consists in the mutual participation in 
that vivifying essence which constitutes 
the life or soul of man, — that this vivifying 
essence, whatever it may be, existed gen- 
erically in Adam, and exists specifically 
in us ; — that it became corrupted in him, 
from whom we have received it so corrupt- 
ed, — that this corruption of nature is that 
which leads us into sin, and that it would 
do so, if left to itself, under every possiole 
variety of circumstance. In conformity 
with this, the teaching of the church .sup- 
poses a similar participation in that re- 
vivifying essence which constitutes the 
life of the second Adam ; — that we receive 
this new and holy life from the person of 
the second Adam, as really and as truly 
as we receive our corrupt and sinful life 
from the person of the first Adam ; that 
it is the receipt of this new life that re- 
news us, and that the change of heart 
and will is the consequence, and not the 
cause, of renewal. In order, therefore, to 
keep this idea more distinctly in view, the 
writer employs in this article, the term 
Life, to denote that spiritual vivifying 
essence, which constitutes our inmost na- 
ture, making us one with Adam ; and new 
or spiritual life, to denote that which the 
Christian receives from Christ, making 
him one with the Redeemer. And this, 
which is the renewing, sanctifying, justi- 
fying grace given to us, is a real essence, 
as truly as God himself is an essence, and 
as truly as our souls are an essence. And 
this essence, — this true and substantial 
life of the Redeemer, — is that which con- 
stitutes the grace of the Sacraments. By 
this usage of the word Life, the writer 
hopes to be able to make all understand 
what is meant, by such doctrines as those 
of Baptismal Regeneration, and the Real 
Presence, — doctrines, which are mysteries 
as well as stumbling blocks to those unac- 
quainted with the theology or teaching of 
the church. 

The writer ought to say, that while he 
has no doubt that this is the true sense of 
the church's teaching, and the common 
opinion among intelligent churchmen, there 



238 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



is a respectable body of men, who re- 
ceive the Creeds and Formularies of the 
church, but interpret them according to 
one or the other of the two first of the 
above opinions in regard to the nature of 
our Christian Life. While such adopt the 
standards of the church, they construe 
them according to a system which is 
foreign to her genius, and hence, most of 
them find some of her teaching at va- 
riance with their ideas of sound philoso- 
phy ; and would be glad to modify some 
expressions and banish some doctrines 
found in the Book of Common Prayer. 
Though in the church, and conscientious 
admirers and defenders of her doctrine 
and discipline, as they understand it, their 
theology has been drawn from sources 
which do not recognise that deep and in- 
timate union of the Christian with his 
God, which this account supposes, and 
consequently they do not receive the 
view of the Sacraments here given. 
These, and all others entertaining simi- 
lar opinions, however, will find their doc- 
trinal views essentially the same as those 
herein described, if for the definite word 
Life, they will substitute the indefinite 
term Grace. With these exceptions, there 
is a general agreement in the doctrinal 
views of all churchmen, and an entire 
agreement upon all other points. 



II. THE SCRIPTURES; AND HOW IN- 
TERPRETED. 

It is a fundamental principle with the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, that Holy 
Scripture contains all things necessary to 
salvation, so that what is not read therein, 
nor may be proved thereby, is not to be 
required of any man to be believed as an 
article of faith, or be thought necessary 
to salvation. And by Holy Scripture, is 
understood the Canonical books of the 
Old and »New Testament. Those books 
which some call deutero-canonical, but 
which the church calls Apocryphal, she 
directs to be read for example of life, and 
instruction of manners, but doth not ap- 
ply them to establish any doctrine. The 
truth, thus revealed and recorded in Holy 
Writ, the church considers to be at once 
the source and measure of all-saving 
trutn — that is, of all truth necessary to 



salvation. And when the literal sense of 
the words of Holy Writ is possible, she 
considers that interpretation which comes 
nearest to the letter to be most in confor- 
mity with the spirit of the word of God, ! 
the one being a faithful exhibition of the 
other. But in order to understand fully 
her mode of proof, it is necessary to look 
at the practical operation of this truth. 

This infallible truth, in order to pro T 
duce its appropriate effects, is to be re- 
ceived and believed by fallible men, and 
by them to be taught and preached to 
others. Hence, the infallible truth is to 
be apprehended by fallible men, liable, in 
the first instance, to mistake the truth it- 
self, and then to confound it with error in 
their own minds. And this fallible appre- 
hension is liable to still further mistake 
and error, arising from a failure in ob- 
taining a proper intellectual apprehension, 
even of those truths which have been 
made to live in the heart, and also from 
an imperfect exhibition, even of those 
truths, of which a proper intellectual ap- 
prehension has been obtained. The first 
of these is Christianity, as seen in Christ ; 
the second, Christianity as it lives in the 
hearts of His children ; the third, Chris- 
tianity as it appears in the history of the 
church. 

In Christ, we have Christianity in per- 
fection, and in Holy Writ we have Him in 
His completeness. Hence why the title 
word of God, is applied indiscriminately 
to the Son himself, and to the revelation 
made of him ; often so as to leave the 
reader in doubt which is meant. But this 
could not be done, if the one were not a 
full and faithful exhibition of the other. 
Christ himself, therefore, is the truth. 
He is more than a teacher of the truth. 
He is the truth itself. And He is more 
than this. He is life as well as truth. 
To be a Christian, is something more than 
to believe in Christ. It is to live in him 
also. And that life which he has in him- 
self, he communicates to his children, as 
truly as the truth which he is. As, there- 
fore, Christ comprehends all truth in his 
own person, so Holy W T rit, which fully 
describes that person, is the representative 
of all truth ; and in absence of the truth 
in person, is the source and measure of 
all truth. Any thing, therefore, which is 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



239 



not in Holy Writ, in terms or by infer- 
ence, is not the truth ; because it belongs 
not to Christ who is the truth. Hence, 
to fall short of a perfect apprehension of 
all that Holy Writ contains, is to have im- 
perfect views of Christ ; — to go beyond 
it, is to go from Christ, and therefore, to go 
out of Christianity, and, consequently, 
into heathenism, or Judaism. Christ, 
therefore, is Christianity in a living form ; 
Holy Writ, Christianity in a written, or 
doctrinal form, and both are perfect. 

This perfect truth is to be imparted, as 
a principle of life to the soul, as well as a 
law of life to the mind ; and through the 
joint influence of both, is to reproduce 
itself in action. But the activity by which 
the truth is apprehended is, in both sen- 
ses, fallible ; and the medium through 
which it is developed, imperfect. The re- 
sult of this apprehension and develop- 
ment, is Christianity, as seen in the history 
of the church. And the principles thus 
developed, when clothed in their appro- 
priate expressions, form the doctrines of 
the church. When, therefore, this truth 
has been fully received and apprehended, 
and when this apprehension has been de- 
veloped without perversion or addition, 
such development will always correspond 
with that written word, which, being a 
perfect representation of the invisible and 
living Word, is, to us, at once the source 
and measure of truth. But if the truth 
be imperfectly understood, or error be 
mingled with it, in the intellectual appre- 
hension thereof, the development, be it 
ever so true to the idea existing in the 
mind, will vary from the standard of the 
written word ; and just so far as it varies 
from that, is erroneous. 

Now it is the peculiar province of the 
truth, to be the same at all times, and 
under all circumstances. Whatever, there- 
fore, has always been apprehended in the 
same way, whether manifested in the 
same terms or not, is certain truth ; for 
we may safely take it for granted, that no 
error could develop itself in the same 
way, under all variety of circumstances 
to whicn the human mind is subject. 
Whatever, then, has been believed by all, 
always, and every ivhere, is certain truth, 
and will have these three characteristics — 
universality, antiquity, and consent. And 



this truth is binding on all Christians, and 
to it, the private opinion of the individual 
must always submit. When, therefore, 
we find the church in all ages, agreeing in 
the apprehension and expression of any 
doctrine, we may know that to be certain 
and infallible truth, and consequently, the 
true interpretation of Holy Writ. 

Hence the church is called the Inter- 
preter of Scripture, not because she per- 
forms the office of an outward and exter- 
nal expositor, but because those truths 
which constitute her very life, when pro- 
perly expressed, are the true sense of 
Scripture. And every truth is so proper- 
ly expressed, which, having been devel- 
oped in the first age of the church, has 
since been believed at all times and in all 
places. And no point is so properly ex- 
pressed, as to challenge the title of abso- 
lute truth, unless it were developed thus 
early, and has ever since continued to be 
the faith and teaching of the church. 
This continuous testimony of the church 
is what is called tradition ; which is not, 
as some suppose, an independent source 
of truth, but a perpetual witness to the 
church's view of truth ; and so, the sense 
of Scripture itself, as apprehended and 
settled by the church. 

This continuous, or traditional testimo- 
ny of the church, is found in those symbols 
and creeds, which, having been adopted in 
the first ages, as expressing the concen- 
trated sense of Scripture, have been 
witnessed to in all succeeding ages ; and 
also in those Sacramental Liturgies which 
prevailed in all the early churches, and in 
the testimony of the Fathers and Doctors 
of the church of that day. Any doctrine, 
therefore, which is not contained in the 
express letter of Holy Writ, or which was 
not received in the truly primitive church, 
as the sense of Scripture, wants an essen- 
tial requisite in proof of its truth, and 
must, therefore, be rejected. But any and 
every doctrine which has this proof, the 
church is bound to receive, and all her 
members to believe. 

No such doctrine may be rejected or 
set aside, however unimportant it may 
seem to us ; for such is the nature of 
truth and of the human mind, that the 
omission of one truth from any system of 
teaching, puts the existence of all others 



240 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



t 



at hazard ; and the introduction of any 
error, is sure to bring down the truths of 
the system to its own false standard. We 
are, therefore, to receive the faith, as it 
was delivered to the Saints, neither ad- 
ding to its body, nor rejecting its provi- 
sions. We are not at liberty, therefore, 
to make any distinction between essential 
and non-essential truths ; for every truth 
is essential, and every falsehood fatal. 
While, therefore, it is a duty to receive 
and believe every truth, it is no less a duty 
to protest against every error that may be 
introduced into any system of religious 
teaching. And from the performance of 
these various duties the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church has its name. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church de- 
clares itself Catholic, therefore, as being 
a portion of the one Catholic body of 
Christ, and receiving and believing all 
Catholic Truth ; Protestant, as testi- 
fying against those things which she con- 
siders the additions, and therefore corrup- 
tions of Romanism ; Episcopal, as wit- 
nessing against the oynissions, and there- 
fore corruptions of those who have 
rejected the Episcopal regimen ; and Re- 
formed, as having herself cast out the 
errors and corruptions which had been 
foisted into her system, through the errors 
and usurpations of the Papacy. 

III. OF DOCTRINE. 

1. Of Man's Primitive State. The 
church teaches that God created man in 
His own image, and in a state of righte- 
ousness and positive holiness. He was 
endued with all kinds of heavenly gifts 
and knowledge, sound and perfect in all 
his parts, with no spot of uncleanness in 
him. His reason was uncorrupt, his un- 
derstanding pure and good ; his will obe- 
dient and godly ; in short, he was like 
unto God in righteousness, in holiness, in 
wisdom, and in every kind of perfection. 
Man, therefore, in his primitive state, was 
holy in a far higher sense than he ever 
can be, while encumbered with his body 
of sin and death ; was in the same state 
as that in which he will be, when he has 
experienced the full benefit of the new 
creation which is in Christ Jesus. And 
those perfections in Adam, as in the Chris- 



tian, resulted from his participation in the 
Divine Nature, through the indwelling of 
the Holy Ghost, according to the literal 
teaching of Holy Writ. 

2. Of the consequences of the fall. The 
church teaches, that when man sinned, 
that indwelling Spirit, upon which all his 
righteousness and holiness depended, was 
withdrawn, and that image of God which 
had thus been imparted was lost. And 
along with this, man also lost all power, 
either of doing or willing good works 
pleasing and acceptable to God ; so that 
he is very far gone from original righte- 
ousness, and of his own nature inclined to 
evil ; having no power of himself to help 
himself; not able to think a good thought, 
or work a good deed; his very nature 
being perverse and corrupt, destitute of 
God's word and grace. In short, he was 
no longer a citizen of heaven, but a fire- 
brand of hell, and a bond slave to the 
Devil. And hence, as we shall see, arises 
the necessity of the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith only. And the church also 
teaches that what was true of Adam, as 
an individual in this respect, is true of the 
race; the same corrupt nature being trans- 
mitted to all his posterity, as we are 
expressly assured by divine Revelation. 
The nature of Adam, fallen and corrupt 
as it was after his expulsion from Para- 
dise, is conveyed to all his children, so 
that, although we have not his person in 
us, we have his nature, and the corruption 
of that nature which causeth death. Hence, 
we are really partakers of the sin and death 
received from Adam, as truly as he had 
been partaker of the righteousness and 
holiness of God before his fall, and as the 
Christian shall be of the righteousness and 
holiness of Christ, in the world to come. 
Adam fell not in body alone, or in soul 
alone, but in both at once, and both toge- 
ther ; and consequently, the humanity 
which was in him as its root, fell in him 
and with him to the same extent. All, 
therefore, who partake of that humanity, 
must partake of it, as it existed in him ; 
fallen, corrupted, depraved. 

3. Of the extent and ground of Marts 
ability to repent and obey. It follows 
from what has been said, that man since 
the fall has no power of himself, either to 
will or to do good works pleasing and 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



241 



acceptable to God ; and this power can be 
regained only through the gracious in- 
fluences of that Holy Spirit, which had 
at first been given to Adam, but which he 
had forfeited and lost in the fall. All, 
however, to whom the influences of that 
Spirit are given, have the power of doing 
both. And here lies the true explanation 
of what is meant by the freedom of the will. 
Man, as fallen, has in himself no power, and 
consequently, no freedom for good. He is 
a bond slave to sin, according to the clear 
testimony of the Bible. But, as redeemed, 
he has through the gracious influences of 
the Holy Ghost, all the power and free- 
dom requisite for his obedience, as no less 
clearly taught in scripture. The power 
to will and the power to do were both lost 
in the fall, and both were recovered in the 
redemption. 

4. Of the Redemption. — The Church 
teaches in the strongest terms, and in the 
most emphatic manner, that Christ died 
for all mankind, and consequently, that 
all men have now the ability to repent 
and obey. This is the great, central 
point of the Christian system, — that 
which distinguishes it from every other 
system, the different views of which cha- 
racterize the different systems of Christian 
teaching; and consequently, demands a 
careful examination, in order to see the 
connection and dependence of the teaching 
of the Church. 

The Word became Flesh ; — God 
manifest in the flesh ; — this is the 
sumoftlie Gospel. This Incarnate Word, 
is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The 
Incarnation opened the Way for our sal- 
vation, — revealed the Truth by which 
we are to be saved, and communicated 
the Life that is to save us. When the 
Holy Ghost came upon the Virgin Mary, 
— when the power of the highest over- 
shadowed her, the only-begotten of the 
Father took man's nature, in the womb, 
and of the substance of the Virgin, so that 
two whole and perfect natures, — the God- 
head and the Manhood, — Very God and 
Very Man, — were joined together in one 
person, never more to be divided. By 
this union of the human and divine in the 
Person of Christ, humanity itself has 
been raised from the depths of darkness 
and damnation, into which it was plunged 



by the fall, to a higher and nobler sphere, 
by re-uniting it with the nature of the 
Deity, thus making it the root of a new 
Life for the race. These tivo natures, 
therefore, are the original cause or ground 
of all that Christ hath done, and that 
body in which they were united, was that 
body wherewith the Redeemer saved the 
world, — that body, which ever hath been 
and ever will be the root of eternal Life, 
— the instrument wherewith the Deity 
worketh the sacrifice that taketh away 
sin, — the price wherewith he hath ran- 
somed souls from death, — the Captain of 
the whole army of bodies that shall x rise 
again to glory. 

From this union of the Deity with the 
human soul, resulted a new order of Life, 
— at once truly divine and yet perfectly 
human, — and hence sometimes called 
Theanthropic, — which Life is the well- 
spring and cause of ours. This is the new 
creation in Christ Jesus, of which all 
must partake, who would become sons of 
God, and joint heirs with Christ in the 
kingdom of the Father. We have in our- 
selves the nature of Adam without his per- 
son ; so also, we must have in us the nature 
of Christ without His Person ; or we do 
not stand related to the second Adam as 
to the first. In short, as human nature 
itself has been corrupted in Adam — as the 
life of man, as a cause as well as a con- 
sequence — that vivifying essence which 
constitutes his inmost nature — has been 
rendered sinful by the fall ; so, that same 
nature must be restored by an union with 
the Redeemer, as certain and real as that 
which exists between Adam and the race. 
As we were cast down to death by parti- 
cipating in the life of the first Adam, so 
we must be raised to life, by partaking in 
the life of Christ, who is the second 
Adam. Since, then, Christ took upon 
himself our nature, by dying in that na- 
ture, he has borne the sin of that nature, 
literally, and not by way of substitution, 
thereby redeeming our nature, rather than 
our persons, so that now, all who partake 
of that nature, have, through the grace of 
God, ability both of willing and doing 
good works pleasing and acceptable to 
him. 

The church sees in Christ a new order 
of life, divine and yet most perfectly hu- 



31 



242 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



man, not merely external to man, but 
really active in humanity itself. Chris- 
tianity, with it, is a true and real revela- 
tion of the supernatural in the flesh. God 
manifest in the flesh, is the leading fact 
in all its theology. The Incarnation, there- 
fore, stands out as among the chiefest of 
doctrines. It is the union of the divine 
and human in a visible form, a union that 
has been perpetuated in the church, and 
is repeated in every Christian. 

5. Of the conditions upon which the 
benefits of this redemption are rendered 
available to man. The teaching of the 
church js, that although the redemption is 
universal, and the offer of salvation is 
made to all, yet, that the benefits thereof 

I can be experienced by individuals, only 
upon their acceptance of the offers of 
mercy, and their voluntary compliance 
with the conditions annexed ; which con- 
ditions are repentance, whereby they for- 
sake sin ; and faith, whereby they stead- 
fastly believe all the promises of God ; 
points upon which there is scarcely any 
difference of opinion among all the variety 
of religious denominations. 

6. Of the office and operation oftheHoLY 
Ghost, in applying these benefits to man, 
and of his co-operation in the same. The 
church teaches, that the Holy Ghost is 
ready to co-operate with man, when he 
desires to work, — that He does this by an 
indwelling in the heart, thereby imparting 
to man that Divine Life which renews and 
sanctifies. This change the church holds 
to be something more than a mere moral 
one, something more than a mere subjective 
change of the will, being (when complete,) 

i| an entire change of the moral nature of 
Ij the soul itself, in consequence of its par- 
! taking in the holiness and righteousness 
|j of our heavenly Father through a partici- 
i pation in the life of the Son. The church, 
seeing in Christ, the example and pattern, 
|j as well as the source of the Christian life, 
finds the type of the Christian birth in the 
Incarnation, and supposes that what was 
done in the one case, is repeated in the 
other, as nearly as the different circum- 
stances of the cases will allow. As 
Christ was begotten of the Virgin Mary, 
by the power of the Holy Ghost, so also 
is the Christian life begotten in us by the 
same, power. And as God was in Christ, 



the divine in the human, exalting it to a 
new and higher sphere of life, so Christ 
must be in the Christian, the divine in the 
human, exalting it to a new and higher 
sphere of life. And it is such an indwell- 
ing as enables the Christian to live in 
Christ, even as he lives in and by the 
Father, that is, by a mutual inter-penetra- 
tion of the same life. As, therefore, that 
Deity which dwells in the Son also dwells 
in the Father, so, that divine humanity, 
(if we may so speak,) which dwells in 
Christ must also dwell in the Christian. 

It is thus that the Christian eats the 
flesh, and drinks the blood of the Son of 
Man ; that is, the Christian partakes of 
the flesh and blood. of Christ, in the same 
manner, and to the same extent as that in 
which Christ partakes of the flesh and 
blood of those he came to save. He took 
to himself, not the person of a man, but 
the nature of man, before it came to have 
any personal subsistence, and that nature 
which he took into union with his divinity, 
organized for him such a body, as the 
same nature organizes for us. The Chris- 
tian, therefore, partakes of the nature, not 
the person of Christ, and that nature shall 
produce the same results in us, that it has 
already produced in him. It is thus also 
that the Christian is said to be in Christ, 
and Christ in the Christian ; that God is 
said to dwell in us, and we in him ; that 
our hearts are said to be temples of the 
Holy Ghost ; and that the life of Jesi t s is 
said to be manifest in our mortal bodies ; 
things which are accomplished in the 
Christian literally, and without a figure. 

But though this life is imparted to us by 
the indwelling of the Holy Ghcst, it is 
not received, and does not become active 
in us without co-operation on our part. 
Faith, which is a condition, when viewed 
as something required by God, is some- 
thing more than this when viewed as rela- 
tive to ourselves. It then becomes a 
means, or instrument, by which the in- 
dwelling of the Holy Ghost in our hearts 
is to be promoted, and without which it 
will never take place. This faith, which 
is sometimes called saving faith, and also 
justifying faith, is something more than 
a mere assent of the mind to the histori- 
cal truth of the Scriptures ; something 
more than a belief in them as a revela- 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



243 



tion. It is that act of the soul which lays 
hold on Christ ; which receives and em- 
braces him, and thereby partakes of him. 
It is the act, on our part, by which we re- 
ceive that which makes us Christians. 
Hence, Christ doth truly dwell in our 
hearts by faith ; and those who have this 
faith are said to live by the faith of the 
Son of God, and to be children of God 
by faith in Christ Jesus. 

And all who have this faith, and conse- 
quently, have this indwelling Spirit, are 
in Christ — truly and literally are new 
creatures in Christ — are blessed with all 
spiritual blessings in Christ, and are ac- 
cepted in the beloved. And because with- 
out this faith, we can never obtain any of 
these.things, we are said to he justified by 
faith only. Those who are justified by 
faith, therefore, are not justified on ac- 
count of any act, or deed, or righteous- 
ness of their own, but on account of the 
righteousness of Christ, in whom they 
are found ; that which is through the faith 
of Christ, the righteousness which is of 
God by faith. 

The new life of the Christian, there- 
fore results from his participation in the 
thechithropic life of the Redeemer ; im- 
parted by the indwelling of the Holy 
Ghost ; received by faith on our part. 
And those to whom this life is so imparted, 
are freely justified for the merits and 
righteousness of Christ, graciously reck- 
oned to the account of those who are thus 
found in him, not in any outward and 
fictitious way, but in truth and in reality, 
in consequence of their participation in 
that life, in which that righteousness and 
holiness dwells. As, by partaking in the 
life of Adam, we are partakers of his 
nature, and of the corruption inherent in 
that nature ; so, by partaking of the life 
of the Redeemer, we are partakers of his 
nature, and of the holiness and righteous- 
ness inherent in that nature. And from 
the time that the Christian enters into 
communion with that life, he is regarded 
as being in Christ ; as partaking in all 
that he has done and suffered for us ; as 
being already complete in the beloved ; 
because he has in himself, potentially, or 
in germ, the entire result of his Christian 
life. 

To this justification man comes as a 



feeble, helpless, fallen, sinful being, unable 
to do any thing to prepare himself for it ; 
without ability to desire it, except when 
the Spirit gives him the will, and unable 
to seek it, except when the Spirit works 
with him when he has that will. Faith, 
and faith alone, is the only instrument or 
means he can employ. And when this is 
exercised, and Christ dwells in our hearts 
by faith, God regards us as just, freely, 
for Christ's sake, because of our partici- 
pation in those merits inherent in that life 
which has been imparted to us. 

7. Of the time and ^manner of this 
change, and of its final result. The church 
does not consider this change, as such, a 
re-creation of the soul ; nor yet, as such 
a re-endowment of it with any powers or 
faculties lost in the fall, as would render 
it either sudden, sensible, or perfect. But 
she regards the effect of the new life of 
the Christian, imparted to him through 
the indwelling and co-operating influence 
of the Holy Ghost, as of such a nature, 
that it will not ordinarily be sudden, nor 
immediately sensible, and never at once 
perfect. The church holding that the 
Christian bears a relation to Christ, 
similar to that borne by the man to Adam, 
expects to find some analogy between the 
natural and spiritual birth, and also be- 
tween the development of the spiritual and 
natural life ; — some correspondence be- 
tween the spiritual birth of the Christian, 
and of him from whom they have their 
birth. And as it believes the reality of 
that infancy and childhood, in which the 
Lord Jesus appeared, so it believes the 
reality of a spiritual infancy and child- 
hood in every one who derives his spirit- 
ual life from that Divine fountain and 
source. When, therefore, we are born 
of God, we are born babes in Christ. 
This, she supposes, follows necessarily 
from the whole tenor of Holy Writ. 

The church also teaches, that the life 
of the truly Christian man increases in 
strength and power, as it is developed in 
action. It is as leaven in a measure of 
meal ; or like seed, producing first the 
blade, then the ear ; and after that, the 
full corn in the ear. Hence arises the ne- 
cessary connection between faith and 
works. Faith, on the part of man, being 
that act which consummates, and the only 



244 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



thing which can consummate the union 
"between Christ and the Christian, ne- 
cessarily involves all the consequences re- 
sulting from that union. Hence, that 
obedience which springs from .the new 
life in the soul, is a necessary result from 
the life itself. A living faith, that is, a 
faith which so lays hold upon and em- 
braces Cheist, that we may live and 
dwell in him, and he in us, will be follow- 
ed by obedience and good works. Good 
works, therefore, do necessarily spring 
out of a true and lively faith ; insomuch, 
that by them a lively faith may be as evi- 
dently known, as a tree is discerned by its 
fruit. As a living body of a man exer- 
ciseth such things as belong to a natural 
living body, so, the soul that hath a lively 
faith, will be ever doing those things that 
belong to such a life. Hence, also, al- 
though good works, which are the fruits of 
faith, and follow after justification, can- 
not put away sin, they are the necessary 
evidence that we are justified ; for, as no 
man is justified, until he is made partaker 
of the righteousness and merits of Cheist, 
so none who are partakers of that, will 
fail of producing the fruits thereof. Con- 
sequently, when these fruits are altogether 
wanting, there is no true and living faith, 
nor any spiritual life. 

The church also teaches, that the de- 
velopment and growth of the Christian 
life causes a continual struggle between 
the corrupt life which we have inherited 
from Adam, and the spiritual life which 
we received from Cheist. The new life 
imparted to the Christian, does not extin- 
guish the natural life, but is in addition to 
it, being inserted, as a germinating point, 
into the very centre of the old life, in or- 
der that it may work a change in its 
moral character, without destroying, in 
any respect, its proper personal identity. 
The new life of the Christian, after the 
example and pattern of him from whom 
this life proceeds, is joined with our na- 
tural life, in a manner analagous to the 
union of the Deity with the human soul, 
in the person of our Loed, so as event- 
ually to change the entire moral cha- 
racter, without any change in the identity 
of our natural life. And these two dif- 
ferent principles of life, co-existing toge- 
ther in man, both retain their different 



characteristics, and consequently, are per- 
petually at warfare, until the human be- 
comes entirely pervaded by and assimilat- 
ed to the Divine. This constitutes the 
Christian warfare — this is the law of the 
members which wars against the law of 
the mind, bringing the Christian into cap- 
tivity to the law of sin. Hence the need 
of watching, fighting, praying, duties 
which form so important a part of the 
Christian course. 

The struggle which the Christian is 
compelled to maintain, ceases at death ; 
but not the consequences of that struggle. 
The body of sin and death which we re- 
ceived from our first parents is put off, 
along with that body in which that sin 
and death inhered. The natural lift? now 
becomes so completely transfused with the 
spiritual life which had before been strug- 
gling with it, as to participate in all the 
righteousness and holiness of him from 
whom we received that life. But this is 
not all. The example and pattern of the 
Captain of our Salvation, is to be still 
further followed. That life which has 
been received from the person of Cheist, 
is a life which has organized a body for 
him, and from which, the body in which 
he now dwells, was derived. In order, 
therefore, to realise the Apostolic descrip- 
tion of that future state, when we shall 
be like him who has redeemed us from 
the grave, that regenerated life must put 
on a body, fashioned like unto his glorious 
body ; and a body, too, which like his 
own glorified body, must be derived from 
that body in which that life had lived. 
The new body must be raised up from the 
old, as truly as the body in which the 
Saviour rose, was the body in which he 
died ; and as truly as the body in which 
he now lives, is the body in which he rose 
from the tomb. When the man dies, 
therefore, the body dies, and the sin and 
death inhering in it, expires. But not so 
the life, nor yet the body. The life lives 
on, while the body sleeps — the one wait- 
ing the sound of the Archangel's trump, to 
wake the other from the slumber of its 
death. And when this is done, the spirit- 
ual body shall spring forth from the ashes 
of the material ; the corruptible shall put 
on incorrruption, and the mortal shall put 
on immortality. 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



245 



The resurrection bodies of the saints, 
therefore, will be the continuation of that 
life which vivified their material bodies, 
so that the personal identity of the man 
will be retained, though the material ele- 
ments which composed the frame-work of 
his corruptible body, at the time of his 
death, be cast off. This body will be the 
result of that spiritual life which has been 
implanted in the Christian ; the out-burst 
of that life which had lived in his mortal 
body here on earth — a continuation of his 
personal identity, by actual continuity of 
life, as truly as the life of the plant is a 
continuation of the life of the seed from 
which it sprung. The mortal body that 
was laid in the tomb, becomes itself the 
womb of that spiritual body, which, 
fashioned like unto our Lord's most glo- 
rious body, shall spring forth from it, 
when the trump of God shall call the 
sleeping dead to judgment. 

In regard to the resurrection bodies of 
the finally impenitent, the church, like the 
Scriptures, is silent. But there are plain 
intimations in the teaching of both, that 
the resurrection bodies of the saint and 
the sinner will not be alike. That body 
which is raised in glory, through the 
quickening spirit of the second Adam, 
and which obtains the victory through its 
participation in the life and nature of 
Christ, cannot belong to those who shall 
go away into everlasting punishment, the 
smoke of whose torment shall ascend up 
forever and ever. 

That period which elapses between 
death and the resurrection, in which the 
condition of all is fixed, and a degree of 
happiness or misery experienced, is usually 
called the Intermediate State. The con- 
dition of those, therefore, who have died 
in the faith, is one of peace and rest, of 
joy and felicity ;n the Paradise of God, 
but not of perfect consummation of bliss 
in the highest heaven above. It is that 
same place, and that same condition, in 
which the Redeemer was, before he as- 
cended to the Father, and in which David 
now is, who, we are told, is not yet as- 
cended into heaven. With all these, as 
belonging to the mystical body of Christ, 
we may enjoy communion through the 
Head, by means of that Spiritual life 
which we have received from the Head, 



so that a commemoration of the faithful 
departed may be proper, and prayers for 
communion with them appropriate. 

There are some doctrinal and practical 
consequences growing out of the preced- 
ing, which the church deems too import- 
ant to be overlooked, or forgotten. If it 
be true, as the church teaches, that the 
union of the Divine and human which 
took place in the person of our Lord, 
is perpetuated in the church, and repeated 
in the Christian, and that this union is 
wrought in us, as in him, by the power of 
the Holy Ghost, then the general conse- 
quences that followed that union in him, 
must follow in us. Consequently, the 
whole history of our Lord's sojourn in 
the flesh, beside being so many steps in 
our redemption, is intended as an exam- 
ple, and all his children should endeavor 
to follow his footsteps. 

His infancy and childhood, therefore, 
compel us to believe a real infancy and 
childhood in the spiritual man. It also 
requires us to believe that the life which 
begets us anew unto God, by which we 
were made sons of. God, requires suitable 
nourishment for its perfection and growth, 
as truly as the natural life itself. His 
submission to parental authority, and his 
filial affection ; his love and benevolence 
towards the race, are examples for his 
children. His patient waiting to the law- 
ful age before entering the ministry, and 
his legal induction into the office, are de- 
signed to teach us that we too must wait 
for the appointed time, and execute in a 
lawful manner any duty devolving upon 
us, or any mission committed to our care. 

The Baptism of our Lord, also, was 
designed to teach us an important truth ; 
for, since he saw fit to receive in the or- 
dinance of Baptism, of his own Divine 
Spirit, — of that Spirit w r hich proceedeth 
from his own person, as well as from the 
person of the Father, those who would 
receive of the same Spirit from him, 
must seek it in the same sacrament. In- 
deed, no reason can be given why this 
outward ordinance was submitted to, by 
him in whom dwelleth all the fulness of 
the Godhead bodily, — why he should re- 
ceive of his own Spirit, in a visible form, 
except that it was done for our example. 
So, also, the temptation in the wilderness 



246 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



teaches us at once, the reality of our 
temptation to sin by the powers of dark- 
ness, the passions of humanity to which 
such temptations are most likely to be ad- 
dressed, and the mode in which they are 
to be repelled and overcome. Thus the 
church sees in the personal history of her 
Lord, an interest and an importance which 
other modes of teaching cannot perceive. 
And herein lies the reason, and is seen 
the significance of those festivals which 
commemorate the leading events of that 
history ; which will be noticed under an- 
other head. 

8. Of the perpetuity of the change thus 
produced. The church teaches that as 
the change produced in man results from 
an indwelling and co-operating influence 
of the Holy Ghost, it will continue only 
so long as the co-operation continues ; and 
consequently, if man himself ceases to 
work, the Spirit of God will be with- 
drawn, and his spiritual life becoming ex- 
tinct, he will again become the servant and 
slave of sin. That this is not likely to 
happen, we believe; that it never will hap- 
pen, when man is faithful, is certain. But 
the church takes the possibility of such an 
event for granted, and bases upon it some 
of her most touching and powerful exhor- 
tations to watchfulness and duty. 

9. Of the use of means. The church 
teaches that the means of grace may be 
available to all, and are essential to the 
Christian. And to render these more sure 
and certain in their effect and operation, 
she has prescribed a form of service in 
which all the great and leading events of 
the Gospel are brought before the minds 
of her children, in connection with those 
Scriptures of the Old Testament, upon 
which the foundation of the New must 
rest. The leading characteristics of this 
order of service are two : — the prominence 
which it gives to the teaching of Holy 
Writ, and the faithfulness with which it 
holds up the example of her Lord and 
Master .as a pattern for her children to 
follow. 



IV. ORDER OF SERVICE, AND FESTI- 
VALS. 

The church believing that the word of 
God is alone able to make us wise unto 



salvation, gives that the first and chief 
place and prominence in all her service, 
both for Sundays and other days. Every 
day in the year has its appropriate service 
prescribed, both for morning and evening, 
which is to be observed whenever practi- 
cable. The Sundays like all other days 
have their appropriate lessons, consisting 
of a selection of one lesson from the Old 
Testament, and one from the New, both 
for morning and evening, with selections 
from the Gospels and Epistles for every 
morning. Where the daily service is ob- 
served the whole Bible will be read through 
each year, and the book of Psalms once 
every month. But as this is not practica- 
ble in all places, the Sunday and Holy- 
day services are so arranged, that all the 
leading facts of the Gospel, and the more 
important portions of the Old Testament 
will be read, so that the punctual atten- 
dant upon the services of the church, will 
become well acquainted with the general 
outline of Scripture history, and have a 
good general knowledge of all the doc- 
trines of the Gospel, even if he learns 
nothing of either, save in church. This 
will be rendered more obvious by a brief 
description of the service itself. 

The church begins the circle of her holy 
year with the observance of Advent, 
which always comprises four Sundays 
previous to the 25th of December, and is 
observed as a season of preparation for 
the appearance of Christ in the flesh. 
The Nativity, commonly called Christ- 
mas-day, observed on the 25th of Decem- 
ber, is a commemoration of the mystery 
of the Incarnation, with a consideration 
of its consequences to the world. This 
is followed by a commemoration of St. 
Stephen, who first suffered martyrdom for 
the cause of Christ, — of St. John, the 
beloved and faithful disciple, and the Holy 
Innocents who were sacrificed to the 
cruelty of Herod, on the Saviour's ac- 
count. 

The Circumcision of Christ is observed 
on the first of January, being eight days 
subsequent to the time of the Nativity. 
On the 6th of January, the festival of the 
Epiphany is observed, being in comme- 
moration of the manifestation of Christ 
by the star in the East, and also by the 
descent of the Holy Ghost at the time of 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



247 



his Baptism, both of which are supposed 
to have taken place at this time. From 
Christmas to the Epiphany, the assump- 
tion of human nature by Christ, is espe- 
cially set forth ; from Epiphany to Septu- 
agesima, his glory and divinity are made 
known. 

The order of services from Epiphany 
to Lent, are worthy of careful observa- 
tion. It commemorates the gifts offered 
by the wise men to our Lord, and ex- 
horts us to make a similar use of all things 
conferred upon us, and especially, that we 
offer ourselves a holy sacrifice unto God 
by Christ. It rehearses the first miracle 
wherein the Son of God displayed his 
glory and goodness in administering to the 
necessities of others, and exhorts us that 
we use the gifts enjoyed by us as our 
Saviour did, for the benefit of others. It 
relates the miraculous cure of certain con- 
tagious bodily diseases, and warns us 
against the contagious sins of pride, ma- 
lice, and revenge. Then follows the ac- 
count of Christ's miraculous power in 
stilling the winds and the waves ; which 
is understood to be emblematic of those 
who destroy the peace and harmony of the 
church, accompanied by the prayer that 
God would preserve it safe, amid all the 
tempests and troubles which surround it. 
Then follows the petition that God would 
keep his church and household continually 
in his true religion, rendered more espe- 
cially important by the prospect of his 
speedy coming to judgment, set forth in 
the Scriptures for the days, in order that 
we may be like him, when he shall appear 
in power and great glory. 

These general considerations bring us 
to what is. called Septuagesima, or seventy 
days from Good Friday ; which with the 
two following Sundays, called Sexagesima, 
and Quinquagesima, are regarded as pre- 
paratory to the season of Lent. The 
service now exhorts us to works of absti- 
nence and self-denial, reminds us that the 
vineyard of God is no place for the idle 
loiterer ; and that all must work if they 
would receive their reward. The example 
of St. Paul is now brought forward as one 
who was eminent for works of mortifica- 
tion and self-denial, and we are reminded 
of the danger of an external profession of 
faith, unless we brinir forth the fruits there- 



of. Next we are reminded that all other 
works are of little profit unless accom- 
panied by faith and charity, which brings 
us to the season of Lent. 

The first day of Lent is known as Ash 
Wednesday, because it was anciently the 
custom, and is even now to some extent 
for penitents, or those under discipline, to 
come to church on that day, their heads 
sprinkled with ashes, and their bodies 
clothed in sackcloth, — a practice that was 
often observed by the whole congregation. 
The season of Lent, which includes forty 
days, exclusive of Sundays, the church 
never observing that day as a fast, is one 
of especial humiliation, fasting, and prayer. 
The service exhorts us to patience in afflic- 
tion, in view of Christ's victory over temp- 
tation, — to abstinence and temperance as 
following our Saviour's example, and as a 
means of attaining unto his reward in that 
New Jerusalem above, which is the mother 
of us all. 

The last week in Lent is called Passion 
Week, because in that the Passion itself is 
commemorated. The Sunday of this 
week is called Palm Sunday, being the 
day of our Lord's triumphal entrance into 
Jerusalem, when branches of palm trees 
were scattered by the way-side ; and the 
whole period is devoted to a consideration 
of the circumstances attending the sacri- 
fice of the true Paschal Lamb. Good Fri- 
day, the last day of Le?it, commemorates 
the crucifixion in the language of St. John, 
who alone, of all the Apostles, stood by 
the cross and saw it. And as on this day 
the Lord of Glory gave up his life for 
his enemies, so the church prays for them 
all, Jews, Turks, Infidels and Heretics. 

The evening of the Saturday following 
is Easter Even, and is devoted to a con- 
sideration of Christ's body, as lying, in 
the tomb, and of his soul, as having de- 
scended into the place of departed spirits, 
— that place which is usually described as 
the Intermediate State. 

The day following is called Easter 
Sunday, because it commemorates the 
Resurrection, and its benefits. The ser- 
vice following this festival, exhorts those 
who have put on Christ in baptism, to 
rise from sin to newness of life, as he had 
done, of whose death they had been made 
partakers, and exhorts to an imitation of 



248 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



his holy life ; especially incumbent on us, 
because of the greatness of our Redemp- 
tion. 

Forty days after Easter the Ascension 
is commemorated, and ten days after that, 
the descent of the Holy Ghost on the 
day of Pentecost, now known as Whit- 
Sunday ; with their attendant conse- 
quences. The church, having now fol- 
lowed the personal history of her Lord, 
from his cradle to his grave, and from the 
grave to glory, — and having considered 
the descent of that quickening, strengthen- 
ing, guiding Spirit, which the Father sent 
forth in the name of the Son, turns to a 
consideration of the unity of these adora- 
ble persons, in the ever-blessed Trinity, 
and hence calls the day, Trinity Sunday. 
And from thence to the time of Advent 
again the gifts and graces of the Spirit, 
— the duty and destiny of the Christian 
form the leading idea in all the service. 
The church thus presents her children 
with an annual consideration of the most 
important events in the life and character 
of him who is our example and pattern, 
in such time and order as is best adapted 
to make the deepest impression upon the 
minds and hearts of those, who listen 
diligently, and in faith to the tenor of her 
teaching. 



V. OF THE CHURCH. 

According to the teaching of the church, 
as we have seen, we become Christians, 
in consequence of our participation in the 
Theanthropic life of the Redeemer — in 
that life which now dwells in his glorified 
body, in heaven, and which, being imparted 
to us, by the indwelling of the Holy 
Ghost, becomes the principle of a new 
and holy life in us. The Christian Life, 
therefore, has its origin in Christ, parta- 
king of the two-fold nature united in him, 
— and its operation is that of a new life 
introduced into the very centre of our 
being, gradually transforming our souls, 
and transfusing our bodies, renewing 
them after his own likeness, in that right- 
eousness and true holiness which fill his 
own divine and heavenly person. 

Now that new creation which is in 
Christ Jesus, which is to create us anew 
unto God, being something independent 



of and external to us, must be conveyed to 
us, and be received by us, before it can 
become operative in us. The means by 
which we receive this life, is, as we have 
seen, faith : the medium by which it is 
conveyed to us, is the Church. The church, 
therefore, is the body in which the life- 
stream of salvation is made to flow on 
from age to age, and from which it is im- 
parted to all those who become partakers 
of the divine nature. It is an institution 
founded by Christ, — proceeding forth 
from his loins, — animated by his Spirit, 
and through which, as its necessary origin, 
the revelation of God in Christ becomes 
effective in the history of the world. It 
is, therefore, a true, living, organic body, 
the depository and continuation of the 
TJteanthropic life of the Redeemer ; and 
is, therefore, visible and invisible, external 
and internal, having a divine and human, 
an ideal and real, an earthly and human 
nature. The church, therefore, is the 
mother from which we derive our Chris- 
tian life, and to which, therefore, we owe 
continued obedience and subjection. 

This body, as has already been shown, 
was founded in the Incarnation ; and rests 
on the fact, that the union of the divine 
and human in the person of our Lord, 
must in some way be communicated to us. 
And since that Theanthropic life, must 
also be our life, we must derive it from 
that body in which alone this life can 
dwell. And since there is but one life, 
derived from one fountain and source of 
life, the church in which that life resides, 
must also be one. There is, therefore, in 
the church of Christ, an absolute oneness 
of origin, and must be an absolute oneness 
of faith ; for there is but one life that can 
be given, and but one faith by which it 
can be recceived. And this one faith it is 
the duty of all to keep perfect and entire, 
and whoever rejects it, does so at the peril 
of his soul. We may separate ourselves 
from the body of Christ, but we cannot 
divide it. We may deny the faith, but 
cannot separate it. 

This church, — the body, — the fulness 
of him that filleth all in all, — is one body, 
— in which, there in one Spirit, — into 
which, we are baptized by one baptism, — 
into which the Father gathereth together 
all things in Christ, in whom, we are ac- 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



249 



cepted in the beloved, and over which, 
there is one God and Father of all, who 
is over all, and through all, and in all. 
This unity is not that resulting from the 
mere assemblage of independent individ- 
uals, but it is a living, mystical and spir- 
itual union of different members, all par- 
taking of the same living spirit, by virtue 
of their union with the same living body. 

This living, organic body, is the deposi- 
tory and continuation of the life of the 
Redeemer, in which it flows on from age 
to age, and from which it is made to flow 
into the persons of his people. That life 
that lives generically in Christ, and spe- 
cifically in the Christian, lives also his- 
torically or continuously in the church ; 
as that generic life which is in Adam, is 
specifically in every one descended from 
him, and historically in the race. It is, 
in both cases, the same organic life-stream, 
from age to age, reaching down from the 
head through all the members. As human- 
ity has its common life in Adam, so Chris- 
tianity has its common life in Christ, the 
second Adam. Hence the union of the 
Christian with Christ, is so deep, inti- 
mate, and all-pervading, that if Christians, 
we are in Christ by a true and real 
union with him, and our bodies even, are 
members of Christ. And through a mu- 
tual participation in this common life, we 
are members one of another, so that if one 
member suffers, all must suffer with it, or 
if one rejoice, all must rejoice. We are 
also joined to the head, through member- 
ship in the body, as branches to the 
vine, so that personal piety can no more 
come to perfection, apart from an inward 
and outward communion with that life, 
which is in the church, than a limb can 
flourish when separated from the parent 
stock. 

This body, however, is not the glorified 
body of our Lord, in which he dwelt 
while here upon earth, and in which he 
ascended into heaven, and in which he 
now sits at the right hand of the Father. 
Nor is it that body, universally expanded, 
so as to be equally ubiquitous with the 
Deity that dwells in it, as some teach, nor 
yet, that body miraculously multiplied for 
sacramental purposes, as others teach ; for 
that body has its local presence only in 
heaven. The church holds, that God in 



Christ, is the medicine which doth cure 
the world, and that it is by the receipt of 
this medicine that we are every one cured. 
But Christ's Incarnation and Passion can 
be rendered available to no man's good, 
who is not partaker of Christ, and that 
we cannot participate him without his pre- 
sence. Yet she holds, that nothing of 
Christ which is limited, — nothing which 
is created, — that neither the soul nor the 
body of Christ, and consequently that 
not Christ as man, nor Christ according 
to his human nature, can be every where 
present; so that the substance of Christ's 
body hath no presence, and can have none, 
but only local. Nor yet is his presence 
merely that of his Deity, since the perfect 
union of the two distinct natures in one 
person, so as never to be divided, necessa- 
rily supposes, that where his Divinity is 
present, there his humanity is in some sort 
present also. And this presence is that 
new life resulting from the union of both, 
which, though its proper body has its local 
session, only at the right hand of God, 
does nevertheless extend its influence, so 
far at least, as the needs of a redeemed 
humanity may require. 

Since, then, the spiritual life of the 
Christian, is that Theanthropic life which 
dwells in the glorified body of our Lord, 
and since that life can only be communica- 
ted to us by union with him, and since that 
body to which this life belongs has its local 
presence only in heaven ; it follows neces- 
sarily, that there must be a medium by 
which the life of that body may be com- 
municated to the Christian. And that 
medium is the church. Hence, as has 
already been remarked, the church is an 
institution founded by Christ, proceeding 
from his loins, animated by his Spirit, 
and through which alone, as its necessary 
organ, the revelation of God in Christ 
becomes effective in the history of the 
world. 

This body, though not that glorified 
body which dwells in heaven, is literally 
and truly the body of Christ, bearing a 
relation to Christ, analogous to that borne 
by Eve to Adam. As Eve was formed 
out of the substance of Adam, — as she 
was the depository and continuation of his 
own life, — the bearer of his own nature 
in another form from that in his own per- 



32 



250 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



son ; so, the church is formed out of the 
very wounded and bleeding side of the 
Son of Man, so that the words of Adam 
and Eve may be fitly spoken by Christ 
concerning his church ; flesh of my flesh, 
and bone of my bone, a true native extract 
out of mind and body. As Eve was formed 
out of the substance of Adam, and par- 
took of his life, in order that, being at 
once a part of himself, she might become 
the mother of his children ; so, the church 
was formed out of the very substance of 
the Saviour, and bears his life, that it may 
become the mother of all the sons of God. 
And all who partake of this life that flows 
on in this body, are said to be born again, 
not of corruptible seed, but of incorrup- 
tible, by the Word of God which liveth 
and abideth forever. 

This church is visible as well as invisi- 
ble, external as well as internal, having a 
human and earthly, as well as a divine and 
heavenly nature. This follows from the 
fact that the church has its foundation in 
the Incarnation ; for the body which is the 
depository, and continuation of the life of 
him who united the divine and human na- 
ture in his own person, must possess both. 
There must be an outward and visible or- 
ganization, embodying an internal and in- 
visible spirit, in the one case, as truly as 
in the other. And the spirit must be that 
by which the body lives, while the body 
must be that by which the spirit acts. 
Consequently, the visible church must not 
only have the authority of Christ, in 
which to act, but it must have his spirit 
by which to act. Any body which has 
not this spirit, is not the body of Christ, 
and any spirit without such body, is not a 
body in any proper sense of the language. 
And this necessity of an union between 
the visible and invisible, is the foundation 
on which the sacraments and ministry are 
made to rest. 



VI. THE SACRAMENTS. 

We have seen that, according to the 
teaching of the church, that which makes 
us Christians, that is, sons of God, is the 
true and substantial life of the Incarnate 
Word ; that this life flows on from age to 
age in the church, from which it passes 
over into our persons ; and that it is by faith 



we receive of the same. Now, since the 
grace which is to save us, and the church 
by which this grace is conveyed to us, are 
both external to and independent of man, 
it is necessary that we should in some way 
be united to the body, wherein this life 
stream of salvation is found, that faith 
may receive of the life that lives therein ; 
and may live and grow thereby. And 
such means are the sacraments. 

The sacraments, therefore, are outward 
and visible signs of an invisible and spi- 
ritual grace, by which God works invisi- 
bly in us ; which signs have been ordained 
by Christ, as means by which we receive 
that grace, and a pledge that we do receive 
it. But their operation is neither physical 
nor magical, but moral and spiritual, and 
therefore, inoperative, unless received ac- 
cording to the Saviour's institution. Their 
object is, to re-connect man, who, since 
the fall, has been sundered from his true 
life in God, to that body in which this life 
resides, in order that IT may restore 
him to that holiness and righteousness 
which alone can commend him to the 
favour of his God. This was the object 
of the Incarnation, — the one great sacra- 
ment of the gospel, and hence, also, of all 
those lesser sacraments which are but 
imitations and copies of this, and from 
which they derive all their force and effect 
Of such sacraments, there are only two, 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; the out- 
ward and visible sign of the first being 
water administered in the name of the 
Holy Trinity ; of the other bread and 
wine duly set apart and consecrated for 
that purpose, given and eaten in the name 
of Christ. The church does not regard 
the amount of water, nor the mode of its 
application in baptism, nor the nature of 
the bread in the eucharist, as at all essem 
tial to the sacrament. 



Vn. OF BAPTISM. 

Baptism, according to the church, is not 
only a sign of our profession, a mark by 
which Christian men are distinguished 
from those who are not Christians, but is 
also a sign of regeneration or new birth, 
whereby, as by an instrument, they that 
receive it rightly, are regenerate and 
grafted into the church, the body of 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



251 



Christ ; the promises of the forgiveness 
of sins are visibly signed and sealed ; the 
adoption of sonship publicly ratified and 
confirmed ; faith established, and grace 
increased. The full design and effect of 
this sacrament can only be seen by view- 
ing it under different aspects. ,. 

1 . It is the Sacrament of our Election 
in Christ. What the individual election 
of Christ was to the first band of disci- 
ples, that is baptism to the succeeding 
community. He called men to himself, in 
order that he might impart to them of 
himself, and of those who accepted this 
invitation during his personal ministry, 
some were commissioned to administer to 
the rest the badge and token of that ac- 
ceptance. But this baptism was then, in 
some respects incomplete, for the Holy 
Ghost had not yet been given. Since the 
descent of the Comforter upon the day of 
Pentecost, however, baptism has been the 
sacrament of our election, in which we 
are called to a participation in all those 
graces and benefits, of which the church 
is made the depository, and by which we 
are renewed unto God. It is the outward 
and visible union with that body, in which 
the life-stream of salvation is, in order 
that we may drink of that river of water 
of life, which, flowing out from the throne 
of God and the Lamb, shall be in us a 
well of water springing up into everlast- 
ing life. 

But although it is by Baptism that the 
church is externalized in the history of the 
world, Baptism does not create the church. 
That is a body existing independently of 
man and of the Sacraments, — the Sacra- 
ments merely uniting us to a true, organic, 
living body. Baptism, therefore, places 
the recipient even before he is aware of it, 
in the most intimate union with Christ, 
and among the members of his body, 
even as the man by his natural birth is 
placed in certain determinate relations to 
his fellow beings without his assent, and 
before he can be conscious of them. The 
Sacrament of Baptism, therefore, is to all 
intents and purposes, essentially and pro- 
perly infant Baptism. 

2. It is the Sacrament of our predesti- 
nation unto life. This, according to the 
church, is the everlasting purpose of God, 
whereby (before the foundations of the 



earth were laid,) he hath in pursuance of 
his plans of moral government, constantly 
decreed by his counsel, secret to us, to de- 
liver from curse and damnation through 
the instrumentality of his Son, those whom 
he hath chosen in Christ, to bring them 
by their voluntary participation in the 
benefits purchased by Christ, to everlast- 
ing salvation, as vessels made to honor. 
All, therefore, who have been endued with 
so excellent a benefit of God, as the par- 
ticipation of the life of his Son, through 
the indwelling of his Spirit, because ac- 
cording to God's purpose by his Spirit 
working in due season, through the Sa- 
crament of Baptism ; they through the 
gracious indwelling of the Holy Ghost in 
the heart, obey the calling. And all who 
obey, are justified freely by reason of their 
participation in the righteousness and holi- 
ness inherent in that life which has been 
imparted to them, — they be made sons of 
God by adoption into his family, both ex- 
ternally and spiritually, — they be made 
like the image of his only begotten Son 
Jesus Christ, through the power of his 
own substantial life dwelling within them, 
in consequence of which they walk reli- 
giously in good works, and at length, by 
God's mercy attain to everlasting felicity. 

According to this teaching, the recipient 
of Baptism is regarded ; first, as the ob- 
ject of grace ; as a vessel made unto 
honor, upon which grace is conferred ; as 
the material (so to speak,) out of which 
Christ will form the work of the new 
creation. In Baptism, therefore, the reci- 
pient is united to the body of Christ, even 
without conscious volition, in order that 
he may receive of that life of the head, 
which must become in him the ground and 
cause of his Christian life. And second, 
the receiver is regarded as the subject of 
grace in which the life thus commenced 
may grow and increase, through further 
participation of the same. Under the first 
aspect, the recipient of Baptism is a pas- 
sive receiver of an ordinance in which he is 
elected to, and by which he is designed 
for holiness ; that is, set apart or predes 
tinated thereto. Under the second, he it, 
a free moral agent, following out the ob 
ject of his predestination, — a growing con 
formity to the Son of God. 

3. It is the Sacrament of our Adoption 



252 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



to be Sons of God. This Sacrament like 
the ancient rite of adoption, is a public 
act, in and by which one who bears no 
natural relation to another, who is a stran- 
ger, perhaps an enemy, is taken into his 
family and made to stand in the relation 
of son and heir. The performance of such 
an act is of itself the pardon, and the seal 
of the pardon of all former offences, and 
the recognition of a new'and intimate re- 
lation existing between the parties. In 
this point of view the Sacrament is always 
operative, unless the recipient put some 
bar in the way ; that is, unless he come 
to the Sacrament with personal transgres- 
sion unrepented of. 

Here, too, we see the essential nature 
and propriety of the Sacrament, when 
viewed as Infant Baptism. The infant 
having no personal sins to answer for, 
and having part in the redemption of our 
common humanity, comes in his personal 
innocence to be adopted into the family 
and household of its God and King. But 
the adult, beside his participation in the 
consequences of the fall, has personal 
guilt to answer for. And before this can 
be forgiven, there must be repentance. 
But even when repented of, the stains and 
consequences of sin remain in the soul, 
so that the infant is not only as fit a sub- 
ject for Baptism, as the adult, but even a 
more proper subject than the adult ever 
can be, since the unconscious child can 
put no bar in the way of his pardon. 

4. It is the Sacrament of our initia- 
tion or ingrafting into the body of Christ. 
Ingrafting is an act by which a scion from 
one tree, is inserted into the stock of an- 
other, so that the life of the tree may flow 
into the branch, causing it to grow, and 
flourish, and bear fruit. Now we are na- 
turally dead branches, without any spiri- 
tual life ; and the design of this Sacra- 
ment is, so to insert us into, or connect us 
with that life-stream of salvation which 
flows on from age to age in the church, 
that we may receive of that life, and there- 
by become living branches of the body of 
Christ. In the process of ingrafting, the 
recipient is as much a passive receiver in 
the spiritual as in the natural world. But 
there is this wide difference in the effect 
produced. In the one case, the life of the 
tree flows into the ingrafted shoot, through 



that mutual co-operation which results from 
the mere laws of nature. In the other case, 
the active volition of a free agent is re- 
quisite ; that faith which alone can perfect 
the union between the sinner and his Sa- 
viour, must be in active exercise, before 
any flow of spiritual life takes place from 
the head, into the branches. Without 
faith, no life is imparted, the new creation 
is not begun. But when faith lays hold 
of Christ, the union is complete, life flows 
into the branch, and the new creation be- 
gins to live and grow in us. 

5. Baptism is the Sacrament of our 
Justification. Justification, as has already 
been shown, is that act of our heavenly 
Father, by which he accepts of us, as 
righteous, in consequence of our having 
received of the life of his Son, as the 
germ of a new life in us. We have also 
seen that we can receive of that life only 
by faith, whence it is said that we are 
justified by faith only. We have also 
seen that this life being something external 
to us, must be conveyed to us by means 
external to, and independent of ourselves ; 
that the medium by which the life is con- 
veyed is the church, and that the means 
by which we are so united to that body, 
that we may receive of that life, are the 
Sacraments. The body of Christ, there- 
fore, is the means or instrument whereby 
that which constitutes the grace of the 
Sacrament is conveyed to us ; the Sacra- 
ment being the bond that unites us to the 
body ; faith the instrument or means 
whereby we receive of, and participate in 
the life of the body. 

But the receipt of this living, spiritual 
grace, of that which renews and sanctifies 
the soul, is not justification. Justification 
is that determination of the divine mind, 
in Itself concerning us, which accompanies 
our reception of this renewing grace. 
Justification, therefore, being an act and 
not an essence, cannot be communicated 
though that will of God in which it con- 
sists may be revealed. W T hen, there- 
fore, it is said that we are justified by faith, 
it is not meant that justification is some- 
thing which faith receives ; but that it is 
something done by our heavenly Father 
for us, when faith is active in us. This 
language is but seldom used in the formu- 
laries of the church, but is nevertheless an 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



253 



important doctrine when considered under 
one aspect, which we must briefly advert to. 

That none can be saved but through the 
merits of Christ, and that none can par- 
take of those merits without part in that 
new creation which is in him ; and that 
we cannot do this without faith ; and that 
faith implies conscious moral action ; are 
points already described. But infants 
dying before moral action, cannot have 
faith, and consequently, unless there were 
some other provision than the one already 
spoken of, could not be saved. We have 
seen, however, that although there is no 
development of consciousness in the child ; 
yet, that by virtue of his participation in 
the redemption of humanity, he may be 
said to long after sacramental union with 
God, which union it receives in the Sacra- 
ment of Baptism. There is, then, in the 
case of the baptized infant, dying before 
moral action ; on the one hand sacramen- 
tal union with that divine life, which alone 
can renew and sanctify it ; and on the 
other an undeveloped longing of its re- 
deemed humanity, after communion with 
that life ; and which is prevented only by 
the body of sin and death, inhering in the 
natural life. But death comes, pays the 
debt of nature, and removing the obstacle 
which had before prevented the communion 
of the soul with the life of the Redeemer, 
enables it to enter upon that communion 
for which it had secretly sighed, and pre- 
pares it to receive that justification by 
which alone it can stand in the presence 
of its God. 

6. Baptism is the Sacrament of our 
Regeneration. In describing the nature 
and effect of baptism, under the preceding 
heads, it has been considered more espe- 
cially in its objective character, as some- 
thing external to us, as something done 
for us, in which we are looked upon 
mainly as passive recipients. As the sa- 
crament of election and predestination, it 
has regard chiefly to the purpose of the 
divine mind, as manifested towards us in 
the same. As the sacrament of adoption 
and ingrafting, it has regard mainly to 
that change of state which is wrought for 
us ; to that objective outward relation 
which we are made to bear to God and 
the church. As the sacrament of justifi- 
i cation, it has regard mainly to the favor- 



able disposition manifested by our hea- 
venly Father towards us in the same. As 
the sacrament, of regeneration, it has re- 
ference to the internal and spiritual effect 
begun or wrought by that divine life, prof- 
fered to us in the same. The church 
teaches that regeneration by wajer and 
the Spirit are necessary ; one as an origi- 
nal, inward, originating cause of spiritual 
life ; the other, as an outward means 
whereby that life is communicated, which 
faith is to receive, and by which the soul 
is to live. 

This sacrament joins the recipient to 
that organic body, in which the Thean- 
thropic life of the Redeemer flows on from 
age to age, and unites him to the life of 
that body, so that when faith becomes 
active, or the body of sin and death in- 
hering in the natural man, has been cast 
off without actual transgression, *he may 
enter into communion with that life, be 
renewed unto God, and be justified by him. 
Yet, the sacrament does not, of itself, ac- 
complish either. If faith be not active, 
no flow of life from the head into the 
branches follows ; no communion will take 
place, and consequently, neither renewal 
nor justification ensue. But, because we 
are united to that life which is to renew 
us, and upon the receipt of which we shall 
be justified, we are said to be sacrament- 
ally regenerated in baptism, as we are also 
sacramentaily justified. But though the 
reception of this sacrament works no 
change when faith is wanting, it is not 
without its benefits to those who cannot 
exercise faith. The gracious influences 
of the Holy Spirit are given in greater 
abundance to those who are citizens of the 
household of God, and heirs (upon condi- 
tion,) of his heavenly kingdom, than 10 
those who are strangers to the covenants 
of promise, and aliens from the common- 
wealth of Israel. And by this influence, 
the life of the body is, (so to speak,) 
brought into contact with the ingrafted 
branch, waiting the first motions of faith 
to complete the union necessary for com- 
munion with that life. The sacrament 
presents the fountain of living water — the 
true blood of the Incarnate Word to the 
lip — faith drinks thereof. The sacrament, 
therefore, effects the union — faith produces 
communion. 



254 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



7. It is the Sacrament of Faith. The 
meaning of the word faith, as has already 
been remarked, is twofold ; historical 
faith, by which we signify our assent to 
the truth of the Bible, as a matter of fact 
and history ; justifying faith, by which 
the soul lays hold of Christ, and receives 
him into itself. As by the one he is 
received into the mind, as intellectual truth, 
so by the other he is received into the 
heart, as a spiritual essence and truth. 
But even in this sense, the meaning of the 
word is twofold. 

First, it is objective, denoting the sub- 
stance of what we are to embrace ; and 
second, subjective, denoting the act by 
which we embrace it. In this last sense, 
faith is always a voluntary act of the 
mind ; something which is done by man 
through the aid of the Holy Ghost. Ob- 
jectively, faith is given to man, both in 
its substance and essence ; subjectively, it 
is embraced by man under both aspects. 
We are embraced by the faith before we 
embrace it, so that we follow after, in 
order that we may apprehend that by 
which we are apprehended. Faith, there- 
fore, commences, potentially, in baptism ; 
actually, when the soul puts forth its first 
conscious motions after communion with 
God. Now, this objective faith, which all 
must have, is given to us from without, as 
something external to ourselves, conveyed 
to all by the sacraments, — to the infant 
and the adult alike, — to both as a passive 
recipient, so that, in this sense, the sacra- 
ment is essentially infant baptism. 

©. It is the Sacrament of our Redemp- 
tion. It is only under this aspect that very 
much of the significance of the sacrament 
of baptism is made to appear. Whatever 
was done and suffered by the Redeemer 
for man, was done and suffered as the 
Incarnate Word. In the Incarnation, 
Christ took our humanity into union with 
his Deity, thereby raising that humanity 
from the darkness and degradation in 
which he found it. In his passion and 
aeath he suffered the consequences and 
penalty of the sin, which inhered in the very 
nature of that life which constitutes our 
humanity, and by his resurrection brought 
back that renovated nature to life, thereby 
securing immortality to all who partake 
of that nature. All those, therefore, who 



participate in the life that dwells in the 
body of Christ, partake of its Theanthro- 
pic character as it dwells in him. It is 
the life that animated the human body of 
the Saviour, — the life that suffered, — the 
life that rose, and consequently, all who 
participate it, partake of the death and 
resurrection of Christ, as truly and as 
literally as they partake of the life in 
which he suffered these things. Those 
who partake of this life, partake of all that 
inheres in it, and hence in all that results 
from the passive suffering and active obe- 
dience of the Redeemer, as well as in the 
righteousness and holiness of the same. 

We are said, therefore, to be baptized 
into the death of Christ, in order that we 
may be partakers of his resurrection ; to 
be buried with him in baptism unto death, 
in order that we rise unto newness of life. 
It is not being buried after the similitude 
of his burial, but a real participation in 
the death of Christ, through the power of 
his indwelling life, communicated in the 
sacrament of baptism. It is thus we are 
co-born, co-crucified, co-buried, co-risen 
with Christ. The Christian passed through 
and suffered all these things in Christ, in 
the same sense, and to the same extent 
that the man sinned and fell in Adam. 
Thus it is, that we bear about in our bo- 
dies, the dying of the Lord Jesus, — thus 
that the sufferings of Christ abound in 
us, — thus that we know him, and the 
power of his resurrection, and the fellow- 
ship of his sufferings, as well as thus that 
we partake of the righteousness and holi- 
ness that abound in him. 

9. It is the Sacrament of our Far don. 
Hence the church confesses one baptism 
for the remission of sin, and teaches that 
infants and believing adults are herein 
washed from the filthiness of sin, through 
the sacrifice of Christ. That pardon 
which adoption implies, is here granted ; 
and that gift of the Holy Ghost which 
regeneration implies, is here preserved. 

This Sacrament being, according to the 
view of the church, so important, is de- 
clared to be generally necessary to salva- 
tion ; though grace is not so absolutely 
tied to the Sacraments, that it is never 
communicated without them. It is God's 
ordinance, and therefore binds us. But 
those ordinances bind not himself, though 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



255 



he limits our expectation to His promises ; 
so that to despise the Sacrament, where- 
ever it may be had, is lo despise the au- 
thority of its Divine Founder. 

VIII. THE LORD'S SUPPER; OR HOLY 
EUCHARIST. 

According to the teaching of the church, 
the Lord's Supper is a Sacrament of our 
redemption by Christ's death, insomuch, 
that they who rightly receive the same, do 
thereby really, but spiritually partake of 
the body and blood of Christ ; their sin- 
ful bodies are made clean by his body; 
their souls washed by his most precious 
blood ; and they are filled with grace and 
heavenly benedictions. The church ex- 
horts us to remember, that in the Lord's 
Supper there is no vain ceremony, no 
bare sign, no untrue figure of a thing ab- 
sent; but the table of the Lord, the 
bread and cup of the Lord ; the memory 
of Christ, the annunciation of his death, 
communication of his body and blood 
through the operation of the Holy Ghost ; 
that a marvellous incorporation is wrought 
in the souls of the faithful, whereby their 
souls live to life eternal, and their bodies 
win a glorious resurrection and immor- 
tality. 

In the Lord's Supper, therefore, the 
body and blood of Christ are really and 
truly, though in a spiritual manner pre- 
sented to the communicant, objectively, 
that is, from without himself; while the 
recipient, by faith, takes or receives that 
body and blood so presented, subjectively, 
that is, within himself. By such reception 
the man is incorporated into Christ ; the 
life which must have been previously im- 
planted within him, is nourished and 
strengthened ; and thus both soul and 
body are cleansed and purified — one pre- 
pared for the favor of God, and the other 
for the glory of the resurrection. 

To a clear understanding of this sub- 
ject, and especially to a proper explana- 
tion of what is meant by the presence of 
Christ in the Eucharist, and in what 
sense we are said to eat of his body and 
drink of his blood, the following facts 
must be borne in mind. It is the life, or 
soul of man which, under God, organizes 
the body, and gives unto every member of 



the same its proper substance, quantity, 
and shape. This life, which was gene- 
rically in Adam, is also specifically in 
us, — the generic identity thereof forming 
the bond of our common humanity ; the 
specific independence of it in each indi- 
vidual constituting our personal identity, 
Adam is in us, therefore, generically, by 
the power of his life, so that we are bone 
of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, because 
we are partakers of that life which or- 
ganized and vivified his flesh and bones. 
In strict analogy with this, that Thean- 
thropic life which was generically in 
Christ, is specifically in the Christian; 
the generic identity of this life, forming 
the bond of our communion with the 
head and all the members of the mysti- 
cal body of our Lord, the specific inde- 
pendence thereof in each individual con- 
stituting his Christian personality. The 
Christian, therefore, is bone of Christ's 
bone, and flesh of his flesh, because he is 
partaker in that life which first organized, 
and now vivifies that glorified body which 
dwells in Heaven. 

When, therefore, it is said, that the 
body and blood of Christ are spiritually 
present, and are spiritually taken and re- 
ceived by the faithful in the Eucharist, it 
is not meant that they are not there, in 
essence and reality; but that they are 
present, not bodily, or corporeally, but 
spiritually. And by spiritually present, 
is meant that the living, spiritual, vivify- 
ing essence, which constitutes the very 
life of the Son of God — that life which 
organizes and vivifies his body and blood, 
are present with, and imparted to the 
Christian. Consequently that flesh and 
blood, which are inseparably joined to 
this life, are also present, so far as their 
inmost nature is concerned. The body 
and blood of Christ are in the Eucharist, 
as Adam is in us, and Christ in the Chris- 
tian. 

But the church denies, that the cor- 
poreal elements of the body and blood are 
also communicated, or that it is necessary 
that they should be, to the presence and 
participation of the life, for the life bears 
the body, not the body the life. That we 
shall hereafter have bodies, fashioned like 
unto the most glorious bodv of our as- 
cended Lord, is a most certain truth ; and 



250 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



that we shall have them, because possess- 
ed of Divine life derived from him, is also 
true. But that body which shall hereafter 
be developed in us, comes of that life, and 
not of the elements of the body in which 
that life now dwells. And those who 
have this life, are said to dwell in Christ, 
and he in them ; to eat his flesh and drink 
his blood, and to live by him, even as he 
liveth by the Father. 

This life, which is first imparted in 
Baptism, is nourished and fed in the Lord's 
Supper, and those who worthily partake 
of the same do thereby, verily and in 
deed, eat and drink the flesh and blood of 
the Son of Man ; and hence, the full frui- 
tion of that holy Sacrament, renders it, 
as it has been called, the salve of immor- 
tality ; a sovereign preservation against 
death ; a deifical communion ; the sweet 
dainties of our Saviour ; the pledge of 
eternal health ; the defence of faith ; the 
hope of the resurrection ; the food of im- 
mortality; the healthful grace and con- 
servatory to everlasting life. 

IX. THE MINISTRY. 

Having seen what is the teaching of the 
church, in regard to the nature of our Chris- 
tian life, — in regard to the source from 
which it comes, — in regard to the channel 
in which it is conveyed to us, and in regard 
to the means by which we become united 
to that body which is the channel thereof, 
we must now consider the agency by 
which these means are employed. These 
means, as we have seen, are two-fold in 
their character, internal and external. 
The internal means, as has been shown, 
is faith ; involving of course, where there 
is personal guilt, repentance also. In this 
respect man himself, aided by Divine grace, 
is the agent. The reception of spiritual 
life or grace, is his own act ; but not so 
the conveyance thereof. The life itself, 
is something above and beyond him, and 
the body in which it dwells, something ex- 
ternal to, and independent of him. Hence, 
as we have seen, the life which must re- 
new our souls, must be transmitted to us, 
by means external to us ; and we must be 
united to the body in which it resides, by 
means independent of ourselves. The 
means of its transmission is the church, 



and the means of union with the church, 
are the Sacraments. It is by the Sacra- 
ments, therefore, that the church is exter- 
nalized in the history of the world, and 
by the Sacraments, also, that individual 
Christians are nourished unto everlasting 
life. But the Sacraments cannot adminis- 
ter themselves, and consequently there 
must be a power in the church authorized 
to do it ; and this power is the ministry. 

The ministry, according to the teach- 
ing of the church, is an institution of Di- 
vine appointment and perpetual obligation ; 
those who compose it, being commissioned 
to perform all those visible acts, relative 
to the church, which Christ himself per- 
formed towards the infant church while 
here on earth ; he himself standing by the 
mean while, ratifying and confirming what 
is lawfully and properly done in his name. 
This authority was first given to the Apos- 
tles by Christ himself, and by them com- 
mitted to their successors in the ministe- 
rial office, to be by them transmitted by 
other successors through all succeeding 
ages. 

Now as one of the first acts of our 
Saviour's personal ministry, was calling 
men to himself, in order that they might 
have communion with himself; so also, 
one of the first acts of the ministry offi- 
ciating as his representative, must be to 
call men by the Sacrament of Baptism, 
into that body which he has made the de- 
pository and continuation of his own life, 
in order that they may there enjoy com- 
munion with him through that life. And 
as he instructed and governed, in person, 
those whom he had thus personally called, 
and finally, in person, fed them with that 
Sacramental feast, which is to the faithful 
the word of life ; so the ministry, follow- 
ing his example, are to do the same. 
And those who are to do this, are also 
made watchmen and messengers of Israel, 
stewards of God, dispensers of his word 
and doctrine, as well as of his Sacraments. 
The true nature of the office will be seen 
more clearly by looking at a few of its 
duties and prerogatives. 

1. The rninistry of Baptism. Since 
Baptism is the Sacrament of our election 
into the church, and has succeeded to the 
personal election of our Lord, those who 
administer it must do it by the authority, 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



257 



as well as in the name of Christ. The 
administrators must be the agents of 
Christ — his personal representatives, as 
truly as those were whom he commis- 
sioned in person for that purpose, while 
here on earth. The administrators must 
be incorporated into that organic body, 
wherein the life-stream of salvation flows 
on from age to age, if they would unite 
others to the same. So, too, since Bap- 
tism is the Sacrament of our predestina- 
tion to the means of life, the agent must 
act by the authority of him to whom 
those means belong. He must be the au- 
thorized ambassador and representative 
of him in whose name he officiates, or all 
his acts will be a nullity. Again : since 
Baptism is the Sacrament of our adoption 
to be the sons of God ; the rite of initiation 
into the church, and the declaration of the 
will of God concerning us, it is necessary 
that the minister thereof should have au- 
thority to do so. He who attempts to 
adopt children into the family of another, 
to introduce members into the household 
of another, and to declare the good will 
of another, must have his express autho- 
rity for doing it, or all his acts will be in- 
operative and vain. The ministry, there- 
fore, is a representative ministry, and the 
members of it are ambassadors, acting in 
the name and by the authority of the su- 
preme head of the church ; and all the 
acts of the ambassador, done in pursuance 
of his office, are judged and deemed to be 
the act of the principal himself. 

It is, therefore, through the instrumen- 
tality of these ministerial agents that the 
church is externalized in this sacrament. 
The ministers of Baptism, therefore, are 
the organs by which the ideal and invisi- 
ble in the church, are made to assume a 
real and visible form ; by which the hea- 
venly and the spiritual are united with 
the earthly and the human. It is Baptism 
that organizes the church, — the ministry 
by which it is organized. 

2. The ministry of the Eucharist. 
The life which is begun in baptism, must 
be nourished and strengthened, in order 
to its perfection and growth. And this 
nourishment it is the design of the Eu- 
charist, to give. This consists of two 
parts, the one visible, the other invisible, 
one material, the other spiritual. Now 



the material and visible, when properly 
set apart and consecrated, becomes a 
means by which the invisible and spiritual 
is communicated. And this consecration 
is performed by the act signified by those 
words which our Lord himself employed, 
when he consecrated the elements of the 
first eucharistic supper. In order, there- 
fore, that the elements of the eucharist 
should receive the same consecration 
now, as then, it is necessary that the act 
of consecration should be the same now, 
as then. The words spoken must be the 
same words, — pronounced by the same 
authority, either in person or by his per- 
sonal representatives, and if by a repre- 
sentative, in the presence of him who first 
uttered them ; the author being present 
performing those identical acts, whatever 
they may be, which he performed in the 
first instance, in order to make them 
means of grace. 

The act of consecration, therefore, so far 
as man is concerned, is purely a ministerial 
act, — an act that can be performed by no 
one to whom this ministerial power has 
not been committed. It is by act of 
Christ's ministerial representative that we 
are so united to the life-stream of the 
church to baptism, that we may have 
communion with that life ; and it is by the 
ministerial act of the same representative, 
that the elements in the eucharist. are so 
united to the same, that they become 
means by which the faithful participate 
more largely in the same. 

The ministry, therefore, being represen- 
tative, and not vicarious, has no control 
over, and cannot prevent, either by wick- 
edness or want of intention, the flow of 
grace to the faithful. The minister being 
only the visible representative of an invis- 
ible King, does but perform the acts, and 
utter the words which Christ himself per- 
formed and uttered while here on earth, 
and which are as truly his acts and his 
words now, as then ; all gracious effect 
and influence depending upon the presence 
and active personal agency of the invisible 
king himself. 

3. The ministry of Absolution. The 
church holds that the power of Government 
and Absolution was given to the Apostles, 
as ministers of the church, and by them 
committed to those to whom they intrusted 



33 



258 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



the care of the church. This absolution 
consists in the pardon of ecclesiastical 
offences, or those committed against the 
church, and in the declaration of God's 
pardon of repenting sinners. In this last 
sense, the ministerial representative is the 
mouth by which the master himself 
speaks, and his absolution, therefore, is a 
ministerial declaration of the master's 
acts ; that is, of forgiveness of sin to re- 
penting sinners. It is not a declaration 
of the man that he forgives the sin ; but 
the declaration, that, if the conditions 
of pardon have been complied with, God 
himself forgives it. It is a declaration 
that would be truth, if made by any one, 
whether a minister or not. But when pro- 
nounced by the ministerial representative 
of the supreme power, it becomes an au- 
thoritative truth. In one case, it is a truth 
of God's word, repeated by one of his 
creatures ; in the other, it is God's word, 
pronounced in God's name, by his com- 
mand, by the ministerial representative of 
Christ himself; and is thus invested with 
a degree of authority that it would not 
otherwise have. 

This declaration of the minister stands 
related to the forgiveness of the master, 
as the outward calling in baptism to the 
spiritual renewal signified by it. It is de- 
claring that in Christ's name, which he 
declared in person while here on earth. 
And as his act of forgiveness then was 
one thing, and his declaration of the act 
another; as the forgiveness always pre- 
ceded the declaration, so it is now. He 
forgives, his ministers declare his forgive- 
ness ; not in their own names, or by their 
own authority, but in the name, and by 
the authority of an invisible, but ever pre- 
sent king, whose organs they are. 

4. TJie Ministry of reconciliation. The 
power of absolution involves reconcilia- 
tion, and presupposes the means of recon- 
ciliation. Hence the ministry to which 
the power of absolution has been com- 
mitted, must be a ministry of reconcilia- 
tion ; and the office must be that of recon- 
ciling sinners to God. Hence it is said 
that God, who both reconciled us to him- 
self by Jesus Christ, hath committed the 
ministry, or office of reconciliation, to the 
personal representatives of him by whom 
we are thus reconciled ; so that now, they 



are ambassadors for Christ, and hence ex- 
horting all, as though God did beseech us 
by them, to be reconciled unto God in 
Christ. 

To the ministry of reconciliation has 
been committed the word of reconciliation, 
so that the ambassadors of Christ are 
teachers as well as governors ; are to 
preach, as well as to administer the sacra- 
ments. They are to instruct men how 
they may be reconciled, and to exhort 
them to be reconciled as well as to offer 
reconciliation. And as Christ came to do 
the will of the Father, and to declare the 
words which he had received from him; 
so the ministry which acts in his name, 
and by his authority, is to do the same 
will, and declare the same words. And 
while the ministry teach no other words 
but his, they teach infallible truth. The 
church, therefore, has made the largest 
share of the ministers teaching to consist 
in the public reading of the Scriptures, 
which is a proclamation of the gospel, in 
the words of the gospel ; and the declara- 
ration of God's will in the language of his 
word. Consequently, the sermon of the 
minister forms but a small share of his 
public teaching and preaching. 

But though this is quite sufficient for the 
communication of all truth, such is the 
weakness and wickedness of man, that 
other safeguards seem to be necessary to 
prevent mistake and error. And these 
are found in those summaries of doctrine 
contained in the creeds, which, as has 
already been shown, are but the concen- 
tration of the sense of Scripture ; and also 
of those Catechisms and Articles that are 
formed in explanation and limitation of 
them. And to these every teacher and 
preacher is required to conform, since they 
are infallible truth, being proved by most 
certain warrant of Scripture ; being the 
sense of Holy Writ as apprehended and 
settled by the church in the first and 
purest ages. 

5. The ministry of the priesthood. 
If the view taken of the ministry by the 
church be the true one, if it be a repre- 
sentative ministry, if Christ be the pattern 
and example of his ministers, as well as of 
his people, they must represent him to the 
world, in all those acts which admit of a 
true representative character. Now the 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



259 



three great features of our Lord's personal 
ministry were those of Prophet, Priest, 
and King. As a prop/iet, he is the great 
teacher of all, and those who are sent in 
his name to teach and to preach, are the 
representatives of that prophetical office, 
by which he now teaches and instructs his 
people. As a king, he calls men to him- 
self, in order that they may have commu- 
nion with himself, pardons their offences, 
adopts them into the number of his chil- 
dren, rules and governs them when so 
called and adopted ; and those who are 
appointed to be his ministerial representa- 
tives, must represent his kingly authority 
in all these particulars, so long as he con- 
tinues to exercise them. As a priest, he 
has offered himself, once for all, a full, 
complete, and perfect sacrifice, oblation 
and satisfaction for the sins of the whole 
world ; and since his ascension makes 
continual intercession for us. Now, as 
there is but one sacrifice, once offered, 
there can be no other sacrifice, nor any 
repetition of that one, so that there can 
never be but one priest in this sense of 
the word. But though the sacrifice itself 
cannot be repeated, the benefits flowing 
out therefrom need to be continually ap- 
plied to those for whom it was offered. 
And Christ has so ordered his church, 
that one of the chiefest means by which 
these shall be applied to his children, is 
the commemoration of that sacrifice. And 
that eucharist by which- this sacrifice is 
commemorated, is a commemorative sacri- 
fice ; and those who offer it, minister in 
things pertaining to the priesthood. 

But that act of our great high priest 
which admits of the truest representative 
character, is that of continual intercessor. 
Hence that ministry which is a ministry 
of intercession, that spiritual high priest 
who is ever present in his church, offering 
intercessions for all its members, has seen 
fit to appoint ministerial representatives to 
represent him in that character to the 
people, by receiving and offering their 
prayers and offerings to God. In this sense 
there is a ministry of the priesthood, and 
those who fill the office are a representa- 
tive priesthood, as under the former they 
are a commemorative priesthood. 

The ministry of the church, therefore, 
is the representative of our ascended Lord, 



in all the acts and offices which he him- 
self performs towards his church. By it, 
men are called to him, that they may have 
communion with him. By it, they are so 
joined to his body, that they may have 
communion in his life. By it, his word 
and will are made known, and his pro- 
mises confirmed to his children. By it, 
he himself is represented in his threefold 
office of prophet, priest, and king. 

X. ORDERS OF THE MINISTRY. 

It is the teaching of the church, that from 
the Apostles' times there have been these 
Orders of ministers in Christ's church, 
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ; which 
Orders she holds to be of divine origin 
and appointment, and to have been ever 
held in such reverend estimation, that no 
man might presume to execute any of 
them, unless he had been first called, tried, 
examined and known to have such qualities 
as are requisite to the same, and also to 
have been admitted thereto by prayer and 
the imposition of hands of those having 
lawful authority to do it. 

The type of this ministry the Church 
sees in the threefold orders of the. Jewish 
priesthood, and in that threefold ministry 
which the Saviour established during his 
personal administration upon earth. And 
as before him, there were the high priest, 
the priests, and the Levites ; and as in his 
day, there were himself, the Apostles, and 
the seventy ; so since his ascension into 
heaven, there are bishops, priests or pres- 
byters, and deacons. And as the high 
priesthood was one , and as his own head- 
ship was one ; so now, the Episcopate is one. 

1. Bishops. But as the borders of the 
Christian church, were to be much more 
extensive than those of the Jewish, and as 
the proper oversight and government of 
the whole could not be performed by one 
man, and for numerous other reasons, the 
members of the Episcopate were increased, 
without multiplying or dividing the office. 
The master appointed as many individuals 
to succeed in his office as overseer and 
governor of the church, as there were 
tribes in Israel, and these have uniformily 
appointed bishops for every nation, people, 
and tribe of man, that has embraced the 
Gospel. But the office, by whomsoever 



260 



HISTORY OP THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



held, or wheresoever placed, is the same ; 
and no bishop has or can have any author- 
ity over other bishops, except such as is 
derived from canonical regulation, and no 
precedency, or primacy which does not 
depend solely upon human arrangement. 
• Each bishop becomes, by virtue of his or- 
dination, a bishop of the church catholic, 
and though limited by canon and custom 
in the exercise of his office, to certain 
local limits called his diocese, would, upon 
the demise of all other bishops, become at 
once, bishop of the whole catholic church. 
Consequently, no bishop is subject, or 
responsible to any other bishop ; though 
every bishop is responsible to those holding 
the same office, inasmuch as the parts of a 
body must always be responsible to the 
whole. 

To this Order alone, belongs the minis- 
try in its completeness ; only portions of 
it being shared with the inferior orders. 
To this Order and office belong the exclu- 
sive right ; (1) of conferring Episcopal, 
or Apostolic authority upon others, by or- 
dination or consecration ; (2) ordaining 
presbyters and deacons ; (3) of confirming 
those who have been baptized, by prayer 
and laying on hands, thereby publicly re- 
ceiving them to the communion of the 
church ; (4) of ruling over presbyters and 
deacons ; (5) of administering the disci- 
pline of the church ; (6) to preside in all 
councils of the church, and declare the 
judgment of the same. 

2. Priests or Presbyters. The second 
Order of the ministry exercises a portion 
of the priesthood, in common with the 
bishops. The powers and duties, held in 
common with, and to be exercised under 
the direction of the bishop, are : (1 ) to 
teach and instruct the people, by reading 
and expounding the Scriptures ; (2) to 
rule in particular congregations and ad- 
minister discipline therein ; (3) to feed 
the members thereof with the spiritual 
food and nourishment afforded by the Holy 
Eucharist ; (4) to watch over and direct 
the conduct of those over whom they are 
placed ; and (5) to give their concurrence 
to the ordination of presbyters by laying 
on hands with the bishop ; so that the or- 
dination shall be by the laying on of the 
bishop's hands, with the laying on of the 
hands of the presbytery. 



3. Deacons. The deacon has part of 
the ministerial office ; but, properly speak- 
ing, no share in the priesthood. He exer- 
cises no act of concurrence in the ordina- 
tion of other deacons, and is never per- 
mitted to consecrate the elements of the 
Eucharist, though he may assist in their 
distribution ; and is not permitted to pro- 
nounce the declaration of absolution. His 
duties, held in common with bishops and 
presbyters, and to be performed under the 
direction of the bishop and his presbyters, 
are : (1) to receive and distribute the alms 
of the church ; (2) to baptize, which is a 
ministerial, and not a priestly act ; (3) to 
preach, when specially licensed therefor ; 
(4) to assist their superiors in administer- 
ing the discipline of the church ; and (5) 
to sit in councils at the formation of rules 
and canons for the government and regu- 
lation of the church. 

The theory and teaching of the church, 
suppose that there will be a presbyter and 
one or more deacons in every congrega- 
tion. But the circumstances of the church 
in this age and country, will not permit 
her to realize this feature of her polity in 
action. Hence, the deacon is necessarily 
deprived of the experience and instruction 
which the church desires him to receive 
from his association with one older and 
more experienced in things of this nature. 
And hence, too, the deacons are necessa- 
rily advanced to the priesthood in less 
time than the church desires ; sometimes 
to the injury of the individual, or the dis- 
advantage of the church. 

Before a person can be admitted as a 
candidate for holy orders in the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, in the United States, 
he must have acquired a certain amount 
of literary qualification, have received the 
testimonial of one Presbyter, and a com- 
petent number of laymen, that for a given 
number of years preceding, he has lived 
honestly, piously, and soberly, and has 
not to their knowledge or belief, held or 
taught any doctrines contrary to God's 
word, as received and believed in that 
church. He must then be approved by 
the Standing Committee or Bishop's Coun- 
cil, and be received by the Bishop, when 
he will have a probation of three years to 
pass through, in which he is required to 
pursue a given course of theological studies, 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



261 



and to be examined at least four times, by 
two or more Presbyters appointed by the 
Bishop for that purpose, to whom also he 
is required to exhibit a specified number 
of Sermons. 

Having passed through all these pre- 
liminaries to the satisfaction of the exa- 
miners, and having procured a testimonial 
similar to the one above described, and 
having undergone another examination by 
other Presbyters in the presence of the 
Bishop, he is presented to the Bishop by 
some Presbyter for Ordination. The Bish- 
op now warns the Presenter to take heed, 
that those presented be apt and meet for 
their learning and godly conversation, to 
exercise the ministry to the honor of God, 
and the edifying of his church. He then 
makes proclamation, that if any one knows 
just cause why the candidate should not 
be admitted to the Holy Order of Deacons, 
he should then make it known. If no ob- 
jections are made, he then proceeds to the 
Ordination. There .are, however, certain 
dispensations which may be made by the 
Bishop, in the secular learning of certain 
candidates otherwise well qualified for the 
sacred office, and certain other dispensa- 
tions which may be made in the time of 
those candidates, who have full literary 
qualifications, or have been ministers in 
other denominations of Christians. 

A Deacon who has satisfactorily exer- 
cised his office for one year or more, who 
has received a call to the Rectorship of 
some Parish, or to the performance of 
other appropriate clerical duty, under the 
ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese, and 
has received testimonials similar to those 
already described, may be admitted to the 
Priesthood. And no person can be or- 
dained to either office, until he declares in 
writing, his belief that Holy Scripture 
contains all things necessary to salvation, 
and promises conformity to the doctrines 
and worship of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. 

Before a person can be consecrated a 
Bishop in this church, he must have ar- 
rived at the age of thirty, and except in 
case of Missionary Bishops, must have 
been elected by a majority of the Clergy 
and Laity of the Diocese where he is to 
officiate, voting separately, by orders ; 
and have received from the body electing 



him, testimonials declaring that they be- 
lieve him to be of sufficient learning, of 
sound faith, of virtuous and pure manners, 
of godly conversation, not justly liable to 
evil report, either for error in religion or 
viciousness of life, apt and meet to exer- 
cise the office to the honor of God, and 
the edifying of his church, and that he will 
be a wholesome example to the flock of 
Christ. He must also have a similar testi- 
monial from a majority of the Clergy and 
Laity, composing the House of Delegates 
in General Convention, or from the Stand- 
ing Committees of a major part of the 
Dioceses in the union ; and finally be or- 
dained by at least three Bishops. 

XI. THE LAITY. 

The church does not make the same 
rigid exactions of the Laity, as of the 
Clergy. She receives those to her com- 
munion who are unlearned, as well as the 
learned, — those weak in the faith, as well 
as the sound — but she receives them not 
to doubtful disputation. Before, however, 
any one can be admitted into the church 
by Baptism, he must by himself or his 
sponsors, profess his belief of all the arti- 
cles contained in the Apostle's creed, — 
must renounce the devil and all his works, 
the vain pomp and glory of the world, 
with all covetous desires of the same, 
promising by God's help, not to follow or 
be led by them ; but to keep his holy will 
and commandments, and to walk in the 
same, all the days of their life. Before 
he can be received to the communion, he 
must renew his Baptismal vow and have 
been admitted thereto, in the rite of Con- 
firmation, or be desirous of doing so, and 
must give satisfactory evidence that he is 
in love and charity with his neighbors, and 
intends to lead a new life, following all the 
commands of God. 

The powers and duties of the Laity are 
held to be : 1st. To assemble themselves 
upon Sundays and other set days for public 
worship, religious instruction, and celebra- 
tion of the Eucharist. 2d. When so as- 
sembled, all are expected to take part in 
the service, according to the form or order 
prescribed by the church. 3d. To con- 
tribute for the support of the public ser- 
vices of the church. 4th. And for the 



262 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



wants of the poor of the church. 5th. To 
aid in sending the Gospel to those without 
it. 6th. By mutual kindness and assist- 
ance to do all in their power to promote 
the^ welfare of the brethren. 7th. To obey 
those having the rule over the church. 
8th. To aid their rulers in executing the 
discipline of the church. 9th. To give 
testimonials to those who are to be admit- 
ted to Holy Orders; and 10th. To give 
their assent to canons framed for the 
government of the church. Such is the 
church's view of the powers and duties of 
her ministers and members, copied as ex- 
actly as possible from what she believes 
to have been the Apostolic and Primitive 
order and organization, to which she refers 
all questions of discipline as well as of 
doctrine. 

XII. LEGISLATURE OF THE CHURCH. 

As the church is divine as well as hu- 
man, with an external and visible consti- 
i tution, as well as an internal and spiritual 
life, so, in its external constitution even, 
it partakes of both characters ; parts of 
its arrangements depending on Divine au- 
thority, and part being left to human ar- 
rangement. To this last point alone, does 
the proper legislative power of the church 
extend. The church supposes that all her 
doctrines have been definitely settled by 
the teaching of Holy Writ, as received 
and believed in the earliest ages, and that 
the nature of the Sacraments, with the 
Orders and Powers of the Ministry, rest 
upon the same authority. These form 
part of the constitution of the church, by 
virtue of their divine appointment and au- 
thority, and may not be changed or set 
aside. These God hath set in the church, 
and man may not remove them. But the 
particular mode in which these powers 
are to be exercised, is left to the direction 
of the church itself. In the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States,the 
following is the plan adopted. 

1. Parishes. These consist of those 
bodies of baptized Christians which hav** 
associated for the purpose of enjoying re- 
ligious ordinances, according to the rites 
and ceremonies of this church, together 
with such others as may choose to unite 
with them. Persons, so associated, have 



the power of meeting at such times and 
places as they shall deem expedient, of 
regulating the internal concerns of the 
parish, in any manner not inconsistent 
with the constitution and canons of this 
church, of choosing their own officers, 
levying such taxes as they desire, and of 
choosing delegates to a diocesan conven- 
tion, when they shall have been admitted 
into union with it. The parish also calls 
and dismisses its minister or rector, sub- 
ject to the approval of the bishop. No 
clergyman can become the rector of any 
Parish, until its union with the Convention ; 
and cannot properly officiate in any such 
parish, except as a missionary. No 
minister can be sent to officiate in any 
Parish without a call from the same, ex- 
cept as a missionary ; and no missionary 
can be sent into a Parish where there is a 
rector. 

2. Dioceses. AH the parishes within 
certain local limits, being generally that 
of a state, when associated together, form 
a diocese. Each diocese holds an annual 
synod or convention, which is composed 
of all rectors of parishes, and ministers 
performing certain other clerical duties, 
and of one or more lay-delegates from 
every parish in union with the convention. 
To this body belongs the power of electing 
the bishop of the diocese, and of present- 
ing him for trial ; of choosing a standing 
committee, which is a council of advice 
to the bishop ; to determine how eccle- 
siastical offences shall be tried ; to ap- 
point delegates to the general convention ; 
and of doing whatever else may be deemed 
expedient for the cause of religion and 
the church, not inconsistent with the con- 
stitution and canons of the general con- 
vention. 

Both clergy and laity meet and delibe- 
rate in one body, but when divided, vote 
separately, a majority of each being re- 
quisite to any enactment. The delegates 
to the general convention are composed of 
an equal number of clergy and laity, 
never exceeding four, each from a Dio- 
cese, the members of which are nominated 
by its own order, and approved by the 
convention. 

3. National Churches. There is no 
national church in the United States in 
the sense of a church established by the 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 



263 



nation. Yet all the Protestant Episcopal 
Churches in this country are associated 
in one national body, or synod, called the 
general convention , which holds its ses- 
sions once in three years. This body is 
composed of two parts, or houses; (1.) 
the House of bishops, including the bishops 
of all the dioceses in the nation ; and (2.) 
A house of clerical and lay deputies, 
composed of delegates elected as above 
described. The clergy and laity, com- 
posing the house of deputies, meet and 
deliberate together, but when required, 
vote separately, and in many cases, by 
Dioceses. This convention directs the 
particular manner in which the qualifica- 
tions of candidates for Orders shall be es- 
timated and determined ; regulates the 
particulars in regard to the election and 
ordination of the several Orders of the 
ministry ; defines the nature of ecclesias- 
tical offences, and decrees the punishment 
thereof; settles the particular form and 
orders of its common prayer, and pub- 
lishes authorized editions of the Book of 
Common Prayer ; and directs the mode 
and manner of its intercourse with foreign 
churches. In all cases, the house of 
bishops has a negative upon the doings of 
the other house ; but when exercised, must 
be communicated, within a limited time to 
that house. 

Under this arrangement, no law or 
canon can be enacted without the concur- 
rence of both clergy and laity, and no 
man can be introduced into the sacred 
office without testimonials from both or- 
ders. Nor can any clergyman be sent to 
minister where he may not choose to go, 
nor any parish be required to receive or 
continue a clergyman that may be ob- 
noxious to a majority of the parishioners. 
No man can be punished for any offence 
not clearly defined by the laws of the 
church, nor in any manner but in that 
prescribed by the same, and never without 
an opportunity of a trial by his peers. 
The salaries of the clergy are determined 
by the mutual agreement of minister and 
people ; and though generally small, are 
ordinarily sufficient to afford a comfort- 
able subsistence when expended with pru- 
dent economy. 

This admixture of the divine and hu- 
man in the external constitution of the 



church, tends to give it stability and 
strength, without promoting an arrogant 
or cringing spirit on the part of the clergy. 
With a divine office, above and beyond ! 
the reach of the people, they are depend- 
ent on the people for a place to execute 
this office, and for the means of executing 
it. With a divine mission with which the 
people may not intermeddle, they are de- 
pendent on the people for an opportunity 
of declaring their mission. Whatever 
temptation, therefore, there may be to 
lead the clergy to fashion their preaching 
to suit any popular fancy, there are other 
and counterbalancing reasons to prevent 
it. It is God's truth which they are to 
preach in God's name, which may not be 
kept back by the minister, nor rejected by 
the people, but at the peril of their souls. 
The clergy of this church are sent forth 
by their divine Lord and Master, as he 
himself went forth to the world, without 
purse or scrip, with nothing but the truth 
and his Spirit to sustain them. 



XIII. RELATION TO OTHER RELIGIOUS 
BODIES. 

The church, holding that the episcopate 
is one, which each bishop holds entire, 
holds that no bishop may ever be intruded || 
into a portion of country which has al- ' 
ready been committed by proper autnorny 
to the jurisdiction and oversight of any 
other bishop. Consequently, there nevei 
can be two true lawful catholic bishops in 
any diocese, at one and the same time, 
unless one be the assistant or coadjutor of, 
the other. But where a bishop has been 
unlawfully introduced into a diocese, by 
those in schism or heresy, it is no bar to 
the lawful consecration of a lawful bishop 
for the same place. And the church re- 
gards all those as heretics who have re- 
jected any doctrine essential to salvation. 
And she looks upon all those as (in effect) 
schismatics who have cut themselves off 
from the communion of the true Catholic 
Church, either (1) by rejecting such por- 
tions of the outward organization of the 
church as she deems essential, or (2) by 
requiring terms of communion that are 
unlawful or sinful, in regard either to doc- 
trine or discipline. 

The Romish communion, therefore, is 



Il 264 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



looked upon as being in essential schism, 
because she has, by her highest authority, 
added to her articles of faith, as necessary 
unto salvation, things which are repug- 
nant to God's word, and requires submis- 
sion to practices which are a violation of 
his law. She also looks upon those Pro- 
testant bodies which have rejected the 
government of bishops, as being in sub- 
stantial schism, because of the rejection 
of Episcopal regimen, which is considered 
necessary to the ministry in its complete- 
ness. The church can, therefore, hold no 
official communion with either body ; nor 
does she regard their presence as any bar 
to the lawful planting of new churches, 
or the consecration of new bishops. But 
when the Romanist renounces his error, 
and the dissenting Protestant supplies bis 
omission, she receives both ; never repeat- 
ing the Ordination of the Romanist, nor 
the Baptism of the non-Episcopal Protes- 
tant, unless desired. 

In regard to the Greek Church, and 
those oriental churches which really hold 
many, and some of them most of the 
errors of the Romish Church, but which 
are not committed to them by the decision 
of any council or synod, and among 
which they are not required as terms of 
communion, the case is far different. Their 
faith is sound, though their practice is cor- 
rupt, and acts of intercommunion may be 
exchanged ; though not without protest 
against their unlawful practice. Nothing 
is required of these, by authority of the 
church, to which an intelligent, orthodox, 
and Catholic christian might not assent ; 
and therefore our duty towards these is, 
aid in correcting the errors and abuse of 
their practice, without subverting the faith 
or order of their churches, or introducing 
other organized churches among them. 

XIV. HISTORY. 

It will be seen from the foregoing ac- 
count that the church, of which the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church considers itself 
a true and living branch, was founded in 
the Incarnation, externalized by a visible 
constitution and body, through the personal 
ministry of the Incarnate Word, and per- 
fected in all gifts and graces by the giving 
of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pente- 



cost. This church, with its visible and 
human body, the depository and channel 
of an invisible spiritual and heavenly life, 
she supposes to have been planted, com- 
plete and perfect in all its parts, in every 
country whither the apostles and primitive 
preachers came. And each church, when 
so planted, was complete and perfect in 
itself, a reiteration of the same divine 
original, with the sajfie divine life and 
power. 

But while they were all bound together 
by a common life, and the bonds of a 
common faith, each responsible to the 
other for the abuse of its power or the 
corruption of its faith ; yet each church 
was independent of every other church. 
Every bishop derived his power directly 
from God, by virtue of his induction into 
the episcopate. But he could not be in- 
ducted into that office without the concur- 
rence and ministration of other bishops, 
admitting him to the sacred office by ordi- 
nation, nor could he procure a place where 
he might execute his office, without the 
concurrence of the people. Every bishop 
was responsible to his brethren and the 
church, for the faithful performance of his 
duties, but to no other power upon earth. 
Consequently, for one bishop to attempt to 
exercise any authority over another bishop, 
which had not been expressly granted to 
him by canonical regulation, was usurpa- 
tion. And for any power, civil or eccle- 
siastical, to thrust any bishop into a diocese 
without the concurrence of the laity, was 
also usurpation. 

When, therefore, the Bishop of Rome 
asserted authority over other bishops, he 
put forth a claim which was not only un- 
authorized, but at utter variance with the 
nature of the church itself. It was a 
virtual abrogation of the Episcopal of- 
fice, except in the bishop of Rome, by 
making all other bishops the dependents 
or deputies of this one ; receiving their 
power from him instead of Christ, and 
holding portions of the Episcopate under 
him, instead of holding the whole in com- 
mon with him, according to the view of 
ail primitive antiquity, and the testimony of 
Cyprian and Jerome in particular. It was 
a claim, too, in direct opposition to the 
decrees of the early councils, and espe- 
cially of the Council of Nice. The 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



265 



Church of England, therefore, at the Re- 
formation, did no more than cleanse itself 
from defilement and error, and purify itself 
of corruption and false doctrine, restoring 
things to their first and primitive condition. 
In doing this it also cast off usurpations 
of the Papacy, rejecting that unlawful 
claim of authority set up by the Bishop 
of Rome, which, though submitted to in 
days of ignorance and darkness, had never 
been confirmed by any proper canonical au- 
thority. The Church of England, after the 
Reformation, therefore, was no other than 
the old Catholic Church of that country, 
as it existed in the beginning, with its 
primitive order and worship restored. It 
was a Reformation which resulted from 
prayerful study and careful research. 
Nothing was left to chance, nothing con- 
ceded to passion, nothing rejected that 
could plead the sanction of the Bible and 
primitive antiquity, and nothing done but 
in accordance with the laws of primitive 
Catholicity. 

It was this church, which was planted by 
small congregations here and there, in the 
then wilds of this western continent, from 
which the body now known as the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church has its descent ; 
from which it has received these orders, 
and that faith, which had been transmitted 
to her from the apostles. And through 
her we are now able to trace the list of our 
bishops, duly ordained in regular succes- 
sion, — a glorious line, reaching back to 
Jerusalem, and up to Christ. A brief ac- 
count of the origin and history of this 
body is subjoined. 

From the time when the first congrega- 
tions of the Church of England were set- 
tled in this country in 1607, up to the 
close of the American Revolution in 1783, 
all the clergy, in all the colonies, were 
regarded as under the supervision of the 
Bishop of London. Thus, for more than 
one hundred and seventy years, the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church in this country 
was without any proper episcopal super- 
vision ; without any power on this side 
the Atlantic authorized to confer holy 
orders, and without any ability to admit to 
the communion by confirmation. Thus 
shorn of its ordinances, crippled in the 
exercise of its legitimate functions, and 
beset by hostile sects on every side, it was 



compelled to make its way under every 
possible discouragement and disadvantage. 
But this anomalous state of things was 
not unobserved, nor permitted to exist 
without an effort to remedy the evil. As 
early as 1638, in the reign of Charles I., 
the Archbishop of Canterbury conceived 
the design of sending a bishop to New 
England, but the troubles in Scotland pre- 
vented its being carried into effect. After 
the restoration of Charles II. a similar 
proposal was made by Lord Clarendon, 
and a patent was actually made out for 
the consecration of Dr. Alexander Mur- 
ray, Bishop of Virginia. But the plan 
was again defeated by the accession of 
those to power, who won for themselves 
the inglorious title of the " Cabal Minis- 
try." From that time to the revolution, 
the need and necessity of bishops in Ame- 
rica, form the continuous theme of every 
pious and devoted missionary in the colo- 
nies. The Society for Propagating the 
Gospelin foreign parts, chartered 1701, 
soon took up the subject, and in 1713, 
seemed likely to accomplish the object. 
But the death of Queen Anne frustrated 
this plan also. Still the interest was kept 
alive, and in 1715, Archbishop Tenison 
bequeathed £1000 for the support of 
bishops in America. In 1723, Rev. Ro- 
bert Welton, and Rev. John Talbot, were 
consecrated bishops for the American 
church, by the non-juring bishops of Scot- 
land, and immediately came to this country. 
But the British government would not per- 
mit bishops to be ordained in England, nor 
to officiate in the colonies when ordained 
elsewhere, and Dr. Welton was ordered to 
return immediately to England, and Mr. 
Talbot soon died, so that this scheme also 
soon failed. The subject was now pressed 
anew at home, and the Bishop of London 
resolved to consecrate Rev. Mr. Colebatch, 
his suffragan, to officiate in the colonies, 
when he was also forbidden by the court 
authorities to leave the kingdom. Still the 
venerable Society for Propagating the 
Gospel continued to advocate the cause of 
an American Episcopate, seconded by 
nearly every bishop of England. Among 
the most conspicuous of them are Bishops 
Butler and Berkley, and Archbishops 
Seeker, Sherlock, and Tenick ; and at a 
later period, of Granville Sharp, Esq. 



266 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



But all was to no purpose. The dis- 
senters in England and in the Colonies 
were united, energetic, and active in their 
opposition, while the great mass of church- 
men were either ignorant or indifferent to 
the whole matter, so that the urgent pray- 
ers of the colonists, and the unceasing 
efforts of the Episcopal bench, were utterly 
unavailing. And it was not until the co- 
lonies had dared to assert and defend their 
independence, that the politicians of Great 
Britain could be made to see and feel that 
these prayers and petitions were worthy 
of their attention. Nor was this enough 
to rouse them to action, for when the Rev. 
Samuel Seabury was sent to England for 
consecration as Bishop of Connecticut in 
1783, the bishops could not consecrate a 
bishop for an independent country, without 
a special act of Parliament authorizing 
them to do so, which permission Parlia- 
ment would not grant. Dr. Seabury, there- 
fore, after ten months' patient waiting in 
London, without the slightest prospect of 
success, was directed to proceed to Scot- 
land for consecration, which he there 
found no difficulty in obtaining, the bishops 
there not being trammelled by their union 
with the state, and their consent having 
already been obtained by the zealous la- 
bors of Rev. Dr. Berkley. 

The aspect of things was now entirely 
changed ; a Bishop was already in Ame- 
rica, without power to continue the office, 
derived from a source which had the un- 
mingled hatred of most of the British 
politicians ; and no difficulty was experi- 
enced in obtaining the requisite power and 
authority for the English Bishops to con- 
secrate Doctors White and Provoost, and 
afterwards Dr. Madison, for the American 
Church. And though Bishop Seabury 
was not permitted by divine Providence 
to be present and assist at the consecra- 
tion of but a single Bishop, yet, every Bis- 
hop of this church can trace his succes- 
sion through him and the Scottish line, 
and also through Bishop White, and the 
English line. 

1. VIRGINIA. 

The first permanent settlement was 
made, and the first church planted in Vir- 
ginia, at Jamestown, in 1607 ; the Rev. 



Mr. Hunt being the Rector. He was suc- 
ceeded in 1610, by the Rev. Mr. Bucke. 
The next year, (1611) a new parish was 
formed at Henrico, under the charge of 
Rev. Mr. Whitaker. Before 1619, other 
new parishes had been formed, and four 
additional clergymen had come over. A 
century later, (1722) there were fifty-four 
parishes in Virginia, a majority of which 
were supplied with clergy. In 1685, Rev. 
Dr. James Blair came to this colony as a 
missionary, and in 1689, he was appointed 
commissary to the Bishop of London, in 
this Province ; an office which he held 
until his death in 1743. At the com- 
mencement of the American Revolution, 
there were in this colony ninety-five par- 
ishes, with one hundred and sixty-four 
churches and chapels, and ninety-one 
clergymen. At the close of the Revolu- 
tion, there were but twenty eight clergy- 
men there, laboring in only thirty-six par- 
ishes. In the present year (1858), par- 
ishes number 180, clergy 125. 



Episcopate. 

Bishops. Consecration. Consecrators. Died. 
(J. Moore, 
J. Madison, Sept. 19, 1790. ■{ B. Porteus, March 6, 1812. 
(John Thomas. 

!Wm. White, 
J. H. Hobart, Nov. 11, 
A. V. Griswold, 1841. 
Theo. Dehon. 
f William White, 
J. H. Hobart, 
A. V. Griswold, 
Win. Meade, Aug. 19, 1829. -| R. C. Moore, 
' John Croes. 
T. C. Brownell, 
U. U. Onderdonk. 
A. V. Griswold, 
. i William Meade, 
J. Johns, [A. B.] Oct. 13, 1842. ^ Levi g Ivps? 

W. R. Whittingham. 



2. PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE. 

Pennsylvania was first settled by the 
Swedes, in 1636, who brought with them 
their own clergy, and who were from 
time to time supplied with clergy from 
Sweden. The first church was built in 
1646. Penn arrived in the colony in 
1680, and the first clergyman of the 
Church of England in 1685. Within a 
few years the remaining congregations of 
Swedes, whose doctrine is Lutheran, and 
government Episcopal, have united with 



-j 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



267 



the Protestant Episcopal Church, and now 
form one body. The first Missionary to 
this colony was the Rev. Evan Evans, 
sent in 1700, who was instrumental in 
bringing over five hundred Quakers into 
the church, within the short space of two 
years. In 1724, there were fifteen par- 
ishes with very decent churches — most of 
them with parsonages also. In 1752, 
there were nine clergy, and twenty-seven 
parishes in this colony. After the Revo- 
lution, there were but six clergymen and 
fifteen parishes. In the present year 
(1858) the parishes number 163, and the 
clergy 173. 

Episcopate. 

Bishops. Consecration. Consecrators. Died. 



Wm. White, Feb. 4, 1787. 



( John Moore, 
) W. Markham, July 17, 
) Chas. Moss, 1836. 

' John Hinchcliffe. 

(Wm. White, 
J. H. Hobart, [Suspended 
James Kemp, October 21, 
John Croes, 1844.] 

N. Bo wen. 
f Philander Chase, 
T. C. Brownell, 



Alonzo Potter, Sept. 23, 1845. 



Samuel Bowman, [Assist. B.] 
Aug. 25, 1858 



J. H. Hopkins, 
G. W. Doane, 
S. A. McCoskry, 
A. Lee, 

G. W. Freeman. 
'Jackson Kemper, 
W. H. De Lancey, 
Alfred Lee, 
John Williams, 
Alonzo Potter. 



DELAWARE. 

This colony originally belonged to the 
same proprietor as Pennsylvania, and did 
not become a distinct colony until 1704. 
The history of the church in the same is 
included in that of Pennsylvania, until 
the Revolution, when there were eleven 
parishes and several clergymen in the 
colony. So late as 1817, there were only 
two clergymen in the Diocese; and the 
communicants in the Diocese were less 
than 250 so recently as 1829. The par- 
ishes in 1858 were 26; the clergy 19* 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. Consecrators. 



Alfred Lee, Oct. 12, 1841. 



{Alex. V. Griswold, 
R. C. Moore, 
Philander Chase, 
T. C. Brownell, 
II. U. Onderdonk. 



3. MARYLAND. 

This colony was first settled in 1633, 
entirely by members of the Romish Com- 
munion. The first mention we find of any 
Protestant Church in the colony is in 1675, 
when there were three ministers of the 
Church of England there. In 1692, the 
colony was divided into thirty-one parishes, 
but the number of the clergy was less than 
half that. In 1696, the Rev. Thomas 
Bray was appointed by the Bishop of Lon- 
don, Commissary for this Colony, which 
office he held until his death in 1730, 
though he had been in England several 
years before this event. Among other 
monuments of the zeal of this devoted 
Missionary, we must mention the venera- 
ble Society for Propagating the Gospel in 
Foreign parts. The number of clergy 
in 1792, was thirty-four, of parishes about 
forty. In 1858, the number of clergy 
was 132, of parishes 144. 



Episcopate. 



Died. 



T. J. Claggett, Sept. 17, 1792. 



Bishops. Consecration. Consecrators. 
S. Provoost, 

J. Madison. 

f W. White, 
James Kemp, Sept. 1, 1814. -{ J. H. Hobart, Oct. 28, 1827 

(R. C. Moore. 
W. White, 

R. C. Moore, Feb. 26, 
H. U. Onderdonk, 1838. 
W. Meade. 



W. M. Stone, Oct. 21, 1830. 



W. R. Whittingham, 



Sept, 



1840. 



( A. V. Griswold, 
17, ) R. C. Moore, 



) B. T. Onderdonk, 
( George W. Doane. 



4. MASSACHUSETTS. 

The Church in this Diocese is steadily 
advancing; the more intelligent classes 
becoming better informed in respect to its 
distinctive principles, and, as a conse- 
quence, better able to appreciate them. 

The first congregation of churchmen in 
this colony, was gathered in Boston, 1679, 
but the first legal organization of the 
parish took place, and the first missionary 
was sent, in 1686. The Rev. Roger Price 
was commissary to the bishop of London 
in this colony, for more than twenty years. 
In 1750, the number' of parishes was 
twelve, clergy ten; in 1772, the clergy 
were eleven; and in 1792 eleven. In 
1858, the parishes were 67, clergy 78. 



268 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



r 

i, May 29, 1811. -j I 



Episcopate. 

Bishops Consecration. Consecrators. Died. 
f W. White, 
E. Bass, May 7, 1797. < S. Provoost, Sept. 10, 1803. 

(.T. J. Claggett. 
( W. White, 

' B. Moore. 
W. White, 
A. V. Griswold, May 29, 1811. -{ S. Provoost, Feb. 15, 1843. 
A. Jarvis. 
A. V. Griswold, 
■■ R1 Dec. 29, 1 T. C. Brownell, 
M. Eastburn, [A. B.] m2> ' j B T 0nderdonkj 

W. H. De Lancey. 



5. SOUTH CAROLINA. 

The first permanent settlement was 
made in this colony in 1672, the first 
church was built in 1682, under the care 
of Rev. Atkin Williamson. In 1707, 
there were in this colony three parishes 
and three clergyman. At this time the 
Rev. Giear Johnston was appointed com- 
missary to the bishop of London, and held 
the office until his death, 1719, when there 
were ten clergymen in the colony. In 
1755, the number was sixteen ; in 1792 
fifteen. In 1858, there were 61 parishes, 
and 69 clergymen. 



Episcopate. 



Bishops. Consecration. 



Died. 



T. Dehon, Oct. 15, 1812, 



N. Bowen, Oct. 8, 1818. 



C. E. Gadsden, June 21, 1840. 



( W. 1 
5 ) SP 

(t. j 
rw. •* 

^A.J: 
(j. II 



Consecrators. 
W. White, 

! ' MaTson,' 0ct 28 > 180L 

~ Claggett. 
W. White, 

Jarvis, Aug. 6, 1817. 
Hobart. 
W. White, 

j:lemp" art '^g.lM839. 
J. Croes. 

Griswold, 
Doane, 
McCoskry. 
f Thos. Church Brownell, 
m , J no - Henry Hopkins, 

Thoe. Frederick Davis, \ Benj. H. Smith, 

Oct. 17, 1853. I Geo. Trevor Spencer, 
L John Medley. 



(A. V. i 
-<G. W. 

(S. A.I 



6. NEW YORK, AND WESTERN NEW YORK. 

^ It is not known that there was an indi- 
vidual in this colony belonging to the 
Church of England, until 1693. In 1697, 
a parish was formed, and the Rev. Mr. 
Vesey called to the rectorship. He filled 
this oflice more than half a century, and, 
during a considerable portion of the time, 



discharged the office of commissary to 
the Bishop of London. In 1752, there 
were twenty parishes and twelve clergy- 
men in the colony. In 1772, the number 
of clergy was fifteen, with eight lay mis- 
sionaries as teachers. In 1792 the clergy 
amounted to nineteen. This diocese was 
divided into two dioceses in 1838. The 
number of parishes in New York in 1858, 
was 272; in Western New York, 138; 
total, 410. The number of the clergy at 
the same time was, in New York, 315; 
in Western New York, 120 j total, 435. 



Episcopate. 



Bishops. Consecration. 



S. Provoost, Feb. 4, 1787. 



B. Moore, Sept. 11, 1801. 



Died. 



(W.White, 
■I T. J. Claggett, 
( A. Jarvis. 



Consecrators. 

J. Moore, 

W. Markham, Sept. 6, 

C. Moss. 1815. 

John Ilinchcliffe. 

Feb. 16, 
1816. 

White, 
J. II. Hobart, May 29, 1811. -I S. Provoost, Sept. 12, 1830. 

( A. Jarvis. 

( W.White, [Suspended 
B. T. Onderdonk, Nov. 26, 1S30. ■{ T. C. Brownell, Jan. 3, 

( H. U. Onderdonk. 1845. 

[W. N. Y.' 
W. H. De Lancey, May 9, 1839: < R T Onderdonk ; 
( George W. Doane. 



T -, l A. V. Griswold, 

y s H. u. 



Onderdonk, 



Horatio Potter, [Prov. B.] 

Nov. 22, 1854. 



f Thos. C. Brownell, 
Francis Fulford, 
John Henry Hopkins, 
Geo. W. Doane, 
Sainl. Allen McCoskry, 
Wm. R. Whittingham, 
Alonzo Potter. 



7. RHODE ISLAND. 

The first congregation of churchmen in 
this colony, was gathered in 1699; the 
first clergyman, Rev. Mr. Honeyman, was 
sent there as a missionary in 1704. In 
1723, the number of parishes and clergy- 
men was three of each. In 1752, the 
parishes were six, clergy five; in 1792, 
clergy four. Now, 1858, the parishes num- 
ber 26, the clergy 31. At no previous 
period, probably, has the Church in this 
Diocese been in a more substantially 
prosperous condition than at the present 
time. 

The church in Rhode Island was under 
the supervision of the first bishop of Con- 
necticut, until his death, and afterwards 
under that of Massachusetts, with which 
it was associated under the name of the 
Eastern Diocese, until 1842. 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



269 



Episcopate. 



Bishops. Consecration. 



J. P. K. Henshaw, A ™| ^ lj 



Thos. March Clark, *%££ 



Consecrators. Died. 

T. C. Brownell, 

B. T. Onderdonk, 

J. H. Hopkins, 

G. W. Doane, 

W. R. Whittingham, 

John Johns. 

Thos. Church Brownell, 

John Henry Hopkins, 

Geo. W. Doane, 
"j Manton Eastburn, 
I George Burgess, 
[John Williams. 



8. NORTH CAROLINA. 

The first missionary to this colony was 
Rev. John Blair, in 1704. He was for 
many years the Bishop of London's Com- 
missary in this colony. At an early period, 
the destitution here was so great, that one 
of the early ministers baptized ten thou- 
sand persons in this colony, in twelve 
years. The number of clergy in 1760 
was/ve; in 1770 ten; parishes eleven. 
The church in this diocese was so pros- 
trated at the Revolution, that it did not 
recover strength to be received into union 
with the General Convention, until 1817. 
There were then only three clergy, and 
only five parishes. In 1858, the parishes 
were 60, the clergy 48. 



Episcopate. 



Bishops. Consecration. 



J. S. Ravenscroft, May 22,1823. 




( Wm. White, 
J H. U. Onderdonk, 



Levi S. Ives, Sept. 22, 1831. 

IB. T. Onderdonk. 
[Thos. Church Brownell, 
I Geo. Trevor Spencer, 
I John Medley, 

Thos. Atkinson, Oct. 17, 1853. <; Chas. Pettit Mcllvaine, 
I Geo. W. Doane, 
I Jas. Hervey Otey, 
(.Saml. Allen McCoskry. 



9. NEW JERSEY. 

The first missionary to this colony was 
Rev. John Talbot, who was stationed here 
in 1705. He had previously traversed a 
considerable part of the province in com- 
pany with Rev. George Keith. In 1723 
he went to England, and while there, in 
conformity with the wishes of many of 



the clergy, was consecrated bishop for the 
American colonies, by the non-juring 
bishops of Scotland. But he died soon 
after his return to this country. In 1752, 
the number of parishes was sixteen, of 
clergy eight; in 1770 the clergy were 
ten •'in 1792 only nine. In 1858, the 
parishes were 76, clergy 80. 



Episcopate. 



Bishops. Consecration. 
John Croes, Nov. 19, 1815. 



Died. 



Consecrators. 

White, T ,, nrt 

Hobart, J" 1 ? f > 

.James Kemp. lb6Z ' 



f Wm. 
-j J. H. 

(_Jame 



("Wm. White, 



G. W. Doane, Oct. 31, 1832. ■> B. T. Onderdonk, 
(.Levi S. Ives. 



10. CONNECTICUT. 

This Diocese, though far younger than 
some of the others, may be said to be the 
first place where the church was composed 
almost entirely of native-born citizens, 
who had been educated in other forms of 
faith, but came into the church through 
conviction of truth and duty. The first 
trace of any Episcopalians in this colony 
is about 1707. In 1708 a parish was 
formed, composed mostly of Englishmen, 
and Rev. Muirson appointed missionary. 
But he died before entering upon his du- 
ties, and no clergyman was settled there 
until 1721, when Rev. Mr. Pigott was 
sent. While there, Rev. Samuel Johnson, 
a Congregational Minister in West Haven, 
formed his acquaintance,and thus strength- 
ened the predilections he had formed for 
the church some years before, from the 
study of the Prayer Book. These cir- 
cumstances induced him to examine the 
claims of both bodies, in which the books 
given by Bishop Berkley to Yale College 
aided very materially. The result was, 
that Mr. Johnson himself, together with 
Mr. Cutter, President of the College j Mr. 
Daniel Brown, a native of West Haven, 
and a tutor in the College ; Mr. Wetmore, 
a Congregational Minister in North Haven, 
resigned their places and went to England 
for Orders. The discussions to which 
these facts gave rise, resulted in bringing 
the following persons into the ministry of 
the church, who had been either ministers, 
or candidates for the ministry among the 
Congregationalists. 



270 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



1. Rev. Samuel Johnson, West Haven, 
1723. 

2. Rev. Timothy Cutter, President Yale 
College, 1723. 

3. Rev. David Brown, Tutor, Yale Col- 
lege, 1723. 

4. Rev. James Wetmore, North Haven, 
1723. 

5. Rev. Samuel Seabury, G-roton, 1732. 

6. Rev. Jonathan Arnold, West Haven, 
1730. 

7. Mr. Henry Caner, New Haven, 1727. 

8. Mr. Isaac Brown, West Haven, 1732. 

9. Mr. Richard Caner, New Haven, 
1736. 

10. Rev. Ebenezer Punderson, Groton, 
1740. 

11. Rev. Richard Minor, Monroe, 1742. 

12. Rev. Christopher Newton, Hun- 
tingdon, 1740. 

13. Mr. Ebenezer Dibble, Danbury, 
1742. 

14. Mr. Richard Mansfield, New Haven, 
1748. 

15. Mr. Jeremiah 
town, 1748. 

16. Mr. Thomas Badbury Chandler, 
Woodstock, 1751. 

17. Mr. Ichabod Camp, Middletown, 
1751. 

Such an influx of native citizens into 
the ministry of the church, a majority of 
whom had been ministers among the Con- 
gregationalists, and nearly all of whom 
remained in their native State, gave the 
church an impulse that nothing else could 
impart, as may be seen by the following 
statistics : — 



Learning, Middle- 



A.D. 


Clergy. 


Parishes 


Families 


Episco. 


Population 


1725 


1 


3 


30 


180 


(about) 


1736 


3 


4 


700 


4,200 




1752 


8 


16 


1600 


9,600 


130,000 


1762 


16 


25 


2100 


12,600 


141,000 


1772 


17 


31 


2500 


15,000 


166,000 


1782 


10 


31 


2500 


15,000 


209,000 


1792 


23 


40 


3400 


20,000 


240,000 


1801 


29 


60 


3700 


22,200 


250,000 


1811 


31 


73 


3750 


22,500 


260,000 


1820 


40 


75 


3800 


22,800 


275,000 


1830 


59 


79 


4500 


27,000 


297,000 


1840 


85 


89 


6500 


39,000 


310,000 


1847 


103 


105 


7500 


45,000 


320,000 


1857 


122 


112 


8700 


52,200 


370,000 



The same causes which gave the church 
an impulse in this Diocese, also gave it 
unity of sentiment, and the leading fea- 
tures stamped upon the first churchmen 
of this colony by its learned and laborious 
clergy remain to this day. And so uni- 



versal has been its influence, that no such 
thing as a part?/ has ever been known in 
the church in this Diocese ; and the epi- 
thets of high and low church, by which 
parties are often described, have never 
been known here, except as matters of 
history. Brought into the church through 
conviction of duty, the clergy and laity 
of this Diocese have ever remained true 
to it, as a matter of principle. Conse- 
quently, when the proposition was made 
at the South near the close of the revolu- 
tion, to adopt a provisional organization 
without the Episcopacy, the clergy of 
Connecticut not only refused to join in it, 
but, at the very earliest possible moment, 
elected a bishop and sent him to England 
for consecration, as has already been re- 
lated. And it is in no small degree owing 
to the learning and faithfulness of Bishop 
Seabury and his clergy, that serious inno- 
vations were not made in the Book of 
Common Prayer ; and to them we owe it, 
that no portion of that Catholic truth, 
which has come down from the earliest 
ages, has been erased from that book. 
In 1858, parishes 117, clergy 128. 



Episcopate. 



Bishops. Consecration. 
S. Seabury, Nov. 14, 1784 



A. Jarvis, Oct. 18, 1797 



■{ 



Consecrators. 
R. Kilgour, 



Died. 



T. C. Brownell, Oct. 27 1819. 



Jno. Williams, [A.B.J°Jg 5 ^» 



A. Petrie, Feb. 25, 1796. 

J. Skinner. 
fWm. White, 
*> S. Provoost, May 3, 1813. 

Edward Bass. 

William White, 

J. H. Hobart, 

A. V. Griswold. 
' Thos. Church Brownell, 

John Henry Hopkins, 

W. H. De Lancey, 

Manton Eastburn, 

J. P. K. Henshaw, 

Carlton Chase, 

George Burgess. 



11. GEORGIA. 

The first missionary to this colony was 
Kev. John Wesley, afterwards the cele- 
brated founder of Methodism. He re- 
turned to England in 1738, and was suc- 
ceeded by Kev. George Whitfield, the 
other father of the Methodist Societies. 
The Church of England was established 
in Georgia at an early period, but so late 
as 1769, there were but two churches in 
the colony. It was first admitted into 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



271 



union with the General Convention in 
1820, when there were but four parishes. 
In 1858, the parishes were 27, clergy 25. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Stephen Elliott, Feb. 28, 1841. 



Consecrators. 
William Meade, 
Levi S. Ives, 
C. E. Gadsden. 



12. VERMONT. 

The Episcopal Church was planted in 
this Diocese before the Revolution, and to 
a considerable extent endowed with Glebes 
by the various owners in the various town- 
ships. These lands, however, were seized 
and confiscated by the civil authorities, 
and not recovered to the use of the church 
until from 1820 to 1830. About 1794, 
some of the Episcopalians of Vermont 
elected Rev. Samuel Peters, then in Eng- 
land, Bishop of that Diocese. He applied 
to the English Bishops for consecration, 
who declined, on the ground that there 
was a canonical number of Bishops in 
America, to whom application should be 
made. Accordingly in 1795, the subject 
was brought before the General Conven- 
tion, but the church in Vermont, not hav- 
ing been duly organized, and not having 
been received into union with the Conven- 
tion, and there being but one clergyman 
in the State, the consecration was refused. 
It was received into union with the Gene- 
ral Convention in 1811, but so late as 
1814 there was but a single clergyman in 
the Diocese. In 1858, the parishes were 
33, clergy 23. 

Episcopate. 

Bishop. Consecration. Consecrators. 
r William White, 
J. H. Hopkins, Oct. 31, 1832. -> A. V. Griswold, 

(. Nathaniel Bowen. 



13. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

A church was established and well en- 
dowed at Portsmouth, about 1640, but the 
Puritans drove off the minister and seized 
the lands belonging to the church, and it 
was long before any other congregation 
In 1764, the church was 



was gathered 



endowed in various towns throughout the 
colony by Governor Wentworth. But as 
late as 1772, there were only three par- 
ishes, and two clergymen in the province. 
These lands have been most of them seized 
and confiscated. In 1858, the parishes 
were 14, the clergy 13. 



Episcopate. 

Bishop. Consecration. Consecrators. 

{Philander Chase, 
T. C. Brownell, 
Benj. T. Onderdonk, 
Levi S. Ives, 
Benj. B. Smith. 



14. MAINE. 



There has been one congregation in this 
Diocese from an early period; but the 
church did not receive a distinct organiza- 
tion until 1820, when the State had been 
separated from Massachusetts, and erected 
into a distinct jurisdiction. The parishes 
in 1858 were 16, clergy 17. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



George Burgess, Oct. 31, 1847. 



Consecrators 
Philander Chase, 
T. C. Brownell, 
Manton Eastburn, 
J. P. K. Henshaw, 
Carlton Chase. 



15. OHIO. 



The church in this Diocese was first 
organized in 1818, and admitted into union 
with the General Convention in 1820. 
In 1858 it had 89 parishes and 85 clergy. 



Episcopate. 



Consecration. 



Philander Chase, Feb. 11, 1819. 



Consecrators. 
Wm. White, 

J. H. Hobart, [Abandoned 
J.Kemp, the See, 1830.] 
John Croes. 
Wm. White, 



( Wm. White, 
P. Mcllvaine, Oct. 31, 1832. -J Alex. V. Griswold 
( William Meade. 



16. MISSISSIPPI. 

The first Episcopal clergyman who 
preached in this Diocese was Rev. James 



272 



HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



Pilwar, in 1822. It was admitted into 
union with the General Convention in 
1826, when it had five clergymen, and as 
many parishes. In 1858, the number of 
clergy was 31, of parishes 35. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



William Mercer Green, 

Feb. 24, 1850. 



Consecrators. 
Jas. Heryey Otey, 
Leonid as Polk, 
Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, 
Geo. W. Freeman. 



17. MICHIGAN. 

The first congregation of churchmen in 
this Diocese was gathered at Detroit in 
1823 ; the first missionary, Rev. R. H. 
Cadle, preached here in 1826. The Dio- 
cese was admitted into union with the 
General Convention in 1832. Parishes 
in 1858,40; clergy, 41. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Samuel Allen McCoskry, 

July 7, 1836.' 



Consecrators. 
' Henry U. Onderdonk, 
George W. Doane, 
.Jackson Kemper. 



18. TENNESSEE. 

This Diocese was admitted into union 
with the General Convention in 1829, 
having then four parishes and three 
clergy. In 1858, the parishes were 17, 
the clergy 18. 

Episcopate. 

Bishop. Consecration. Consecrators. 
( William White, 
James Hervey Otey, } Henry U. Onddrdonk, 

Jan. 14, 1834. ) Benjamin T. Onderdonk, 
( George W. Doane. 



19. KENTUCKY. 

This Diocese was admitted into union 
with the General Convention in 1832, 
having then three parishes and three 
clergy. This Diocese presents an exten- 
sive and interesting field for the exercise of 
the ministry of earnest and practical men. 

In 1858 the parishes were 26, clergy 29. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Benj. Bosworth Smith, 
Oct. 3: 



Consecrators. 
r William White, 



i son < Thomas C. Brownell, 
i8d - (.Henry U. Onderdonk. 



20. ALABAMA. 

This Diocese was admitted into union 
with the General Convention in 1832, 
having four parishes and three clergymen. 
In 1858, the parishes were 37, clergy 26. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. Consecrators. 



Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, 

Oct. 20, 1844. 



r Philander Chase, 
William Meade, 
Charles P. Mcllvaine, 
George W. Doane, 
James Hervey Otey. 



21. ILLINOIS. 

This Diocese was received into the 
union in 1835, the parishes numbering 
six, the clergy seven. In 1858, the par- 
ishes were 80, the clergy 64. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Henry John Whitehouse, 

Nov. 20, 1851. 



Consecrators. 
Thos. C. Brownell, 
Alfred Lee, 
Man ton Eastburn, 
Cicero Stephen Hawks, 
Alonzo Potter, 
George Burgess, 
John Williams. 



22. LOUISIANA. 

This Diocese was received into the 
union in 1838, having three parishes and 
two clergy. This portion of the Church 
manifests evident signs of enlargement. 
The clergy are indefatigable in their exer- 
tions ; and the supply of spiritual teachers 
does not keep pace with the demand. 

In 1858 the parishes were 41, clergy 32. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Leonidas Polk, Dec. 9, 1838. 



Consecrators. 

William Meade, 
l Benjamin B. Smith, 
l Charles P. Mcllvaine, 

James H. Otey. 



23. INDIANA. 

This Diocese was received into the 
union in 1838, having twelve parishes and 
nine clergy. In 1858 the parishes were 
33, the clergy 30. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Consecrators. 
( Benj. B. Smith, 



George Upfold, Dec. 16, 1849. Jg^^E^ 
' Jackson Kemper. 



24. FLORIDA. 

This Diocese was received into the 
union in 1838, having ten parishes and 
six clergymen. In 1858 the parishes 
were 14, the clergy 8. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Consecrators. 
C Christopher E. Gadsden, 



Francis Hager Rutiedge, , gtephen ^.^ 

uct. io, 1801. i Nichola3 Hamner Cobbs. 



25. MISSOURI. 

This Diocese was received into union 
in 1841. In 1858 it had 25 organized 
parishes, beside several Missionary Sta- 
tions, with 23 clergy. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Consecrators. 
f Philander Chase, 



Cicero Stephens Hawks, I Jacfeson Kemper, 

Op+ 9f> 1844 \ Saml - AUen McCoskry, 
Oct. ZO, 1844. Leonidag Polk> 

(.Wm. H. De Lancey. 



26. WISCONSIN. 

This Diocese is in a highly prosperous 
condition. The Missionary Bishop of the 
Northwest is the Bishop of Wisconsin. 
The unanimous voice of the Diocese 
elected the first Missionary Bishop conse- 
crated by the Protestant Church since the 
Reformation. When Bishop Kemper was 
sent out to the Northwest in 1835, there 
was scarcely a white inhabitant in Wis- 
consin. In 1858 there were 36 parishes 
and 47 clergymen in the Diocese. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Jackson Kemper, Sep. 25, 1835. 



Consecrators. 
Wm. White, 
Richard C. Moore, 
Philander Chase, 
H. U. Onderdonk, 
B. T. Onderdonk, 
Benj. B. Smith, 
G. W. Doane. 



27. TEXAS 

Was organized into a Diocese, and Right 
Rev. George Washington Freeman, Mis- 
sionary Bishop of Arkansas, selected as 
its first bishop. In 1858 the Diocese con- 
tained 26 parishes and 13 clergymen. 



Episcopate. 



Consecration. 

Geo. Washington Freeman, 

Oct. 26, 1844. 



Consecrators. 
Philander Chase, 
Geo. W. Doane, 
Jas. Hervey Otey, 
J. P. K. Henshaw. 



28. IOWA. 

This Diocese effected an independent 
organization in 1853, and in the following 
year elected a Bishop. The growth of 
this young Diocese is vigorous and full of 
promise. In 1858 there were 28 parishes 
and 25 clergymen within the Diocese. 



Episcopate. 



Bishop. 



Consecration. 



Henry Washington Lee, 

Oct. 18, 1854. 



Consecrators. 
John Henry Hopkins, 
Saml. Allen McCoskry, 
Wm. H. De Lancey, 
Manton Eastburn, 
George Burgess, 
Henry John Whitehouse. 



29. CALIFORNIA. 

The Missionary Bishop for the State of 
California, elected in 1853, arrived in San 
Francisco, California, in February, 1854. 
Finding that a Diocese had already been 
organized, he decided to recognise its ex- 
istence. The Constitution of the Diocese 
having been subsequently amended, so as 
to conform to the regulations of the Church, 
the Diocese of California was admitted into 
union with the General Convention at its 
session in 1856. In 1858 the Diocese 
contained 17 parishes and 12 clergymen. 



Bishop. 



Episcopate. 

Consecration. 



William Ingraham Kip, 



Consecrators. 
f Jackson Kemper, 

Alfred Lee, 
I Wm. Jones Boone, 
J Geo. W. Freeman, 
Oct. 28, 1853. 1 George Burgess, 
George Upfold, 
| Henry J. Whitehouse, 
L Jonathan M. Wainwright. 



35 



274 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 



MINNESOTA. 



Right Rev. Jackson Kemper, Mission- 
ary Bishop, exercises jurisdiction. 



ARKANSAS MISSION, INCLUDING INDIAN 
TERRITORY. 

Right Rev. Geo. Washington Freeman, 
Missionary Bishop, exercises jurisdiction. 

In 1858 there were 5 parishes, under 
the charge of 18 clergymen. 



OREGON AND WASHINGTON MISSION. 

The Church in this Diocese is under 
the charge of the Right Rev. Thomas 
Fielding Scott, who was consecrated Jan. 
8, 1854, by the Right Rev. Bishops Ste- 
phen Elliott, Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, and 
Thos. F. Davis. 

In 1858 the Diocese comprised 6 par- 
ishes, ministered to by 7 clergymen. 



KANSAS MISSION. 

Right Rev. Jackson Kemper, Bishop 
of Wisconsin, has temparary charge of this 
mission. Clergymen, 3 ; Parishes, 2. 



NEBRASKA MISSION. 

Right Rev. Henry Washington Lee, 
Bishop of Iowa, is in temporary charge. 
Clergymen, 4; Parishes, 1. 

Beside these, there are, belonging to 
the Protestant Episcopal Church, the 
Western Africa Mission, at Cape Palmas, 
under the charge of Right Rev. John 
Payne, consecrated July 11, 1851, by 
Right Rev. Bishops Wm. Meade, Alfred 
Lee, John Johns, and Manton Eastburn ; 
the China Mission, at Amoy, under the 
care of Right Rev. Wm. Jones Boone, 
consecrated^Oct. 26, 1844, by Right Rev. 
Bishops Philander Chase, Geo. W. Doane, 
James Hervey Otey, and J. P. K. Hen- 
shaw; and the Greek Mission, at Con- 
stantinople, under Right Rev. Horatio 
Southgate, consecrated Oct. 26, 1844, by 
Right Rev. Bishops Philander Chase, Wm. 
R. Whittingham, Stephen Elliott, John 
Johns, and J. P. K. Henshaw. 

In 1858, the Western Africa Mission 
numbered 13 clergymen, 13 lay assist- 
ants, and 7 native teachers; the CJiina 
Mission 8 clergymen, with 4 lay assist- 
ants ) and the Greek Mission 1 clergyman, 
i 2 lay assistants, and several Greek teachers. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION 

BY REV. W. W. ORWIG, AND IMPROVED BY REV. A. ETTINGER, 

NEW BERLIN, UNION COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 



This Christian denomination took its 
rise about the year 1800, in one of the 
Middle Free States of America; at first 
they were called the Albrights (Albrechts- 
leute), probably on account of Jacob Al- 
bright having been, by the grace of God, 
the instrument of their solemnly uniting 
themselves for the service of Almighty 
God. About the year 1790, Jacob Al- 
bright became the happy subject of the 



awakening influences of God's Holy Spirit, 
and was brought to the knowledge of his 
sinful state and of the truth ; and after a 
long and very severe struggle, he received 
at last, by faith in the Son of God, the re- 
mission of his sins and the spirit of adop- 
tion. In this state he spent several years 
in the service of God; and, at the request 
of his fellow-Christians, he at sundry times 
spake publicly a word of exhortation, 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 



275 



which did not remain fruitless. In the 
year 1796, after a very severe conflict 
respecting his call to the ministry, he com- 
menced travelling through the country, 
and to preach the gospel of Christ, and 
him crucified, to his fellow-men, and the 
Lord owned and richly blessed his labors, 
and gave him many souls for his recom- 
pense. Having now continually a feeling 
and tender regard for the Germans of this 
country, as among them true Christianity 
was at that time at a very low ebb and 
almost entirely extirpated : he united him- 
self in the year 1800, with a number of 
persons, who by his preaching had been 
awakened and converted to God, into a 
Christian society. This is the origin of 
the Evangelical Association. In the year 
1803, this society resolved upon introduc- 
ing and instituting among, and for, them- 
selves an ecclesiastical regulation. Jacob 
Albright was therefore elected as the pre- 
siding elder among them, and duly con- 
firmed by the other preachers, and by 
their laying on of hands ordained, so as to 
authorize him to perform all transactions 
that are necessary for a Christian society, 
and becoming to an evangelical preacher. 
They unanimously chose the sacred scrip- 
tures for their guide in faith and action, 
and formed their church discipline accord- 
ingly, as any one may see, who will take 
the pains to investigate and examine the 
same. At first, indeed, when their prin- 
ciples and design were not yet much 
known, this denomination met with consi- 
derable opposition and suffered much per- 
secution ; it, however, spread more and 
more till to the present time, but more 
especially during the last ten years. In 
the year 1850 their number was near 15,000 
communicants, and between two and three 
hundred preachers, of whom there were 
above one hundred travelling preachers. 
Hitherto they have confined their labors 
chiefly to the German population of the 
United States and the Canadas, and have 
for some time past been very successful in 
their missions among the emigrated Ger- 
mans in the western States, and in several 
I of the principal seaports of this country.* 

I 

* Since the above was written, they have 
turned their attention somewhat more to Eng- 
lish preaching, and on several of their circuits, 



GOVERNMENT. 

The government of this Association is 
Episcopal. The Bishops are elected quad- 
rennially by the General Conference, and 
are amenable to that body for their official 
conduct. It is their duty alternately to 
travel through the whole connection, to 
superintend the temporal and spiritual 
affairs of the church, and to preside in the 
Annual and General Conferences. It de- 
volves upon the Bishop who presides at a 
yearly conference, with the aid of the pre- 
siding elders belonging to the same, to as- 
sign to the preachers their respective fields 
of labor. 

The special duty of a presiding elder is 
to travel over the whole bounds of his dis- 
trict, hold stated quarterly meetings, pre- 
side at local and quarterly conferences 
and to superintend all the churches within 
the limits of his district. Preachers in 
charge of circuits and stations have the 
superintendance of their respective spheres 
of labor. Beside preaching, they are to 
attend the formation of classes, direct and 
superintend the elections of leaders and 
exhorters, receive, put back on trial, and 
expel members, as cases may require. 



A CURSORY VIEW OF THE EXTENT 
OF THIS SOCIETY. 

This branch of Christ's Church is now 
spread over a large portion of the United 
States, and extends over several districts 
of Upper Canada. They have four An- 
nual Conferences, upwards of 150 tra- I 
veiling preachers, and from 6 to 700 local 
preachers. The number of communicants 
cannot now be exactly ascertained, but may 
be estimated at about 20,000. 



SALARIES OF PREACHERS. 

The amount allowed to travelling 
preachers is one hundred dollars annually, 
beside his travelling expenses ; if married, 
an equal sum for his wife, and twenty- 
five dollars for each child under fourteen 
years of age. But as these allowances 
principally depend on voluntary contribu- 
tions, they have as yet in no case reached 



their exercises are almost exclusively con- 
ducted in that language. 



276 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 



the amount specified. The ordinary method 
of raising these salaries is by holding quar- 
terly collections in the different classes, in 
which it is expected that every member 
will contribute more or less according to 
his or her ability. Beside. this there are 
public collections taken up at quarterly 
and other protracted meetings ; and this 
together with so much of the avails of the 
Book concern and Charter Fund, as is 
left after supplying the wants of superan- 
nuated and wornout preachers, their widows 
and children is divided among the several 
claimants. 

FUNDS OF THE CHURCH. 

Beside that which is drawn forth from 
the people by spontaneous contributions, 
the funds of the church consist in the 
avails of the Book concern and the Char- 
ter Fund ; the former is located at New 
Berlin, Union county, Pennsylvania ; and 
the latter, called the " Charitable Society 
of the Evangelical Association," at Orwigs- 
burg, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. 
The annual income of those two institu- 
tions is not exactly known to the writer ; 
but that of the Book concern alone varies 
from $1800 to about $2200 a year. 
This amount is equally divided among four 
annual conferences, and applied first to 
the support of the superannuated and worn- 
out preachers, their widows and orphans ; 
and the balance, if any, to the stipends of 
the travelling and laboring ministry. 

BOOK CONCERN. 

Some twenty years ago, a spacious and 
convenient place was purchased for the 
accommodation of their printing establish- 
ment and book-bindery, the former build- 
ing being too concise for the amount of 
work required to be done. This establish- 
ment, which is under the control of the 
General Conference, and managed by an 
executive committee appointed by that 
body, is rendering very important service 
to the church. In addition to a number 
of useful books, mostly German, they pub- 
lish a German religious newspaper, of 
which a very creditable edition is circu- 
lated monthly, among the members of the 
denomination in the United States. 



EDUCATION. 

As to literary institutions, the Society 
as yet claim none as their own. The fact 
that the venerable founder of the Evan- 
gelical Association, and his coadjutors, 
were not scientific men, and others being 
subsequently admitted into the ministry 
without special literary qualifications, 
whose labors nevertheless were abun- 
dantly blessed, which created in the minds 
of the major part of the ministry and 
membership a considerable degree of 
apathy or indifference to the cause of edu- 
cation ; and the first actual effort that was 
made toward an advancement in this res- 
pect, was that of the West Pennsylvania 
Conference, forming themselves into an 
Education Society, in 1846, the object of 
which, is, in the first place to procure a 
library for the use of the preachers, and 
of assisting pious young' men, who appear 
to be destined for the ministry, and not 
being in the possession of means them- 
selves, to procure an adequate share of 
literary qualification for the work. 

Sabbath Schools, Temperance, Mission- 
ary causes, &c, are unanimously fostered 
and liberally supported by the Society ; 
and the rapid progress of the same is 
greatly owing to its Sabbath Schools and 
Domestic Missions. 

The following is a compend of their 
unanimous doctrine and confession of faith. 



ARTICLES OF FAITH. 

I. Of the Holy Trinity. — There is but 
one only, true and living God, an eternal 
Being, a Spirit without a body, indivisible, 
infinite, mighty, wise, and good, the crea- 
tor and preserver of all things, visible and 
invisible. And in this Godhead there is 
a trinity, of one substance and power, and 
co-eternal ; namely, the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost. 

II. Concerning the Word, or Son of 
God, who became Man. — The Son, who 
is the Word of the Father, the eternal and 
true God, of one substance with the Father, 
took man's nature in the womb of the 
blessed Virgin, so that both natures, the 
divine and the human, are perfectly and 
inseparably joined together in him (as in 
one person ;) therefore, he is Christ (the 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 



277 



anointed) very God and very man, even 
he, who suffered, was crucified, dead and 
buried, in order to reconcile the justice of 
the eternal Father with us, and to present 
himself a sacrifice for both our original 
and actual sins. 

III. Of Chrisfs Resurrection. — This 
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, 
and reassumed his body, with all things 
appertaining to the perfection of man's 
nature, and thus in the same body he as- 
cended into heaven, and sitteth there until 
he return again, at the last day, to judge 
all men. 

IV. Of the Holy Ghost.— -The Holy 
Ghost proceeds from the Father and the 
Son, is the true and eternal God, of one 
substance, majesty and glory, with the 
Father and the Son. 

V. The Sufficiency of the Holy Scrip- 
tures for our Instruction to Salvation. — 
The Holy Scriptures contain the decree of 
God, so far as it is necessary for us to 
know for our salvation ; so that whatso- 
ever is not contained therein, nor may be 
proved thereby, is not to be enjoined on 
any to believe as an article of faith, nor 
as a doctrine essential to salvation. 

By the Holy Scriptures, we understand 
those canonical books of the Old and New 
Testament, which the church at all times 
indubiously received as such. 

VI. Concerning the Old Testament. — 
The Old and New Testaments are not con- 
trary to each other ; in both, as well in 
the Old as in the New Testament, ever- 
lasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, 
being both God and man, and the only 
Mediator between God and man. Where- 
fore, they are not to be heard, who teach 
that the fathers of the ancient covenant 
had grounded their expectations on tran- 
sitory promises only. Though the law 
given from God by Moses, touching cere- 
monies and rites, doth not bind Christians, 
by any means, nor ought the civil pre- 
cepts thereof of necessity be received in 
any commonwealth : yet, notwithstanding, 
no Christian is free from the obedience of 
the ten commandments, which are also 
called the moral law. 

VII. Of Original Sin. — Original sin 
consisteth not in the falling of Adam 
(as some falsely pretend ;) but it is that 
corruption of the human nature, in which 



every offspring of Adam appears in this 
world — a corruption, whereby man is very 
far gone from original righteousness, and, 
on the contrary, is of his own nature in- 
clined to evil, and that continually. 

VIII. Of Free Will.— The condition of 
man after and since the fall of Adam is so 
wretched, that we cannot turn unto God 
by the simple powers of nature ; and hence 
we cannot by our own natural strength do 
any good works, pleasing and acceptable 
in the sight of God, without the grace of 
God by Christ preventing us, and influen- 
cing us that we may have a good will, and 
working with us, when we have that good 
will. 

IX. Of the Justification of Man. — We 
are never accounted righteous before God 
on account of our works or merits ; but it 
is only for the merit of our Lord and Sa- 
viour Jesus Christ, and by faith in his 
name, that we are justified. Wherefore, 
that we are justified by faith only, is a most 
wholesome doctrine, and full of comfort. 

X. Of Good Works. — Though good 
works are the fruits of faith, and follow 
justification, whilst they have not the vir- 
tue to put away our sins, nor to avert the 
judgment, or endure the severity of God's 
justice : yet they are pleasing and accept- 
able to God in Christ, if they spring out 
of a true and living faith, insomuch, that 
by them living faith may be as evidently 
known, as a tree is discerned by its fruit. 

XI. Of Sin after Justification. — Not 
every sin willingly committed after justifi- 
cation is, therefore, the sin against the 
Holy Ghost, which is unpardonable. They 
cannot all be precluded from repentance 
who fall in sin after justification, nor their 
acceptance straightway denied them. After 
we have received the Holy Ghost, it may 
so happen, that we may depart from grace, 
and fall into sin ; and, we may even thus 
arise again by the grace of God and amend 
our lives. And, therefore, the doctrine of 
those is to be rejected, who say, they can 
no more fall into sin as long as they live 
here, or who deny the place of forgiveness 
to such as do truly repent. 

XII. Of the Church. — The visible 
Church of Christ is the community of 
true believers, among whom the word of 
God is preached in its purity, and the 
means of grace are duly administered, ac- 



278 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 



cording to Christ's own appointment in all 
those things, so far as they are requisite, 
and in conformity with the ordinances of 
Christ. 

XIII. Of speaking in the Congregation 
in such a Tongue as the People may un- 
derstand. — Public prayers in the church, 
and the ministering of baptism and of the 
Lord's Supper in a tongue not understood 
by the people, are matters plainly repug- 
nant to the word of God, and the custom 
of the primitive church. 

XIV. Of Baptism and the Lord's Sup- 
per. — Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 
ordained by Christ, are not only given 
pledges or tokens of Christian men's pro- 
fession, but they are much more certain 
signs of grace and God's good will towards 
us, by which he works invisibly in us, 
quickens and also strengthens and confirms 
our faith in him. 

Baptism and the Lord's Supper were 
not ordained by Christ that we should 
abuse them ; but that we should duly use 
them. And in such only, as worthily re- 
ceive the same, they produce a wholesome 
and effectual power ; but such, as receive 
them unworthily, purchase to themselves 
damnation, as Paul saith. 

XV. Of Baptism. — Baptism is not 
merely a token of a Christian profession, 
whereby Christians are distinguished from 
others, and whereby they obligate them- 
selves to observe every Christian duty ; 
but it is also a sign of internal ablution, 
renovation, or the new birth. 

XVI. Of the Lord's Supper.— The 
Supper of the Lord is not merely a token 
of love and union, that Christians ought 
to have among themselves and one towards 
another; but it is much more, a mystery 
or a representation of our redemption by 
the sufferings and death of Christ ; inso- 
much, that such as rightly, and worthily, 
and faithfully receive the same, partake of 
the body and blood of Christ by faith, as 
the imparting means, not in a bodily but 
in a spiritual manner, in eating the broken 
bread and in drinking the blessed cup, 
which is handed them. Transubstantia- 
tion, or the changing of the bread and 
wine into the body and blood of Christ 
in the Lord's Supper, cannot be supported 
by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the 
plain words of the Scriptures. 



XVII. Of the only Oblation of Christ, 
finished upon the Cross. — The offering 
which was once made by Christ on the 
cross, is that perfect redemption, propitia- 
tion and satisfaction, for all the sins of the 
whole world, both original and actual, so 
that there is no other satisfaction required 
but that alone. 

XVIII. Of Church Rites and Ceremo- 
nies. — It is by no means necessary, that 
ceremonies and rites should in all places 
be the same, or exactly alike ; for they 
have always been different, and may be 
changed according to the diversity of 
countries, times and national manners, 
provided, that nothing be introduced con- 
trary to God's ordinances. Whosoever, 
through his private judgment, willingly 
and purposely doth break the ordinances, 
ceremonies and rites of the church to which 
he belongs, (if they are not repugnant to 
the word of God, and are ordained by 
proper authority,) ought to be rebuked 
openly, as one that offendeth against the 
order of the church, and woundeth the 
consciences of the weaker brethren, in 
order that others may be deterred from 
similar audacity. 

Every particular church has the privi- 
lege to introduce, change, and abolish rites 
and ceremonies ; yet so, that all things 
may be done to edification. 

XIX. Of the Rulers of the United 
States of America. — The President, Con- 
gress, the General Assemblies, the Gover- 
nors, and the Councils of State, as the 
delegates of the people, according to the 
regulation and transfer of power, made to 
them by the constitution of the United 
States, and by the constitutions of their 
respective states, are the rulers of, and in 
the United States. And these states are 
a sovereign and independent nation, which 
is and ought not to be subject to any 
foreign jurisdiction : though we believe 
that wars and bloodshed are not agreeable 
with the gospel and spirit of Christ. 

XX. Concerning the Christian's tem- 
poral property. — The temporal property 
of Christians must not be considered as 
common, in regard to the right, title and 
possession of the same, as some do vainly 
pretend ; but as lawful possessions. Not- 
withstanding, every one ought, of the 
things he possesseth, to give to the poor 




GEORGE FOX. 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



27 9 



and needy, and to manifest Christian love 
and liberality towards them. 

XXI. Of tlie last Judgment and God's 
righteous Sentence of Reiuards and Pun- 
ishments. — We believe that Jesus Christ 
will come in the last day, to judge all 
mankind by a righteous judgment; that 
God will give unto the faithful, elect and 
godly, eternal life and happiness, everlast- 
ing rest, peace and joy without end. But 
God will bi(J the impenitent and ungodly, 
to depart to the devil and his angels, to en- 
dure everlasting damnation, punishment 
and pain, torment and misery. Therefore 
we are not to concede to the doctrine of 
those who maintain that devils and ungodly 
men will not have to suffer eternal punish- 
ment and torment. 



CONFERENCES. 

Their conferences are : first, a quarter- 
ly ; second, an annual ; and third, a gene- 
ral conference. The first takes place on 
every circuit at the quarterly meetings ; 
the second once a year in every confer- 
ence district, and the third every four years 



in the district of the whole society, on ac- 
count of which it is called the general 
conference. The members of the quarterly 
conference are all the class-leaders, ex- 
horters, travelling and local preachers, 
residing or stationed in the circuit of said 
quarterly conference. The members of 
the annual conferences are all the travel- 
ling preachers, and such as have travelled, 
and who by ordination stand in full con- 
nection with the ministry. The general 
conference consists of delegates who are 
elected of every annual conference every 
fourth year, one for every four members 
of her own body. There is in addition to 
these another annual conference appointed 
for the local preachers on every circuit, 
where several of them reside ; but these 
are destined principally for the investiga- 
tion of the character and conduct of said 
preachers, in order to save time at the an- 
nual conferences of the travelling ministry. 
Arrangement of the Society. — The 
whole society is divided into conference 
districts, the conference districts into 
smaller districts, these into circuits, and 
the circuits into classes. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE FRIENDS OR QUAKERS 



BY THOMAS EVANS, PHILADELPHIA. 



The religious Society of Friends, com- 
monly called Quakers, is a body of Chris- 
tian professors, which arose in England 
about the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
tury. The ministry of George Fox was 
chiefly instrumental, under the divine 
blessing, in convincing those who joined 
him of those Christian principles and tes- 
timonies which distinguish the society ; and 



his pious labors contributed in no small 
degree to their establishment as an organ- 
ized body, having a regular form of church 
government and discipline. 

This devoted servant of Christ was born 
at Drayton, in Leicestershire, in the year 
1624, and was carefully educated by his 
parents in the Episcopal mode of worship. 
He appears to have led a religious life 



280 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



from his childhood, and to have been 
deeply concerned for the salvation of his 
soul. Amid a high profession of religion, 
then generally prevalent, he observed 
among the people much vain and trifling 
conversation and conduct, as well as sordid 
earthly-mindedness, both which he believed 
to be incompatible with the Christian life. 
This brought great trouble upon his mind, 
clearly perceiving that the profession in 
which he had been educated did not give 
to its adherents that victory over sin which 
the gospel enjoins, and which his soul 
panted after. He withdrew from his former 
associates, and passed much of his time in 
retirement, — reading the holy scriptures, 
and endeavoring to wait upon the Lord for 
the revelation of his Spirit, to enable him 
rightly to understand the truths, of the 
gospel. 

In this state of reverent dependence 
upon the Fountain of saving knowledge, 
his mind was enlightened to see into the 
spirituality of the gospel dispensation, and 
to detect many errors which had crept 
into the professing Christian church. In 
the year 1647, he commenced his labors 
as a minister of the gospel, travelling ex- 
tensively through England, generally on 
foot ; and, from a conviction that it was 
contrary to Christ's positive command, he 
refused to receive any compensation for 
preaching, defraying his expenses out of 
his own slender means. The unction from 
on high, which attended his ministry, car- 
ried conviction to the hearts of many of 
his hearers ; and his fervent disinterested 
labors were crowned with such success, 
that in a few years a large body of persons 
had embraced the Christian principles 
which he promulgated. 

The civil and religious commotions 
which prevailed in England about this pe- 
riod, doubtless prepared the way for the 
more rapid spread of gospel truth. The 
fetters, in which priestcraft had long held 
the human mind, were beginning to be 
loosened; the dependence of man upon 
his fellow-man, in matters of religion, was 
shaken, and many sincere souls, panting 
after a nearer acquaintance with God, 
and a dominion over their sinful appetites 
and passions, which they could not obtain 
by the most scrupulous observance of the 
ceremonies of religion, were earnestly in- 



quiring, " What must we do to be saved ?" 
The message of George Fox appears to 
have been, mainly, to direct the people to 
Christ Jesus, the great Shepherd and 
Bishop of souls, who died for them, and 
had sent his spirit or light into their hearts, 
to instruct and guide them in the things 
pertaining to life and salvation. 

To the light of Christ Jesus, in the con- 
science, he endeavored to turn the atten- 
tion of all, as that by which sin was mani- 
fested and reproved, duty unfolded, and 
ability given to run with alacrity and joy 
in the way of God's commandments. The 
preaching of this doctrine was glad tidings 
of great joy to many longing souls, who 
eagerly embraced it, as that for which 
they had been seeking ; and, as they 
walked in this divine light, they expe- 
rienced a growth in grace and in Christian 
knowledge, and gradually came to be es- 
tablished as pillars in the house of God. 

Many of these, before they joined with 
George Fox, had been highly esteemed in 
the various religious societies of the day, 
for their distinguished piety and expe- 
rience, being punctual in the performance 
of all their religious duties, and regular in 
partaking of what are termed " the ordi- 
nances." But, notwithstanding they en- 
deavored to be faithful to the degree of 
knowledge they had received, their minds 
were not yet at rest. They did not wit- 
ness that redemption from sin, and that 
establishment in the truth, which they 
read of in the Bible as the privilege and 
duty of Christians ; and hence, they were 
induced to believe that there was a purer 
and more spiritual way than they had yet 
found. They felt that they needed to 
know more of the power of Christ Jesus 
in their own hearts, making them new 
creatures, bruising Satan, and putting 
him under their feet, and renewing their 
souls up into the divine image which was 
lost in Adam's fall, and sanctifying them 
wholly, in body, soul and spirit, through 
the inward operations of the Holy Ghost 
and fire. 

Great were their conflicts and earnest 
their prayers, that they might be brought 
to this blessed experience; but looking 
without, instead of having their attention 
turned within, they missed the object of 
their search. They frequented the preach- 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



281 



ing of the most eminent ministers ; spent 
much time in reading the holy scriptures, 
in fasting, meditation and prayer, and in- 
creased the strictness of their lives and 
religious performances ; but still they 
were not wholly freed from the dominion 
of sin. 

Some, after wearying themselves with 
the multitude and severity of their duties, 
without finding the expected benefit from 
them, separated from all the forms of wor- 
ship then practised, and sat down together, 
waiting upon the Lord, and earnestly 
looking and praying for the full manifesta- 
tion of the kingdom and power of the 
Lord Jesus. 

In this humble, seeking state, the Lord 
was graciously pleased to meet with them ; 
sometimes without any instrumental means, 
at others, through the living ministry of 
George Fox or other anointed servants, 
who were prepared and sent forth to preach 
the gospel. Then they were brought to 
see that that, which made them uneasy in 
the midst of their high profession and 
manifold observances, and raised fervent 
breathings after the God of their lives, 
was nothing less than the Spirit of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, striving with them in 
order to bring them out fully from under 
the bondage of sin, into the glorious lib- 
erty of the children of God. 

They were brought to see that they had 
been resting too much in a mere historical 
belief of the blessed doctrines of the gos- 
pel, the birth, life, miracles, sufferings, 
death, resurrection, ascension, mediation, 
intercession, atonement and divinity of the 
Lord Jesus; but had not sufficiently looked 
for, and abode under, the heart-changing 
and sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit 
or Comforter ; to seal those precious 
truths on the understanding, and give to 
each one a living and practical interest in 
them; so that they might really know 
Christ to be their Saviour and Redeemer, 
and that he had, indeed, come into their 
hearts and set up his righteous govern- 
ment there. 

This was the dawning of a new day to 
their souls ; and, as they attended in sim- 
ple obedience to the discoveries of this di- 
vine light, they were gradually led to see 
farther into the spirituality of the gospel 
dispensation. The change which it made 



36 



in their views was great, and many and 
deep were their searchings of heart, trying 
" the fleece both wet and dry," ere they 
yielded ; lest they should be mistaken and 
put the workings of their own imagina- 
tion for the un foldings of the Spirit of 
Christ ; but as they patiently abode under 
its enlightening operations, every doubt 
and difficulty was removed, and they were 
enabled to speak from joyful experience 
of that which they had seen, and tasted, 
and handled of the good word of life. 

The rapid spread of the doctrines 
preached by George Fox, was surprising ; 
and, among those who embraced them, 
were persons of the best families in the 
kingdom; several priests of the Episcopal 
denomination and ministers of other socie- 
ties ; besides, many other learned and sub- 
stantial men. A large number of ministers, 
both men and women, were soon raised 
up in the infant society, who travelled 
abroad, as they believed themselves di- 
vinely called, spreading the knowledge of 
the truth, and strengthening and comfort- 
ing the newly convinced. In a few years 
meetings were settled in nearly all parts 
of the United Kingdom ; and, notwith- 
standing the severe persecution to which 
the society was subjected, by which thou- 
sands were locked up in jails and dun- 
geons, and deprived of nearly all their 
property, besides being subjected to bar- 
barous personal abuse ; its members con- 
tinued to increase, and manifested a zeal 
and devotedness which excited the admi- 
ration even of their persecutors. Their 
sufferings seemed only to animate them 
with fresh ardor, and to unite them more 
closely together in the bond of gospel fel- 
lowship. Instances occurred where all 
the parents were thrown into prison, and 
the children continued to hold their meet- 
ings, unawed by the threats of the officers, 
or the cruel whippings which some of them 
suffered. 

As early as the year 1655, some minis- 
ters travelled on the continent of Europe, 
and meetings of Friends were soon after 
settled in Holland and other places ; — 
some travelled into Asia, some were car- 
ried to Africa ; and several were im- 
prisoned in the Inquisitions of Rome, 
Malta, and in Hungary. About the same 
period the first Friends arrived in America, 



28: 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



at the port of Boston, and commenced 
their religious labors among the people, 
many of whom embraced the doctrines 
which they heard. The spirit of persecu- 
tion, from which Friends had suffered so 
deeply in England, made its appearance 
in America with increased virulence and 
cruelty, inflicting upon the peaceable Qua- 
kers various punishments ; and finally put 
four of them to death by the gallows. 

Notwithstanding the opposition they had 
to encounter, the principles of Friends 
continued to spread in America ; many 
eminent ministers, actuated by the love of 
the gospel and a sense of religious duty, 
came over and travelled through the coun- 
try ; others, removed thither and settled ; 
— and in 1682, a large number, under the 
patronage of William Penn, came into the 
province of Pennsylvania, and founded 
that flourishing colony. At that time, 
meetings were settled along the Atlantic 
provinces, from North Carolina as far as 
Boston in New England ; and, at the pre- 
sent day, the largest body of Friends is to 
be found in the United States. 

When we consider the great numbers 
who joined the society ; that, without any 
formal admission, all those who embraced 
the principles of Friends and attended 
their meetings were considered members, 
as well as their children, and of course, 
the body in some measure implicated in 
the consistency of their conduct ; the nu- 
merous meetings which were settled, and 
the wide extent of country which they 
embraced ; it is obvious that the organiza- 
tion of the society would have been im- 
perfect, without some system of church 
government by which the conduct of the 
members might be inspected and re- 
strained. 

The enlightened and comprehensive 
mind of George Fox was not long in per- 
ceiving the necessity for this ; and he 
early began to make arrangements for 
carrying it into practice. Under the 
guidance of the light of Christ Jesus, 
which had so clearly unfolded to him the 
doctrines and precepts of the gospel in 
their true spiritual character, he com- 
menced the arduous work of establishing 
meetings for discipline ; and, in a few 
years, had the satisfaction to see his labor 
and concern crowned with success, both 



in England and America. Under the in- 
fluence of that Christian love which 
warmed his heart toward the whole human 
family, but which more especially flowed 
toward the household of faith, he was very 
tender of the poor, and careful to see that 
their necessities were duly supplied. This 
principle has ever since characterized the 
society, which cheerfully supports its own 
poor, besides contributing its share to the 
public burdens. The first objects to which 
the attention of these meetings was directed 
were the care of the poor and destitute, 
who had been reduced to want by perse- 
cution, or other causes ; the manner of 
accomplishing marriages ; the registry of 
births and deaths ; the education and ap- 
prenticing of children ; the granting of 
suitable certificates of unity and approba- 
tion to ministers who travelled abroad, and 
the preservation of an account of the suf- 
ferings sustained by Friends in support of 
their religious principles and testimonies. 

It also became necessary to establish regu- 
lations for preserving the members in a line 
of conduct consistent with their profession. 
In this imperfect state of being, we are in- 
structed from the highest authority, that 
offences must needs come ; but it does not 
necessarily follow, either that the offender 
must be cut off from the church, or that 
the reproach of his misconduct should be 
visited upon the society to which he be- 
longs. If in pursuance of those Christian 
means laid down in the gospel, he is 
brought to acknowledge and sincerely con- 
demn his error, a brother is gained ; the 
church is freed from reproach by his re- 
pentance and amendment of life ; and 
thus the highest aim of all disciplinary 
regulations is attained. Where these 
effects, however, do not result from the 
Christian care of the church ; it becomes 
its duty to testify against the disorderly 
conduct of the offender, and to declare 
that he has separated himself from its fel- 
lowship, and is no longer a member 
thereof. The views of George Fox on 
this subject were marked by that simplicity 
and scriptural soundness which distin- 
guished his whole character. 

He considered the church as a harmo- 
nious and compact body, made up of living 
members, having gifts differing according 
to the measure of grace received, yet all 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



283 



dependent one upon another, and each, 
even the weakest and lowest, having his 
proper place and service. As the very 
design of religious society is the preserva- 
tion, comfort and edification of the mem- 
bers, and as all have a common interest 
in the promotion of these great ends ; he 
considered every faithful member reli- 
giously bound to contribute according to 
his capacity toward their attainment. The 
words of our Lord furnish a short but 
comprehensive description of the order 
instituted by Him for the government of 
His church : " If thy brother shall tres- 
pass against thee, go and tell him his fault 
between thee and him alone. If he shall 
.hear thee, thou hast, gained thy brother. 
But if he will not hear thee, then take 
with thee one or two more, that in the 
mouth of two or three witnesses every 
word may be established. And if he 
shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the 
church ; but if he neglect to hear the 
church, let him be to thee as an heathen 
man and a publican." 

Here is no limitation of this Christian 
care to ministers or any other class ; but 
any brother, who sees another offending, 
is to admonish him in love for his good. 
The language of our blessed Saviour 
respecting the authority of his church ; 
and his being in the midst of it in the per- 
formance of its duties, is very clear and 
comprehensive: " Verily I say unto you, 
whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall 
be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye 
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in 
heaven. Again I say unto you, that if 
two of you shall agree on earth, as touch- 
ing anything that they shall ask, it shall be 
done for them of my Father which is in 
heaven. For where two or three are 
gathered together in my name, there am 
I in the midst of them." 

The doctrine of the immediate presence 
of Christ with his church, whether assem- 
bled for the purpose of divine worship, or 
for the transaction of its disciplinary af- 
fairs, is the foundation of all its authority. 
It was on this ground that George Fox so 
! often exhorted his fellow-believers to hold 
I their meetings in the power of the Lord ; 
! all waiting and striving to know Christ 
I Jesus brought into dominion in their own 
I hearts, and his Spirit leading and guiding 



them in their services, that so his living 
presence might be felt to preside over their 
assemblies. In a church thus gathered, 
we cannot doubt, that the gracious Head 
condescends to be in the midst, qualifying 
the members to worship the Father of 
spirits, in spirit and in truth, or enduing 
them with wisdom rightly to manage the 
business which may engage their attention. 
Nor can we question that so far as they are 
careful to act in his wisdom and under his 
direction, their conclusions, being in con- 
formity with his will, have his authority for 
their sanction and support. 

The discipline of the Society of Friends, 
established in conformity with these views, 
embraces four grades of meetings, con- 
nected with, and dependent upon, each 
other. First, the preparative meetings 
receive and prepare the business for the 
monthly meetings, which are composed 
of one or more preparative meetings, and 
rank next in order above them ; in these 
the executive department of the discipline 
is chiefly lodged. The third grade in- 
cludes quarterly meetings, which consist 
of several monthly meetings, and exercise 
a supervisory care over them, examine 
into their condition, and advise or assist 
them as occasion may require ; — and 
lastly, the yearly meeting, which includes 
the whole, possesses exclusively the legis- 
lative power, and annually investigates 
the state of the whole body, which is 
brought before it by answers to queries, 
addressed to the subordinate meetings. 

In each preparative meeting there are 
usually two or more Friends of each sex, 
appointed as overseers of the flock, whose 
duty it is to take cognizance of any im- 
proper conduct in the members, and en- 
deavor by tender and affectionate labor to 
convince the offender, and bring him to 
such a sense of his fault as may lead to 
sincere repentance and amendment. Vio- 
lations of the discipline by members are 
reported by the overseers to the prepara- 
tive meetings ; and from thence, if deemed 
necessary, to the monthly meeting, where 
a committee is usually appointed to en- 
deavor to convince and reclaim the delin- 
quent ; and if this desirable result is not 
produced, a minute is made declaring the 
disunity of the meeting with his conduct 
and with him, until he is brought to a 



284 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



sense of his error, and condemns it in a 
satisfactory manner. From the decision 
of a monthly meeting, the disowned per- 
son has the right of appeal to the quarterly 
meeting, and if that gives a judgment 
against him, he may carry his case to the 
yearly meeting also, where it is finally 
determined. The women have also over- 
seers, appointed to extend Christian care 
and advice to their own sex ; and like- 
wise preparative, monthly, quarterly, and 
yearly meetings, in which they transact 
such business as relates to the good order 
and preservation of their members ; but 
they take no part in the legislative pro- 
ceedings of the society ; and in difficult 
cases, or those of more than ordinary im- 
portance, they generally obtain the judg- 
ment of the men's meetings. 

There are also distinct meetings for the 
care and help of the ministry, composed 
of ministers and elders, the latter being 
prudent and solid members, chosen* spe- 
cially to watch over the ministers for 
their good, and to admonish or advise 
them for their help. In these meetings 
the men and women meet together ; they 
are called meetings of ministers and elders, 
and are divided into preparative, quarterly, 
and yearly. 

There are at present in the society ten 
yearly meetings of Friends, viz., London 
and Dublin, in Great Britain and Ireland. 
New England, held at Newport, Rhode 
Island; New York, held in that city; 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, held in 
Philadelphia ; Maryland, held in Balti- 
more ; Virginia, held in that state, .at 
Cedar Creek and Sumerton, alternately ; 
North Carolina, held at New Garden in 
that state ; Ohio, held at Mount Pleasant ; 
and Indiana, held at Richmond in Wayne 
county. These include an aggregate of 
from one hundred and twenty to one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand members. 

The doctrines of the society may be 
briefly stated as follows. They believe 
in one only wise, omnipotent, and ever- 
lasting God, the t creator and upholder of 
all things, visible and invisible ; and in 
one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all 
things, the mediator between God and 
man ; and in the Holy Spirit which pro- 
ceeded from the Father and the Son ; one 
God blessed for ever. In expressing 



their views relative to the awful and mys- 
terious doctrine of " the Three that bear 
record in heaven," they have carefully 
avoided the use of unscriptural terms, in- 
vented to define Him who is undefinable, 
and have scrupulously adhered to the safe 
and simple language of Holy scripture, as 
contained in Matt, xxviii. 18-19, &c. 

They own and believe in Jesus Christ, 
the beloved and only begotten Son of God, 
who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, 
and born of the Virgin Mary. In him we 
have redemption, through his blood, even 
the forgiveness of sins ; who is the ex- 
press image of the invisible God, the first 
born of every creature, by whom all things 
were created that are in heaven or in earth, 
visible and invisible, whether they be 
thrones, dominions, principalities or pow- 
ers. They also believe that he was made 
a sacrifice for sin, who knew no sin, nei- 
ther was guile found in his mouth ; that 
he was crucified for mankind, in the flesh, 
without the gates of Jerusalem ; that he 
was buried and rose again the third day, 
by the power of the Father, for our justi- 
fication, and that he ascended up into hea- 
ven, and now sitteth at the right hand of 
God, our holy mediator, advocate, and in- 
tercessor. They believe that he alone is 
the redeemer and saviour of man, the 
captain of salvation, who saves from sin 
as well as from hell and the wrath to 
come, and destroys the works of the devil. 
He is the Seed of the woman that bruises 
the serpent's head, even Christ Jesus, the 
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. 
He is, as the scriptures of truth say of 
him, our wisdom, righteousness, justifica- 
tion, and redemption ; neither is there 
salvation in any other, for there is no 
other name under heaven given among 
men whereby we may be saved. 

The Society of Friends have uniformly 
declared their belief in the divinity and 
manhood of the Lord Jesus : that he was 
both true God and perfect man, and that 
his sacrifice of himself upon the cross was 
a propitiation and atonement for the sins 
of the whole world, and that the remission 
of sins which any partake of, is only in, 
and by virtue of, that most satisfactory 
sacrifice, and no otherwise. 

Friends believe also in the Holy Spirit, 
or comforter, the promise of the Father 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



285 



whom Christ declared he would send in 
his name, to lead and guide his followers 
into all truth, to teach them all things, 
and to bring all things to their remem- 
brance. A manifestation of this Spirit 
they believe is given to every man to profit 
withal,- that it convicts for sin, and, as 
attended to, gives power to the soul to 
overcome and forsake it ; it opens to the 
mind the mysteries of salvation, enables 
it savingly to understand the truths re- 
corded in the holy scriptures, and gives 
it the living, practical, and heartfelt expe- 
rience of those things which pertain to its 
everlasting welfare. They believe that 
the saving knowledge of God and Christ 
cannot be attained in any other way than 
by the revelation of this spirit ;— for the 
apostle says, " What man knoweth the 
things of a man, save the spirit of man 
which is in him ? Even so the things of 
God knoweth no man, but the spirit of 
God. Now we have received not the 
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is 
of God, that we might know the things 
which are freely given to us of God." If 
therefore the things which properly ap- 
pertain to man cannot be discerned by 
any lower principle than the spirit of 
man : those things, which properly relate 
to God and » Christ, cannot be known by 
any power inferior to that of the Holy Spirit. 
They believe that man was created in 
the image of God, capable of understand- 
ing the divine law, and of holding com- 
munion with his Maker. Through trans- 
gression he fell from this blessed state, 
and lost the heavenly image. His pos- 
terity come into the world in the image 
of the earthly man ; and, until renewed 
by the quickening and regenerating power 
of the heavenly man, Christ Jesus, mani- 
fested in the soul, they are fallen, degene- 
rated, and dead to the divine life in which 
Adam originally stood, and are subject to 
the power, nature and seed of the serpent ; 
and not only their words and deeds, but 
their imaginations, are evil perpetually in 
the sight of God. Man, therefore, in this 
state can know nothing aright concerning 
God ; his thoughts and conceptions of 
spiritual things, until he is disjoined from 
j this evil seed, and united to the divine 
j light, Christ Jesus, are unprofitable to 
! himself and to others. 



But while it entertains these views of 
the lost and undone condition of man in 
the fall, the society does not believe that 
mankind are punishable for Adam's sin, 
or that we partake of his guilt, until we 
make it our own by transgression of the 
divine law. 

But God, who out of his infinite love 
sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ into 
the world to taste death for every man, 
hath granted to all men, of whatever na- 
tion or country, a day or time of visitation, 
during which it is possible for them to 
partake of the benefits of Christ's death, 
and be saved. For this end he hath com- 
municated to every man a measure of the 
light of his own Son, a measure of grace 
or the Holy Spirit — by which he invites, 
calls, exhorts, and strives with every man, 
in order to save him ; which light or grace, 
as it is received and not resisted, works 
the salvation of all, even of those who are 
ignorant of Adam's fall, and of the death 
and sufferings of Christ ; both by bringing 
them to a sense of their own misery, and 
to be sharers in the sufferings of Christ, 
inwardly ; and by making them partakers 
of his resurrection, in becoming holy, 
pure and righteous, and recovered out of 
their sins. By which also are saved they 
that have the knowledge of Christ out- 
wardly, in that it opens their understand- 
ings rightly to use and apply the things 
delivered in the scriptures, and to receive 
the saving use of them. But this Holy 
Spirit, or light of Christ, may be resisted 
and rejected ; in which then, God is said 
to be resisted and pressed down, and 
Christ to be again crucified and put to 
open shame ; and to those who thus resist 
and refuse him, he becomes their condem- 
nation. 

As many as resist not the light of 
Christ Jesus, but receive and walk therein, 
it becomes in them a holy, pure and spir- 
itual birth, bringing forth holiness, right- 
eousness and purity, and all those other 
blessed fruits which are acceptable to God, 
by which holy birth, viz.: Jesus Christ 
formed within us, and working his works 
in us, as we are sanctified, so we are jus- 
tified in the sight of God ; according to 
the apostle's words ; " But ye are washed, 
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, 
in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 



286 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



Spirit of our God." Therefore, it is not 
by our works wrought in our will, nor 
yet by good works considered as of them- 
selves, that we are justified, but by Christ, 
who is both the gift and the giver, and 
the cause producing the effects in us. As 
he hath reconciled us while we were ene- 
mies, so doth he also, in his wisdom, save 
and justify us after this manner; as saith 
the same apostle elsewhere : " Not by 
works of righteousness which we have- 
done, but according to his mercy he saved 
us, by the washing of regeneration and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he 
shed on us abundantly through Jesus 
Christ, our Saviour, that being justified 
by his grace, we should be made heirs ac- 
cording to the hope of eternal life." We 
renounce all natural power and ability in 
ourselves, to bring us out of our lost and 
fallen condition and first nature, and con- 
fess that as of ourselves we are able to 
do nothing that is good, so neither can 
we procure remission of sins or justifica- 
tion by any act of our own, so as to merit 
it, or to draw it as a debt from God due 
to us ; but we acknowledge all to be of 
and from his love, which is the original 
and fundamental cause of our acceptance. 
God manifested his love toward us, in the 
sending of his beloved son, the Lord Je- 
sus Christ, into the world, who gave him- 
self an offering for us and a sacrifice to 
God, for a sweet smelling savor ; and 
having made peace through the blood of 
the cross, that he might reconcile us unto 
himself, and by the eternal Spirit, offered 
himself without spot unto God, he suffered 
for our sins, the just for the unjust, that 
he might bring us unto God. 

In a word, if justification be considered 
in its full and just latitude, neither Christ's 
work without us, in the prepared body, 
nor his work within us, by his Holy Spirit, 
is to be excluded; for both have their 
place and service in our complete justifi- 
cation. By the propitiatory sacrifice of 
Christ without us, we, truly repenting and 
believing, are, through the mercy of God, 
justified from the imputation of sins and 
transgressions that are past, as though 
they had never been committed ; and by 
the mighty work of Christ within us, the 
power, nature and habits of sin are de- 
stroyed ; that, as sin once reigned unto 



death, even so now grace reigneth, through [j 
righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus 
Christ our Lord. All this is effected, not 
by a bare or naked act of faith, separate 
from obedience, but in the obedience of 
faith ; Christ being the author of eternal 
salvation to none but those that obey him. 

The Society of Friends believes that 
there will be a resurrection both of the 
righteous and the wicked ; the one to 
eternal life and blessedness, and the other 
to everlasting misery and torment ; agree- 
ably to Matt. xxv. 31 — 46, John v. 25 — 
30, 1 Cor. xv. 12—58. That God will 
judge the world by that Man whom he 
hath ordained, even Christ Jesus the Lord, 
who will render unto every man according 
to his works ; to them, who by patient 
continuing in well-doing during this life 
seek for glory and honor, immortality and 
eternal life ; but unto the contentious and 
disobedient, who obey not the truth, but 
obey unrighteousness, indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every 
soul of man that sinneth, for God is no 
respecter of persons. 

The religious Society of Friends has 
always believed that the holy scriptures 
were written by divine inspiration, and 
contain a declaration of all the funda- 
mental doctrines and principles relating to 
eternal life and salvation, and that what- 
soever doctrine or practice is contrary to 
them, is to be rejected as false and erro- 
neous , that they are a declaration of the 
mind and will of God, in and to the seve- 
ral ages in which they were written, an,d 
are obligatory on us, and are to be read, 
believed and fulfilled by the assistance of 
divine grace. Though it does not call 
them " the Word of God," believing that 
epithet peculiarly applicable to the Lord 
Jesus ; yet it believes them to be the words 
of God, written by holy men as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost ; that they were 
written for our learning, that we, through 
patience and comfort of the Scriptures, 
might have hope ; and that they are able 
to make wise unto salvation, through faith 
which is in Christ Jesus. It looks upon 
them as the only fit outward judge and 
test of controversies among Christians, 
and is very willing that all its doctrines 
and practices should be tried by them, 
freely admitting that whatsoever any do, 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



287 



pretending to the spirit, which is contrary 
to the scriptures, be condemned as a delu- 
sion of the devil. 

As there is one Lord and one faith, so 
Here is but one baptism, of which the 
water baptism of John was a figure. The 
baptism which belongs to the gospel, the 
Society of Friends believes, is " not the 
putting away the filth of the flesh, but the 
answer of a good conscience toward God, 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." This 
answer of a good conscience can only be 
produced by the purifying operation of the 
Holy Spirit, transforming and renewing 
the heart, and bringing the will into con- 
formity to the divine will. The distinc- 
tion between Christ's baptism and .that of 
water is clearly pointed out by John : " I 
indeed baptize you with water unto repent- 
ance, but he that cometh after me is migh- 
tier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy 
to bear, he shall baptize you with the Holy 
Ghost and fire, whose fan is in his hund, 
and he will thoroughly purge his floor and 
gather his wheat into the garner, but he 
will barn up the chaff with unquenchable 
fire." 

In conformity with this declaration, the 
society holds that the baptism which now 
saves is inward and spiritual; that true 
Christians are " baptized by one Spirit 
into one body ;" that " as many as are 
baptized into Christ have put on Christ ;" 
and that " if any man be in Christ, he is 
a new creature : old things are passed 
away, behold all things are become new, 
and all things of God." 

Respecting the communion of the body 
and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Society of Friends believes, that it is in- 
ward and spiritual — a real participation of 
his divine nature through faith in him, and 
obedience to the power of the Holy Ghost, 
by which the soul is enabled daily to feed 
upon the flesh and blood of our crucified 
and risen Lord, and is thus nourished 
and strengthened. Of this spiritual com- 
munion, the breaking of bread and drink- 
ing of wine by our Saviour with his disci- 
ples was figurative ; the true Christian sup- 
per being that set forth in the Revelations : 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock : 
if any man hear my voice and open the 
door, I will come in to him and will sup 
with him, and he with me." 



As the Lord Jesus declared, " Without 
me, ye can do nothing," the Society of 
Friends holds the doctrine that man can 
do nothing that tends to the glory of God 
and his own salvation without the imme- 
diate assistance of the Spirit of Christ ; 
and that this aid is especially necessary in 
the performance of the highest act of 
which he is capable, even the worship of 
the Almighty. This worship must be in 
spirit and in truth ; an intercourse between 
the soul and its great Creator, which is not 
dependant upon, or necessarily connected 
with, any thing which one man can do for 
another. It is the practice therefore of the 
society to sit down in solemn silence to 
worship God ; that each one may be en- 
gaged to gather inward to the gift of divine 
grace, in order to experience ability reve- 
rently to wait upon the Father of spirits, 
and to offer unto him through Christ Jesus 
our holy Mediator, a sacrifice well pleasing 
in his sight, whether it be, in silent mental 
adoration, the secret breathing of the soul 
unto him, the public ministry of the gospel, 
or vocal prayer or thanksgiving. Those, 
who are thus gathered, are the true wor- 
shippers, " who worship God in the spirit, 
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confi- 
dence in the flesh." 

In relation to the ministry of the gospel, 
the society holds that the authority and 
qualification for this important work are 
the special gift of Christ Jesus, the great 
Head of the church, bestowed both upon 
men and women, without distinction of 
rank, talent, or learning ; and must be re- 
ceived immediately from him, through the 
revelation of his spirit in the heart ; agree- 
ably to the declarations of the apostle : 
" Fie gave some apostles, and some pro- 
phets, and some evangelists, and some 
pastors and teachers, for the purifying of 
the saints, for the work of the ministry, 
for the edifying of the body of Christ" — 
" to one is given by the Spirit, the word 
of wisdom, to another the word of know- 
ledge, by the same Spirit ; to another faith ; 
to another the gifts of healing — to another 
the working of miracles, — to another pro- 
phecy — to another discerning of spirits ; 
to another divers kinds of tongues ; to 
another the interpretation of tongues ; — 
but all these worketh that one and the self- 
same Spirit, dividing to every man seve- 



288 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



rally as he will." "If any man speak, 
let him speak as the oracles of God ; if 
any man minister, let him do it as of the 
ability which God giveth ; that God in all 
things may be glorified through Jesus 
Christ." 

Viewing the command of our Saviour, 
" Freely ye have received, freely give," 
as of lasting obligation upon all his minis- 
ters, the society has, from the first, stead- 
fastly maintained the doctrine that the 
gospel is to be preached without money 
and without price, and has borne a con- 
stant and faithful testimony, through much 
suffering, against a man-made hireling 
ministry, which derives its qualifications 
and authority from human learning and 
ordination ; which does not recognise a 
direct divine call to this solemn work, or 
acknowledge its dependence, for the per- 
formance of it, upon the renewed motions 
and assistance of the Holy Spirit. Where 
a minister believes himself called to reli- 
gious service abroad, the expense of ac- 
complishing which is beyond his means, 
if his brethren unite with his engaging in 
it and set him at liberty therefor, the meet- 
ing he belongs to is required to see that 
the service be not hindered for want of 
pecuniary means. 

The Society of Friends believes that 
war is wholly at variance with the spirit 
of the gospel, which continually breathes 
peace on earth and good-will to men. 
That, as the reign of the Prince of peace 
comes to be set up in the hearts of men, 
nation shall not lift up sword against na- 
tion, neither shaU they learn war any 
more. They receive, in their full and 
literal signification, the plain and positive 
commands of Christ: "I say unto you 
that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall 
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him 
the other also," — " I say unto you, love 
your enemies ; bless them that curse you, 
do good to them that hate you, and pray 
for them that despitefully use you and per- 
secute you, that ye may be the children 
of your Father which is in heaven." They 
consider these to be binding on every 
Christian, and that the observance of them 
would eradicate from the human heart 
those malevolent passions in which strife 
and warfare originate. 

In the same manner, the society be- 



lieves itself bound by the express com- 
mand of our Lord : " Swear not at all," 
and that of the apostle James : " But 
above all things, my brethren, swear not ; 
neither by heaven, neither by the earth, 
neither by any other oath ; but let your 
yea be yea and your nay nay, lest ye fall 
into condemnation ;" and therefore, its 
members refuse, for conscience' sake, 
either to administer or to take an oath. 

Consistently with its belief in the purity 
and spirituality of the gospel, the society 
cannot conscientiously unite in the obser- 
vance of public fasts, and feasts, and holy 
days, set up in the will of man. It be- 
lieves that the fast we are called to, is not 
bowing the head as a bulrush for a day, 
and abstaining from meats or drinks ; but 
a continued fasting from every thing of a 
sinful nature, which would unfit the soul 
for being the temple of the Holy Ghost. 
It holds that under the gospel dispensation 
there is no inherent holiness in any one 
day above another, but that every day is 
to be kept alike holy ; by denying our- 
selves, taking up our cross daily and fol- 
lowing Christ. Hence it cannot pay a 
superstitious reverence to the first day of 
the week ; but inasmuch as it is necessary 
that some time should be set apart to meet 
together to wait upon God, and as it is fit 
that at some times we should be freed from 
other outward affairs, and as it is reason- 
able and just that servants and beasts 
should have some time allowed them for 
rest from their labor; and as it appears 
that the apostles and primitive Christians 
used the first day of the week for these 
purposes : the society therefore, observes 
this day as a season of cessation from all 
unnecessary labor, and for religious re- 
tirement and waiting upon God ; yet not 
so as to prevent them from meeting on 
other days of the week for divine worship. 

Friends believe magistracy or civil gov- 
ernment to be God's ordinance, the good 
ends thereof being for the punishment of 
evil-doers, and the praise of them that do 
well. While they feel themselves re- 
strained by the pacific principles of the 
gospel from joining in any warlike mea- 
sures to pull down, set up, or defend any 
particular government : they consider it a 
duty to live peaceably under whatever 
form of government it shall please Divine 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. 



289 



Providence to permit to be set up over 
them ; to obey the laws so far as they do 
not violate their consciences ; and, where 
an active compliance would infringe on 
their religious scruples, to endure patiently 
the penalties imposed upon them. The 
society discourages its members from ac- 
cepting posts or offices in civil government 
which expose them to the danger of vio- 
lating our Christian testimonies against 
war, oaths, &c, and also from engaging 
in political strife and party heats and dis- 
putes, believing that the work to which we 
are particularly called, is to labor for the 
spread of the peaceful reign of the Messiah. 

It also forbids its members to go to law 
with each other ; enjoining them to settle 
their disputes, if any arise, through the 
arbitration of their Brethren ; and if pecu- 
liar circumstances, such as the cases of 
executors, trustees, &c, render this course 
impracticable or unsafe, and liberty is ob- 
tained to bring the matter into court, that 
they should on such occasions, as well as 
in suits with other persons, conduct them- 
selves with moderation and forbearance, 
without anger or animosity ; and in their 
whole demeanor evince that they are under 
the government of a divine principle, and 
that nothing but the necessity of the case 
brings them there. 

In conformity with the precepts and 
examples of the apostles and primitive 
believers, the society enjoins upon its 
members a simple and unostentatious 
mode of living, free from needless care 
and expense ; moderation in the pursuit 
of business ; and that they discountenance 
music, dancing, stage plays, horse races, 
and all other vain and unprofitable amuse- 
ments ; as well as the changeable fashions 
and manners of the world, in dress, lan- 
guage, or the furniture of their houses ; 
that, daily living in the fear of God and 
under the power of the cross of Christ, 
which crucifies to the world and all its 
lusts, they may show forth a conduct and 



conversation becoming their Christian pro- 
fession, and adorn the doctrine of God our 
Saviour in all things. 

In the year 1827, a portion of the mem- 
bers in some of the American yearly meet- 
ings, seceded from the society, and set up 
a distinct and independent association, but 
still holding to the name of Friends. The 
document issued by the first meeting they 
held, bearing date the 21st of 4th month, 
1827, and stating the causes of their se- 
cession, says, " Doctrines held by one 
part of society, and which we believe to 
be sound and edifying, are pronounced by 
the other part to be unsound and spu- 
rious.'" The doctrines, here alluded to, 
were certain opinions promulgated by 
Elias Hicks, denying or invalidating the 
miraculous conception, divinity and atone- 
ment of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also 
the authenticity and divine authority of 
the holy scriptures. These, with some 
other notions, were so entirely repugnant 
to the acknowledged and settled principles 
of the society, that endeavors were used 
to prevent the promulgation of them. The 
friends and admirers of Elias Hicks and his 
principles were dissatisfied with this oppo- 
sition to their views ; and after some years 
of fruitless effort to get the control of the 
meetings of Friends, they finally withdrew 
and set up meetings of their own. In this 
secession some members in New York, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Ohio and Indiana 
yearly meetings, and a few in New Eng- 
land went off from the society. In the 
others ; viz., London, Dublin, Virginia 
and North Carolina, no separation took 
place. This new society, (commonly 
known by the appellation of Hicksites, 
after the name of its founder,) being still 
in existence, claiming the title of Friends, 
and making a similar appearance in dress 
and language, some notice of the separa- 
tion seemed necessary, in order to prevent 
confusion. 



37 



290 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



BY WILLIAM GIBBONS, M.D., 

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE. 



Note. — In the following sketch, I have 
given what I believe to be the doctrines 
of that portion of the Society of Friends 
of which I am a member. No doubt 
there are different opinions among them, 
as there were among primitive Friends, on 
some subjects not reducible to practice, or 
in regard to which we cannot appeal to 
experience, and which, in reference to 
scripture, may be differently understood. 
I alone am responsible for what I have 
written — the society having no written 
creed. 

William Gibbons. 

Wilmington, Del., 7th month, 1843. 

ORIGIN OF THE SOCIETY. 

The Society of Friends originated in 
England about the middle of the 17 th cen- 
tury. The chief instrument in the divine 
hand for the gathering and establishment 
of this religious body was George Fox. 
He was born in the year 1624. He was 
carefully educated according to the re- 
ceived views of religion, and in conform- 
ity with the established mode of worship. 
His natural endowments of mind, although 
they derived but little advantage from the 
aid of art, were evidently of a very supe- 
rior order. The character of this extra- 
ordinary man it will not, however, be 
necessary here to describe with critical 
minuteness. The reader, who may be 
desirous of acquiring more exact infor- 
mation on this head, is referred to the 
journal of his life, an interesting piece of 



autobiography, written in a simple and 
unembellished style, and containing a 
plain and unstudied narration of facts. 
By this it appears, that in very early life 
he indulged a vein of thoughtfulness and 
a deep tone of religious feeling, which, in- 
creasing with his years, were the means 
of preserving him, in a remarkable de- 
gree, free from the contamination of evil 
example by which he was surrounded. 
The period in which he lived was distin- 
guished by a spirit of anxious inquiry, and 
a great appearance of zeal, on the subject 
of religion. The manners of the age were 
nevertheless deeply tinctured with licen- 
tiousness, which pervaded all classes of 
society, not excepting professors of reli- 
gion. Under these circumstances, George 
Fox soon became dissatisfied with the 
mode of worship in which he had been 
educated. Withdrawing, therefore, from 
the public communion, he devoted himself 
to retirement, to inward meditation, and 
the study of the scriptures. While thus 
engaged in an earnest pursuit of divine 
knowledge, his mind became gradually 
enlightened to discover the nature of true 
religion ; that it consisted not in outward 
profession, nor in external forms and cere- 
monies, but in purity of heart, and an 
upright walking before God. He was in- 
structed to comprehend, that the means j 
by which those necessary characteristics 
of true devotion were to be acquired were j 
not of a secondary or remote nature ; that | 
the Supreme Being still condescended, as i 




ELIAS HICKS. 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



291 



in former days, to communicate his will 
immediately to the soul of man, through 
the medium of his own Holy Spirit ; and 
that obedience to the dictates of this in- 
ward and heavenly monitor constituted 
the basis of true piety, and the only cer- 
tain ground of divine favor and acceptance. 
The convictions, thus produced in his own 
mind, he did not hesitate openly to avow. 
In defiance of clerical weight and influence, 
he denounced all human usurpation and 
interference in matters of religion, and 
boldly proclaimed that " God was come 
to teach his people himself." The novelty 
of his views attracted general attention, 
and exposed him to much obloquy ; but 
his honesty and uprightness won him the 
esteem and approbation of the more can- 
did and discerning. Persevering, through 
every obstacle, in a faithful testimony to 
the simplicity of the truth, he found many 
persons who, entertaining kindred impres- 
sions with himself, were fully prepared 
not only to adopt his views, but publicly 
to advocate them. The violent persecution 
which they encountered, served only to 
invigorate their zeal and multiply the 
number of their converts. United on a 
common ground of inward conviction, en- 
deared still more to each other by a par- 
ticipation of suffering, and aware of the 
benefits to be derived from systematic co- 
operation : George Fox and his friends 
soon became embodied in an independent 
religious community. 

Such is a brief history of the rise of the 
people called Quakers: to which I will 
only add, that the society continued to 
increase rapidly till near the end of the 
seventeenth century, through a most 
cruel and widely-extended persecution. 
Between the years 1650 and 1689, about 
fourteen thousand of this people suffered 
by fine and imprisonment, of which num- 
ber more than three hundred died in jail ; 
not to mention cruel mockings, buffetings, 
scourgings, and afflictions innumerable. 
All these things they bore with exemplary 
patience and fortitude, not returning evil 
for evil, but breathing the prayer, in the 
expressive language of conduct, " Father, 
forgive them, for they know not what they 
do !" The testimonies for whic*h they 
principally suffered, were those against a 
hireling priesthood, tithes and oaths ; 



against doing homage to man with " cap 
and knee ;" and against using flattering 
titles and compliments, and the plural 
number to a single person. 

I am next to speak of their religious 
principles, which are found embodied in 
their testimonies. 



DOCTRINES OF THE SOCIETY. 

The Society of Friends has never formed 
a creed after the manner of other religious 
denominations. We view Christianity es- 
sentially as a practical and not a theoreti- 
cal system ; and hence to be exemplified 
and recognised in the lives and conduct of 
its professors. We also hold that belief, 
in this connexion, does not consist in a 
mere assent of the natural understanding, 
but in a clear conviction wrought by the 
Divine Spirit in the soul. (1 John v. 10.) 
For that which here challenges our belief 
involves a knowledge of God ; and no man 
knoweth the things of God but by the 
Spirit of God. (1 Cor. ii. 11.) Again, 
religion is a progressive work : " There is 
first the blade, then the ear, and after that 
the full corn in the ear." (Mark iv. 28.) 
" And some there are who have need of 
milk, and not of strong meat ; and every 
one that useth milk is unskilful in the 
work of righteousness : for he is a babe." 
(Heb. v. 12, 13.) 

Seeing, therefore, that there are different 
growths and degrees of knowledge in the 
members of the body, we cannot but view 
the practice of requiring them to subscribe 
to the same creed, or articles of faith, as 
a pernicious excresence ingrafted on the 
Christian system. And hence we prefer 
judging of our members by their fruits, 
and leaving them to be taught in the school 
of Christ, under the tuition of an infallible 
teacher, free from the shackles imposed by 
the wisdom or contrivance of man. 

Our testimony to the light of Christ 
within. — We believe a knowledge of the 
gospel to be founded on immediate revela- 
tion. (Matt. xvi. 18; 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, 12 ; 
John xiv. 26.) Being the antitype of the 
legal dispensation, it is spiritual as its 
author, and as the soul which it purifies 
and redeems. (Rom. i. 16.) Under the 
gospel dispensation, the tempel, (1 Cor. v. 
19; Acts vii. 48,) altar, (Heb. xiii. 10,) 



292 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



« 



sacrifices, (1 Pet. ii. 5,) the flesh and blood, 
(John vi. 53 — 63,) water and fire, (John 
yii. 37, 38; iv. 14 ; Matt. hi. 11,) cleans- 
ing and worship, (John iv. 23, 24,) are all 
spiritual.* Instituted by the second Adam, 
the gospel restores to us the privileges and 
blessings enjoined by the first ; the same 
pure, spiritual worship, the same union 
and communion with our Maker. (John 
xvii. 21.) Such are our views of the 
Christian religion ; a religion freely offered 
to the whole human race, (Heb. viii. 10, 
11,) requiring neither priest nor book to 
administer or to illustrate it, (1 John ii. 
27; Rom. x. 6, 7, 8;) for all outward 
J rites and ceremonials are, to this religion, 
but clogs or cumbrous appendages, God 
himself being its author, its voucher, and 
its teacher. (John xiv. 26 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9 — 
12^) These are not speculations or no- 
tions, for we speak of what we do know, 
" and our hands have handled of the word 
of life." (1 John i. 1.) 

Such is a summary of the religion held 
and taught by the primitive " Quakers ;" 
from which I descend to a few particulars, 
as a further exposition of their and our 
principles. 

The message which they received is the 
same given to the apostles, that " God is 
light, and in him there is no darkness at 
all," (1 John i. 6, 7) : and their great 
fundamental principle to which they bear 
testimony is, that God hath given to every 
man coming into the world, and placed 
within him, a measure or manifestation of 
this divine light, grace, or spirit which, if 
obeyed, is all-sufficient to redeem or save 
him. (John hi. 19, 20 ; i. 9 ; Tit. ii. 11 ; 
1 Cor. xii. 7.) It is referred to and illus- 
trated in the scriptures, by the prophets, 
and by Jesus Christ and his disciples and 
apostles, under various names and simili- 
tudes. But the thing we believe to be one, 
even as God is one and his purpose one 
and the same in all, viz., repentance, re- 
generation, and final redemption. It is 
called light — of which the light of the 
natural sun is a beautiful and instructive 
emblem; for this divine light, like the 



* Vide Christian Quaker, Phila. edition, 
1824, p. 52. I. Pennington, vol. i. p. 360 ; vol. 
ii. pp. 1 15, 116, 981, 282. Whitehead's Light 
and Life of Christ, pp. 48, 49. 



natural, enables us to distinguish with in- 
dubitable clearness all that concerns us in 
the works of salvation, and its blessings 
are as impartially, freely, and universally 
dispensed to the spiritual, as the other is 
to the outward creation. It is called grace, 
and grace of God, because freely bestowed 
on us by his bounty and enduring love. 
(John xiv. 16, 26.) 

It is called truth, as being the substance 
of all types and shadows, and imparting 
to man a true sense and view of his con- 
dition, as it is in the divine sight. It is 
called Christ (Rom. viii. 10 ; x. 6, 7, 8) ; 
Christ within, the hope of glory (Col. i. 
27) ; the kingdom of God within (Luke 
xvii. 21) ; the word of God (Heb. iv. 12, 
13); a manifestation of the Spirit, given 
to every man to profit withal (1 Cor. xii. 
7) ; the seed (Luke viii. 11) ; a still small 
voice (1 Kings xix. 12) ; because most 
certainly heard in a state of retirement, 
but drowned by the excitement of the pas- 
sions, the rovings of the imagination, and 
the eager pursuit of worldly objects. "And 
thine ear shall hear a word behind thee 
saying, This is the way, walk ye in it — 
when ye turn to the right hand, and when 
ye turn to the left." 

It is compared to a " grain of mustard 
seed, the smallest of all seeds," being at 
first little in its appearance ; but, as it is 
obeyed, growing and extending like that 
plant, until it occupies the whole ground 
of the heart, and thus expands into and 
sets up the kingdom of God in the soul. 
(Luke xiii. 19.) For the like reason it is 
compared to "a little leaven, which a 
woman took and hid in three measures of 
meal,* until the whole was leavened," or 
brought into its own nature. (Luke xiii. 

This unspeakable gift, through the infi- 
nite wisdom and goodness of the divine 
economy, speaks to every man's condition, 
supplies all his spiritual need, and is a pre- 
sent and all-sufficient help in every emer- 
gency and trial. To the obedient it proves 
a " comforter," under temptation a " moni- 
tor," and a " swift witness" against the 
transgressor. It is a " quickening spirit" 



* A measure was two and a half gallons ; the j 
quantity of meal was, therefore, nearly one § 
bushel. 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



293 



to rouse the indifferent ; " like a refiner's 
fire, and like fuller's soap, purifying the 
unclean ;" and as a " hammer' 1 to the 
heart of the obdurate sinner ; and in all, 
an infallible teacher, and guide to virtue 
and holiness.* 

And as there are diversities of opera- 
tions and administrations, so also there 
are diversities of gifts bestowed on the 
members of the body : (1 Cor. xii. 4-12 :) 
" The Spirit dividing to every man seve- 
rally as he will," in order that every office 
and service in the church militant may be 
performed, to preserve its health, strength, 
and purity. And thus by one and the 
" self same spirit," " we are all baptized 
into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, 
whether bond or free ; and all are made 
to drink into one spirit." (1 Cor. xii. 13.) 
Divine internal light is often confounded 
with conscience, and thus inferences are 
drawn against the truth of the doctrine. 
But this principle is as distinct from that 
natural faculty, as the light of the sun is 
distinct from the eye on which it operates. 
From a wrong education, and from habi- 
tual transgression, the judgment becomes 
perverted or darkened, and often " calls 
evil good and good evil ;" and conscience 
i being swayed by the judgment responds 
to its decisions, and accuses or excuses 
accordingly. In this manner conscience 
becomes corrupted and defiled. Now it is 
our belief that, if the discoveries made 
and monitions given by divine light, to the 
mind, were strictly attended to ; it would 
correct and reform the erring conscience 
and judgment, and dissipate the darkness 
in which the mind becomes involved. 

Such is our testimony to the great fun- 
damental 'principle in religion, as we be- 
lieve and understand it. We exclude 
speculative opinions. If the reader be 
dissatisfied with our impersonal form of 
expression, let him change it and it will 
be a change of name only. We dispute 
not about names. 



* For a further exposition of this fundamen- 
tal principle of the Society of Friends, the 
reader is referred to the following works : Bar- 
clay, pp. 78, 81, 82 ; George Fox, " Great Mys- 
tery," pp. 140, 142, 188, 217,245; Christian 
Quaker, Philadelphia edition, 1824, pp. 198, 
200; lb. pp. 5 to 55; George Fox's Journal, 
passim ; Stephen Crisp's Sermon at Grace 
Church Street, May 24, 1688. 



We believe in the divinity of Christ — 
not of the outward body, but of the spirit 
which dwelt in it — a divinity not self-ex- 
isting and independent, but derived from 
the Father, being the Holy Spirit, or God 
in Christ. " The Son can do nothing of 
himself," said Christ; and again, "I can 
of mine own self do nothing," (John v. 19, 
30 ;) and in another place, " The Father 
that dwelleth in me he doeth the work," 
(John xiv. 10;) "As my Father hath 
taught me, I speak these things," (John 
viii. 28 ;) " Even as the Father said unto 
me, so I speak," (John xii. 50.)* 

We reject the common doctrines of the 
Trinity and Satisfaction, as contrary to 
reason and revelation, and for a more full 
expression of our views on these subjects, 
we refer the inquiring reader to the works 
below cited. f We are equally far from 
owning the doctrine of " imputed righte- 
ousness," in the manner and form in which 
it is held. We believe there must be a 
true righteousness of heart and life, wrought 
in us by the Holy Spirit, or Christ within ; 
in which work we impute all to him, for 
of ourselves we can do nothing. Neither 
do we admit that the sins of Adam are, 
in any sense, imputed to his posterity ; 
but we believe that no one incurs the guilt 
of sin, until he transgresses the law of God 
in his own person. Deut. i. 39 ; Ezek. 
xvii. 10-24 ; Matt. xxi. 16; Mark x. 14, 
15, 16; Rom. ix. 11.) In that fallen 
state, the love and mercy of God are ever 
extended for his regeneration and redemp- 
tion. God so loved the world, that he sent 
his only begotten Son into the world, in 
that prepared body, under the former dis- 
pensation, for the salvation of men. And 



* See also John iii. 34 ; v. 26, 36 ; vi. 38, 57 ; 
vii. 16; viii. 28, 42; xii. 49; I. Pennington, 
vol. iii. pp. 61, 62, 236 ; Whitehead's Light and 
Life of Christ, p. 35 ; Thomas Zachary, p. 6 ; 
William Penn, vol. ii.pp. 65, 66 ; Edward Bur- 
rough, p. 637; William Baily, pp. 157, 158: 
Stephen Crisp, pp. 75, 76. 

\ William Penn's " Sandy Foundation Shak- 
en," passim; I. Pennington, vol. ii.pp. 115, 116, 
427; vol. iii. pp. 32, 34, 54, 61, 62, 135, 226, 
236; Job Scott's " Salvation by Christ," pp. 16, 
22, 24, 25, 29, 30, 35 ; Christian Quaker, pp. 
34, 135, 199, 262, 276, 350, 354, 369, 405; 
William Penn's Works, fol. ed. vol. ii. pp. 65, 
66, 420, 421; vol. v. p, 385; William Baily, 
pp. 157, 158 ; T. Story's Journal, p. 385 ; Fox's 
Doctrinals, pp. 644, 646, 664, 1035. 



294 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



it is through the same redeeming love, and 
for the same purpose that, under the " new- 
covenant," he now sends the Spirit of his 
Son into our hearts, a mediator and inter- 
cessor, to reconcile us, and render us obe- 
dient to the holy will and righteous law of 
God. We believe that all, that is to be 
savingly known of God, is made manifest 
or revealed in man by his Spirit, (Rom. 
i. 19 ;) and if mankind had been satisfied 
to rest here, and had practised on the 
knowledge thus communicated, there would 
never have existed a controversy about 
religion, and no materials could now have 
been found for the work, of which this 
essay forms a part. (Deut. xxviii. 15, 
29.) 

Our testimony concerning the Scrip- 
tures. — We believe that the scriptures 
have proceeded from the revelations of 
the Spirit of God to the saints ; and this 
belief is founded on evidence furnished by 
the same Spirit to our minds. We expe- 
rience them to be profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
in righteousness. But as they are a de- 
claration from the fountain only, and not 
the fountain itself, they bear the same 
inscription as the sun-dial : " Non sine 
lumine" — useless, or a dead letter, with- 
out light;* because the right interpreta- 
tion, authority and certainty of them, and, 
consequently, their usefulness, depend on 
the assurance and evidence of the same 
Spirit by which they were dictated, given 
to the mind of the reader. (2 Cor. iii. 6.) 
For, although we believe that we may be 
helped and strengthened by outward 
means, such as the scriptures, and an au- 
thorized gospel ministry : yet it is only 
by the Spirit that we can come to the true 
knowledge of God, and be led " into all 
truth." Under these several considera- 
tions, we. cannot accept these writings as 
the foundation and ground of all religious 
knowledge, nor as the primary rule of 
faith and practice ; since these high at- 
tributes belong to the divine Spirit alone, 
by which the scriptures themselves are 
tested. Neither do we confound cause 
and effect by styling them the " Word of 
God," which title belongs to Christ alone, 



* Phipp's " Original and Present State of 
Man." 



the fountain from which they proceeded. 
(Eph. vi. 17; Heb. iv. 12; Rev. xix. 
13.) 

Our testimony on Divine Worship, 
the Ministry, fyc. — We believe that they, 
that worship the Father aright, must wor- 
ship him in spirit and in truth, and not in 
a formal manner. (John iv. 24.) Hence, 
when we meet together for public worship, 
we do not hasten into outw T ard perform- 
ances. (1 Pet. iv. 11.) For, as we believe 
that of ourselves, and by our own natural 
reason, we can perform no act that will 
be acceptable to God, or available to our 
own advancement in righteousness, with- 
out the sensible influence of his good 
Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 3.) : much less can we, 
without this divine aid, be useful to others, 
or minister at set times, seeing that this 
essential requisite is not at our command. 
Therefore it is our practice, when thus 
met together, to sit in silence, and with- 
draw our minds from outward things, to 
wait upon God, and " feel after him, if 
haply we may find him." (Psalm xlvi. 
10.) And in these silent opportunities we 
are often strengthened and refreshed to- 
gether by his heavenly presence. (Matt, 
xviii. 20.) This manner of worship we 
believe to be more acceptable to our great 
Head, " who seeth in secret," than set 
forms of prayer or praise, however spe- 
cious, performed in the will of man. (1 
Cor. ii. 13 ; Luke xii. 12.) Yet we do not 
exclude the use of a rightly qualified min- 
istry, but believe it to be a great blessing 
to the church. Nor do we exclude vocal 
prayer, w T hen properly authorized ; though 
we bear testimony against tne custom of 
appointing times and persons for this 
solemn service by human authority ; be- 
lieving that without the immediate opera- 
tion of the divine power, " we know not 
what we should pray for as we ought." 
(Rom. viii. 26.) 

I have before stated it as our belief, 
that outward rites and ceremonies have 
no place under the Christian dispensation, 
which we regard as a purely spiritual ad- 
ministration. Hence we hold that the 
means of initiation into the church of 
Christ does not consist in the water-bap- 
tism of John, which decreasing rite has 
vanished (John iii. 30) ; but in Christ's 
baptism, (Matt. iii. 11,) or that of the 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



295 



Holy Spirit ; the fruits of which are re- 
pentance and the new birth. Neither do 
we believe that spiritual communion can 
he maintained between Christ and his 
church, by the use of the outward " ele- 
ments" of bread and wine, called the " sup- 
per," which is the type or shadow only ; 
but that the true communion is that alluded 
to in the Revelations : " Behold I stand 
at the door and knock : if any man hear 
my voice and open the door, I will come 
in to him, and will sup with him, and he 
with me." 

A hireling ministry, or the practice of 
taking money for preaching, we testify 
against, as contrary to the plain precept 
and command of Christ, " Freely ye have 
received, freely give." Further, we hold 
that to constitute a minister of Christ re- 
quires a special gift, call, and qualification 
from the blessed Master, and that neither 
scholastic divinity, philosophy, nor the 
forms of ordination, confer in any degree 
either ability or authority to engage in 
this service of Christ, (1 Cor. ii. 4, 5, 13,) 
who has forewarned us that without him 
we can do nothing for ourselves. (John 
xv. 5.-) As we believe that gifts in the 
ministry are bestowed by the Head of the 
Church, so we presume not to limit him 
in the dispensation of them, to any condi- 
tion of life, or to one sex alone ; seeing 
that male and female are all one in Christ. 
And this liberty we look upon as a fulfil- 
ment of prophecy, having received abun- 
dant evidence of its salutary influence in 
the church. (Acts ii. 16, 17 ; xxi. 9.) 

Our testimonies against war, and oaths, 
are generally well known, and have their 
rise in the convictions of the spirit of 
truth in our minds, amply confirmed 
by the precepts and commands of Christ 
and his apostles, to which we refer the 
reader. 

We condemn frivolous and vain amuse- 
ments, and changeable fashions and super- 
fluities in dress and furniture, shows of 
rejoicing and mourning, and public diver- 
sions. They are a waste of that time 
given us for nobler purposes, and are in- 
compatible with the simplicity, gravity, 
and dignity that should adorn the Chris- 
tian character. 

We refrain from the use of the plural 
number to a single person, and of com- 



pliments in our intercourse with men, as 
having their origin in flattery, and tending 
to nourish a principle, the antagonist of 
that humility and meekness, which, after 
the example of Christ, ought to attach to 
his disciples. We also decline giving the 
common names to the months and days, 
which have been bestowed on them in 
honor of the heroes and false gods of an- 
tiquity, thus originating from superstition 
and idolatry. 

We inculcate submission to the laws in 
all cases where the " rights of conscience" 
are not thereby violated. But as Christ's 
kingdom is not of this world, we hold that 
the civil power is limited to the mainte- 
nance of external peace and good order, 
and therefore has no right whatever to 
interfere in religious matters. 



OF THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SOCIETY 
OF FRIENDS. 

The purposes of our discipline are, the 
relief of the poor, the maintenance of 
good order, the support of our testimonies, 
and the help and recovery of such as are 
overtaken in faults. 

In the practice of discipline, we think it 
indispensable that the order recommended 
by Christ himself be invariably observed : 
" If thy brother shall trespass against thee, 
go and tell him his fault between thee and 
him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou 
hast gained thy brother ; but if he will 
not hear thee, then take with thee one or 
two more, that in the mouth of two or 
three witnesses every word may be estab- 
lished. And if he shall neglect to hear 
them, tell it unto the church." (Matt, xviii. 
15, 16, 17.) 

To effect the salutary purposes of dis- 
cipline, meetings were appointed at an 
early period of the society, which, from 
the times of their being held, were called 
quarterly meetings. It was afterwards 
found expedient to divide the districts of 
those meetings, and to meet more fre- 
quently ; whence arose monthly meetings, 
subordinate to those held quarterly. At 
length in 1669, a yearly meeting was es- 
tablished, to be held in London, to super- 
intend, assist, and provide rules for the 
whole. Previously to this time, general 
meetings had been held occasionally. 



296 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



A monthly meeting is usually composed 
of* several particular congregations, situated 
at convenient distances from each other. 
These are called preparative meetings ; 
because they prepare business for the 
monthly meetings. It is the business of 
the monthly meeting to, provide for the 
subsistence of the poor, and for the educa- 
tion of their offspring ; to judge of the 
sincerity and fitness of persons appearing 
to be convinced of the religious principles 
of the society, and desiring to be admitted 
into membership ; to excite due attention 
to the discharge of religious and moral 
duty ; and to deal with disorderly mem- 
bers. Monthly meetings also grant to such 
of their members, as remove into other 
monthly meetings, certificates of their 
membership and conduct, without which 
they cannot gain membership in such 
meetings ; and they grant certificates to 
ministers concerned to visit neighboring 
meetings in the service of the gospel, set- 
ting forth that their concern has been laid 
before their own meeting and approved of. 
Each monthly meeting is required to ap- 
point certain persons, under the name of 
overseers, who are to take care that the 
rules of our discipline be put in practice ; 
and, when any case of delinquency comes 
to their knowledge, to visit the offending 
member, agreeably to the gospel rule be- 
fore mentioned, previously to its being laid 
before the monthly meeting. 

When a case is introduced, a committee 
is appointed to visit the offender, to en- 
deavor to convince him of his error, and 
to induce him to condemn or forsake it. 
If this be done to the satisfaction of the 
meeting, a record is made accordingly, 
and the case is dismissed. If not, he is 
disowned from membership. 

In disputes between individuals, it has 
long been the decided judgment of the 
society, that its members should not sue 
each other at law. It therefore enjoins on 
all to end their differences by speedy and 
impartial arbitration, agreeably to rules 
i laid down in the discipline. If any refuse 
to adopt this mode, or having adopted it, 
if they refuse to submit to the award, they 
are liable to disownment. 

To monthly meetings also belongs the 
allowing of marriages ; for our society has 
always scrupled to acknowledge the au- 



thority of priests, or hireling ministers, in 
the solemnization of this rite. Those, 
who intend to marry, inform the monthly 
meeting of their intentions, when a com- 
mittee is appointed both from the men's 
and women's meeting, to make inquiry if 
the parties are clear from other similar 
engagements ; and if found to be so, the 
consent of parents or guardians being 
shown, the marriage is allowed by the 
meeting. It is performed in a public 
meeting for worship, or in a meeting held 
at the house of one of the parties, towards 
the close of which they stand up, and 
solemnly take each other for husband and 
wife. The certificate is then signed, read, 
and attested. A committee appointed by 
the monthly meeting attends the marriage 
to see that it be orderly accomplished, 
moderation observed, and to deliver the 
certificate- to the recorder. Of such mar- 
riages the meeting keeps a record, and 
also of the births and burials of its mem- 
bers. 

Births and burials are unaccompanied 
with rites and ceremonies. At burials a 
solemn pause is made, and an opportunity 
afforded for those who may be concerned, 
to communicate their exercises. 

Several monthly meetings compose a 
quarterly meeting. At the quarterly meet- 
ing are produced written answers from the 
monthly meetings to certain queries res- 
pecting the conduct of their members, and 
the meeting's care over them. The fol- 
lowing are the principal subjects thus regu- 
larly brought into view by the queries : 
Attendance of all the meetings, with punc- 
tuality ; clearness from disorderly conduct 
therein ; prevalence of love and unity ; 
absence of tale-bearing and detraction ; 
speedy endeavors to heal differences ; 
careful education of children ; their fre- 
quent reading of the scriptures ; their 
restraint from reading pernicious books 
and from corrupting intercourse ; absence 
of traffic in ardent spirits, and of the use 
of them as a drink ; avoiding places of 
diversion, and the frequenting of taverns ; 
observance of temperance in other res- 
pects; providing for poor members, and 
schooling their children ; faithful support 
of testimony against oaths, an hireling 
ministry, war, fraudulent or clandestine 
trade, dealing in prize-goods and lotteries ; 



HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



297 



care to live within their circumstances, 
and to keep to moderation in trade ; punc- 
tuality to promises, and just payment of 
debts ; timely attention to such as give 
ground for uneasiness in these respects ; 
| dealing with offenders in the proper spirit 
and without delay, for their help, and when 
necessary to disown, seeking right author- 
ity ; support of schools under the care of 
the meeting. At the close of the answers 
to the queries, certain advices are read 
in the preparative and monthly meetings, 
in the conclusion of which Friends are 
enjoined to conduct the affairs of their 
meetings in " the peaceable spirit and wis- 
dom of Jesus, with decency, forbearance 
and love of each other." 

A summary of the answers to the 
queries is made out in the quarterly meet- 
ing, and forwarded to the yearly meeting, 
thus setting forth the general state of 
society. Appeals of disowned persons, 
from the judgment of the monthly meet- 
ings, ave brought to the quarterly meetings 
for revision. It is also the business of 
these meetings to assist in any difficult 
cases that may be presented by the 
monthly meetings, or where remissness 
appears in the care of these bodies over 
their members. 

The yearly meeting has the general 
superintendence of the society within the 
limits embraced by the several quarterly 
meetings of which it is composed ; and 
therefore, as the accounts which it re- 
ceives discover the state of inferior meet- 
ings, as particular exigencies require, or 
as the meeting is impressed with a sense 
of duty, it gives forth its advice, makes 
such regulations as appear to be requisite, 
or excites to the observance of those al- 
ready made, and sometimes appoints com- 
mittees to visit those quarterly and monthly 
meetings which appear to be in need of 
immediate advice. Each yearly meeting 
forms its own discipline. Appeals of dis- 
owned members from the judgment of 
quarterly meetings are here finally deter- 
mined. A brotherly correspondence, by 
epistles, is maintained with other yearly 
meetings. 

As we believe that women may be 
rightly called to the work of the ministry, 
we also think that to them belongs a share 
in the support of our discipline ; and that 



some parts of it, wherein their own 
sex is concerned, devolve on them with 
peculiar propriety. Accordingly, they 
have monthly, quarterly, and yearly 
meetings of their own, held at the same 
time with those of the men, but separately, 
and without the power of making rules. 

In order that ministers may have the 
tender sympathy and counsel of those, who 
by their experience in religion, are quali- 
fied for that service, the monthly meetings 
are advised to select such, from both sexes, 
under the denomination of elders. These, 
together with the approved ministers, have 
meetings peculiar to themselves, called 
" meetings of ministers and elders ;" in 
which they have an opportunity of exciting 
each other to the discharge of their re- 
spective duties, and of extending advice to 
those who may appear to need it, without 
needless exposure. Such meetings are 
generally held within the compass of each 
monthly, quarterly, and yearly meeting. 
They are conducted by rules prescribed 
by the yearly meeting, and have no au- 
thority to make any alterations of, or ad- 
ditions to the discipline. The members 
of the select meeting, as it is often called, 
unite with their brethren in the meetings 
for discipline, and are equally amenable 
to the latter for their conduct. 

Those who believe themselves required 
to speak in meetings for worship, are not 
immediately acknowledged as ministers 
by their monthly meetings ; but time is 
taken for judgment, that the meeting may 
be satisfied of their call and qualification. 
It also sometimes happens that such, as 
are not approved, obtrude themselves as 
ministers, to the grief of their brethren. 
But much forbearance is used towards 
these, before the disapprobation of the 
meeting is publicly expressed. 

In order that the yearly meeting may 
be properly represented during its recess, 
there is a body called the Meeting for 
Sufferings, or Representative Committee, 
composed of a certain number of members 
appointed by each quarterly meeting. It 
is the business of this meeting to receive 
and record the account of sufferings from 
refusal to pay fines and other military de- 
mands, sent up annually from the quarterly 
meetings ; to distribute useful religious 
books : to advise or assist our members I 



38 



298 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



who may incline to publish any manu- 
script or work tending 'to promote the cause 
of truth, or the benefit of society; and in 
general to act on behalf of the yearly 
meeting in any case where the welfare of 
the body may render it needful. It keeps 
a record of its proceedings, which is an- 
nually laid before the yearly meeting. 
Except this meeting and the meeting of 
ministers and elders, all our members have 
a right to attend the meetings of business, 
and to take part in the proceedings ; and 
they are encourged to do so. We have 
no chairman or moderator, and the duty 
of the clerks is limited to recording the 
proceedings. We decide no question by 
vote, but by what appears to be the sense 



of the meeting. In matters which elicit 
a difference of sentiment, personal and 
censorious remarks are discouraged, and 
care is taken to exercise a spirit of con- 
descension and brotherly love. Thus it 
often occurs in our meetings, that defer- 
ence to the views and feelings of a few 
consistent members will prevent the body 
from adopting a measure in which there 
is otherwise great unanimity. 

The Yearly Meetings of New York, 
Genessee, Baltimore, Ohio, and Indiana, 
hold an epistolary correspondence with the 
Philadelphia Y'early Meeting, according to 
ancient practice. But the Yearly Meeting 
of London has declined this intercourse 
since the separation in 1827. 



HISTORY 



OP 



THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



BY LEWIS MAYER, D. D., YORK, PA. 



The German Reformed Church, as its 
name imports, comprises that portion of 
the family of reformed churches which 
was organized in the Palatinate, Germany, 
in the sixteenth century, and as such is 
distinguished from the French Reformed, 
the Dutch Reformed, &c. It embraces 
the reformed churches of Germany and 
of the German part of Switzerland, and 
their brethren and descendants in other 
countries, particularly in the United States 
of America. 

Among the Reformers of that age it has 
most affinity for Zwingli, Melanchthon, 
and Calvin. Zwingli was born on the 1st 
day of January, 1484, at Wildhaus, a vil- 
lage of the ancient county of Tokkenburg, 
then a dependency of the Benedictine Ab- 
bey of St. Gall, under the guardianship of 



the canton of Schweitz, but, since 1803, 
included in the new canton of St. Gall. 

About the time of Zwingli's birth, the 
people of Tokkenburg had effected their 
emancipation from the condition of serfs 
to the saintly abbey, and now breathed 
the air of freedom in all its delightful 
freshness ; and the future reformer, in- 
haling the same enlivening air from his 
infancy, and growing up to manhood 
under its influence, became the champion 
of liberty, in all the forms in which the 
human mind is by nature free. 

Possessing talents of a high order, and 
cultivated by the best education which the 
times could afford, and a lofty genius could 
attain ; taught, at the same time, by the 
Spirit of God, and guided by him into a 
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus ; 




ULRICH ZWINGLI. 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



299 



Zwingli rose upon the world a burning and 
shining light, and showed to bewildered 
men', groping in the darkness of a long 
night, the way to God, whose mercy they 
sought, and the path to heaven, for which 
they sighed. Dark clouds often intercepted 
the light ; but its beams burst forth again 
in their wonted brightness ; the truth pre- 
vailed, superstitution gave way, and the 
church arose in her strength, the fetters 
falling from her hands, and occupied the 
place which God had assigned her as the 
bride of his Son, and the parent of true 
piety and virtue. 

The distinctive doctrinal principle of the 
Ger. Ref. Church is contained in the pro- 
position : " The Bible is above all human 
authority, and to it alone must every ap- 
peal be made." This principle Zwingli 
first announced in 1516, when he was yet 
pastor of the Church of Glarus ; from it 
he went forth in all his subsequent investi- 
gations of religious truth, and in all his 
public instructions : and when he reformed 
the church, after his establishment in. Zu- 
rich, he swept away from her ritual, as 
well as from her doctrinal system, all that 
the Bible did not authorize, either by an 
express warrant or by an implied one. 
The interpretation of the Bible he left, 
where God had left it, to the judgment 
and the conscience of every man who can 
apprehend the meaning of words, and 
compare one passage with another ; and 
if the truth could not be ascertained in 
this way, he felt assured that neither the 
fathers, nor the Pope, nor a general coun- 
cil, could be trusted as interpreters of the 
sacred oracles ; for these, he knew, had 
no better way. 

The Reformed Church differed, at first, 
from the Lutheran in nothing but the sin- 
gle point only of the Lord's Supper. In 
the conference at Marburg in 1529, which 
had been procured by the Landgrave of 
Hesse for the purpose of healing the breach 
between the Saxon and the Swiss divines, 
and where Zwingli and (Ecolampadius 
disputed with Melancthon and Luther, this 
was the only point on which they did not 
agree. Neither did they differ concerning 
the whole subject of the eucharist, but con- 
cerning only the import of the words, 
" This is my body," " This is my blood." 
Zwingli took them as a trope, and under- 



stood them to mean that the bread was a 
sign or figure of the Lord's body, and the 
wine of his blood. Luther insisted on a 
literal meaning, and contended that these 
words were the irrefragable testimony of 
the Lord himself, that his material body 
and blood were really present in and with 
the bread and wine, and were received, 
together with them, by the communicant ; 
and to fix this notion, he maintained that, 
like the bread and wine, the body and blood 
of Christ were received, not by faith, but 
by the mouth ; not by the believer only, 
but by every communicant. 

The Reformed regarded this difference 
as unessential, and acknowledged their 
opponents as brethren in Christ, whom it 
was their duty to receive. Luther classed 
it with the essentials of Christianity, and 
would not admit that those who denied the 
real presence were Christians at all. 
Zwingli proffered his hand to Luther and 
besought him with tears to receive him as 
a Christian brother, saying that there were 
no people in the world with whom he would 
delight more to have fraternal communion 
than those of Wittemburg. Luther refused 
his hand and turned away. In her subse- 
quent history, the Reformed Church often 
sought the same fraternity, and made some 
consessions for that object ; but she was 
as often repelled ; and her anxiety for a 
reunion subjected her to the epithet of 
Gern-Bruder, i. e. Would-be-brethren. 

The doctrine of predestination, which 
at a later period became a prominent sub- 
ject of controversy between the two 
churches, was held by all the reformers, 
unless Haller, the reformer of Berne, and 
Bullinger, Zwingli's successor in Zurich, 
be exceptions. Luther contended for it, 
in its rigid Augustinian form, in his tract 
De Servo Arbitrio. Melancthon also 
maintained it in the earlier editions of his 
Loci Communes Theologici ; a system 
of divinity which long continued to be the 
text-book of theological students in the 
Lutheran church. Controversy on this 
subject between theologians of the two 
churches first arose in 1561, when Zan- 
chius and Marbach, two divines of Stras- 
burg, took opposite sides ; and such was 
still the prevailing sentiment of that period, 
that this strife could be composed by sub- 
mitting to the contending parties, as the 



300 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



terms of peace, an ambiguous form of 
words, which each might interpret as he 
pleased. Long after this time, Melanc- 
thon's theory of synergism, or co-opera- 
tion of the human will with divine grace 
in the sinner's conversion, was condemned 
as heresy in the Lutheran Church ,* and 
in the synergistic controversy between the 
Philipists, or followers of Melancthon, and 
the rigid Lutherans, while the former as- 
cribed to the human will a power to co- 
operate with the Holy Spirit in the act of 
conversion, the latter not only denied this 
power, but maintained in all its rigor the 
Augustinian doctrine of absolute predes- 
tination. (See Planck's Gesch. der Protes- 
tantischen Theologie, Bd. III. p. 805, &c.) 

A third cause of difference, which be- 
came, at a later period, a subject of con- 
troversy between the two churches was 
the use of certain religious rites and insti- 
tutions which to the Reformed appeared 
to favor superstition, while the Lutherans 
regarded them all as tolerable, and some 
of them as useful. Such were the use of 
images in the churches, the distinguishing 
vestments of the clergy, private confession 
of sins and absolution, the use of the wafer 
in the Lord's Supper, lay-baptism, exor- 
cism of the evil spirit previous to baptism, 
altars, baptismal fonts, &c. Most of these 
usages have been laid aside, and are now 
unknown in the Lutheran Church in this 
country. Little now remains to distin- 
guish the* two churches ; they recognise 
each other as brethren, worship together, 
and abhor the controversy that would 
rupture the bond of mutual love. 

After the death of Zwingli and CEco- 
lampadius, in 1531, none of their asso- 
ciates enjoyed so decided a superiority 
over his brethren, as to give him a com- 
manding influence over the whole church, 
and to secure to him the chief direction 
of her councils. This honor was reserved 
for John Calvin, the French reformer. He 
was born at Noyon, in France, in the year 
1509. Driven from his own country by 
persecution, he came to Basel in 1534. 
Here, in the following year, he published 
the first edition of his " Institutes of the 
Christian Religion ;" a work which be- 
came the text-book of theology in the Re- 
formed Church, and which he enlarged 
and improved in successive editions, until 



the year 1559. On his return from a visit 
to the Duchess of Ferrara, in Italy, who 
was friendly to the Reformation, being 
compelled by the war to take the route 
through Geneva, he came to that city in 
August 1536, and was persuaded by Fa- 
rell and Viret to remain there, and com- 
plete the reformation which they had 
begun. A violent opposition from the 
licentious part of the inhabitants, who 
hated the strictness of his moral discipline, 
resulted in his expulsion' in 1538. He 
repaired to Strasburg, where he taught 
theology, and preached to a French con- 
gregation ; but in 1541, he was recalled 
to Geneva, and appointed professor of 
theology and principal pastor of the city. 
He was now enabled to prosecute success- 
fully, though not without frequent and 
often malicious opposition, a plan of refor- 
mation which he had formed. Endowed 
with great natural talents, richly furnished 
with stores of theological learning, fired 
by an ardent zeal for what he conceived 
to be truth, and possessed of a spirit of 
diligence that never tired, he rose in power 
and reputation above all his cotemporaries, 
and caused his influence to be felt wher- 
ever the Reformation was known, or be- 
came known. His design was vast and 
bold, like his genius : not content with 
reforming the little state which had re- 
ceived him as her spiritual father, he me- 
ditated the extension of the same work 
far beyond her narrow bounds, and sought 
to make Geneva the nursery and the 
model of all the Reformed churches 
throughout the .world. Neither was he 
wholly disappointed. The splendor of 
his name, and the fame of his associate 
and successor, Theodore Beza, who main- 
tained his entire system, attracted to Ge- 
neva the studious youth who looked to the 
Christian ministry, from all the countries 
upon which the light of the Reformation 
had risen ; the university over which they 
presided cast into the shade the University 
of Basel and the Seminary of Zurich, and 
reigned long almost without a competitor ; 
and Geneva became thus the nursing- 
mother from whom the whole church re- 
ceived her pastors and derived her spiri- 
tual instruction, and the model after which, 
in more than one country, her ecclesias- 
tical constitution was formed. 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



301 



The influence of the school of Calvin 
was felt by the German as well as by the 
other Reformed churches. The preachers 
who came from Geneva brought with them 
the doctrine and the spirit of the new re- 
former, and diffused them through the 
churches over which they presided ; and 
Calvinism thus became every where tri- 
umphant. Out of Switzerland, Zwingli, 
silent in death that came, alas ! too soon, 
was by degrees, neglected and forgotten ; 
and even in his own country his spirit was 
checked and his doctrine modified by this 
foreign influence. 

Calvin differed from Zwingli chiefly on 
three points, viz., on the Lord's Supper, 
on church-government, and on religious 
liberty. 

On the first point of difference Calvin 
took a position that was less offensive to 
the Papists than the doctrine of Zwingli, 
and presented to the Lutherans a middle 
ground upon which they might unite with 
the Reformed. Zwingli had taught, that 
to eat the flesh of Christ and to drink his 
blood, was simply to believe in him, and 
thereby to obtain pardon and eternal life. 

Calvin, on the contrary, maintained a 
real participation of the material body and 
blood of Christ, of which he considered 
the partaking of the bread and wine the 
visible sign and seal. He distinguished 
between believing in Christ and partaking 
of his flesh and blood, and made the lat- 
ter consequent upon the former. This 
participation of Christ's body and blood, 
he viewed as necessary to spiritual and 
eternal life. It is confined to the believer, 
and is effected, he thought, by the agency 
of the Holy Spirit, who elevates the be- 
liever, by means of his faith, to Christ, 
in heaven, and makes him, in a myste- 
rious manner, a participant of the Lord's 
body and blood ; and we thus become 
united with Christ, so that we are flesh of 
his flesh and bone of his bone, and con- 
stitute one body with him, which is go- 
verned by one and the same spirit. He 
differed from Luther in separating Christ 
from the bread and wine, and denying 
the presence of his body and blood in or 
with those elements. A consequence of 
this was, that a communicant might re- 
ceive the elements without receiving the 
body and blood of Christ ; and this, he 



3ing the abuse of church- 



held, was the case of all who were desti- 
tute of true faith. (See Calvin's Institutes 
Book IV. chap, xvii.) 

Zwingli 
power in the Roman hierarchy, and find 
ing no authority for it in the holy scrip- 
tures, subjected the church to the civil 
authority, in a Christian state, in all 
things relating to its government, which 
are not at variance with the divine word. 
Calvin separated the church wholly from 
the state, claimed for it the power of self- 
government, and left to secular rulers 
nothing more than the duty of protection 
and sustenance, as nursing fathers and 
nursing mothers. 

Zwingli taught the doctrine of absolute 
predestination as well as Calvin and the 
other reformers ;* but he did not impose 
it as an article of faith upon his church. 
Opposite opinions were, therefore freely 
entertained ; and even his successor, 
Henry Bullinger, is claimed as an asserter 
of the universality of divine grace. In 
the Canton of Bern, particularly, contro- 
versy on this subject ran high. " The 
preachers and professors at Lausanne, 
who were friends of Calvin," says Schrock, 
" demanded a general synod, and author- 
ity to excommunicate, that they might 
suppress the opinions which they opposed ; 
but the Senate of Bern rejected this eccle- 
siastical tyranny, as Haller called it." — 
(See Schrock's Kirch. Gesch. seit der 
Ref., vol. v. p. 179.) Calvin did not tol- 
erate the theories on this subject to which 
his own was opposed. 

Such, however, was the credit of Cal- 
vin, and such his perseverance, that he 
succeeded in 1549, notwithstanding the 
reluctance of the Swiss, to procure the 
formal reception of his doctrine on the 
Lord's Supper, in Switzerland, and a few 
years later, to obtain for his doctrine of 
predestination a recognition as an article 
of faith, in the same country. But, with 
all his credit, he could not persuade the 
Swiss to accept his form of church govern- 
ment. The rulers were not willing to 



* Dr. Mosheim errs in asserting the contrary, 
as the reader will perceive who will take the 
pains to examine this reformer's writings. See 
the extracts from his works published by Vo- 
gelin and Usteri, vol. i. part i. chap. v. p. 187, 
&c. 



302 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



relinquish to the church the power which 
they possessed ; and the Reformed Can- 
tons still retain that ecclesiastical polity 
which they received from the hands of 
Zwingli. 

In Germany, as well as fti Switzerland, 
the supreme authority in the church re- 
sides in the civil government. The im- 
mediate administration of church power 
is vested in a consistory or ecclesiastical 
council, (kirchenrath*) which is a mixed 
body of clergy and statesmen. The cler- 
gy of a given district constitute a chapter 
or classis, and at the head of each of 
these bodies is an inspector or superin- 
tendent, whose office is somewhat similar 
to that of a bishop in Episcopal churches.")" 
Several chapters or classes compose a 
synod ; and two or more particular synods 
may form a general synod ; which may 
either consist of delegates from the lower 
judicatories, or embrace all the clergy of 
the Reformed Church in the same country, 
or in several contiguous countries. In 
Switzerland, the clergy of the two can- 
tons of Zurich and Thurgau, and of the 
Rhinethal, now included in the canton of 
St. Gall, constitute one synod, at the head 
of which is the pastor primarius of the 
Great-Minister in Zurich, who bears the 
title of Antistes. The Reformed Churches 
of Germany have elders and deacons, 
who are chosen for limited periods. The 
elders constitute a presbytery, who, in 
conjunction with the pastor, administer 
the spiritual government of the congrega- 
tion. The deacons are charged with the 
temporal affairs, particularly with the 
care of the poor ; but where the number 
of elders is small, the deacons take part 
with them in the spiritual administration. 
The inspectors exercise a supervision over 
the clergy, the congregations and the 
schools of their respective districts, and 
report to the consistory, whose decision is 
final, if not arrested by the act of the su- 
preme civil authority. In some countries, 
as in the principality of Nassau, whose 
ecclesiastical constitution was taken from 
that of Holland, classes and synods have 
legislative authority. In others, as in the 



* Or Consistorium 

f In Switzerland the chapter has at its head 
the decanus or dean. 



county of Lippe, their meetings are held 
only for their own improvement in Chris- 
tian knowledge and piety. , In the Re- 
formed German part of Switzerland, the 
congregations are without elders and dea- 
cons. What are there called deacons are 
preachers who assist the principal pastor 
in the larger churches. The absence of 
the presbytery or body of elders, is com- 
pensated for by the Kirchen- Stillstande, 
a sort of sub-consistories, whose duty it is 
to watch over the morals of the church 
members, and to correct abuses in the 
conduct of life. The ecclesiastical assem- 
blies of this country are composed of the 
clergy only. The same is the case in 
Germany, except in those countries, as in 
the principality of Nassau, whose church 
polity is derived from Holland or Geneva. 

Admission to the privilege of full com- 
munion in the church is obtained by the 
rite of confirmation, which is preceded by 
a course of instruction in Christian doc- 
trine. The catechumens solemnly devote 
themselves to the service of God by a 
public profession in the presence of the 
congregation, and are thereupon received 
by the imposition of hands and prayer. In 
the case of unbaptized adults, baptism im- 
mediately precedes the imposition of hands. 
The use of this rite rests upon expediency, 
no divine authority is claimed for it ,* still 
less is it viewed by the Reformed Church, 
as it is by the Church of Rome, in the 
light of a sacrament. 

The doctrinal system of the German 
Reformed Church is contained in the Hei- 
delberg Catechism — so called from Heidel- 
berg, the capital of the Lower Palatinate, 
or Palatinate of the Rhine, where it was 
first published, in the reign of the Elector 
Frederick III., in the year 1563. It was 
adopted, as a symbolical book, soon after 
its publication, by almost all the Reformed 
Churches in Europe, and became particu- 
larly the symbolical book of the Reformed 
in Germany. This formulary observes a 
singular moderation on some points upon 
which the several parties in the Protestant 
churches differed, or respecting which good 
men might entertain different opinions. 
The wise elector selected for the composi- 
tion of this work two men, of whom one, 
Zacharias Ursinus, was a disciple of Me- 
lancthon ; and the other, Caspar Olevianus, 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



303 



a disciple of Calvin ; and having himself I 
embraced the doctrine of Zwingli, he pre- 
sided in their deliberations. The result 
was, what all moderate men desired, a 
compromise. The catechism presented to 
all these parties a common ground of 
union. No mention is made of the doc- 
trines of predestination, election, reproba- 
tion, &c, although by some they are sup- 
posed to be implied, at least in a modified 
form, in the statement of other doctrines. 
On the Lord's Supper it unites the theo- 
ries of Zwingli and of Calvin, with the lat- 
ter of whom Melanchthon was essentially 
agreed. It teaches total depravity as en- 
tailed upon mankind through the fall and 
disobedience of Adam and Eve in Eden. 
The atonement is made general where it 
says that Christ bore the wrath of God 
against the sins of all mankind; but 
nothing is said to forbid a limitation of it 
to the elect in its actual effect. It asserts 
the total inability of the unregenerate to 
do any good until he is regenerated by 
the Spirit of God ; but it leaves room for 
the Philipist to say, that when the Holy 
Spirit would regenerate us, the human 
will may resist or assent to his operation. 
If it were objected, that assenting before 
regeneration would be a good work, he 
might reply that it was not in the proper 
sense good ; or that it was not completed 
before regeneration was complete; and 
this answer was sufficient for the object 
contemplated, if it satisfied himself. 

Conflicting views upon the Lord's Sup- 
per are most happily harmonized by the 
Catechism, in the doctrine of a real pre- 
sence of the glorified humanity of Christ 
as distinguished from a corporeal presence, 
either in the form of transubstantiation or 
consubstantiation. This view, which for 
a number of years was practically super- 
seded by the rationalistic moral and me- 
morial theory, is now predominant in the 
Church, both in Europe and America. 

The doctrine of absolute predestination 
to eternal life has never been fully estab- 
lished as an article of faith in the German 
Reformed Church. In different sections 
of the Church it has from time to time 
been variously modified, and in some 
wholly rejected. Though constituted an 
article of faith in Switzerland, by the 
Consensus of 1554, and confirmed by the 



Synod of Dort, in 1618-19, it was, never- 
theless, so far supplanted by the opposing 
theories in 1675, that a necessity was 
deemed to exist for a new Formula Con- 
sensus of the Swiss divines to sustain it. 
Nor did this new Confession maintain its 
authority very long ; after many conflicts 
it fell before the influence of the French 
and the German schools about the year 
1722, when subscription to it ceased to be 
required. (See Schrock's Kirch. Gesch. 
vol. viii. p. 661, &c.) 

In Germany the decrees of the Synod 
of Dort were never received in some of 
the States, as Brandenburg, Anhalt, and 
Bremen ; in others they have long since 
lost their binding authority ; and the Ger- 
man Reformed Church is now, in relation 
to the doctrine of absolute election, where 
Zwingli left it. Calvinism is again re- 
viving in the Church, both in Europe and 
America; but the doctrine of Melanchthon, 
or, what is essentially the same, the doc- 
trine of Arminius, on this point, is predo- 
minant, and the theory of absolute predes- 
tination is generally regarded, by the laity 
at least, with aversion. 



ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN AMERICA. 

The German Reformed Church in the 
United States was founded by emigrants 
from Germany and Switzerland. Her 
origin may be dated about the year 1720. 
The principal seat of the Church in her 
infancy was Eastern Pennsylvania ; though 
settlements were made also, and congre- 
gations formed, at an early period, in other 
States, particularly in the Carolinas, Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New 
York. Her doctrinal system is derived 
from Germany and Switzerland ; but her 
ecclesiastical polity is formed after the 
model of the Reformed Dutch Church of 
Holland, by whom she was nurtured in 
her infancy, and who thus repaid an ear- 
lier debt of Christian love. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM THE SYM- 
BOLICAL BOOK. 

The Heidelberg Catechism is the only 
symbolical book of the Church in the 
United States, though both in Germany 



304 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



and Switzerland she has others besides 5 
and, in the first named country, adopts 
also the Lutheran Confession of Augsburg, 
as altered by Melanchthon, in the tenth 
article, relating to the Lord's Supper, in 
the later editions that were published 
under his direction. 

Subscription to the catechism, by can- 
didates for the ministry, is required at 
their licensure; a formula to this effect 
being kept in a special book by Synod, 
and each classis. A professor of theology 
is required, at his ordination, to affirm to 
the following declaration : 



FORM OF DECLARATION. 

" You, N. N., professor elect of the 
Theological Seminary of .the German Re- 
formed Church in the United States, ac- 
knowledge sincerely, before God and this 
assembly, that the holy scriptures of the 
Old and New Testament, which are called 
the canonical scriptures, are genuine, au- 
thentic, inspired, and therefore divine 
scriptures; that they contain all things 
that relate to the faith, the practice, and 
the hope of the righteous, and are the 
only rule of faith and practice in the 
Church of God; that, consequently, no 
traditions, as they are called, and no mere 
conclusions of reason, that are contrary 
to the clear testimony of these scriptures, 
can be received as rules of faith or of life. 
You acknowledge, farther, that the doc- 
trine contained in the Heidelderg Cate- 
chism, as to its substance,* is the doctrine 
of the holy scriptures, and must, there- 
fore, be received as divinely revealed 
truth. You declare sincerely that, in the 
office you are about to assume, you will 
make the inviolable divine authority of 
the holy scriptures, and the truth of the 
doctrine contained in the Heidelberg 
Catechism, as to its substance,* the basis 
of all your instructions. You declare, 
finally, that you will labor according to 
the ability which God may grant you, 
that, with the divine blessing, the students 
entrusted to your care may become en- 
lightened, pious, faithful, and zealous 



* The clause, as to its substance, is stricken 
out in the revised constitution. 



ministers of the gospel, who shall be 
sound in the faith/' 



THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 

The government of the Church is Pres- 
byterial. All ordained ministers are 
equal in rank and authority. Licentiates 
are not pastors, or ministers, but candi- 
dates for the ministry; they cannot ad- 
minister the sacraments, nor be delegates 
to synod, and have no vote in the classical 
assemblies. 

Each congregation is governed by its 
consistory or vestry, which is usually com- 
posed of elders and deacons, and of which 
the pastor of the Church may, or may not, 
be a member. In chartered congregations 
the consistory is a legal corporation, with 
which the charter often joins others, be- 
sides elders and deacons, as counsellors, 
or trustees ; and all these usually vote by 
custom, and by authority of the charter, 
on every question that comes before the 
body. 

The clergy residing within certain 
bounds constitute a classis, which must 
consist of at least three ministers. A 
classis meets statedly once a year, and 
may resolve, or be called by its president, 
to hold a special meeting, as often as 
urgent business may demand it. The 
president is elected annually, and presides 
in the meeting of classis, for the mainte- 
nance of order, as primus inter pares. 
Every pastoral charge is entitled to a lay 
delegate, who must be an elder, and has 
the same right to deliberate and vote in 
the classis as the clerical member. A 
majority of the whole number, of which 
at least one. half must be ministers, con- 
stitute a quorum; and every question is 
decided by a majority of those actually 
assembled. 

The synod is composed of the clerical 
and lay delegates appointed by the classes. 
It meets statedly once a year, and may 
assemble in special meetings by its own 
appointment, or by the call of its presi- 
dent. The president of synod is in like 
manner elected annually. A classis con- 
sisting of not more than six ministers, is 
entitled to one minister and one lay dele- 
gate to represent it in synod. A classis 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



305 



having more than six, and not more than 
twelve ministers, may be represented by 
two ministers and two lay delegates ; and 
in the same ratio increasing for any larger 
number. Six ministers and six elders, 
from a majority of the classes, may con- 
stitute a quorum, as the constitution now 
provides. 

A general convention of all the minis- 
ters and lay delegates of the whole Church 
can be authorized by an act of synod, and 
not otherwise. 

An appeal can be taken from the con- 
sistory to the classis, and from the classis 
to the synod, whose decision is final. 



SPREAD OF THE CHURCH IN THE 
UNITED STATES. 

The German Reformed Church in this 
country is now spread over the whole of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, and over portions 
of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and 
New York. There is a church in the city 
of New Orleans ; others formerly subsisted 
in New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennes- 
see, and Kentucky; and some members 
are still scattered over the several States 
of the Union. 

This Church is divided into two bodies, 
which maintain a friendly correspondence, 
but are wholly independent of one another. 
Each is governed by a synod and its lower 
judicatories. 



EASTERN SYNOD. 

The eastern portion of the Church is 
the original and parent body; and its 
synod, existing before the other, bears 
the title of " The Synod of the German 
Reformed Church in the United States." 
Its territory extends in Pennsylvania 
westward to the Allegheny mountains; 
northward it includes portions of New 
York ; and on the south, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, and Carolina. It has under its 
jurisdiction fourteen classes, viz : New 
York, Philadelphia, Goshenhoppen, Lan- 
caster, East Pennsylvania, Lebanon, East 
Susquehanna, West Susquehanna, Zion, 
Clarion, Mercersburg, Maryland, Virginia, 



and North Carolina. The number of | 
ministers and licentiates in connection 
with this synod was, in 1858, two hun- 
dred and eight. The number of congre- 
gations reported was six hundred and 
seventy-four. 

Subordinate to this synod are a board 
of foreign missions, a board of domestic 
missions, and a board of education. 

The Board of Foreign Missions has 
charge of the mission at Broosa, in Asia 
Minor, once under the care of the New- 
castle Presbytery in the Presbyterian 
Church. The business of foreign mis- 
sions is transacted through the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions, with whom a connection for that 
object has been long established. 

The Board of Domestic Missions had 
formerly under their supervision a print- 
ing establishment, located at Chambers- 
burg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, but 
it is now in other hands. 

The Board of Education are charged 
with the care of beneficiary students, who 
are in a course of preparation for the gos- 
pel ministry in the Church. They have 
under their patronage a large number of 
beneficiaries. 

WESTERN SYNOD. 

The western part of the Church is 
located principally in Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
Indiana, and Illinois, but extends also 
into the adjoining States, and has for its 
field the entire valley of the Mississippi. 
About the year 1810 or 1812, the Rev. 
Jacob William Dechaut was sent by the 
synod as a missionary to the State of Ohio, 
and located himself at Miamisburg, in 
Montgomery county. He was followed 
by the Rev. Thomas Winters, George 
Weis, and others, who were willing to 
cultivate that long neglected soil. Prior 
to their settlement there was in all that 
region only one German Reformed min- 
ister, the Rev. J. Larose, who was not 
then in connection with any ecclesiastical 
judicatory. In 1819 the Classis of Ohio 
was formed, and in 1823 or 1824 the 
majority of the classis separated from the 
parent body, and formed themselves into 
an independent judicatory, under the title 
of "The Synod of Ohio." In 1836 the 



"39 



306 



HISTORY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 



Classis of Western Pennsylvania obtained 
permission to unite with the Synod of 
Ohio, which now bore the title of " The 
Synod of Ohio and the adjoining States/' 
and by a subsequent act, this synod, which 
had previously been subdivided into three 
district synods, received a new organi- 
zation agreeably to the plan of the consti- 
tution of the Eastern Church. 

The Western Church is now divided 
into ten classes, viz : Miami, Lancaster, 
Westmoreland, Sandusky, Tiffin, St. Jo- 
seph, Sheboygan, Indiana, Illinois, and 
St. John; and its synod is a delegated 
body, composed of the representatives of 
the classes. 

The number of German Reformed min- 
isters connected with the Western Synod, 
is now (1858) one hundred and twenty- 
eight, and of congregations three hundred 
and fifty-one. 



THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



The Church has two Theological Semi- 
naries. One at Mercersburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, connected with the Eastern Synod, 
has two professors, twenty students, and a 
library of ten thousand volumes. The 
Theological Seminary of the Western 
Synod is located at Tiffin, Ohio; it has 
but one professor at present, and thirteen 
students. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 

There are two chartered Colleges and 
several collegiate institutions connected 
with the Church. Franklin and Mar- 
shall College, located at Lancaster, Penn- 
sylvania, has six professors, one hundred 
and sixteen students, libraries compre- 
hending about twelve thousand volumes, 
and a large geological cabinet. It was 
founded in 1837, and has now (1858) two 
hundred and fifty Alumni. Heidelberg 
College, at Tiffin, Ohio, with seven pro- 
fessors and tutors, and one hundred and 
sixty students. It was founded in 1850. 



PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS. 

Six religious newspapers are published 
under the patronage of the Church. Of 
these three are English : The German 
Reformed Messenger, Chambersburg, Pa. ; 
The Western Missionary, Dayton, Ohio; 
and The Mercersburg Review, Chambers- 
burg and Philadelphia. The other three 
are German : Die Kirchenzeitung, Cham- 
bersburg; Der Evangelist, Tiffin, Ohio; 
and Der Lammerhirte, a Sunday School 
paper, Philadelphia. A new English 
Sunday School paper is about being 
started. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



307 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION 



BY THE REV. ISAAC LEESER, 

PASTOR OF THE HEBREW PORTUGUESE CONGREGATION, PHILADELPHIA. 



When we endeavor to trace the origin 
of the civilization which rules with its be- 
nignant sway the mightiest nations of 
modern times, and none more so than the 
people inhabiting the United States of 
America, we shall soon discover that it 
must be ascribed to a great moral influ- 
ence which had its birth in the gray ages 
of antiquity. For, disguise it as you will, 
seek with candor or prejudice, you must 
at length arrive at the conclusion, that the 
sources whence the modern rules of moral 
government are in the main drawn, is the 
same which refreshed the Chaldeean shep- 
herd when he first felt moved to peril his 
all in the cause of that truth which his 
high-reaching intellect had discovered ; 
that is to say, the truth of the existence of 
one Supreme, who created all and sustains 
in his mercy all that his power has called 
into being. — This source of light we call 
divine revelation, and it is contained for 
us, who live at this day, in the pages of that 
priceless book which we call the Bible. 

Long indeed, however, had this Bible, 
this source of truth, to struggle against 
the furious assaults of pagan superstition ; 
long even after the establishment of Chris- 
tianity was the leaven of ancient usages 
too powerful for the simple truths of the 
Word of God ; but with all this, triumph 
is gradually perching upon the banners of 
divinely illuminated reason ; and with the 
certain, though slow, progress of mankind 
in the path of science and enlightenment, 
it is not to be doubted that pure religion 



will also become more and more the rule | 
of life for the sons of man. There may 
be, and in truth are, many retrogressions; 
we find indeed that from some unforeseen 
causes, such as luxury, devastating wars, j 
the irruption of barbarous nations, man- 
kind have appeared, and to this day do 
appear, to deteriorate in certain periods ; 
but upon the whole every age becomes 
wiser than its predecessor through the 
light of experience and by a knowledge of 
the evils which others had to endure. The 
storms through which civilization has pe- 
riodically to pass, purify it from the stag- 
nant air which entire repose would neces- 
sarily create around it ; for it has to share 
the fate with every other gift which has been 
bestowed upon mankind, of being endan- 
gered if it is not constantly watched, and 
guarded against the enemies which have 
been wisely placed around our happiness, 
that we may not fall into inaction and 
effeminacy. 

The Jews, and their predecessors the 
Israelites, have been always regarded with 
suspicion, and not rarely with aversion, 
by those who hold opinions different from 
them ; but if an enquirer were to look 
with the eye of truth into the source of 
this suspicion and of this aversion, he 
would be disappointed, for the honor of 
mankind, to find that both are without 
sufficient ground to warrant their being 
indulged in by any person who can lay 
the least claim to intelligence. One would 
suppose that the Judseophobia must be ow- 



308 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



ing to some monstrous doctrines which 
the Jewish religion contains, which would 
render its professors dangerous to the state 
as unsafe citizens or rebellious subjects, 
by teaching them to imbrue their hands 
in blood, or to plunder the unwary of their 
possessions. Perhaps calumny has as- 
serted these things ; perhaps ignorance 
may have imagined that this could be so. 
But how stands the case ? 

In the days when the wealth of many 
nations was not estimated by the gold and 
silver in their houses, and by the ships 
which bore their products upon the face 
of the ocean, but by the multitude of their 
herds and flocks and of " the ships of the 
desert" the patient and burdensome camels, 
and the toilsome asses, and the number of 
their household : there arose a man in his 
beginning as simple as his countrymen, as 
unostentatious as any shepherd of them 
all. He was called Abraham ; and lived 
in that fruitful country once known as 
Chaldsea. Around him every one seemed 
to have forgotten the existence of one 
Creator ; for gross idolatry, or the worship 
as gods of things which have no power to 
save, was the prevailing vice of mankind. 
It is well to inquire, whether notions of 
right and wrong based upon such pre- 
mises can be of real utility to man? 
whether a belief in gods full of human 
vices, according to the ideas even of their 
worshippers, can inspire the virtues which 
are the basis of true civilization 1 The 
candid reasoner will answer in the nega- 
tive ; for debasing conceptions of worship 
will naturally debase the understanding, 
and one is but too apt to excuse in himself 
what he discovers or fancies to exist in the 
being to whom he looks up with respect 
and adoration. This being premised, it 
will be readily conceded that at the ap- 
pearance of Abraham the pervading popu- 
lar opinions were unfriendly to the ad- 
vancement of civilization ; and that there- 
fore his promulgating contrary views, 
granting that he did so, was no evidence 
of his being an enemy to the general wel- 
fare. Let us then see, what did Abraham 
do ? Disgusted with the follies surround- 
ing him on all sides, convinced that the 
works of human hands were not proper 
objects of worship : he resolved in his heart 
to look from the creature to the Cause, 



and thus he brought himself to adore the 
Creator ; since there is every where ap- 
parent the same principle as the foundation 
and origin of all that exists. Full of this 
sublime thought he left his native land, his 
father's roof, and wandered to the smiling 
country of the South, where the most hor- 
rible superstition had established itself in j 
the shape of human sacrifices to the de- J 
vouring Moloch. It was here he pro- 
claimed the " God who is the living God 
and everlasting King," and exhibited in 
his conduct that neighborly love, that re- 
gard for justice and righteousness, which 
compelled even the followers of a senseless 
system, if system it may be called, to look 
upon him who had come among them a 
stranger, who had made publicly known 
his attachment to a worship which they 
knew not, as " a prince of God in the 
midst of them." What now were the 
principles of Abraham ? Simply these : 
first, the belief in the existence of one God, 
who made heaven and earth ; secondly, 
obedience to the dictates of this God ; 
thirdly, accountability to this God for all 
deeds by intelligent creatures ; fourthly, 
charity and neighborly love ; and fifthly, 
the exercise of evenhanded justice. We 
will not insist that there are no other prin- 
ciples involved in the doctrines of Abra- 
ham ; but we give these points merely to 
convey a general idea of what he did in 
the fulfilment of his mission. Let us now 
examine briefly the effect such a system 
must have, if generally adopted and gene- 
rally carried out in practice. Without 
the belief in a superior Power there cannot 
be imagined a being great enough to exer- 
cise any control over the actions of man ; 
the Being to be adored must be eternal, 
universal, and uniform. Now precisely 
such a God Abraham proclaimed. The 
God of the scriptures is from the begin- 
ning ; He made all that exists ; He is of 
unending endurance, surviving all that 
can ever appear in the world ; He is in 
every imaginable part of the creation — no 
space can limit Him, no obstacles can bar 
out his presence ; and finally, He is uni- 
form — there are no disturbing causes 
which can diminish his power, weaken 
his energies, or abridge his wisdom ; there 
are no discoverable means to divide Him 
into parts, or to add aught to his greatness, 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



309 



felicity, or perfection, for every thing is 
his, and existing only by his will and suf- 
ferance. This God, according to Abra- 
ham's doctrines, has given certain instruc- 
tions to his creatures, which, since Fie is 
the Source of wisdom, must be necessarily 
wise, useful and immutable in their ten- 
dencies and nature. Farther, the Creator 
expects that those who have a knowledge 
of his enactments will, under pain of ac- 
countability, and with a certainty of re- 
compense, endeavor to obey strictly what 
they are certified to be the will of their 
God. Then again these enactments, as 
far as mankind are concerned, demand 
that every man shall love his neighbor, 
and dispense to all, whom he can reach, 
those acts of kindness which he himself 
would desire to receive in the hour of his 
need. But such a system would be in- 
complete without the superaddition of that 
principle with which the Creator governs 
the world, and this principle we call 
" Justice ;" this therefore too was engraft- 
ed upon Abraham's creed, and he is prais- 
ed for the certainty that he would com- 
mand his house after him to exercise this 
principle in their intercourse with others. 
That Abraham was viewed with preju- 
dice by those who profited by the super- 
stition of the times, is but too probable ; 
that the priests who kept the people in ig- 
norance with regard to the true nature of 
the Deity should hate a man who cast, so 
to say, their idols to the ground, by in- 
forming every one who came to him of 
the pure ideas he had of the Creator, is as 
certain as that the doers of evil hate those 
whose conduct is a perpetual rebuke to 
their iniquity ; that the tyrants who go- 
verned by debasing the mind of their 
subjects, who caused themselves to be 
looked upon as superior to the mass of 
mankind, did not relish the presence of 
the philosopher whose, system rendered 
all men equal in obedience, in hope, as 
creatures of the same Father, admits of 
not the smallest doubt, for the general ac- 
knowledgment of these views would, if 
not destroy the power of kings, greatly 
circumscribe the same, and make men 
jealous of their rulers. We do not won- 
der, therefore, that the new civilization, 
as we will term it, could not advance 
very rapidly in the then state of the world ; 



it contradicted every thing which was as- 
sumed as true by so many interested per- 
sons, and offered to no one individual any 
prominence among those who submitted 
to its rule. Nevertheless it is not to be 
doubted, that the entire system of modern 
civilization is based upon the early dawn- 
ing thereof in the person of Abraham, 
which we nave sketched as above. Al- 
though the constitutions of the various 
countries, where an enlightened liberty 
prevails, do not in all cases recite a be- 
lief in the existence of one God and a sub- 
jection to his laws : they in the main ac- 
knowledge these ideas in legislation and 
jurisprudence no less than in domestic life. 
In short, the Abrahamic discoveries, so to 
term them, in the ethical sciences, have 
become the standard of public liberty, the 
safeguard of justice, and the prop of pri- 
vate life, wherever science has succeeded 
in dispelling the reign of ignorance, and 
where an enlightened worship has chased 
away the dark clouds of superstition. 
Under many appellations the God of 
Abraham is invoked ; climes the farthest 
asunder send forth praises to the Ever- 
living ; and prayers ascend to Him from 
Ethiopia's sons and from the children of 
the Andes, no less than from the fair Cir- 
cassian race ; and the mighty Name is 
indeed glorious among the Gentiles. 

When Moses appeared on earth to ac- 
complish what Abraham had commenced, 
it was not a new theory which was pro- 
claimed, but a confirmation of the ancient 
covenant. The idea of belief was not en- 
larged, because there could be no addition 
to the simplicity and truth of its first in- 
ception ; the creed of Abraham was one 
God, sole, uniform, eternal ; and Moses 
could not add to or diminish from this un- 
changeable truth. What then was Moses' 
mission ? It was the establishment of a 
consistent code of laws in consonance 
with the acknowledged universality of the 
Almighty power. The Lord, in the code 
of Moses, became the chief of a civil state, 
in which the people were citizens and 
equals under the banner of obedience to 
the divine will ; there was no one equal 
to the Lord, there was no one above the 
reach of the laws. Whoever was raised 
to dignity among his people, held a power 
delegated from on high with the concur- 



310 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



rence and sufferance of the governed ; 
and when the ruler ceased to shape his 
course by the statutes which had been pre- 
scribed for the government of the whole 
people, he at once lost the authority which 
he had abused, at times by direct divine 
interference, at times by the simple action 
of the people ; of this the scriptures give 
so many examples that it is needless to 
quote them here, where we are confined to 
a very limited space. But in connection 
with the civil code based on religion, there 
was another object in the legislation of 
Moses ; and this was the uniting of the 
belief in the unity of the divine Essence 
with outward, tangible rites, which should 
ever remind the people to whom they had 
been given of the truth which they had 
inherited from their fathers. It is obvious 
that neither pictures nor the works of the 
chisel could effect this great end. For in 
the commemorative works of art, to be 
thus produced, the Deity also, the princi- 
pal agent in all these transactions, would 
have to be represented ; and how could 
this be done? Where could we possibly 
find a likeness or an image to figure Him 
by ? He, who is without bodily confor- 
mation, without outward shape, could He 
be shadowed forth by the puerile invention 
of genius, — puerile, when compared with 
his greatness and purity 1 And besides, 
admit that it were possible ; still how 
would it have comported with divine 
wisdom to have permitted symbolical re- 
presentations of his Being, at a time when 
images were the objects of adoration to all 
the world ? Would not the recipients of 
the law also have soon lapsed into the folly 
of venerating the symbols, instead of the 
Deity which they personified? Wisely, 
therefore, did the law proscribe graven 
images or any representation, "because 
that we saw no figure whatever on the 
day the Lord spoke with us at Horeb 
from the midst of the fire." On the other 
hand, acts once past fade from the memory 
of the recipients and actors themsevles ; 
how much more is it but too certain that 
succeeding ages will not know of the great 
things that were done before their days. 
How beautifully therefore did the Lord 
provide for the remembrance of the great 
acts which He did for Abraham's sons 
when they went forth from Egypt. He 



bound the recollection of these mighty 
deeds to the observance of many ceremo- 
nials and festive institutions, which by 
their constant recurrence should as con- 
stantly remind the people of the causes, 
why they were ordained. Let us instance 
the Passover. The household of every 
believing Israelite is purified from all 
leaven ; new utensils, different from those 
in general use, are procured ; bread of a 
different nature than that used during the 
other parts of the year is introduced ; and 
with the first evening of the festivals pe- 
culiar ceremonies are observed, which 
from their striking nature will always 
arrest the attention. Imagine now an in- 
quisitive child following with eager eye 
his parents in their various acts of puri- 
fying and arranging the household, in 
their observance of the ceremonies relating 
to the feast, and he will naturally ask : 
" W 7 hat is this service unto you t" And 
then, what a noble theme has the intelli- 
gent and pious father for dwelling on the 
goodness of the Lord, how He in his I 
might broke the chain of captive fore- 
fathers — how He humbled the idols and 
their worshippers — how He proved his 
almighty power before the eyes .of unbe- 
lieving men — how He demonstrated that 
he alone is the Creator and Ruler of the 
universe — and how he ordained a law of 
duties and observances, inasmuch as " He 
commanded us to do all these things, that 
it may be well with us all the days, and 
to keep us alive, as we see this day." In 
brief, the ceremonies, as Mendelssohn ob- 
serves in his Jerusalem, are the constant 
topics of living instruction, which by exci- 
ting the attention of the inquirer, afford a 
constant theme and an ever-recurring oc- 
casion to expatiate upon the noble truths 
of revealed religion, to prevent them being 
misunderstood by the fixedness and ob- 
scurity of outward symbols, and of being 
lost by want of requisite memorials. 

In consequence of this union of doctrine 
and acts the Israelitish people became 
contradistinguished from all other portions 
of mankind, by a peculiarity which ex- 
posed them at once to the animadversion 
and suspicion of the world. They were 
men who believed not in the gods ; they 
had no images to represent what they 
worshipped, and they refused to mimgle 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



311 



by marriage and social enjoyment with 
those who believed not in their code. Hence 
there sprung up a species of repugnance 
of the heathen towards the Israelites ; they 
accused them of atheism, because they re- 
jected a plurality of gods ; they were 
shocked at what was conceived their im- 
piety, because they honored not images of 
the divinities of the world ; and they charg- 
ed them with unsociality, because they 
could not, consistently with their faith, 
mingle over the wine cup and the festive 
board with their gentile neighbors. It is 
needless to argue, at this late day, the folly 
of these views. The worship of one God 
is surely no atheism ; the absence of im- 
ages is no impiety ; and the ceremonial 
restrictions upon the Israelites have been 
long since justly regarded as the main 
props for the upholding of the monotheistic 
doctrines of Abraham and Moses ; they 
preserved entire a people to whom the 
truth had been confided by the Creator 
himself; and nation after nation has more 
or less taken up the same belief, and fol- 
lowed as divine the precepts which the 
code of Israel contains. It is not to be 
denied that the Jews themselves have not 
duly honored their divine law ; they have 
often been rebellious ; they have frequently 
thrown off the yoke ; they have again and 
again walked in the ways of the heathen ; 
still, will any one deny that they were 
the first, and for a long time the only, 
nation who believed truly in the Creator 
alone ? who possessed and have transmit- 
ted to the world at large a code of laws 
which is the best safeguard of liberty ? the 
only true standard of justice ? Look at 
the decalogue ! it is called the moral con- 
stitution of the world ; and where do you 
find precepts so just, so simple, so cogent, 
embraced in so few words ? Admit they 
are divine, (certainly we do not claim to 
have invented them;) still, who possessed 
them before all other nations? Do we 
then boast unjustly, when we aver that 
our law is the fountain of modern civiliza- 
tion ? that whatever was good in heathen 
ideas had to be purified by the legislation 
of Moses? Surely we are correct iu this 
assertion ; and sure we are that the en- 
lightened Christian and philosopher will 
gladly admit the truth of a position which 
scarcely admits of a doubt. 



If heathen communities then looked with 
disdain and contempt upon the unsociable 
Israelites and accused them of impiety : a 
man acquainted with the operations of the 
human heart, will say that their ignorance 
of revelation was a natural cause of this 
aversion for a system which, in every 
point, contradicted their free notions in 
belief and conduct; since heathenism al- 
lowed any addition to the catalogue of 
their deities, ad infinitum, and permitted 
all those acts of licentiousness which dis- 
graced their Olympus. But what can 
Christians allege for continuing that silly 
prejudice which had its birth in periods of 
darkness ? Do they believe in the exis- 
tence of a Being, the holiest, the purest, 
the best that the imagination can conceive, 
who is the author of all ? So do we. Do 
they believe in the revelation of the 
Most High ? So do we. Do they believe 
themselves accountable for all acts done 
by them in contravention to the declared 
will of God ? So do we. Do they hold 
to the sublime aphorism, "Love God above 
all, and thy neighbor like thyself?" So 
do we. Is there not sufficient agreement 
in our respective systems for us all to meet 
on common ground, and prove that we 
are indeed children of a common Parent ? 
servants of the same God ? " But no," 
say the bigots, " the Jews do not agree 
with us in all points ; they believe not in 
a mediator, they reject our Messiah, and 
hold themselves bound by a religion of 
ceremonial works, long since abrogated, 
at the coming of Christ ; hence we must 
endeavor to convert them, or condemn 
them to the pains of an everlasting dam- 
nation for their unbelief." The premises 
are indeed true : we totally reject the idea 
of a mediator, either past or to come ; we 
reject him whom the Christians call their 
Messiah ; and we assert that for our part 
the law is of the same binding force as it 
was in the beginning of its institution. 
But what has that to do with the prejudice 
of the world against us ? Are our views 
so monstrous as to excite the wrath of the 
world against us ? Let us see : we assert 
that the Diety is one and alone; that 
hence no mediator, or an emanation from 
the Creator, is conceivable. But why 
should this be a cause of prejudice against 
us, since the evident words of the Bible 



312 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



teach this doctrine, as we understand the 
scriptures ? For thus it says, " Hear, O 
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 
one." (Deut. vi. 4.) " Know therefore, 
this day, and consider it in thine heart, 
that the Lord he is God, in heaven above, 
and upon the earth beneath ; there is none 
else." (Ibid. iv. 39.) " See now, that I, 
even I, am He, and there is no God with 
me ; I kill, and I make alive ; I wound 
and I heal ; neither is there any that* can 
deliver out of my hand." (Ibid, xxxii. 39.) 
" Wherefore, thou art great, O Lord God : 
for there is none like thee, neither is there 
any God beside thee, according to all that 
we have heard with our ears." (2 Samuel 
vii. 22.) " That all the people of the earth 
may know that the Lord is God, and that 
there is none else." (1 Kings viii. 60.) 
" For thou art the glory of our strength : 
and in thy favor our horn shall be exalted. 
For the Lord is our defence : and the 
Holy One of Israel is our king." (Psalm 
lxxxix. 17, 18.) "Ye are my witnesses, 
saith the Lord, and my servant whom I 
have chosen : that ye may know and be- 
lieve me, and understand that I am He ; 
before me there was no God formed, 
neither shall there be after me. I, even I, 
am the Lord, and beside me there is no 
Saviour." (Isaiah, xliii. 10, 11.) "I, 
even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans- 
gressions for mine own sake, and will not 
remember thy sins." (Ibid. 25.) " Thus 
saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his 
Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts ; I am the 
first, and I am the last, and beside me 
there is no god." (Ibid. xliv. 6.) " But 
Israel shall be saved in the Lord an ever- 
lasting salvation." (Ibid. xlv. 17.) " Look 
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of 
the earth ; for I am God, and there is 
none else." (Ibid. xlv. 22.) " In the Lord 
shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and 
shall glory." (Ibid. 25.) We will not 
multiply texts, in the limited space neces- 
sarily assigned to this article, and be con- 
tent with the few already given, selected 
at random almost, from the ordinary ver- 
sion of the Bible, with but one exception. 
We contend from these and many others, 
that the scriptures teach an absolute, not 
a relative unity in the Godhead, that the 
same Being, who existed from the begin- 
ning, and who called forth all that exists, 



the Lord God of Hosts, is the sole Legis- 
lator and Redeemer of all his creatures. 
We contend that a divided unity, or a ho- 
mogeneous divinity composed of parts, is 
nowhere spoken of in the Old Testament, 
our only rule of faith, and that nothing, 
not contained therein, can become by any 
possibility matter of faith and hope for an 
Israelite. We know well enough that 
some ingenious accommodations have been 
invented by learned men to reconcile the 
above texts with the received opinions of 
Christianity ; but we have always been 
taught to receive the scriptures literally ; 
we assert that the law is not allegorical ; 
that the denunciation of punishment against 
us has been literally accomplished ; and 
that, therefore, no verse of the Bible can 
in its primary sense be taken otherwise 
than in its literal and evident meaning, 
especially if this is the most obvious, and 
leads to no conclusion which is elsewhere 
contradicted by another biblical text. Now 
nothing is more evident than that the unity 
of God is the fundamental principle of the 
Bible Revelation ; since it was contrived, 
to use this word, by divine wisdom, to 
counteract the frightful follies of polythe- 
ism, which had overspread the world. We 
then say, if God be absolutely one, if He 
is not conceivable to be divided into parts, 
if there is no Saviour beside Him : it fol- 
lows that there can be no personage who 
could by any possibility be called " son of 
god," or the mediator between God and 
man. An independent deity he cannot be, 
neither can he be an associate ; and if he 
be neither, how can he be more a media- 
tor than any other creature ? since one 
man cannot atone for the sins of another ; 
as we are informed in Exodus, xxxii. 33 : 
" And the Lord said unto Moses, Whoso- 
ever hath sinned against me, him will I 
blot out of my book," which evidently 
teaches that every sinner has to make 
atonement for himself, and can obtain 
pardon only through the undeserved mercy 
of the Lord. If now the mediator is not 
the Creator himself, he cannot offer an 
atonement, nay not even himself; and if 
he could, he would be equal to the One 
from whom all has sprung, and such a 
being is impossible, in accordance with 
the testimony of the Bible. 

From this it follows, that we Jews can- 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



313 



not admit the divinity of the Messiah of 
Christians, nor confide in his mission upon 
unitarian principles, since the books con- 
taining an account of his life all claim for 
him the power of mediatorship, if not an 
equality with the Supreme, both of which 
ideas we reject as unscriptural. 

If then there has been as yet no mani- 
festation of the divine will in respect to a 
repeal of the law (since we cannot believe 
a mere man to have by simple preaching 
and the exhibition of miracles, even ad- 
mitting their authenticity, been able to ab- 
rogate what God so solemnly instituted :) 
we again claim that the whole ceremonial 
and religious as well as civil legislation 
of Sinai is to this day unrepealed, and is 
consequently binding on us Israelites, the 
proper recipients of the Mosaic code, as 
on the day of its first promulgation. 

We in this manner acknowledge and 
maintain that we do not believe in the 
mediatorship, nor in. the mission of the 
Messiah of the Christians, nor in the ab- 
rogation of the Mosaic law of works. But 
we nevertheless contend that this rejection 
of the popular religion is no cause for the 
entertainment of any ill-will against us, 
nor for the efforts which some over-zeal- 
ous people every now and then make for 
our conversion. We have already ex- 
hibited above, how the belief of Abraham, 
enlarged by Moses, and now acknowledged 
by the Jews, is one of purity and morality, 
and one which presents the strongest pos- 
sible supports for civil society, especially 
a government based upon principles of 
equality and liberty of the person. We 
challenge contradiction to this position, 
which we sustain as impregnable both to 
the shafts of witticism, and the attacks of 
cold reasoning. We therefore say, that 
our presence in any community cannot 
work any injury to those who diner from 
us in religion^ since we are peace-loving 
and loyal, wishing to do to others those 
acts of benevolence which we may desire 
to claim from them in our day of need; 
and that our speculative opinions cannot 
work any injury to the systems which 
exist around us, inasmuch as we do not 
seek to aggrandize ourselves at the ex- 
pense of others, and abstain from weaken- 
ing the religious impressions of other sects, 
unless it be in self-defence. For the truth 



of this we appeal to the history of the 
United States, France and Holland, where 
the Jews have for many years enjoyed 
entire liberty of conscience, without any 
injury to other denominations or the state 
at large. We say, that we endeavor to 
instil principles of honesty in our people ; 
and hence that but few indeed are ever 
brought to the bar of justice or encumber 
the poor and workhouses to the disgrace 
of their name and the reproach of their 
fellows in belief.* So much with respect 
to unjust prejudice. But with regard to 
the efforts at conversion they are equally 
senseless* To the Jew his existence is a 
manifestation and evident display of the 
divine power. How must a Christian re- 
gard it % Let us see. " Who had the 
Bible first V The Jews. « Who was se- 
lected by God as the people to bear wit- 
ness of this being ?" The Jews. " To 
whom did the Lord promise love and pro- 
tection ?" The Jews. " To whom' did he 
say that they should never cease to be a 
people?" The Jews. It then follows that 
Providence must have had, and conse- 
quently still have, some great and general 
object in preserving the Jews from anni- 
hilation, and this must be acknowledged 
upon Christian grounds, since Christians 
too admit the truth of the scriptures. 
Suppose now all the Jews were converted, 
which however is an idea not to be ad- 
mitted, their existence would of a certainty 
be at an end ; for it requires no reasoning 
to prove that their religion is their only 
preservative in their scattered state among 
all nations. We, as a distinct class of 
men, have always been the best evidence 
of the truth of revelation ; for our being 
in existence with the possession of a dis- 
tinct code of laws founded upon reason 
and truth, in ages of darkness and false- 
hood, can only be accounted for upon the 
supposition, that the laws and doctrines 
which are so wise and true must have 



* The writer of this has lately had an op 
portunity of conversing, -whilst travelling, 
with one of the police magistrates of the city 
of New York, where the largest portion of our 
people in this country is settled ; and he as 
sured him that but seldom are Jews brought 
before him for any charge whatever, -even 
petty crimes, though the number of poor Is 
raelites in New York is proportionately great. 



40 



314 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



sprung from the only Source of wisdom, 
to wit, the Author of all. Whilst, there- 
fore, the Israelites maintain their identity ; 
whilst they continue steadfast to Moses 
and the prophets : there will always be 
an unanswerable argument in favor of re- 
velation to the sceptical unbeliever. But, 
once blot out our memorial ; let our name 
be only a matter of history, and our exist- 
ence the subject for the antiquarian's re- 
searches : and you have destroyed the 
very evidence on which your system must 
rest for support, although as Christians 
you claim a new revelation for the opin- 
ions of divine things which you entertain. 
Still more than all this, all such attempts, 
as we have just alluded to, are acting 
against Providence ; He called Abraham 
out of Chaldsea, and promised him, that 
in his seed all the families of the earth 
should be blessed ; He chose Isaac, and 
confirmed to him the covenant of Abra- 
ham ; He loved Jacob, and assured him 
the blessings of Abraham and Isaac ; He 
appeared to Moses and told him : " I am 
the God of thy father, the God of Abra- 
ham, the God of Isaac and the God of 
Jacob," (Exod. iii. 6 ;) and all these pro- 
mises are to be made void by the exter- 
mination of the distinctive character of 
Jacob's descendants 1 how are they to be 
distinguished as " the people of God," as 
the sons of Israel, if they mingle with you 
in communion of worship and inter-mar- 
riages, and become with you one people ? 
One would think that the many abortive 
attempts at force, at persuasion, at bribe- 
ry, had all been tried in vain long enough 
to prove that, if God wishes our destruc- 
tion, these are not the means to effect it ; 
and still the world is but little wiser for 
all these failures, and the same routine, 
all except the slaying of Jews, is gone 
over again at this day, to bring about the 
conversion of our people, as was done in 
former times. One country will not ad- 
mit our people to an equality of rights ; 
another, more barbarous yet, although 
Christian, enlightened and highly civilized, 
restricts the number of Jews in its domi- 
nions, permits only a certain number to 
marry, and confines our existing popula- 
tion to certain, and these very narrow, 
limits in the towns where they dwell ; 
elsewhere they are taxed for the right of 



protection — even the food they consume 
becomes an especial source of revenue to 
the government ; in other places again 
they cannot hold landed estates ; other 
countries will not admit them within their 
boundaries ; whilst every where, even in 
free and enlightened America, other de- 
nominations combine for the purpose of 
bringing about their conversion, and raise 
funds and form especial societies to bring 
about this consummation so devoutly de- 
sired by many. Who does not see, that 
such proceedings are only too well calcu- 
lated to keep alive prejudices, unfounded 
and unjust, against the sons of Israel? 
Every one knows the influence which 
ministers of religion have over their 
flocks ; and if the heads, then, constantly 
pray for the conversion of the Jews ; if 
they constantly league together for this 
purpose ; if they hold them up as children 
of damnation for their unbelief: it would 
be wonderful indeed if the masses did not 
feel a certain aversion for those men whose 
obduracy and unbelief cause so much pain 
and labor to the good men whom they are 
accustomed to regard with love and vene- 
ration. Where we are known, our cha- 
racters and our course of life will be al- 
ways the best answers to all complaints, 
and the best defence against all supposed 
charges. But in communities even where 
we are most numerous, there are many 
who are necessarily unacquainted with 
us and our opinions ; and still they may 
have an important bearing upon our hap- 
piness and welfare ; we are therefore anx- 
ious that they should not hold an unwoi*- 
thy opinion of us or our creed. Besides 
this, we venerate the name of Israel, we 
hold dear the bond which entwines our 
destiny with the lot and the fame of the 
great ones of old ; and therefore, even if 
there were no personal disadvantage con- 
nected with the prejudice against ourselves, 
we would prize it beyond all could we 
have the happiness of witnessing among 
the world at large a proper appreciation 
of the services to religion, to science, to 
government, to order, to humanity, which 
mankind owes to the patriarchs, the pro- 
phets, the doctors, the martyrs of the 
house of Israel. We ask for no preroga- 
tive from the world ; our faith is one of 
opinion, and can flourish as well under 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



315 



persecution as when in command of em- 
pires ; our God can and does shield us, 
whether we are afflicted or in prosperity : 
but we ask to be left alone undisturbed in 
the profession of those peculiar opinions 
which wo claim to be the emanation of 
the Supreme Being ; we ask of all, to let 
us pursue the even tenor of our way, as 
good citizens and faithful subjects to the 
laws of the land ; and no one will ever 
have cause to complain that the Jews, as 
such, have interfered with his rights, or 
diminished in the least the full exercise 
of his political or religious privileges. 

THE DdCTKINES OF THE JEWS. 

Properly speaking, the Jews have no 
profession of faith ; they hold the whole 
Word of God to be alike fundamental, and 
that in sanctity tnere is no difference be- 
tween the verses " And the sons of Dan, 
Hushim," (Gen. xlvi. 23,) and " I am the 
Lord thy God," (Exod. xx. 2.) The whole 
Bible has the same immortal, infallible 
Author ; consequently whatever He has 
written for our instruction must be equally 
holy. To us the things handed down may 
appear unimportant ; but we do not know 
what great truths may be connected with 
the simplest word embraced in the Bible. 
The believing Israelite, therefore, searches 
the scriptures as the most mysterious, the 
holiest gift, although the text is so evident 
as to afford a sure guide to his steps through 
his earthly pilgrimage, and to point his 
way to heaven. He endeavors to find in 
the pages thereof the best account of the 
ways of God with man, and a solution of 
the question, " What does the Lord ask 
of me V Nothing therefore can be unim- 
portant to him which has been written by 
his almighty Father, and every word he 
finds recorded there he must accordingly 
receive as his rule of faith. Let it be un- 
derstood, that the Israelite's religion, though 
based on faith, is not a theoretical system, 
but one of action and duties ; for when 
the Lord revealed himself on Mount Sinai 
; it was a practical course of life He pointed 
| out in preference to a system of belief or 
! matters of credence. Without faith, or a 
! sincere conviction, in other words, of the 
j truth of God and his law, no one would 
to a certainty obey a code which, in every 



step he takes, places some restriction upon 
his conduct or pursuits. Nevertheless no 
life can be measured by the standard of 
the law, which is only rich in sentiments, 
but poor in deeds. This being the case, 
it is self-evident that the ideas which are 
the foundation of our religion must spring 
out of the law and the revelation which 
we have received for our guidance ; and 
the whole series of doctrines which is 
evolved by a study of the law and the 
prophets must be accepted by all Israelites 
as the truth which, they ought implicitly 
to confide in ; since the ideas of religion 
cannot be less true, than the duties with 
which they stand in connection, are the 
infallible will of God. All this would give 
us then the doctrine " that the whole Bible 
is the faith of the Israelite." But, though 
to the thinking and pious such a reference 
might be enough, there would be many a 
one who would find it difficult to trace 
sufficiently clearly the doctrines of the 
Bible amidst the mass of duties on the one 
hand, and narrations and predictions on 
the other, which the various books of 
scripture so bountifully contain. Pious 
men therefore have endeavored to con- 
dense the biblical dogmas for the use of 
the nation at large, in order to afford at 
first sight a comprehensive view of all that, 
which according to our received mode of 
interpretation we are obliged to believe in 
with an entire faith as children of Israel. 
Nevertheless it must be understood that 
these dogmas, or Articles of Faith, 
though universally admitted as true, have 
never yet become a test of a Jewish ex- 
perience ; since it is enough for us if we 
admit the truth of the whole Bible, which 
of itself includes the belief in what have 
been termed " the Articles of Maimonides," 
which learned doctor was probably the first 
who reduced his religion to a limited num- 
ber of fundamental principles, without 
thereby excluding the necessity of believ- 
ing implicitly whatever other doctrines 
might otherwise be drawn from the sacred 
Text. In other words, whatever princi- 
ples are deducible from Holy Writ, and 
whatever doctrines the Bible contains, are 
one and all subjects on which no Israelite 
can conscientiously permit himself to spe- 
culate, much less to doubt ; and the arti- 
cles of faith are therefore nothing but a 



316 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



summary, serving to classify in a simple 
manner the chief and evident deductions 
from the scriptures. 

Having premised this, to avoid giving 
a false view of our creed, of which no trace 
as an entire system can be discovered in 
so many words, either in the Bible or in 
the writings of our early doctors : we will 
proceed to lay down the three great bases 
of our belief: 

I. We believe in the existence of the 
Deity, the Creator of all things. 

II. We believe in the existence of a re- 
velation by the Creator of his will. 

III. We believe in the existence of a 
just system of reward and punishment, or 
a full accountability for all our acts. 

Being compelled to condense as much 
as possible in this article, we cannot go 
over a great number of arguments to prove, 
what is otherwise so self-evident, that 
these three principles are the sole rational 
foundation of all religion ; since the belief 
in the Creator gives us a Supreme Being 
to worship ; a revelation furnishes us with 
a knowledge of what He requires at our 
hands ; and, lastly, the existence of an 
equitable system of accountability places 
before us the most urgent motives for obe- 
dience to whatever we are certified to be 
the will of God. 

But the Bible reveals to us ampler de- 
tails of doctrines, in part especially appli- 
cable to us as Israelites to whom the law 
was first given, and partly of universal 
applicability. Of the latter we have gen- 
erally assumed thirteen cardinal principles 
which are the key of our theological views ; 
they are — 

1. The belief in an almighty Creator, 
who alone has called all things into being, 
and still continues to govern the world 
which He has made. 

2. The belief in the absolute and per- 
fect unity of the Creator, that He is there- 
fore indivisible in every sense of the word, 
always the same, who was, is, and ever 
will be, unchanged as from the beginning. 

3. The belief in the incorporeality of 
the Creator, that He is not a material 
being, and cannot be affected by accidents 
which affect material things. 

4. The belief in the absolute and perfect 
eternity of the Creator. 

5. The belief, that the Creator is the 



sole being to whom we should pray, since 
there is no one who shares his powers, 
that we should address our prayers to him. 

6. The belief in the truth of all the 
words of the prophets. 

7. The belief in the truth of the pro- 
phecy of Moses, and that he was the 
greatest of all the prophets and wise men 
who have lived before him or will come 
after him. 

8. The belief in the identity of the law 
which we now have, and that it is un- 
changed, and the very one which was 
given to Moses. 

9. The belief in the permanency of the 
law, and that tnere has not been, nor will 
there ever be, another law promulgated by 
the Creator. 

10. The belief in the omniscience of 
the Creator. 

1 1 . The belief that the Creator will re- 
ward those who keep his commandments, 
and punish those who transgress them. 

12. The belief in the coming of the 
King Messiah, who is to accomplish for 
the world and Israel all that the prophets 
have foretold concerning him. And 

13. The belief in the resurrection of 
the dead, when it may please the Almighty 
to send his spirit to revive those who sleep 
in the dust. 

It were easy enough to prove all the 
above from scripture passages ; but it is 
deemed unnecessary in this mere summary 
of our faith, nothing doubting but that the 
inquirer will look for farther light in works 
treating especially on this important sub- 
ject. It will be seen that a distinctive 
feature in our belief is " the permanency 
of the law revealed on Sinia through 
Moses the father of the prophets," which 
precludes the admission of any new reve- 
lation, or the abrogation of the old cove- 
nant. Another, " the belief in the absolute 
unity of God," with the addition that 
" there is no being but the Creator to whom 
we should pray," precludes the admissi- 
bility of a mediator, or the mediating 
power between God and us mortal sinners 
of any being whose existence the imagi- 
nation can by any possibility conceive as 
possible. We think and maintain that 
the"se principles are legitimate deductions 
of the text of Holy Writ ; and we must 
therefore, if even on no other grounds, 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



317 



reject the principles and doctrines of Chris- 
tianity which teach, first, that a new cove- 
nant has been made between God and 
mankind other than the revelation at 
Horeb ; and, secondly, that there is a me- 
diator, an emanation of the Deity, through 
whose merits only man can be absolved 
from sin, and through whose intercession 
prayers will be accepted. All this is for- 
eign to our view of scriptural truth, and 
as such we reject it, and hold fast to the 
doctrines which we have received from our 
fathers. 

The Messiah whom we expect is not to 
be a god, nor a part of the godhead, nor 
a son of god in any sense of the word ; 
but simply a man eminently endowed, like 
Moses and the prophets in the days of the 
Bible, to work out the will of God on earth in 
all that the prophets have predicted of him. 
His coming, we believe, will be the signal 
for universal peace, universal freedom, uni- 
versal knowledge, universal worship of the 
One Eternal ; objects all of high import, 
and well worthy to be attested by the visible 
display of the divine glory before the eyes 
of all flesh, just as was the presence of the 
Lord manifested at Sinai, when the Israel- 
ites stood assembled to receive the law 
which was surrendered to their keeping. 
In the days of this august ruler the law, 
which was at first given as " an inherit- 
ance of the congregation of Jacob," will 
become the only standard of righteousness, 
of salvation, for all mankind, when will be 
fulfilled to its fullest extent the blessings 
conferred upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
that " in their seed all the families of the 
earth should be blessed." We believe, 
farther, that the time of this great event 
is hidden from our knowledge, and is only 
known to the Creator, who in his own 
good time will regenerate the earth, remove 
the worship of idols, banish all erroneous 
beliefs, and establish his kingdom firmly 
and immovably over the hearts of all sons 
of man, when all will invoke Him in truth, 
and call him God, King, Redeemer, the 
One who was, is, and will be, for ever and 
ever. We believe that the time may be 
distant, thousands of years removed ; but 
we confidently look forward to its coming, 
in the full confidence that He who ha.s so 
miraculously preserved his people among 
sd many trials and dangers, is able and 



willing to fulfil all He has promised, and 
that his power will surely accomplish 
what his goodness has foretold ; and that 
He will not rest in the fulfilment of his 
word, till all the world shall acknowledge 
his power, and ceaseless incense ascend to 
his holy Name from the rising of the sun 
even unto his setting ; when the altars of 
falsehood shall crumble and the dominion of 
unbelief be swept from the face of the earth. 

THE JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

From the smallness of the numbers of 
our people, compared with the rest of man- 
kind, it will be readily understood that, 
comparatively speaking, but few Jews will 
be found in America. Still despite of this 
fact, they are found in every portion of 
the Union, with the exception almost (for 
there are a few even there,) in the northern 
range of states. Probably the first settle- 
ment of Jews took place in New Amster- 
dam, when it was under the Dutch govern- 
ment, about 1660. They no doubt were 
Spaniards and Portuguese who, like their 
brethren who were settled in Holland, fled 
from the bloody Inquisition to seek refuge 
under the equitable protection of the laws 
of the Batavian republic. The writer of 
this has learnt that a correspondence is yet 
in existence which took place between the 
Israelites and the Dutch authorities in New 
Amsterdam ; but he has never seen it, 
wherefore he is unable to say anything 
with precision farther than he has stated 
above. This much, however, he 'believes 
certain, that the number of our people did 
not increase rapidly, since we are not 
friendly to making proselytes, and owing 
to the great difficulties emigrants of our 
persuasion must be exposed to in new 
communities on account of the duties of 
our religion. Be this as it may, but one 
synagogue was needed in New York, 
till about 1827, when a second one was 
established in the central part of the 
city. Since that period twenty congre- 
gations have been organized, and all the 
places of worship, though so rapidly mul- 
tiplied, are frequently over-full, so as to 
require temporary meeting places. The 
number of Jews in the city of New York, 
is said to be about 20,000, and rapidly in- 
creasing by emigration from Europe, owing 



318 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION. 



to the oppressive laws enforced against us 
in many countries as stated in a preceding 
part of this article. There are congrega- 
tions in Albany, and many in other parts 
of the State, of which, however, I have 
too vague information to say anything 
with certainty. 

A few years before the American Revo- 
lution a congregation assembled in New- 
port, Rhode Island ; but with the falling 
off of the business of that place, after the 
conclusion of the peace of 1783, the Jew- 
ish population left it by degrees, some 
going to New York, some to Richmond, 
and others to different other towns. There 
are a synagogue and burial-ground, both 
said to be in good order — a legacy having 
been left by the son of the former minister, 
Touro, to keep them from falling into 
decay. 

In Pennsylvania, Israelites were settled 
long before the Revolution in various 
places. But I believe that no regular 
congregation was organized till about 
1780, when the occupation of New York 
by the British induced many from that 
place to come hither with their minister, 
Gershom Mendes Seixas; and a syna- 
gogue was erected upon the site of the 
present building, and consecrated about 
the fall of 1781. There are now six con- 
gregations in Philadelphia, numbering 
about six thousand souls, and steadily 
increasing. 

In Maryland the Jews were formerly 
excluded from a participation of equal 
rights ; but soon after the repeal of their 
disabilities, many Europeans joined the 
few original settlers, and there are now 
seven very flourishing congregations in 
the State. 

In Virginia the Jews settled about 1780, 
or even earlier, but their number does not 
increase very fast; and there are but five 
congregations in the whole State. 

In North Carolina, where the constitu- 
tion excludes us from the rights of citizens, 
there are but a few families, and these are 
scattered about in different localities. 

In South Carolina we are much more 
numerous, and Israelites are found in all 
parts of the State ; still there are but four 
regular congregations. 

The first Jews came to Georgia soon 
after General Oglethorpe, in 1733, but 



13 congregations in the former 



they have never been very numerous; 
many European emigrants, and persons 
from the north are now, however, seeking 
homes in that State. 

In the Southern and "Western States 
the Israelites have increased very rapidly 
within the last few years, and they are 
now to be found in all the great commer- 
cial centres. Large numbers, also, are 
scattered throughout every State ; scarcely 
a hamlet or a village being found which 
does not contain at least one family. They 
are most numerous in Ohio and California, 
havin 
and 6 in the latter. 

We have no ecclesiastical authorities in 
America, other than the congregations 
themselves. Each congregation makes its 
own rules, and elects its own minister, 
who is never ordained ; the election being 
the only formula of induction into office. 
Ministers are elected for a specified term, 
or during good behavior, as may be de- 
cided upon by the majority of the congre- 
gation. Prominent among the ministers at 
present in the United States are : New 
York, Rev. Br. M. J. Raphsell, Rev. Sol. 
Jacob, Br. A. Fischl; Philadelphia, 
Rev. Br. Beutsch, Rev. S. Morais; Bal- 
timore, Rev. A. Rea, Br. B. Einhorn; 
Charleston, Br. M. Mayer; Savannah, 
Jacob Rosenfels; New Orleans, Jas, K. 
Guthern; Cincinnati, Br. I. M. Wise, 
Br. Max Lilienthal; Milwaukee, Isidore 
Kalisch ; San Francisco, Br. Julius Eck- 
man; Richmond, M. J. Michilbacher; 
Pottsville, Isaac Strauss. There are nu- 
merous other ministers of equal note with 
those named, but want of space prevents 
mention of them here. 

There are no colleges in the United 
States, and as yet but few public schools, 
under the control of the Israelites. The 
most important is that in Philadelphia, 
under the charge of the Hebrew Educa- 
tion Society. Sunday Schools, for the 
religious instruction of the children, exist 
in all the principal cities and towns, and 
are well attended. 

Two weekly newspapers are published 
in New York, two in Cincinnati, one in 
Baltimore, and one in San Francisco. A 
monthly is also published in Philadelphia, 
entitled " The Occident," under the edi- 
torial supervision of Rev. Isaac Leeser. 




MARTIN LUTHER. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



319 



In all our congregations where the ne- 
cessity demands it, there are ample pro- 
visions made for the support of the poor, 
and we endeavor to prevent, if possible, 
any Israelite from being sent to the poor 
house, or to sink into crime for want of 
the means of subsistence. 

Upon the whole, we have increased in 
every respect within the last few years ; 



and we invoke the blessing of Heaven that 
He may prosper our undertakings, and 
give us the means to grow in grace and 
piety, that we may be able to show the 
world the true effects of the law of God 
upon the life of a sincere Israelite, which 
must render him acceptable to his neigh- 
bors of every creed, and a worthy servant 
in the mansion of his heavenly Father. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH/ 



BY S. S. SCHMUCKER, D. D., GETTYSBURG, PA. 



The name of Martin Luther, now fami- 
liar to almost every schoolboy, forms one 
of the most prominent way marks in the 
history both of the world and the church. 
It has immortalized his age among the 
generations gone by ; and one can hardly 
hear it pronounced without being at the 
same moment transported back to the 
scenes and events of that ecclesiastical 
revolution which shook Europe to its very 
centre, and from the cell of a monastery 
opened upon the world that dawning of 
science and truth which shall shine on, 
with unwaning brightness, to its perfect day. 

But while all recognise the name of the 
Reformer, and its connection with the past 
and present condition of Christendom in 



* The following sketch of the Lutheran 
Church is compiled almost entirely from seve- 
ral publications of the Rev. Dr. S. S. Schmuck- 
er, Professor of Theology in the Theological 
Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from an 
excellent article in the American Quarterly 
Register, by the Rev. Mr. Harris of Boston, 
which is derived principally from the same 
source, and from the Lutheran Almanac of 
1843. 



the general : few, comparatively, are well 
acquainted with the history of his peculiar 
opinions and those of the past and present 
generations of his followers. In reviving 
our own and our readers' acquaintance 
with our Lutheran brethren, we introduce 
to the friends of the Redeemer of lost men, 
an ancient, honored, and most efficient 
branch of that church which he ransomed 
with blood, and which he employs in car- 
rying forward the triumphs of his grace 
over sin and the powers of darkness.* 

" The Lutheran Church is indebted for 
her name to the derision of the Catholics. 
The distinguished Papal theologian, Dr. 
Eckius, the opponent of Luther and Carl- 
stadt, in the celebrated disputation at Leip- 
sic, in the year 1519, wishing to show his 
contempt for Luther and his cause and not 
dreaming whereunto this matter of the 
Reformation would grow, first stigmatized 
the friends of the reformer as Lutherans, 
with the same feelings with which we 
speak of the Owenites and Fanny Wright 



Quarterly Register, of 1843, p. 378. 



320 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



men of our day. The term being regarded 
as a happy conceit, was soon spread among 
the enemies of the cause ; and its friends, 
though opposed to it in principle, re- 
sponded to the name, because they were 
not ashamed of their leader. Thus George, 
the Margrave of Brandenburg, when re- 
proached for being a Lutheran, indignant- 
ly and nobly replied : " I was not baptized 
in the name of Luther, he is not my God 
and Saviour, I do not believe in him, and 
am not saved by him ; and therefore, in 
this sense I am no Lutheran. But if I be 
asked, whether with my heart and lips I 
profess the doctrines which God restored 
to light through the instrumentality of his 
blessed servant, Dr. Luther, I neither 
hesitate nor am ashamed to call myself a 
Lutheran. In this sense I am, and as long 
as I live, will remain a Lutheran." But 
the name officially adopted by the Lu- 
theran reformers was that of the Evange- 
lical Church, that is, the gospel church, in 
antithesis to the legal ritual of the Old Tes- 
tament, the very name recently adopted by 
the united Lutheran and Reformed Church 
in Prussia. Luther himself, like the great 
apostle of the gentiles, protested rrfost de- 
cidedly against the use of his name as the 
Shibbolet of a sect, and it is to be re- 
gretted that his advice was disregarded.* 
"The Lutheran Church in this country 
has, in common with that of the German 
Reformed, also been distinctively termed 
the German church. This designation 
must not be understood as implying the 
limitation of the worship of either of these 
churches to the German language. It is 
known to the intelligent reader, that in 
different countries the services of the Lu- 
theran Church are conducted in the Swe- 
dish, the Norwegian, the Danish, the Ice- 
landic, the Russian and the French, as 
well as in the English and German lan- 
guages. Yet it is true, that as Germany 
was the cradle of the Reformation, she 
was also the primitive seat of that church, 
which grew out of the Reformation in the 
land of Luther. Germany is still the 
most extensive seat of Lutheranism. No 
other foreign country is therefore fraught 
with such interesting and hallowed asso- 



i. 



* Schmucker's Portraiture of Lutheranism, 
pp. 8, 9. 



ciations to the great mass of American 
Lutherans as Germany, the mother of the 
Reformation, the cradle of Lutheranism, 
the land where our fathers proclaimed the 
gospel of salvation, where Spener sowed 
the seed of truth, where Arndt preached 
and wrote and lived his ' True Christian- 
ity,' where Franke wrought his works of 
love, and where believing Luther poured 
his prayer of faith into the lap of God ! 
But it is not only to Lutheran minds that 
Germany is encircled with interesting as- 
sociations. Although the populace are 
too little acquainted with the fact, yet 
what intelligent scholar does not know 
that the Germans constitute one of the 
most distinguished branches of the human 
family, and that at different periods through- 
out the two thousand years of their na- 
tional history, they have excelled in all 
that is truly noble and praiseworthy in 
heathen virtue, or interesting in the fruits 
of an enlightened and active Christian 
piety 1 Germany was originally inhabited 
by a heroic and martial people, whose 
origin is enveloped in some obscurity. 
Their language and religion point us to 
Asia. They certainly proceeded from 
the north of the Euxine Sea, and, known 
by the names of Scythians, Teutones, 
Franks, &c, overspread all western Eu- 
rope. The English are, both as to lan- 
guage and population, in part descended 
from one of these German tribes, the 
Saxons, who at an early day conquered 
Britain and formed the Anglo-Saxon race, 
from whom a portion of our citizens are 
descended. When first visited by the 
Romans, about the time of our Saviour, 
the Germans had already for ages in- 
habited the country, and had lost all 
traces of their earliest history. Divided 
into many independent tribes, and often 
engaged in intestine wars, each tribe ac- 
knowledged no laws but those enacted by 
the majority at a general council. Far 
removed from the refinement and literary 
character of the Romans, they were alike 
free from their licentiousness and effemi- 
nacy. Hospitality and conjugal fidelity 
were prominent characteristics of the 
Germans ; and a promise, given to friend 
or foe, they held inviolable, even at the 
risk of life. They cherished a firm be- 
lief of the immortalitv of the soul, and of 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



321 



future retribution. They were indeed 
polytheists, but their religion was of the 
sublimer cast. They neither bowed down 
to idols, nor worshipped in temples made 
with hands, but offered their devotions in 
open groves, under the broad canopy of 
heaven ; for, says the Roman historian, 
they regarded their gods as too sacred 
and great to be confined in temples, or 
represented by idols of wood or stone."* 

In the time of Julius Csesar the Romans 
marked them out for conquest ; but after 
repeated attempts to subdue them, they 
were defeated, and they relinquished the 
object about the thirteenth year of the 
Christian era. Subsequently, after nu- 
merous internal dissensions and external 
wars between their different tribes and the 
Romans, the latter, with the Saxons, un- 
der the Emperor Probus, succeeded in 
conquering the Franks and the Alemanni, 
two of the principal German nations, about 
A. D. 270. This conquest, however, the 
last of a political character which Rome 
achieved, was not permanent. In the 
fifth century, the Roman empire was as- 
saulted on all sides by the northern and 
eastern barbarians, who rapidly spread 
their ravages and conquests over all 
Europe. 

" Of the different tribes of this numer- 
ous family which overspread all western 
Europe, those only retain the name of 
Germans in modern history, who reside 
in the territory denominated Germany. 
Their martial spirit rendered difficult the 
introduction of Christianity among them, 
which was however effected, at least in 
name, successively among the different 
tribes, from the third to the eighth cen- 
tury. The forgiving and submissive 
spirit of the gospel gained a tardy victory 
over their warlike minds ; as was stri- 
kingly illustrated in the instance of Clo- 
vis,f King of the Franks, a tribe that 
settled in Gaul. On one occasion, whilst 
Remigius was preaching to them, and 
depicting in glowing colors the sufferings 
of the Saviour when suspended on the 
cross, the king, no longer able to restrain 
his spirit, cried out in the midst of the 



* Schmucker's Portraiture, pp. 10, 11. 
f Clovis belonged to the German, Salian 
tribe ; Henke, vol. i. p. 387. 



congregation, ' Ah, if I had been there 
with my Franks, the Jews should not 
have crucified the Lord !' Unhappily the j 
Christianity first introduced among them 
was strongly tinctured with the corrup- 
tions of Rome, and in the progress of ages, 
the Germans participated extensively in 
the increasing superstitions and degene- 
racy which reigned at the fountain head, j 
But in the providence of God it was re- j, 
served for this heroic and undaunted j 
people, to take the lead in breaking the 
bonds by which Europe had for ages been ! 
held in subjection. * Whilst,' says the ' 
distinguished Lutheran historian, Dr. Mos- ; 
heim, ' the Roman pontiff slumbered in I 
security at the head of the church, and 
saw nothing throughout the vast extent 
of his dominion but tranquility and sub- 
mission, and while the worthy and pious 
professors of genuine Christianity almost 
despaired of seeing that reformation, on 
which their ardent desires and expectations 
were bent : an obscure and inconsiderable 
person arose, on a sudden, in the year 
1517, and laid the foundation of this long- 
expected change, by opposing with un- 
daunted resolution his single force to the 
torrent of Papal ambition and despotism. 
This remarkable man was Martin Luther, 
of Eisleben, in Saxony,* an Augustinian 
monk, and professor of theology in the 
university which had been erected at Wit- 
tenburg a few years before.' It was this 
interesting people, after they had thrown 
off the yoke of Rome, and, through the 
instrumentality of their countryman Lu- 
ther and others, received the pure and 
unadulterated word of God, that consti- 
tuted themselves a reformed, an evangel- 
ical church, which has been denominated 
Lutheran."f 

" In the year 1507, at the age of twen- 
ty-four years, in the seclusion of monastic 
life, Luther, by what we call accident, 
but, in reality, by the ordering of Him 
whose empire is universal, found among 
the musty tomes of the convent library a 
long-neglected Latin Bible. This imme- 
diately became his daily counsellor. The 
light of inspired truth soon disclosed to 
him the errors and deficiency of the 



* Mosheinr, vol. iii. p. 25. 

f Schmucker's Portraiture, pp. 12-14. 



41 



322 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



Romish creed, even before he could plainly 
discern the more excellent way. His at- 
tainments placed him, the following year, 
in a situation which compelled him to ac- 
quire a knowledge of the Hebrew lan- 
guage. In the year 1517, while engaged 
j in the performance of his duties of a pro- 
fessor and ecclesiastic, particularly at the 
confessional, he discovered the influence 
of Rome's corrupt system of indulgences. 
He refused absolution to those who pleaded 
them as a substitute for penance. This 
of course led them to complain to the friar 
from whom they had procured them. A 
violent controversy ensued between the 
friar and Luther, which ultimately brought 
the Reformer to an open rupture with the 
See of Rome. At two of the principal 
universities, as well as at the Papal court, 
the indignation of the church was ex- 
pressed by a public conflagration of his 
published writings. And in return, Lu- 
ther, after previous notice, and in the pre- 
sence of an immence concourse of specta- 
tors, committed the authoritative books of 
the Roman hierarchy, together with the 
condemnatory bull of the pontiff, to the 
flames. The Papal bull was renewed, 
accompanied by a sentence of excommu- 
nication ; but its reception served only to 
show its diminished power against the ad- 
vancing public sentiment. Recourse was 
now had to the civil authorities ; and the 
assembled princes and nobles of Germany 
were urged to bripg the Reformer to their 
bar for trial. A summons was issued ac- 
cordingly ; and Luther, notwithstanding 
the remonstrance of influential and power- 
ful friends, fearlessly placed himself at 
their tribunal. Here again the public 
sympathies were with him. His reception 
was marked with a higher degree of en- 
thusiastic attention and favor, than that 
of the emperor himself. When confronted 
with his prosecutors, he respectfully but 
firmly maintained the stand he had taken; 
avowed himself the author of the writings 
which bore his name ; boldly vindicated 
the truth of his opinions , and refused to 
recant, unless convinced and refuted from 
the scriptures themselves. He left the 
council unmolested, but was followed by a 
royal edict of condemnation. And though 
placed for a time in confinement for his 
security, by the-hand of friendship, he did 



not cease his labors to expose and refute 
the corruptions and heresies of Papal 
Rome, and in defence of the doctrines 
which he had espoused and promulgated. 
In the meantime, almost every city of 
Saxony embraced his doctrines, and the 
principles of the Reformation spread and 
prevailed. On his return to Wittemburg, 
the place of his residence, he resolved 
that the ' lamp of life,' the scriptures, 
which had illumined and scattered the 
darkness of his own mind, and which he 
had in part translated into German, at 
Wartburg, in his confinement, should be 
given to the community around him ; pub- 
lishing and circulating each portion as 
soon as it was revised or translated, until 
in the course of twelve years the whole 
was completed. The people soon began 
to see the contrast between the laws of 
Christ's kingdom and those of the Roman 
hierarchy ; and both princes and their 
subjects openly renounced the Papal su- 
premacy. Wrath was kindled against 
them to the uttermost. The Vatican thun- 
dered its anathemas ; the civil power was 
extended to crush the heresy and its advo- 
cates together; but it was all in vain ; ' so 
mightily grew the word of God and pre- 
vailed.' Luther maintained his stand 
against both the civil and ecclesiastical 
hostility; till, in 1524, seven years after 
he commenced the work of reform, he 
threw aside the monastic dress, assumed 
the garb of a preacher, abjured his vpw 
of celibacy and united himself in marriage 
with a nun, which caused the impotent 
rage of his adversaries to burn with still 
greater fury. The German princes, how- 
ever, either from political or religious mo- 
tives, treated him with clemency. Many 
of them were his firm friends ; and the 
Elector of Saxony, who had been his con- 
stant patron, instituted measures by which 
the Lutheran religion was established 
throughout his dominions."* 

Unhappy divisions, however, arose 
among the reformers themselves. And 
while the doctrines which Luther taught 
became popular even in France and Eng- 
land : these divisions weakened their cause 
at home, and put arguments against them 
into the mouths of their enemies. Re- 



Quarterly Register, pp. 379, 380. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



323 



peated efforts were made to turn the polit- 
ical influence of the country against the 
Reformation and its friends, and in 1529, 
the German Diet proceeded to adopt mea- 
sures to check its progress. These were 
resisted by that portion of the Diet who 
were favorable to the cause of reform ; 
and when they found that their remon- 
strances availed nothing, they entered a 
solemn protest against the proceedings, 
and appealed to' the emperor and a future 
council. Hence arose the name Protest- 
ant, which has ever since distinguished 
the other portions of the Christian world 
from the adherents of the Church of 
Rome. At a subsequent Diet, held at 
Augsburg, Melancthon, who had been di- 
rected to prepare a statement of the doc- 
trines of the reformed, presented the cele- 
brated confession of their faith, which has 
since been known as the " Augsburg 
Confession." The opposition of the Pa- 
pists to this gave rise to another contro- 
versy ; to quell which, imperial edicts and 
the secular power were put in full requisi- 
tion. This led to political union and re- 
sistance on the part of the Protestants, 
and an alliance between them and the gov- 
ernments of France and of England, 
whose sovereigns having each a personal 
pique against the German emperor, were 
disposed to fan this flame of political dis- 
cord. All attempts to abolish heresy by 
force were now relinquished by the empe- 
ror, and a truce followed, during which 
the principles of the Reformation made still 
farther advances. Many who had feared to 
avow their enmity to the Pope, now publicly 
renounced their allegiance to him, and whole 
cities and provinces of Germany enlisted 
under the religious standards of Luther. 
Various unsuccessful attempts were made 
by the emperor and the Roman Pontiff 
to terminate the religious controversies, 
through the space of several years, during 
which a revised confession of the Protest- 
ant faith was prepared by Luther, com- 
monly known as " The Articles of Smal- 
cald," which usually accompanies the pub- 
lished creeds and confessions of the con- 
fessions of the Lutheran Church. The 
emperor and the Protestants also proposed 
various methods of reconciliation, but 
these were uniformly defeated by the ar- 
tifices of the Romanists. At length, wea- 



ried with the opposition of the Protestants 
on the one hand, and of the Papists on 
the other, to every measure proposed for 
settling their disputes : he began to listen 
to the suggestions of the Pontiff to end 
the controversies by the force of arms. 
The Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave 
of Hesse, who were the chief supporters 
of the Protestant cause, made correspond- 
ing arrangements for defence. But before 
the commencement of these sanguinary 
conflicts, Luther died in peace in his native 
town, (Eisleben,) Feb. 18, 1546, aged 62 
years. The first contest resulted in the 
defeat of the Protestants, chiefly through 
the perfidy of the nephew of the elector. 
Discouragement and gloom seemed now to 
gather around their cause. Through fear 
and by compulsion, they were made to 
yield up the decision of their religious dis- 
putes to a council to be assembled by the 
Pope. The providence of God interposed 
at this juncture. A rumor of the plague 
in the city where they were convened 
caused them to disperse, and the emperor 
could not prevail on " his Holiness" to re- 
assemble them. The Popedom, however, 
having in 1548, passed into other hands, 
measures were taken for convening an- 
other general council. The Elector of 
Saxony, perceiving some mischievous de- 
signs on the part of the emperor against 
the liberties of the German princes, de- 
termined to crush his project and his am- 
bition. He secretly directed the Saxon 
divines not to proceed as far as Trent, the 
place of assembly, but to stop at Nurem- 
berg. He also formed a secret alliance 
with the king of France, and several of 
the German princes, for defending and se- 
curing their liberties ; and in 1552, he 
marched with a powerful army against 
the emperor at Inspruck, who finding him- 
self unexpectedly, and without prepara- 
tion, in the power of the Protestant chief- 
tain was compelled to accede to such 
terms as the latter should propose ; and 
the result was the ratification of the treaty 
of Passau, which was considered by the 
Protestants as the basis of their religious 
freedom. By the terms of this treaty a 
Diet was to be assembled in six months to 
determine an amicable settlement of the 
controversies. This Diet after much delay 
at length met at Augsburg, in the year 



324 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



1555, and brought their long-continued 
troubles to a peaceful termination. After 
various and protracted discussions, it was 
finally enacted by the Diet, on the 25th 
of September of that year, " that the 
Protestants who adopted the Augsburg 
Confession* should, for the future, be con- 
sidered as entirely free from the jurisdic- 
tion of the Roman Pontiff, and from the 
authority and supervision of the Roman 
bishops ; that they were at perfect liberty 
.to enact laws for themselves on all matters 
pertaining to their religious sentiments, 
discipline and worship ; that all the inhabit- 
ants of the German empire should be 
allowed to judge for themselves in religious 
concerns ; and to join themselves to that 
church whose doctrine and worship they 
deemed the most pure and consonant 
to the spirit of true Christianity ; and 
that all who should injure or persecute any 
person under religious pretences, and on 
account of their opinions, should be treated 
as enemies of the empire, invaders of its 
liberties, and disturbers of its peace." 

It was from the church thus reformed, 
indoctrinated and established, that the Ger- 
man Lutheran Christians in the United 
States descended. " After the establish- 
ment of the Lutheran Church in Germany, 
by the labors of Luther, Melancthon, and 



* Thus named, from the city of Augsburg, 
in the kingdom of Bavaria. In compliance 
with the mandate of the Emperor Charles V., 
a Diet was held in that place in the year 1530 ; 
which was a convention of the princes, electors, 
ecclesiastical dignitaries, and representatives 
of free cities, convened for the purpose of de- 
liberating on the affairs of the German Empire. 
Luther had previously prepared a Confession 
of faith, called the Articles of Torgau, which, 
with other writings, were placed in the hands 
of his faithful fellow-laborer, Melanchthon. On 
the 25th of June, in the year 1530, this Con- 
fession was presented and read in the presence 
of the Emperor and the members of the Diet. 

The Augsburg Confession, which is preceded 
by an address to the Emperor, consists of two 
parts: the first, containing twenty-one arti- 
cles, refers to many important doctrines of the 
Evangelical Christians who coincided in their 
faith with Luther ; as their religious sentiments 
had been much misrepresented, they enume- 
rated various doctrines of the Bible, their or- 
thodoxy concerning which had been denied. 
The second part, containing seven articles, 
refers to many notorious errors and abuses of 
the Church of Rome, which Luther had rejected. 

f Quarterly Register, p. 381. 



others, about 1525, when the Elector 
John of Saxony first publicly adopted the 
amended system, the Lutheran doctrines 
were introduced into Sweden by the in- 
strumentality of Olaus Petri, in 1527, un- 
der the sanction of King Gustavus Vasa 
Ericson. Into Denmark the Lutheran 
doctrines were fully introduced in 1527, 
in the reign of Frederick, after some pre- 
paratory steps by Christiern II. The Lu- 
theran Church is also established in Nor- 
way, Lapland, Finland, and Iceland, and 
has some congregations in Hungary, 
France, and Asia. 

The United Brethren (Moravians), 
though peculiar in their church govern- 
ment, have always retained the Lutheran 
Confession of Augsburg as their symbol, 
and may be regarded as a branch of the 
Lutheran Church.* 

" The earliest settlement of Lutherans 
in this country, was made by emigrants 
from Holland to New York, soon after the 
first establishment of the Dutch in that 
city, then called New Amsterdam, which 
was in 1621. This fact, which is of some 
historic interest, rests upon the authority 
of the venerable patriarch of American 
Lutheranism, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. 
' As I was detained at New York, (says 
he in his report to Halle,) I took some 
pains to acquire correct information con- 
cerning the history of the Lutheran Church 
in that city. This small congregation 
took its rise almost at the first settlement 
of the country. Whilst the territory yet 
belonged to Holland, the few Low Dutch 
Lutherans were compelled to hold their 
worship in private ; but after it passed into 
the possession of the British, in 1664, 
liberty was granted them by all the suc- 
cessive governors to conduct their worship 
publicly without any obstruction. 'j* The 



* See Schmucker's Popular Theology, p. 48, 
ed. 5th. 

■{-The Lutheran Herald, vol. iii. No I, con- 
tains the following particulars : " Indeed, so 
great was the number of Lutherans, even at 
this time, that the very next year, 1 665, after 
the English flag had been displayed from Fort 
Amsterdam, they petitioned for liberty to send 
to Germany a call for a regular pastor. This 
petition Governor Nicols, of course granted* 
and in February, 1669, two years a r ter he had 
left the government, the Rev. Jacobus Fabri- 
cius arrived in the colony and began his pas- 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



325 



establishment of Lutherans was therefore 
made little more than a century after the 
re-discovery of America by Columbus, in 
1492 ; # within a few years of the landing 
of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, 1620, 
and whilst the Thirty Years' Warj was 
raging in Germany, and threatening to 
exterminate Protestantism from Europe. 
Their first minister was Jacob Fabricius, 
who arrived in 1669, but after eight years' 
labor, left them and connected himself 
with the Swedish Lutherans.^ The names 
of his immediate successors we have not 
found; but from 1703 to 1747, their pas- 
tors were the Rev. Messrs. Falkner, from 
1703 till 1725, Berkenmayer, and Knoll, 
and subsequently Rochemdahler, Wolf, 
Hartwick, and others. The first church 
(a log building) was erected 1671, and 
Mr. Muhlenberg says, it was in a dilapi- 
dated state when it was taken down and 
its place supplied by one of stone, in the 
time of Mr. Berkenmayer. The cause of 
the emigration from Holland we have not 
seen stated ; but it may easily be conjec- 
tured, as the emigrants left that country a 
few years after the famous Synod of Dort 
(1618,) and whilst the government was 
enforcing the intolerant decrees of that 
body.§ 

" To this settlement succeeded that of 
the Swedes on the Delaware, in 1836, 
about ten or twelve years after that in 



toral labors." " On the 13th of October, 1669, 
Lord Lovelace, who had succeeded Governor 
Nicols, publicly proclaimed his having receiv- 
ed a letter from the Duke of York, expressing 
his pleasure that the Lutherans should be tol- 
erated." 

* It is now highly probable that America was 
not first discovered by Columbus; but Green- 
land had been visited by Eirek, the Red, and 
New England by Biarni Heriulphson, the for- 
mer in 982, the latter in 985. See Discoveries 
( of the North Men. 

f This most memorable of all the wars in 
the history of Protestantism, which deluded 
Germany in blood, and had it not been for the 
! magnanimous aid of Gustavus Adolphus, and 
I his brave Swedes, would perhaps have extir- 
pated Protestantism from the earth, was com- 
1 menced in 1618, and ended in 1648. 

\ Fabricius took charge of the Swedish 
church at Wicaco, now Southwark, Philadel- 
; phia, where he labored fourteen years, during 
: nine of which he was blind. He died 1692. 
§ Schmucker's Retrospect, pp. 5-7. 



New Amsterdam, and sixteen years after 
the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. 
This colony was first contemplated during 
the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, and was 
sanctioned by that enlightened and illus- 
trious king. It was delayed by the com- 
mencement of the Thirty Years' War in 
Germany ; but after Sweden's noble- 
hearted monarch had poured out his life's- 
blood on the plains of Lutzen, it was re- 
vived and executed under the auspices of 
his distinguished prime minister Oxen- 
stiern. For many years this colony pros- 
pered, but receiving no accessions from 
the parent country, it never increased 
much in numbers ; the rising generation 
commingled with the surrounding English 
and Germans, and at the present day the 
Swedish language is entirely abandoned 
in their worship. For many years their 
ministers, who were generally men of 
sterling character, were in habits of the 
most friendly intercourse and ecclesiasti- 
cal co-operation with their German Lu- 
theran brethren ; but the prevalence of 
the English language, having early placed 
them under obligation to our Episcopal 
brethren who supplied them with ministra- 
tions in that language, these churches, 
three or four in number, have successively 
fallen into Episcopal hands.* 

" The third settlement of Lutherans in 
this country was that of the Germans, 
which gradually spread over Pennsylva- 
nia, Maryland, Virginia, and the interior 
of New York and the Western States. 
The grant of Pennsylvania was given to 
Penn by Charles II. in 1680; and from 
this date, till about twenty years after- 
wards, many hundreds of families emi- 
grated to Pennsylvania. The tide of 
German emigration, however, fairly com- 
menced in 1710, when about 3000 Ger- 
mans, chiefly Lutheran, oppressed by 
Romish intolerance, went from the Pala- 
tinate to England in 1709, and were sent 
by Queen Anne to New York the suc- 



* That these churches have dwindled away 
to almost nothing, would seem to appear from 
the fact tbat when their present amiable rec- 
tor, the Rev. J. C. Clay, was elected, Dec. 5th, 
1831, the entire number of votes given, was, 
at the Wicaco church (Philadelphia) 1.6, at Up- ■ 
per Merion 29, and at Kingsessing 37. (Clay's 
Annals, p. 133.) 



326 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



ceeding year. In 171 3, one hundred and 
fifty families settled in Schoharie ; and in 
1717, we find in the Colonial Records of 
Pennsylvania, that the governor of the 
province felt it his duty to call the atten- 
tion of the ' Provincial Council' to the fact 
' that great numbers of foreigners from 
Germany, strangers to our language and 
constitution, had lately been imported into 
the province.' The council enacted, that 
every master of a vessel should report the 
emigrants he brought over, and that they 
should all repair to Philadelphia within 
one month to take the oath of allegiance 
to the government,* that it might be seen 
whether they were ' friends or enemies to 
his majesty's government.' In 1727, the 
year memorable alike for Francke's death, 
and the origin of the Moravians, a very 
large number of Germans came to Penn- 
sylvania from the Palatinate, from Wur- 
temberg, Darmstadt and other parts of 
Germany. This colony was long desti- 
tute of a regular ministry ; there were 
however some schoolmasters and others, 
some of whom were probably good men, 
who undertook to preach ; and as many 
of the emigrants brought with them the 
spirit of true piety from Germany, they 
brought also many devotional books and 
often read Arndt's True Christianity and 
other similar works for mutual edifica- 
tion.! For twelve years, from 1730 till 
the arrival of the patriarch of American 
Lutheranism, Dr. Henry Melchiar Muh- 
lenberg, the Swedish ministers kindly 
labored among the Germans, as far as 
their duties to their own churches ad- 
mitted. But before we pursue the history 
of this colony any farther, our attention 
is claimed by 

" The fourth settlement of Lutherans 
in this country, who established them- 
selves in Georgia, in 1733, and to desig- 
nate the gratitude of their hearts to the 
j God who had protected them, styled their 
location Ebenezer. These emigrants were 
from Saltzburg, formerly belonging to 
Bavaria, and restored to the Austrian 
dominions at the peace of 1814. Perse- 
cuted at home by those enemies of all 



* Colonial Records, vol. iii. p. 18. 
■j- See Hallische Nachrichten, p. 665. 



righteousness, the Jesuits,* and by Ro- 
mish priests and Romish rulers, this band 
of disciples sought a resting place in these 
western wilds, where they could worship 
God according to the dictates of their con- 
sciences, under their own vine and fig 
tree, without molestation or fear. Through 
the instrumentality of Rev. Mr. Urlsper- 
ger, of Augsburg, who was a correspond- 
ing member of the British Society for the 
Promotion of Christianity, pecuniary aid 
was afforded by that liberal and noble- 
minded association, and the oppressed 
Saltzburgers were enabled to reach the 
place of their destination. Happily, they 
were immediately supplied by two able 
and faithful pastors, Messrs. Bolzius and 
Gronau. The latter was taken away by 
death after twelve years' labor among 
the emigrants, but Bolzius was spared to 
the church about thirty years. In 1738, 
these colonists erected an orphan-house 
at Ebenezer, to which work of benevo- 
lence important aid was contributed by 
that distinguished man of God, George 
Whitefield, who also furnished the bell 
for one of the churches erected by them. 
The descendants of these colonists are 
still numerous, and are connected with 
the Lutheran Synod of South Carolina 
and adjacent states. 

" Soon after the above colonization, 
numerous Germans coming from Penn- 
sylvania and other states, settled in North 
Carolina,! who enjoyed the labors of many 
excellent servants of Christ, Nussman, 
Arndt, Storch, Roschen, Bernhard, Sho- 
ber and others, and whose descendants 
constitute the present numerous churches 
in the Carolinas. 

" In 173.5, a settlement of Lutherans 
was formed in Spottsylvania, as Virginia 
was then sometimes called 4 which we 
suppose to be the church in Madison 
county of that state. Their pastor, the 
Rev. Mr. Stoever, visited Germany for 
aid, and, together with several assistants, 
obtained three thousand pounds, part of 
which was expended in the erection of a 
church, the purchase of a plantation and 



* Heinsius' unparteiische Kirchenhistorie, 
vol. iii. p. 291. 
■J- Shober's Luther, p. 137. 
t Hallische Nachrichten, p. 331. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



327 



slaves to work it for the support of their 
minister, and the balance expended for a 
library, or consumed by the expenses of 
the town.* As might have been expected, 
this church seems never to have enjoyed 
the smiles of our Father in heaven. 

" In 1739, a few Germans emigrated to 
Waldoborough, Maine, to whose number 
an addition of 1500 souls was made thir- 
teen years afterwards. But the title to 
the land given them by General Waldo 
proving unsound, many left the colony, 
and its numbers have never greatly in- 
creased. For many years they enjoyed 
the pastoral labors, successively of Rev. 
Messrs. Schaeffer (from 1762,) Croner 
(from 1785,) and Ritz, and since 1811, 
are under the charge of Rev. Mr. Star- 
man.f 

" Of all these colonies, that which in 
the providence of God has most increased, 
and has hitherto constituted the great body 
of the Lutheran Church in this country, 
is that in the Middle States, Pennsylvania, 
interior New York, Maryland, &c, whose 
history was traced in its proper place till 
1742. This was a memorable year for 
the Lutheran Church. It was rendered so 
by the arrival of Henry Melchior Muhlen- 
berg, whose high intellectual and moral 
qualifications, whose indefatigable zeal and 
long life of arduous and enlightened labor 
for the Master's cause, constitute a new 
era in the history of our American Zion, 
and justly entitle him to the appellation 
of patriarch of the American Lutheran 
Church. There had indeed been Luther- 
ans in Pennsylvania sixty years earlier. 
There had been churches built at New 
Hanover, and near Lebanon (the Berg- 
kirche) where the Rev. Mr. Stoever la- 
bored in 1733, and at York in 1734. In 
Philadelphia also the Lutherans had wor- 
shipped jointly with their Reformed breth- 
ren in an old loo- house in Arch Street. 



* Hellische Nachichten, p. 331. 
■f Heinsius speaks of a colony of Swiss Lu- 
therans, who, tired of Romish oppression, also 
sought refuge in this western world. They 
1 came by way of England, under the direction 

I of Col. Pury, who established them in a place 

I I called after himself Purysburg. This colony, 
J if we mistake not, was in South Carolina, but 
1 1 we have not been able to find any account of 
jj its progress or present condition. (Heinsius' 
I Kirchengeschichte, vol. iii. page 291.) 



But in general they had enjoyed no regu- 
lar ministry, until 1742. Muhlenberg 
came to this country with qualifications 
of the highest order. His education was 
of the very first character. In addition 
to his knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, 
he spoke English, German, Holla ndish, 
French, Latin, and Swedish. But what 
was still more important, he was educated 
in the school of Francke, and had im- 
bibed a large portion of his heavenly 
spirit. Like Paul, he had an ardent zeal 
for the salvation of ' his brethren, his kins- 
men according to the flesh.' He first 
landed in Georgia, and spent a week with 
the brethren Bolzius and Gronau, to re- 
fresh his spirit and learn the circumstances 
of the country ; and then pursuing his 
course by a dangerous coasting voyage, 
in a small and insecure sloop,* which had 
no accommodations for passengers, he 
arrived in Philadelphia, Nov. 25, 1742. 
Having reached his place of destination, 
and surmounted the opposition of Count 
Zinzendorf, who, under the assumed name 
of Thurnstein, had passed himself off as 
a Lutheran minister and inspector,! he 
was cordially received, and entered on 
his labors with comprehensive and well- 
directed views for the benefit of the whole 
church. He continued to labor for near 
half a century, with indefatigable zeal. 
Whilst Edwards was co-operating with 
the extraordinary outpourings of God's 
spirit in New England, and the Wesleys 
were laboring to revive vital godliness in 
England ; whilst Whitefield was doing 
the same work in England and America, 
and the successors of Francke were labor- 
ing to evangelize Germany ; Muhlenberg 



* During this voyage all on board endured 
many privations ; and being delayed and 
tossed about by contrary winds, suffered much 
for want of water. So great was the destitu- 
tion of water, that even the rats ate out the 
stoppers of the vinegar bottles, and by insert- 
ing their tails, extracted the cooling liquid, and 
drew them through their mouths. And some 
of these animals were also seen licking the 
perspiration from the foreheads of the sleep- 
ing mariners. (Hallische Nachrichten, p. 9.) 

f The writer has in his library a volume 
of sermons, published in Budingen, 1746, evi- 
dently by Count Zinzendorf, the title page of 
which represents their author to have been 
Lutheran Inspector and Pastor in Philadelphia 
in 1742. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



1 



was striving with similar zeal and fidelity 
to do the work of God among his German 
brethren in this western world. Of him, 
as also of some of his earliest associates, 
it may be truly said, that ' he was in 
journeyings often, in perils of waters, in 
perils of robbers, in perils by his own 
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in 
perils in the city, in perils in the wilder- 
ness, in perils in the sea, in perils among 
false brethren, in weariness, and painful- 
ness, in watchings often, in hunger and 
thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and 
nakedness.' He preached in season and 
out of season, in churches, in dwellings, 
in barns, and in the open air, until at last 
that divine Master, whom he so faithfully 
served, received him into the society of 
the apostles and prophets at his right hand, 
October 7, 1787.* 

" Such was Muhlenberg. Throughout 
his long life he was regarded by all as the 
leader of the Lutheran phalanx, as the 
father of the Lutheran Church in this 
country. Although we see no necessity 
for attaching a season of grateful acknow- 
ledgment of the divine goodness, to any 
specific date, as it is at all times proper ; 
yet if such a date be sought, no one more 
appropriate could be found than the year 
of Muhlenberg's call to this work, (Sep- 
tember, 1741,) or his actual arrival in this 
country in 1742. 

" Muhlenberg was soon joined in the 
American field by other highly respecta- 
ble men, of excellent education and of 
spirit like his own ; the greater part of 
whom were in like manner sent from Ger- 
many, such as Brunnholtz and Lemke, 
1745 ; Handshuh, Hartwick, the generous 
founder of the seminary that bears his 
name, and Weygand, 1748 ; Heinzelman 
and Schuitz, 1751 ; Gerock, Hausil, Wort- 
man, Wagner, Schartlin, Shrenk, and 
Rauss, 1753; Bager, 1758; Voigt and 
Krug, J764; Helmuth and Schmidt, 1769; 
and Kunze, 1770. In company with Mr. 
Brunnholtz came also Messrs. N. Kurtz 
and Schaum, who were ordained in 1748, 
and were among the most faithful and use- 
ful of our ministers. The former was the 
father of the venerable servant of Christ 
whom we are permitted this morning to 



• Schmucker's Retrospect, pp. 9-1 



welcome in our midst, the oldest Lutheran 
minister in the United States, bereft of late 
of the partner of his life, himself yet 
kindly spared amongst us as a relic of a 
former generation. The increase of min- 
isters was slow. When the first synod 
was held, in 1748, there were only eleven 
regular Lutheran ministers in the United 
States.* Three years after that time the 
number of congregations was rated at 
about 40, and the Lutheran population in 
America at 60,000. 

" The greater part of these men were 
indefatigable in their labors. Numerous 
and arduous were the difficulties in their 
way. The population was unsettled, ever 
tending farther into the interior ;f intem- 
perance had already made sad havoc in 
the land ; the semi-civilized habits so na- 
tural to pioneers in colonization, the vari- 
ous frolics, the celebrations in honor of 
Tammany, the Indian chief, &c, which 
were then extensively observed, were for- 
midable obstacles to religion. Inadequate 
ministerial support; difficulty of travelling 
from want of roads in many directions ; 
and not unfrequently the tomahawk and 
scalping-knife of the Indian impeded their 
progress. I cannot stop to tell the soul- 
stirring story of many an Indian massa- 
cre. A single instance, from the pen of 
Father Muhlenberg himself, may teach us 
alike to appreciate the security of our wor- 
ship and the bitter cost at which our 
fathers provided it ; may teach us that we 
are reaping the fruits of their sweat and 
blood. The case was that of a man whose 
two grown daughters had attended a course 
of instruction by Mr. Muhlenberg, and 
been solemnly admitted by confirmation 
to the communion of the church. This 
man afterwards went with his family some 
distance into the interior to a tract of land 
which he purchased. When the war with 
the Indians broke out, he removed his 
family to their former residence, and occa- 
sionally returned to his farm to attend to 
his grain and cattle. On one cccasion he 
went accompanied by his two daughters 



* In 1743, Naesseman, the Swedish minis- 
ter, reported to Sweden, that there were at that 
time twenty German Lutheran congregations 
in America. (Heinsius, iii. p. 687.) 

-j- Muhlenberg states that in five years, half 
his congregation had changed. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



329 



to spend a few days there, and bring away 
some wheat. On Friday evening, after 
the wagon had been loaded, and every 
thing was ready for their return on the 
morrow, his daughters complained that 
they felt anxious and dejected, and were 
impressed with the idea that they were 
soon to die. They requested their father 
to unite with them in singing the familiar 
German funeral hymn : ' Who knows how 
near my end may be ?'* after which they 
commended themselves to God in prayer 
and retired to rest. The light of the suc- 
ceeding morning beamed upon them, and 
all was yet. well. Whilst the daughters 
were attending to the dairy, cheered with 
the joyful hope of soon greeting their 
friends, and being out of danger, the father 
went to the field for the horses, to prepare 
for their departure home. As he was 
passing through the field, suddenly he saw 
two Indians, armed with rifles, tomahawks, 
and scalping-knives, rushing towards him 
at full speed. The sight so terrified him, 
that he lost all self-command, and stood 
motionless and*silent. When they were 
about twenty yards from him, he suddenly, 
and with all his strength, exclaimed, ' Lord 
Jesus, living and dying I am thine.' 
Scarcely had the Indians heard the words 
' Lord Jesus,' (which they probably knew 
as the white man's name of the ' Great 
Spirit,') when they stopped short, and ut- 
tered a hideous yell. The man ran with 
almost supernatural strength into the dense 
forest, and by taking a serpentine course 
the Indians lost sight of him and relin- 
quished the pursuit. He hastened to an 
adjoining farm, where two German fami- 
lies resided, for assistance. But on ap- 
proaching near it, he heard the dying 
groans of the families, who were falling 
beneath the murderous tomahawk of some 
other Indians. Having providentially not 
been observed by them, he hastened back 
to learn the fate of his daughters. But, 
alas ! on coming within sight, he found 
his house and barn enveloped in flames ! 
Finding that the Indians had possession 
i here too, he hastened to another adjoining 
I farm for help. Returning armed, with 
I several men, he found the house reduced 



* The well-known German hymn, 
j weiss wie nahe mir mein Ende." 

L 



Wer 



to ashes, and the Indians gone ! His 
eldest daughter had been almost entirely 
burnt up, a few remains only of her body 
being found ! And awful to relate, the 
younger, though the scalp had been cut 
from her head, and her body was horribly 
mangled from head to foot with the toma- 
hawk, was yet living ! ' The poor worm,' 
says Muhlenberg, ' was yet able to state 
all the circumstances of the dreadful scene.' 
After having done so, she requested her 
father to stoop down to her that she might 
give him a parting kiss and then go to her 
dear Saviour ; and after she had impressed 
her dying lips upon his cheek, she yielded 
her spirit into the hands of that Redeem- 
er,* who, though his judgments are often 
unsearchable and his ways past finding 
out, has nevertheless said, ' I am the re- 
surrection and the life, if any man believe 
in me, though he die yet shall he live.' "f 
The interests of the Lutheran Church 
shared alike with those of other religious 
denominations and with the country gene- 
rally in the disastrous influences of the 
American revolution, as well as in the 
happy results that have followed, the 
triumph which the spirit of patriotism and 
liberty then achieved. " Many of the 
churches were destroyed throughout the 
land, and especially in New England. 
Zion Church, the largest in Philadelphia, 
was occupied as a hospital by the British 
army in 1778, and the congregation for a 
season wholly expelled. And their other 
church, St. Michael's, which had been 
built in 1743, the year after Muhlenburg's 
arrival, was used by the enemy as a gar- 
rison church, half of every Lord's day, 
the congregation having the use of it in 
the afternoon.";}; 

* Hallish, Nachr, p. 1007-8.. The case here 
narrated was neither extreme nor rare. The 
elder Mr. Kurtz, on the 2d of July, 1757, states 
that on that day the lifeless bodies of no less 
than seven members of his congregation were 
brought to the church for burial, they having 
been murdered by the Indians the evening be- 
fore. Being anxious to improve this solemn 
scene to the spiritual welfare of his hearers, 
Mr. Kurtz deferred the interment until the suc- 
ceeding day, and suffered the mangled bodies 
to remain in the church until the congregation 
convened ; a pleasing evidence this, of his 
solicitude for souls. 

+ Schmucker's Retrospect, pp. 11-13. 

* Ibid, p. 15. 



42 



330 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



" In 1786, the Lutheran ministry in the 
Middle States numbered 24. From that 
time until 1820, the year of the formation 
of their General Synod, the number of 
congregations and ministers was much in- 
creased, but owing to the want of a suita- 
ble institution for their education, and to 
other causes, the proportion of men desti- 
tute of a learned education was also aug- 
mented."* From the influence of the 
revolution, and the war of 1812, as well 
as the wars in their mother country, from 
amid the baleful effects of which the Ger- 
man immigrants in this period came ; from 
the temptations presented by the state of 
this country to pursue the accumulation 
of wealth, and consequently to neglect 
" the true riches :" our Lutheran brethren 
were now compelled to mourn in common 
with otiier denominations the low and de- 
clining state of piety in their churches. 
But towards the close of this period a 
manifest improvement in this respect be- 
gan to cheer their hearts and illumine their 
prospects. 

The year 1820, has been already men- 
tioned as the date of the formation of the 
General Synod of the American Lutheran 
Church. " Prior to this era, the church 
had gradually become divided into five or 
six different, distant, and unconnected 
synods. Having no regular intercourse 
with each other, these several portions be- 
came more or less estranged, and lost all 
the advantages of mutual consultation, 
confidence, and co-operation."f The for- 
mation of the General Synod was the pre- 
cursor of union and improvement, and the 
commencement of the most propitious era 
in their history. Much prejudice and 
hostility were encountered in the enter- 
prise to institute this body; but by the 
prudence and kindness of its leaders, and 
particularly by the good fruits which were 
soon seen to result from it, these obstacles 
were overcome. The result was not ac- 
complished, however, without a serious 
shock to the church, which occurred two 
years afterwards, in the recession of the 
largest, and oldest of the district synods, 
that of Pennsylvania. This was the re- 
sult of an ignorant clamor of " Union of 



* Schmucker's Retrospect, p. 16. 
f Ibid. p. 18 



Church and State," which, in the case of 
those who had lately fled from this evil as 
it existed on the other side the Atlantic, is 
not marvellous ; but which is not peculiar 
to this case. Protestants of other denom- 
inations in this country seem too ready, to 
raise against each other the same outcry, 
at every attempt among themselves for 
the promotion of their own denominational 
interests ; while the open and exclusive 
efforts of Catholics, the sworn and ina- 
lienable devotees of a foreign despot, to 
keep themselves separate from all others, 
and to bend state funds and political in- 
fluence to the accomplishment of this ob- 
ject, have scarcely, until of late, received 
a passing notice, except by here and there 
a solitary pen. But while the vital and 
indestructible distinction between Catholics 
and Protestants, the fruit of the Reforma- 
tion, is thus boldly and tenaciously main- 
tained by the former, the latter are too 
prone to treat the distinction as a mere 
nullity, as if its transfer to American soil 
could annihilate it. 

The salutary influence of this general 
organization in the Lutheran Church was 
soon felt in every department of her in- 
terests. Some of the permanent benefits 
which have sprung from it are, the forma- 
tion of a scriptural formula of government 
and discipline ; a selection of psalmody 
of a higher order, both as to devotional 
sentiment and composition, than any pre- 
viously used ; a theological seminary and 
a college. The theological seminary was 
established in 1825, and went into opera- 
tion the following year. Its beginning 
was feeble, but by the efforts of its faculty 
and friends, it has become a fountain of 
rich blessings to the church. Upwards 
of two hundred ministers have gone forth 
from this institution preaching the word. 
Its edifice, which is of brick, four stories 
in height, 100 feet in -length, and 40 in 
breadth, and the dwellings of its profes- 
sors, also of brick, are situated about a 
quarter of a mile from the village of Get- 
tysburg, Pa., 114 miles from Philadelphia, 
180 from Pittsburg, and 52 from Balti- 
more. Its faculty are the Rev. Samuel S. 
Schmucker, D. D., Professor of Didactic 
and Polemic, Homiletic and Pastoral The- 
ology, and Chairman of the Faculty ; Rev. 
Charles P. Krauth, D. D., Piofessor of 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



331 



Sacred Philology and Exegesis ; and 
Charles A. Hay, A. M., Professor of Bib- 
lical Literature and the German Language. 
It has a library of 8000 volumes, consist- 
ing of works of almost every age, lan- 
guage and size.* 

" Pennsylvania College" is established 
and located at the same place, as an aux- 
iliary to the Seminary, and " to promote 
liberal education among the descendants 
of Germans in the United States." It be- 
ing found that some of the applicants for 
admission into the theological seminary 
were deficient in classical attainments, the 
board resolved, May 16, 1827, to estab- 
lish a preparatory school, to be under 
their direction, and appointed Professor 
Schmucker and the Rev. John Herbst, to 
select a teacher, and carry their resolu- 
tions into effect. The Rev. D. Jacobs, A. 
M., was chosen, and in June 1827, the 
school went into operation. From this 
humble beginning, it rose gradually in 
importance and influence. In 1829,itwas 
changed into a gymnasium, and in 1831, 
the number of students had so much in- 
creased and its prospects become so flat- 
tering, that measures were adopted, chiefly 
through the exertions of Dr. Schmucker, 
to obtain a charter from the Legislature, 
erecting it into a college. t The institution 
was organized in July 1832, under the 
above title. It went into operation in 
October following. In the fall of 1834, it 
received a president, the Rev. C. P. Krauth, 
D. D., and subsequently the professorships 
were all filled by the successive election 
of Professors Baugher, Jacobs, Reynolds 
and Smith. So that the present faculty 
consists of the president, four professors, 
one lecturer on anatomy and physiology, 
and two tutors in the preparatory depart- 
ment. It has also a well selected library, 
to which annual accessions are made ; be- 
sides the two libraries of the two literary 
societies and the German society. The 
number of students has annually increased, 
and the catalogue of 1847, reports 176. 
In establishing the seminary and college, 
and in sustaining the General Synod, there 
was a noble band of co-workers engaged, 



* See Quarterly Register, and the Lutheran 
Almanac, 1842. 

f See Lutheran Almanac, for 1842. 



including, at a later day, many of the 
alumni of the seminary itself. Among 
those who were contemporaneous with 
Dr. Schmucker, at the commencement of 
the seminary, and active in its establish- 
ment and support, deserve to be particu- 
larly named, the Rev. Dr. B. Kurtz, who 
made a successful tour through Germany, 
Denmark, &c, to collect funds and books 
for the institution. Dr. C. P. Krauth, Dr. 
D. F. Schaeffer, Rev. J. Herbst, Rev. B 
Keller, Rev. J. Ruthrauf, Sr., and Dr. J. 
G. Schmucker of York. 

It ought not to be overlooked, that from 
her earliest history the Lutheran Church 
has held learning in the greatest rever- 
ence, as the instrument of her emancipa- 
tion from the thraldom of the dark ages. 
The Universities of Jena and Konigsberg, 
Wittenberg and Leipzig, were among the 
first testimonials of her zeal in this respect. 
And had her early pastors in this country 
had the courage and the means for imi- 
tating their ancestors, and founded the 
institutions which now adorn and bless 
the American branch of this venerable 
portion of the church, her influence and 
success would have placed her now among 
the foremost of the "sacramental host." 
As it was, " in addition to their pastoral 
labors, several of the clergy occupied im- 
portant posts in literary institutions." Dr. 
Kunze, of whom Dr. Miller of Princeton 
says, " his oriental learning has long ren- 
dered him an ornament of the American 
republic of letters," was German professor 
of the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew lan- 
guages in the University of Pennsylvania, 
established in 1779. In 1785, Dr. Hel- 
muth was appointed to the same station. 
And they were confessedly as learned 
men as any connected with the institution.* 
In the same year " Messrs. Helmuth and 
Schmidt, then pastors in Philadelphia, 
commenced a private seminary, and for 
twenty years continued, so far as their 
numerous pastoral duties would permit, 
to instruct candidates for the Lutheran 
ministry ; but old age, and eventually 
death also, terminated these efforts. "f In 
1787, the Legislature, out of gratitude for 
the revolutionary services of the Germans, 



* Retrospect, p. 16. 

f Schmucker's Retrospect, p. 23. 



332 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



and respect for their industry and excel- 
lence as citizens, endowed a college in 
Lancaster for their special benefit, to be 
for ever under their control. Of this in- 
stitution, Dr. Muhlenberg, then pastor in 
Lancaster, was chosen president. And 
in 1791, the same body passed an act ap- 
propriating 5000 acres of land to the. 
flourishing free school of the Lutheran 
Church in Philadelphia, in which, at that 
time, eighty poor children were receiving 
gratuitous education.* 

An incident illustrative of German in- 
tegrity is connected with the early history 
of their Philadelphia churches, and is 
worthy of notice. A debt due by the 
church to several mechanics was paid by 
the trustees in continental money at the 
time when that currency was good and at 
par value. Not long after, however, it 
depreciated and became nearly worthless ; 
when, without any obligation, legal or 
moral, but merely that no one should be 
a loser through their instrumentality, they 
repaid the debt in specie. It is also an 
interesting fact, that in the same church, 
as early as 1804, a flourishing Sabbath 
school, numbering two hundred scholars, 
with forty teachers, was in active opera- 
tion ; showing that religion was then pros- 
pering among them. 

In addition to the Seminary and Col- 
lege at Gettysburg, there is also a Literary 
and Theological Institute at Springfield, 
Ohio ; another at East Hartwick, Otsego 
I county, N. Y.; Newberry College and 
Theological Seminary, in the village of 
Newberry, South Carolina, under the 
patronage of the Synod of North and 
South Carolina; and the Illinois State 
| University. All these institutions have 
'■ for their object the preparation of candi- 
| dates for the holy ministry, and are all 
; free from debt and flourishing, though not 
J independent of the aid of the churches. 
j There is also an institution for the educa- 
tion of poor orphan boys above the age 
of ten, located at Zelionople, Butler Co., 
i Pa., with a small farm and suitable build- 
! ings for the purpose. The boys remain 
in the institution until the age of twenty- 
one, receiving, meantime, a thorough edu- 
cation, as well as a complete moral and 



* Schmucker's Retrospect, p. 16. 



religious training. They are also taught 
a trade or occupation, and go forth into 
the world fitted in every respect for the 
position they are intended to fill. 

The Parent Education Society was 
formed in 1835, by a convention of minis- 
ters and laymen at York, Pa., during the 
session of the General Synod. They seem 
to have assembled and acted with great 
unanimity and definiteness of purpose, as 
their session continued but two days, in 
which time a constitution was adopted, 
and the necessary officers elected. 

PRINCIPAL FESTIVALS. 

Beside the Lord's day, which the 
Church observes as a holy day, in con- 
formity to the Divine prescription, other 
sacred seasons regularly recur, on which 
the great events in the history of Christ 
are commemorated. The ecclesiastical or 
church year begins with the season of 
Advent, which includes the four Sundays 
immediately preceding Christmas. The 
anniversary of the birth of Christ ( Christ- 
mas), occurs on the 25th of December 
The season of Lent, a period of 40 days, 
beginning with Ash Wednesday, is de- 
voted to the consideration of the sufferings 
of the Redeemer. The festival of Easter, 
observed in the spring of the year, after 
the close of Lent, is commemorative of 
the joyful event of Christ's resurrection 
from the grave ; and the Sunday on which 
it occurs is the first following the full of 
the moon after the vernal equinox. The 
preceding Sunday is called Palm Sunday; 
the intervening Thursday (Maundy 
Thursday), refers to the institution of the 
Lord's Supper. The next day, Good 
Friday, is the solemn day on which is 
commemorated the death of the Lord on 
the cross. On Whitsunday (Whitsuntide), 
50 days after Easter, the Church com- 
memorates the effusion or outpouring of 
the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. 
Ten days previous, or 40 days after Easter, 
occurs the festival of the Ascension. 



GOVERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE. 

This was a subject over which the early 
Reformers could exert little or no influ- 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



333 



ence. Their efforts in breaking the 
shackles of spiritual despotism, could not 
change the political constitutions by which 
the Church and the State were joined to- 
gether for mutual accommodation. Like all 
the other established churches of Europe, 
therefore, the Lutheran was prevented 
from adopting her scriptural and inde- 
pendent system of discipline. The con- 
sequence has been, that in the different 
kingdoms and provinces of Europe, their 
systems of ecclesiastical government are 
very various and inefficient ; in no section 
retaining strictly the principle of ministe- 
rial parity, with perfect freedom from state 
control. On their arrival in this country, 
that impediment no longer obstructed their 
zeal for improvement in ecclesiastical go- 
vernment and discipline. " They at once 
adopted the form which Luther and Lu- 
theran divines generally have always re- 
garded as the primitive one, viz. : the 
parity of ministers, the co-operation of the 
laity in church government, and the free 
voluntary convention of synods." Such 
was the character of the first synod held 
in Philadelphia in 1748, six years after 
the arrival of Muhlenberg. It was com- 
posed of a due proportion of lay dele- 
gates, who took an equal part with the 
clergy in the transaction of business. The 
laity were also united in the calling of 
ministers. An instance illustrative of this 
occurred in 1748, on the occasion of the 
settlement of the Rev. Nicholas Kurtz. 
" After his examination by Messrs. Muh- 
lenberg, Brunnholtz,Handschuh,and Hart- 
j wick, we are told, the elders and deacons 
of the church in which he had labored as 
a licentiate, were called on to sign his 
vocation." 

Speaking of a synod held in 1760, at 
New Providence, a village then the place 
of his residence, and now called Trap, 
after the Rev. Mr. Gerock had preached a 
German sermon in the forenoon, and the 
excellent Provost Wrangle of the Swedish 
Church, an English discourse in the after- 
noon, Muhlenberg says : " After the close 
of public worship all the ministers con- 
vened at my house, and held a biblical 
colloquy {colloquium biblicum) on the 
essential characteristics of genuine repent- 
ance, faith, and godliness ; in which they 
endeavored to benefit each other according 



to the grace given them, by communicating 
the results of their own experience and 
self-examination, so that it was a cheering 
and delightful season. The residue of the 
evening was spent in singing spiritual 
hymns and psalms, and in conversation 
about the spiritual condition of our* 
churches ; and so short did the time ap- 
pear, that it was three o'clock in the morn- 
ing before we retired to rest. Oh, (he adds) 
how delightful it is when ministers, stand- 
ing aloof from all political and party con- 
tests, seek to please their Lord and Master 
Jesus Christ, and have at heart the welfare 
of their churches and the souls entrusted 
to their care ; and are willing rather to 
suffer reproach with the people of God, 
than choose the treasures of Egypt."* 

In the discipline of the church, Muhlen- 
berg adopted virtually the Congregational 
mode ; calling on the members to vote in 
the case of restoring a penitent offender, 
after a public acknowledgment or confes- 
sion. And the most rigid and scriptural 
course was adopted and pursued for main- 
taining the purity of the church. Public 
excommunication was administered to the 
immoral, and the most scrupulous precau- 
tions were observed to prevent their intru- 
sion within its hallowed precincts. " In 
1772, Helmuth, in order more effectually 
to prevent the approach of unworthy 
members, introduced the practice of re- 
quiring all who desired to commune, to 
communicate their names to him before- 
hand. The register of names was read 
before the congregation, and those of im- 
moral members publicly erased." In the 
Lancaster church, and in the church of 
Philadelphia, as early as 1663, power was 
given to the pastors to reject all immoral 
members from the sacramental table. 
With the advance of her other interests, 
the American Lutheran Church has con- 
tinued to foster and defend this vital part 
of her system. In describing its present 
state, Professor Schmucher says, " The 
government and discipline of each individ- 
ual church is essentially like that of our 
Presbyterian brethren. Our synods also, 
in structure and powers, most resemble 
their presbyteries, having fewer formali- 
ties in their proceedings, and frequently 



* Hall. Nach. p. 855. 



334 



HTSTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



couching their decisions in the form of re- 
commendations. Our General Synod is 
wholly an advisory body, resembling 
the consociations of the Congregational 
churches in New England. In addition 
to these regular ecclesiastical bodies, con- 
stituting our system of government, we 
have special conferences for the purpose 
of holding stated protracted meetings. 
These are subdivisions of synods, contain- 
ing ordinarily from five to ten ministers 
each, who are annually to hold several 
protracted meetings within the bounds of 
their district. The chief object of these 
meetings is to awaken and convert sinners, 
and to edify believers by close practical 
preaching. This feature mainly resembles 
| the quarterly meetings of our Methodist 
brethren, and presents to pious and zealous 
ministers who are thirsting for the salva- 
tion of souls, the most direct opportunity 
they can desire to glorify God and advance 
his scriptural kingdom. Yet all these 
meetings are to be conducted as the scrip- 
tures enjoin, ' decently and in order.' 
This system of government is not yet 
adopted by all our synods ; yet its general 
features, with perhaps a greater admixture 
of Congregationalism, substantially per- 
vade those synods also which have not 
yet united with the General Synod."* 

DOCTRINAL VIEWS. 

At the commencement of the Reforma- 
tion, all Protestants, as has been stated, 
were called Lutherans by the Papists, in 
contempt and derision ; but subsequently 
they adopted and gloried in the title, because 
Luther was the great leader in that work. 
Afterwards, as other Reformers arose, 
their followers were called the Reformed, 
in distinction from the immediate followers 
of Luther. This name was first adopted 
in France, as early as 1521. The dis- 
tinction, however, was afterwards con- 
nected with a difference in sentiment res- 
pecting the presence of Christ's material 



* Quarterly Register. This Formula of Gov- 
ernment and DiscCp in 3 nay be found annexed 
to the English Hymn Book of the General 
Synod, as also to the Popular Theology of-Dr. 
Schmucker, by whom (excepting the latter 
part, relating to the General Synod) it was com- 
posed. 



body in the sacramental elements, and on 
some minor points ; those who adopted 
Luther's peculiar views were called Lu- 
therans, and all other Protestants, " the 
Reformed." There has been a difference 
of opinion among different writers respect- 
ing Luther's doctrinal views, some main- 
taining that he lived and died firm in the 
Augustinian or Calvinistic faith on the 
subject of the divine decrees,* others 
affirming that his views on the distinguish- 
ing doctrines, set forth by the Acts of the 
Synod of Dort, w r ere always unadjusted 
and inconsistent with each other, and that 
long before he died, he preached the sen- 
timents on these points which his succes- 
sor Melancthon and his followers since 
have held. All agree, however, that in 
the beginning Luther's views on predesti- 
nation and other kindred doctrines were 
fully Augustinian. There has also been 
a difference of representation with regard 
to Luther's views respecting the corporeal 
presence in the eucharist ; some contend- 
ing that the language of the Lutheran 
symbols on that subject, viz.: " That the 
body and blood of Christ are actually pre- 
sent under the form or emblems of bread 
and wine, and dispensed to the communi- 
cants," (Augsburg Confession, German, 
Art. 10,) means the real presence, some- 
times termed consubstantiation. Others, 
and especially our American Lutheran 
brethren, maintain that this language is 
not stronger than that employed on the 
same subject by the English reformers, 
whose meaning nevertheless has always 
been admitted to be a spiritual presence 
only ; and that on the subject, the view 
of the Lutheran church have not unfre- 
quently been misapprehended and mis- 
stated. | It is indeed true, that she did 



* See Hawe's Church Hist., vol. ii. See the 
note appended to this article, p. 403. 

| From this, and the following statements, 
the intelligent reader will perceive, what gross 
misrepresentations are circulated in this coun- 
try, ignorantly we trust, by the publishers of 
Buck's Theological Dictionary, and by such 
living authors as Mr. Goodrich, (in his Eccles. 
Hist.) who represent the Lutheran church of 
the present day, as resembling the Roman 
Catholics more nearly than does any other 
protestant church ! After the repeated publi- 
cations, made by the Lutherans in this coun- 
try, it is unworthy of professed historians to 



HfSTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



335 



entertain opinions on this topic different 
from the other churches. This difference 
was however by no means so great as is 
at present supposed by the less intelligent 
part of the community. Calvin and the 
early English reformers, employed lan- 
guage nearly, and in some cases, quite as 
strong as that found in the Lutheran sym- 
bols. The Augsburg Confession affirms, 
" that the body and blood of Christ are 
actually or truly present (vere adsint,) 
and the German copy adds, under the form 
or emblems of bread and wine and dis- 
pensed to the communicants."* Calvin 
employs language about as strong : he 
says, " in the mystery of the supper, by 
the emblems of bread and wine, Christ is 
really exhibited to us, that is, his body 
and blood, in which he yielded full obe- 
dience, in order to work out a righteous- 
ness for us ; by which in the first place, 
we may, as it were coalesce into one body 
with him, and secondly being partakers 
of the substance of himself, also be 
strengthened by the reception of every 
blessing."f In the Episcopal church, 
Cranmer, one of her earliest and ablest 
reformers, in the reign of Henry VIII, 
published his translation of the catechism 
of Justus Jonas with amendments, in 
1548, to which he professed to adhere till 
his death,;]: and in which he uses this lan- 
guage : " Christ saith of the bread ' this 
is my body ;' and of the cup he saith ' this 
is my blood.' Wherefore we ought to 
believe that in the sacrament we receive 
truly the body and blood of Christ. For 
God is Almighty, he is able, therefore to 
do all things what he will."§ His friend 
and fellow martyr, Ridley, at his last trial 
says : " I agree that the sacrament is the 



transmit to yet another generation these here- 
ditary statements. 

* Augsburg Confession, Art. x. 

f Dicoi gitur in coenoe mysterio per symbola 
panis et vini Christum vere nobis exhiberi, 
adeoque corpus et sanguinem ejus, in quibus 
omnem obedientiam pro comparanda nobis 
justitia adimplevit : quo scilicet, primum, in 
unum corpus cum ipso coalescamus ; deinde 
participes substantioe ejus facti, in bonorum 
omnium communicatione virtutem quoque 
scntiamus. — Institut. Lib. iv. c. xvii. 11. 

* See his works ii. 430, iii. 13, 279, 344, and 
Hook s Discourse, p. 96. 

§ Hook, p. 96. 



very true and natural body and blood of 
Christ, even that which was born of the j 
Virgin Mary, which ascended into heaven, j 
which sitteth on the right hand of God the ' 
Father, which shall come from thence to | 
judge the quick and the dead, only I differ 
in the way and manner of being."* 

It is admitted, these same writers pro- 
fessed to mean a spiritual presence, and 
so did also the Lutheran reformers, who 
explicitly declare in the Formula Concor- 
dice,-\ " By that word (spiritually) we ex- 
clude those Capernaitish notions concern- 
ing a gross and carnal presence, which 
have been attributed to our churches by 
the sacramentarians, in defiance of all our 
public protestations against them. And 
when we use this term (spiritually) we 
wish to be understood, as signifying that 
the body and blood are received, and 
eaten, and drank spiritually in the Lord's 
supper. For although the participation is 
effected by the mouth, the manner in 
which it is done is spiritual." At the pre- 
sent day it is pretty generally agreed by 
protestants, that to talk of the spiritual 
presence of a material body, or the spir- 
itual eating and drinking of a material 
body and blood, is to employ language 
that conveys no distinct ideas. 

We, however, cheerfully concede that 
the other protestant denomination relin- 
quished these views of their early reform- 
ers, more speedily, and with less contro- 
versy than did the Lutheran church. It 
was indeed reported that Luther himself 
shortly before his death, in a confidential 
conversation with Melancthon, acknow- 
ledged that he had gone too far in regard 
to the eucharist. But, much as we should 
be pleased to believe that our great and 
good reformer had made such an ac- 
knowledgment, the evidence appears un- 
satisfactory ; or at most he may have ad- 
mitted, that he had exhibited too much 
warmth in the controversy, or overrated 
the importance of his peculiar views 4 
At the present day whilst some shades of 
difference exist in the Lutheran church, 



* Hook's Discourse, p. 39. 

f Art, vii. No. xxi. p. 604. 

\ It is said, Melancthon communicated the 
fact to Professor Alesius, of Leipsic, from 
whom Pfuhlman, one of his students, heard it. 



336 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



all are permitted to enjoy their opinions in 
peace, and the most generally received 
view is : " That there is no presence of 
the glorified human nature of the Saviour, 
either substantial or influential ; nor any- 
thing mysterious or supernatural in the 
eucharist ; yet, that whilst the bread and 
wine are merely symbolic representations 
of the Saviour's absent body, by which 
we are reminded of his sufferings, there 
is also a special spiritual blessing be- 
stowed by the divine Saviour on all worthy 
communicants by which their faith and 
Christian graces are confirmed."* 

It should therefore be distinctly under- 
stood, that the American Lutheran Church 
no longer requires of her members assent 
to the doctrine of the real presence of the 
Saviour in the eucharist.^ Indeed, le- 
niency in respect to human creeds, is one 
of her present general features. She 
rejects the authority of the Fathers in ec- 
clesiastical controversy, to which the Re- 
formers injudiciously appealed, and fully 
adopts the principle that the Bible alone 
should be the standard of faith, and the 
umpire in all religious discussions. On 
this point, Professor Schmucker, our guide 
in this synopsis, has the following re- 
marks : 

" It is the practice of the Lutheran 
Church in this country not to bind her 
ministers to the oninutice of any human 
creed. The Bible, and the belief that the 
fundamental doctrines of the Bible are 
taught in a manner substantially correct 
in the Augsburg Confession, is all that is 
required. On the one hand, we regard it 
as certain, that if we would be faithful to 
the injunction * not to receive any who 
come to us bringing another doctrine,' an 
examination of applicants for admission 
among us is indispensable. Such an exa- 
mination is virtually a requisition of their 
creed, that we may compare it with our 
own. Now whether the articles to which 
we require their assent be few or many, 
be written or oral, they are a creed ; and 
obviously its reduction to paper presents 
some material facilities in the examination. 
A written creed therefore seems necessary 



* Popular Theology of Dr. Schmucher, ed. 
5, p. 303. 
f Protraiture, p. 40. 



to the purity of the church. On the other 
hand, history informs us that for several 
hundred years after the days of the Apos- 
tles, no other creed was used in the whole 
church than that called the Apostles' Creed, 
because admitted by all to contain the 
principal doctrines taught by the Apostles. 
This creed embodied only the cardinal 
doctrines of the gospel, which all the so 
called orthodox denominations of the pre- 
sent day do actually believe ; and yet the 
assent to these few doctrines did, for cen- 
turies after the Apostolic age, secure ad- 
mission to any and every part of the uni- 
versal church on earth." " The duty of 
all parts of the Christian church seems to 
be to return to the use of shorter doctri- 
nal creeds as tests of ecclesiastical, min- 
isterial, and sacramental communionl This 
noble course the Lutheran Church has 
already virtually taken, by requiring as- 
sent only to the fundamental doctrines of 
the Augsburg Confession, together with 
an approval of our principles of govern- 
ment and worship."* 

This extract may serve to show the 
polity of our Lutheran brethren on this 
point. As our object is simply to present 
a condensed view of American Luther- 
anism from their own standard authorities, 
we have no space for comments on any 
part of the system. 

The reader ought not to suppose, how- 
ever, that, because the Lutheran Church 
has adopted the leading principle already 
stated, she has no regard to those other 
formularies of doctrine which her founders 
prepared, and maintained as of vital im- 
portance in their day. " There are in- 
deed," says Dr. Mosheim,f "certain for- 
mularies adopted by this church, which 
contain the principal points of its doctrine, 
ranged, for the sake of method and per- 
spicuity, in their natural order. But these 
books have no authority but what they 
derive from the scriptures of truth, whose 
sense and meaning they are designed to 
convey." " The principal books," says 
Professor Schmucker, " here referred to as 
subsidiary to the Bible, were of two classes ; 
first, the confessions of the primitive cen- 
turies, the so called Apostles' Creed, the 



* Portraiture, pp. 55, 56. 
f Eccl. Hist., vol. hi. p. 208. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



337 



Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Con- 
fession, by which the Lutheran Church 
established her identity with the church of 
the Apostolic and succeeding ages ; and 
secondly, the Augsburg Confession ; the 
Apology or Defence of this confession ; 
the Smalcald Articles by Luther, and also 
his Catechisms."* 

The following are the leading doctrines 
of the Lutheran Church, as set forth in 
the Augsburg Confession, and adopted by 
the whole body of Lutherans in this 
country : 

1. The Trinity of persons in the one 
God. That there is one divine essence, 
which is called, and is God, eternal, in- 
corporeal, indivisible, infinite in power, 
wisdom, and goodness ; and yet that there 
are three persons who are of the same 
essence and power, and are co-eternal : 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." 

2. The proper and eternal divinity of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. " That the Word, 
that is the Son of God, assumed human 
nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin 
Mary, so that the two natures, human and 
divine, inseparably united into one person, 
constitute one Christ, who is true God and 
man." 

3. The universal depravity of our race. 
" That since the fall of Adam, all men 
who are naturally engendered, are born 
with a depraved nature, that is, without 
the fear of God, or confidence towards 
him, but with sinful propensities." By 
natural or original or innate depravity, 
the great body of Lutheran divines under- 
stand " that disorder in the mental and 
bodily constitution of man, which was in- 
troduced by the fall of Adam, (Rom. v. 
12,) is transmitted by natural generation 
from parent to child, (John iii. 6.) and the 
result of which is, that all men, who are 
naturally engendered, evince in their ac- 
tioQ, want of holiness and a predisposition 
to sin," Gen. vi. 5; viii. 21. "Without 
the admission of such a disorder in the 
human system, no satisfactory reason can 
be assigned for the universality of actual 
transgression amongst men."f 

4. TJie vicarious and unlimited atone- 



* Portraiture, p. 20. 

f Schmucker's Popular Theology, p. 144, 
ed. 5th. 



ment. " That the Son of God truly suf- 
fered, was crucified, died, and was buried, 
that he might reconcile the Father to us, 
and be a sacrifice not only for original sin, 
but also for all the actual sins of men. 
That he also sanctifies those who believe 
in him, by sending into their hearts the 
Holy Spirit, who governs, consoles, quick- 
ens, and defends them against the devil 
and the power of sin." " The work of 
Christ may be regarded as the vicarious 
endurance of incalculable suffering, and 
the exhibition of perfect righteousness, by 
which full atonement was made and salva- 
tion purchased for the whole world, to be 
offered to them on conditions ; made pos- 
sible by divine grace to all who hear the 
gospel. The Lutheran Church also re- 
gards fallen man as incapable of perform- 
ing these conditions of salvation (repent- 
ance and faith) prescribed in the gospel, 
without the gracious aid of God ; but 
maintains, that this necessary aid consists 
in the means of grace and the invariably 
accompanying influences of the Holy 
Spirit, for the sincere (not perfect) use of 
which all men possess the entire ability, 
(physical and intellectual,) and the sincere 
and persevering use of which is always, 
sooner or later, made effectual to the ac- 
complishment of the above conditions of 
salvation."* 

5 J* Justification by faith alone. " That 
men cannot be justified before God by their 
own strength, merits, or works ; but that 
they are justified gratuitously, for Christ's 
sake through faith ; Or, justification, more 
amply defined, is that forensic or judicial 
act of God, by which a believing sinner, 
in consideration of the merits of Christ, is 
released from the penalty of the divine 
law, and is declared to be entitled to hea- 
ven."! The faith here spoken of, usually 
termed justifying faith, is that voluntary 
act of the illuminated and evangelically 
penitent sinner, by which he confides in 
the mercy of God through Christ for sal- 
vation, on the terms offered in the gospel. 
Its exact nature is that of confidence, trust 
or reliance on God, and is similar to the 
confidence of a child in an affectionate 



* Schmucker's Popular Theology, p. 162, 
163. 
f Ibid. p. 169. 



43 



338 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



parent, or of one friend in the known i 
character of another. It includes 1st. A 
knoivledge, or belief of the character of 
God, and especially of the Saviour as de- 
serving of our confidence ; 2d. Feelings 
of approbation and delight in this charac- 
ter especially as developed, in the gospel 
plan of salvation ; and 3rd. A volition to 
accept the offers of mercy on the terms 
proposed, that is, to act in accordance 
with this belief and feeling, and to surren- 
der the soul entirely, unconditionally and 
eternally to God."* 

6. Necessity of a holy life and good 
works as a fruit of faith. "That this 
faith must bring forth good fruits ; and 
that it is our duty to perform those good 
works which God commanded, because he 
has enjoined. them, and not in the expec- 
tation of thereby meriting justification 
before him." 

7. Divine appointment of the holy 
Ministry and Sacraments. " That in 
order that we may obtain this faith the 
ministerial office has been instituted, whose 
members are to preach the gospel, and 
administer the sacraments (viz. Baptism 
and the Lord's Supper.) For through the 
instrumentality of the word and sacra- 
ments as means of grace, the Holy Spirit 
is given, who in his own time and place, 
produces faith in those who hear the gos- 
pel message, viz., that God for Christ's 
sake, and not on account of any merit in 
us, justifies those who believe in Christ." 

8. Final judgment and eternity of 
future retributions. " That at the end 
of the world Christ will appear for judg- 
ment ; that he will raise all the dead ; that 
he will give to the pious and elect eternal 
life and endless joys, but will condemn 
wicked men and devils to be punished 
without end." 



FORMS OF WORSHIP AND CHURCH 
ORDER. 

In her rites of worship the Lutheran 
Church in Europe employs liturgies, 
" differing in minor points, but agreeing 
in essentials," similar to those of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church, except in exten- 



* Schmucker's Popular Theology, p. 197, 
193. 



sion, being not more than one third as 
long. In this country, a short uniform 
liturgy has been adopted, the use of which, 
however, is left to the option and discre- 
tion of each minister, as " he may deem 
most conducive to edification." 

The festivals of Christmas, Good Fri- 
day, Easter, the Ascension, and Whitsun- 
day, are retained and observed in the 
Lutheran Church as commemorative of 
the " fundamental facts of the Christian 
religion," and for the purpose of leading 
her clergy to preach annually on the events 
which they severally represent. 

She also maintains the institution of in- 
fant church membership and baptism, and 
in connection with it, the rite of confirma- 
tion. And, as from the beginning, so now, 
she extends her parental care and vigi- 
lance over the religious education of her 
baptized children. "It is regarded as the 
duty of every minister occasionally to con- 
vene the children of each congregation for 
instruction in the catechism. Annually, 
also, and if necessary oftener, the minister 
holds a series of meetings with those who 
are applicants for admission to sacramen- 
tal communion, or, as in reference to the 
infant baptism of the applicant, it is called 
confirmation, and for all who feel a con- 
cern for their salvation." " Every suc- 
ceeding meeting is occupied in conversa- 
tional lectures on experimental religion, 
and in examination of the catechumen on 
the fundamental doctrines and duties of 
religion, as contained in the Bible and 
Luther's Catechism." " At the close of 
these meetings, which are continued through 
from six to twelve weeks, once or twice 
each week, and in the last, if convenient, 
daily, the church council are convened to 
examine the catechumens on their qualifi- 
cations for sacramental communion." 
" Although in the hands of an unconvert- 
ed minister, this duty, like all others, will 
be mere formality, and attended with little 
profit, yet we have never met, nor do we 
expect to meet, a pious minister, who faith- 
fully practised this system, who did not 
regard it as a most blessed and successful 
method of bringing souls to Christ."* 

It is not surprising that the earliest re- 
formers should be slow to abolish every 



Portraiture, page 31. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



339 



vestige and form of Romanism to which 
they had been so long and so zealously 
attached. Luther, after he had begun to 
I see the extent of its corruptions, and to 
! expose them, did not at once tear himself 
away from the church in which he had 
been nurtured, but suffered long and much 
before he renounced the jurisdiction of the 
Pontiff. His immediate followers also re- 
tained for several years many of their 
ancient superstitions, as exorcism in bap- 
tism, the wafer in the Lord's Supper, and 
private confession. These, however, espe- 
cially in the United States, have been ex- 
purgated even in form, from the Lutheran 
Church. The last mentioned, (private 
confession,) it ought to be observed, as 
retained by the Lutherans, had no affinity 
to the vile principles and practice of the 
Romish confessional, viz. : that to the 
priest, as to God's vicegerent, all the 
secret thoughts and feelings, as well as 
actions, must be detailed, in order to ob- 
tain pardon ; and that the priest has power 
to dispense such pardon. But the Re- 
formers had established what they deemed 
a necessary custom preparatory to com- 
munion, that of a private interview be- 
tween the pastor and each communicant, 
in which the latter gave an account of his 
religious experience, trials, hopes, &c, for 
the purpose of receiving such counsel and 
instruction as his peculiar state of mind 
and heart might require. This practice 
they injudiciously denominated confession. 
"But even this custom has been almost 
entirely abandoned in this country, and 
the preparation for communion consists in 
a public preparatory discourse, public and 
united confession of sins, and rehearsal of 
the promises of divine mercy ; similar to the 
preparatory exercises of other churches ; 
except, that, as in the Episcopal Church, 
they are generally conducted according to 
a form." 

Respecting the order of the church, Dr. 
Mosheim says, " The government of the 
Lutheran Church seems equally removed 
from Episcopacy on the one hand, and 
from Presbyterianism on the other, if we 
except the kingdoms of Sweden and Den- 
mark, which retain the form of ecclesias- 
tical government that preceded the Re- 
formation, purged indeed from the super- 
stitions and abuses that rendered it so 



odious." Dr. Maciaine (the translator) 
adds, " The Archbishop of Upsal is pri- 
mate of Sweden, and the only archbishop 
among the Lutherans ;" and his " reve- 
nues do not amount to more than £400 
yearly, while those of the bishops are 
proportionably small."* 

Yet even in those kingdoms where the 
Lutheran is the established church, and 
where she .retains nominal bishops, she 
discards, as she ever has done, the " di- 
vine right" of ministerial imparity as anti- 
scriptural ; holding, with her great founder, 
and with all her standard writers, that in 
the primitive church the terms bishop and 
presbyter were but different names for the 
same office. Hence Luther himself, 
though merely a presbyter, was in the 
habit of ordaining ministers, and took a 
part in that ceremony, without the assis- 
tance of a prelate, only a few days pre- 
vious to his death.f But the Reformers 
deemed it expedient, as promotive of order 
and harmony in the churches, to introduce 
some diversity and subordination among 
their clergy in rank and duty, under the 
titles superintendents and seniors, and in 
Sweden and Denmark, bishops. " In the 
United States," says Professor Schmucker, 
" entire parity is maintained, and even the 
nominal office of Senior Ministerii is re- 
tained by only one out of all our synods." 
" Although our ministers are strenuous 
advocates of parity, they pretty exten- 
sively favor the idea of returning to the 
use of the word bishop in its scriptural 
sense, as applicable to every minister of 
the gospel ; the sense in which, as Luke 
informs us, (Acts xx. 28,) instead of one 
bishop having oversight over a large dis- 
trict of country or diocese, there were 
several bishops in the one city Ephesus." 

" In this country, the Lutheran Church, 
in common with her Protestant sister 
churches, deprecates, as unwarranted and 
dangerous, all interference of civil govern- 
ment in religious affairs, excepting the 
mere protection of all denominations and 
all individuals in the unrestricted right to 
worship in any and every way they think 
proper."^: 



* Eccl. Hist. vol. iii. pp. 21 1, 212. 
j- See Life of Luther by Justus Jones. 
\ Quarterly Register. 



340 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



The validity of Luther's ordination as a 
presbyter in the Church of Rome, has 
sometimes been questioned, because of the 
corruptions which destroyed her title to 
the standing of a Christian church. But 
when Luther received ordination from the 
hands of the Romish hiearchy, the cor- 
ruptions which branded that church as 
Antichrist, had not been formally and offi- 
cially adopted; nor were th$y, until en- 
acted into the essential features of her 
system, and made integral parts of her 
prescribed formularies of faith by the 
Council of Trent, A. D. 1542. And when 
she excommunicated the Reformer, and 
thundered her anathemas against him, he 
had previously renounced her jurisdiction, 
by burning her standard works and the 
Bull of her Pontiff. His ordination, there- 
fore, and that of all his Protestant suc- 
cessors, is as valid as that of the Romish 
priesthood at the beginning of the sixteenth 
century ; i. e., he was ordained by minis- 
ters properly accredited at the time of its 
performance. With regard to the subject 
of ordination in general, our Lutheran 
brethren, in common with most other Pro- 
testants, understand the various Greek 
words employed by the sacred writers to 
express it, to mean simply induction into 
office — an appointing to the particular 
duties of the ministry by a prescribed 
form, to preserve the sacred office from 
indiscriminate and of course unworthy 
usurpation ; utterly discarding the Romish 
superstition that by the " laying on of 
hands " some mystic influence is imparted 
by apostolic succession. They maintain, 
therefore, that as in the only three in- 
stances of ordination after the time of our 
Saviour, mentioned in the New Testament, 
the rite was performed not by one man, 
called a " diocesan bishop," but by several 
persons ; [as that of Barnabas and Saul 
by Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen (Acts 
xiii. 3) ; that of the presbyters or elders 
of the churches in Iconium, Lystra, An- 
tioch, &c, by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 
xiv. 23) ; and that of Timothy by the 
hands of the eldership or presbytery (1 
Tim. iv. 14) ;] and as in other cases, in- 
dividual ministers, as Timothy and Titus, 
were directed to induct or appoint others : 
they regard ordination as valid when per- 
formed in either way, whether they who 



perform it be called bishops, presbyters, 
ministers, or pastors.* And in cases of' 
necessity, they further maintain, that a 
minister may be set apart and constituted 
by the laity themselves. " As to the doc- 
trine of Papal apostolic succession," Dr. 
Schmucker very justly remarks, " it is a 
mere figment, and can never be proved by 
the Papists themselves. To say nothing 
of their doctrine of intention, which, Car- 
dinal Bellarmine himself asserts, renders 
doubtful the validity of every Romish sac- 
rament, (Bdlarm. Lib. Just. cap. 8,) 
where was their Papal successsion when 
Liberius, the occupant of the Holy See, 
professed Arianism, A. D. 357 ? Where 
was it in the fourteenth century, during 
the so called great western schism,- from 
A. D. 1378, to 1414, when two different 
lines of contending Pontiffs reigned simul- 
taneously, each having a portion of the 
church adhering to him ; each excommu- 
nicating the other ; and finally both de- 
posed as heritical bv the Council of Pisi, 
in 1409 f't 

We have thus traced, in as brief and 
comprehensive a form as was consistent 
with our limits and the nature of the sub- 
ject, the history, the progress, and present 
state of the Lutheran Church, especially 
as planted on our own soil. To quote 
once more the language of her advocate, 
who has been our authority and guide in 
most of these statements : " She may be 
emphatically styled the Church of the Re- 
formation. She holds the grand doctrines 
of Christianity with fewer appended pecu- 
liarities than most other denominations. 
With the Calvinist she holds the gracious- 
ness of salvation ; with the Congregation - 
alist she believes that Christ tasted death 
for every man; with the Methodist she 
approves of regularly recurring protracted 
meetings ; with the Episcopalian she oc- 
casionally employs a liturgy and forms of 
prayer ; with the German Reformed she 
agrees in the instructions and confirmation 
of catechumens ; and with all she unites 
in ascribing all the glory of our privileges 
on earth and hopes in heaven, to that 



* Portraiture of Lutheran ism ; Appendix, 
on Ordination. 

f Portraiture, p. 17. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



341 



Lamb of God that taketh awav the sins 
of the World."* 

In closing this sketch, we would con- 
gratulate our Lutheran brethren on the 
past and present indications that they share 
the smiles of Him who is King in Zion, 
and whose favor is life. In reviewing their 
history, and in contemplating their eccle- 
siastical features and character as pre- 
sented among us, we have felt that frater- 
nal spirit of Christian fellowship which the 
recognition of an ancient and devoted 
member of the great family of Protestant 
Christendom is fitted to awaken and in- 
spire. Nor could we suppress the rising 
regret that so many of their contempora- 
ries, in the land of their origin, had ne- 
glected to maintain and hold fast those 
yital principles of religious faith and that 
form of sound words, which their fathers 
so nobly and fearlessly espoused and de- 
fended. 

It is interesting to notice amid the di- 
versity of forms, and the various shades 
of difference on minor points of religious 
sentiment, which mark the freedom of 
thought and opinion among Protestant de- 
nominations, that so large a proportion of 
them agree in the essential elements of 
" the truth as it is in Jesus." Although 
on the great doctrines of the divine de- 
crees, the nature of faith, the efficiency of 
grace, the believer's perseverance in it, and 
the sacraments of the New Testament, 
some unessential difference of views have 
distinguished Lutheran from the Calvan- 
ist : yet both agree that salvation is of 
grace alone, and that that grace is sover- 
eign and omnipotent, through an atone- 
ment of infinite merit and sufficiency, re- 
ceived and applied by a faith that is of the 
operation of God, the fruit of his Spirit, 
all which is represented under the emblems 
employed in baptism and the Lord's Sup- 
per. The cardinal doctrine of the Re- 
formation, justification by faith alone, 
they both wield, in opposition not only to 
the popish doctrine of merit, but also to 
the native self-righteousness of the un- 
changed heart, to which the latter doctrine 
i-i adapted. 



* Quarterly Register. 



In this age of free inquiry, and of su- 
perficial views on the great and essential 
truths of revelation, when every form of 
wild conjecture and fanciful speculation is 
embodied into a theory, and finds numer- 
ous advocate's and followers : and when, 
amidst it all, the " Man of Sin" is looking 
with renewed courage to this western con- 
tinent and its heterogeneous population, as 
the last hope of his tottering throne : it is 
a matter of gratulation that we have here 
a remnant of that people who stood fore- 
most in the contest which crippled hi3 
power at the maturity of its strength, and 
liberated mind and empire from his yoke 
of ignorance, superstition and oppression. 
May the spirit and zeal of Him whose 
name they bear, abide with them, and arm 
them to meet the arrogant demands of 
Papal Rome in this land of their adoption, 
as he did in the land of their ancestors. 
We particularly rejoice in that feature of 
their ecclesiastical system which provides 
for the culture of piety in the heart, and 
for the religious training of the young, 
particularly of their baptized children. On 
this point, their example administers a just 
rebuke on the practice of too many Pro- 
testant churches, who with them profess 
the rite of household baptism, but treat it 
as a nullity. We trust that with this ex- 
ample before them, in connection with the 
exclusiveness of the Romanist towards 
their children and adults in shutting them 
out from the light of truth : such churches 
will not only profess, but act upon the be- 
lief, that the baptismal covenant with chil- 
dren imposes upon the parents and the 
church the duty of their careful and con- 
stant religious training. 

With her high estimate of the value 
and necessity of learning in her ministry, 
the early catechetical instruction of her 
children, and her strict regard to the vitals 
of Christian experience, the American 
Lutheran Church cannot fail to exert a 
high and holy influence in the cause of 
truth, and the religious welfare of our 
nation, and shine as a luminary of the first 
magnitude in the constellation of our 
American Zion. We bid her God-speed 
in her progress onward and upward, till 
the distinctions of earth are merged in the 
church of the First-born in heaven, and 
our mutual toils and conflicts terminated 



in one triumph, one song, and one ever- 
lasting rest."* 



NOTE 

On Luther's Calvinism, 

From Dr. Schmucker's Portraiture of Luther- 

anism, p. 82., Sfc. 

As this is a subject on which it is easy to 
i err, and on which men of Christian spirit and 
! learning have entertained different opinions, it 
! may be useful to devote a few moments to its 
I elucidation. It is of no use here to quote pas- 
! sages from Luther's works teaching the doc- 
I trine. Luther's former adhesion to the Augus- 
; tinian view of this subject is admitted. In 
: reply to the passages so often appealed to 
i from Luther's work to Erasmus, which was 
written in the earlier part of his life, about 
: twenty-one years before his death, when he 
had not yet laid off many of the Romish and 
; Augustinian opinions which he subsequently 
rejected; we might present hundreds of pas- 
sages teaching and implying the contrary 
opinion. We present a single specimen, care- 
fully translated by us, from Walch's edition 
j (the best) of Luther on the Galatians. We 
| select this that those who have the old Eng- 
, lish translation of this excellent work, may 
; compare it, and see how uncertain a guide 
! such translations are on disputed points. 
" And all the prophets foresaw in Spirit, that 
Christ would be the greatest sinner, whose 
like never appeared on earth. For as he is 
made a sacrifice for the sins of the whole 
! world, he is not an innocent person and with- 
; out sin, is not the Son of God in his glory, but 
j he is a sinner for a season, forsaken of God, 
Psalm viii. 6. He bears the sin of St. Paul, 
who was a blasphemer, a persecutor and inju- 
rious ; of St. Peter who denied Christ ; and of 
David, who was an adulterer and a murderer, 
and caused the name of the Lord to be blas- 
phemed among the gentiles. In short, he is 
the person who hath taken upon himself, and 
j bears in his own body all the sins of all men in 
the whole world, who ever have lived, are note 
living, or who shall hereafter live,- not as if he 
i had himself committed those sins, but being 
committed by us, he took them on his own 
''■ body, in order to make an atonement for them 
with his own blood."f We might refer the 
reader to a work entitled " Lutherus Luthera- 
nus," of 700 pages 8vo, consisting entirely of 
extracts from his works, showing that on all 
the distinguishing points between Calvinists 
and Lutherans, Luther occupied the ground 
subsequently maintained by his followers. But 



* Quarterly Register. 

t See Walch's edition of Luther on the Galatians, p. 27n. 
: " In sumrna. er ist die Person, die an ihrem Leibe tragt, und 
! auf sich gelaben hat alle Sunden aller Mensehen in der gan- 
} zen Welt, die da gewesen, noch sind, und seyn werden." 
1 See also the common English version, p. 254. 



obviously even this would not settle the point. 
The only impartial and decisive course is to 
examine all his works, and also all his cor- 
respondence, according to their date, and 
trace the gradual change in his opinions. 
This, according to the unanimous testimony 
of all Germany, no man has ever done more 
impartially than the celebrated Dr. Plank, 
Professor of Theology at Gottingen, in the 
preparation of his invaluable work, entitled, 
" History of the Rise, Changes, and Formation 
of our Protestant System of Doctrines, from the 
commencement of the Reformation till the In- 
troduction of the form of Concord." (1580.) 
The entire impartiality and great ability of 
this work, which cost the author twenty years 
of labor and investigation, are conceded by all 
parties. The result of his examination may 
be seen in the following valuable quotation, 
which, whilst it fully sustains the positions of 
this discourse, also renders it intelligible, how 
such a diversity of sentiment might naturally 
exist on this subject. " Nevertheless, the Lu- 
theran divines did not, for a long time, see 
proper to take any notice of it, (viz : of the 
prominence and full development given to this 
doctrine by Calvin, and of its introduction into 
the Swiss churches ;) and even the zealots of 
Lower Saxony, who had taken occasion from 
the Geneva ' Consensus,' to renew the contest 
concerning the Lord's Supper, observed a per- 
fect silence on this incalculably more impor- 
tant doctrine, although Calvin appeared to 
urge them the more explicitly to its adoption. 
Melanchthon alone declared to him, that al- 
though he would not quarrel with him about 
it, he would never consent to adopt his (Cal- 
vin's) views on predestination.* But the si- 
lence of the other Lutheran divines on this 
subject, although it might appear to have 
been the result of indifference, was owing to 
a very satisfactory reason, of which the greater 
part of them were well aware. It cannot be 
denied, that the Augustinian theory of predes- 
tination had already been forsaken by the Lu- 
theran church. Yet her divines could not but 
feel, that they had changed their ground. The 
fact could not be concealed, that Luther had 
once embraced this doctrine in its full rigor, 
and even zealously defended it against Eras- 
mus, and that his early adherents, including 
even Melanchthon himself, had at first done 
the same. It is indeed true, they could prove 
that the doctrine was not long retained, and 
that Luther himself had abandoned it / But 
even this concession would give an advantage 
to an opponent in this dispute, which they 
were utterly unwilling to concede to Calvin. 
They therefore determined, rather not to dis- 
pute with him on this subject at all. But 
there was another reason, which probably 
aided in causing them to keep silence on this 
subject. The greater part of Lutheran divines 



* Melanchthon did not even answer the first letter o£ 
Calvin, in which he requested his assent to the doctrine. 
See Calvin's epist. p. 133. 153. 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



343 



had, like Luther himself, receded from the 
Augustinian theory of predestination, very 
probably without themselves being fully aware 
how this result had been brought about. They 
found themselves removed from it, before they 
had wished to be ; and it was Melanchthon, 
and no one else, who had produced the change. 
In the first improved edition of his Loci Theo- 
logici, and doubtless still earlier in his oral 
lectures, he had proposed a theory, which, 
both in its principles and consequences, was 
in direct contradiction to the Augustinian view. 
This contradiction, which Melanchthon him- 
self took no pains to bring to light, was, how- 
ever, at first not generally perceived. Hence 
several of the principles of his new theory 
were adopted with the less apprehension, es- 
pecially as each one of them, considered by 
itself, appeared to be incontestibly true, both 
according to reason and Scripture. Thus his 
cardinal ideas of the divine election of all men 
in Christ, of the universality of divine grace, 
of the extension of the atonement and merits 
of Christ to all men, had been embraced by 
nearly all the divines of their party, and by 
Luther klmself, before they perceived that their 
views of an absolute decree of God, and the 
Augustinian doctrine of predestination were 
utterly irreconcilable with them. Bat, when 
at last they made the discovery, they found 
their position in several respects an embar- 
rassing one* and were unable immediately to 
extricate themselves. They felt unwilling, 
not only so suddenly to abandon a doctrine 
which they had professed ; but even to aban- 
don it at all. They were conscious that Au- 
gustin's doctrine of predestination appeared to 
be inseparably connected with some other 
parts of his system, such as the total inability 
of man to do any thing good, which they were 
firmly determined never to relinquish. On 



the other hand, they were just as anxious to 
retain the features of Melanchthon's theory, 
which they had adopted ; and were therefore 
brought into a dilemma, which they could not i 
but feel. The greater part of their divines f 
now adhered to the view of Melanchthon, that 
God desires and strives to bestow salvation 
on all men in and through Christ, from which 
it necessarily followed, that his decree con- 
cerning the destiny of each individual could 
not be absolute. But they at the same time 
retained the opinion of Augustine, that de- 
praved man can do nothing at all in the work 
of his salvation, cannot exert even the feeblest 
effort of his will ; which seemed just as neces- 
sarily to imply that the salvation or damnation 
of each individual, could be decided only by 
an absolute decree of God. Some of them 
probably had an impression, that there must 
be some method of avoiding the last mentioned 
inference ; but their views were indistinct. 
Hence it happened, that during the Synergis- 
tic controversies some of them again embraced 
the Augustinian theory in full. The greater 
part of them, however, believed that all they 
wanted was a more systematic adjustment 
and connection of the opinions they enter- 
tained, and this conviction was undoubtedly 
the principal reason for that caution, with 
which, in direct opposition to the polemic 
spirit of that age, they evaded a controversy 
on this subject. It was, therefore, not until 
1561, that a formal dispute on this subject oc- 
curred between the Lutheran and Calvinistic 
divines, the occasion of which was the cele- 
brated Zanchius, at that time professor of the- 
ology at Strasburg." Here, then, is a correct 
and impartial statement of the facts in the 
case, which never has been, and never can be 
successfully controverted. 



344 



HISTORY OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS. 



HISTORY 



THE LATTER DAY SAINTS 



BY JOSEPH SMITH NAUVOO, ILLINOIS. 



The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 
Day Saints, was founded upon direct reve- 
lation, as the true church of God has 
ever been, according to the scriptures 
(Amos iii. 7, and Acts i. 2.) And through 
the will and blessings of God, I have 
been an instrument in his hands, thus far, 
to move forward the cause of Zion. There- 
fore, in order to fulfil the solicitation of 
your letter of July last, I shall commence 
with my life. 

I was born in the town of Sharon, Wind- 
sor county, Vermont, on the 23d of De- 
cember, A. D. 1805. When ten years 
old, my parents removed to Palmyra, 
New York, where we resided about four 
years, and from thence we removed to 
the town of Manchester, a distance of six 
miles. 

My father was a farmer, and taught 
me the art of husbandry. When about 
fourteen years of age, I began to reflect 
upon the importance of being prepared for 
a future state ; and upon inquiring the 
place of salvation, I found that there was 
a great clash in religious sentiment ; if I 
went to one society they referred me to 
one place, and another to another ; each 
one pointing to his own particular creed 
as the " summum bonum" of perfection. 
Considering that all could not be right, 
and that God could not be the author of 
so much confusion, I determined to inves- 
tigate the subject more fully, believing 
that if God had a church, it would not be 
split up into factions, and that if he taught 
one society to worship one way, and ad- 



minister in one set of ordinances, he Would 
not teach another principles which were 
diametrically opposed. Believing the word 
of God, I had confidence in the declara- 
tion of James, " If any man lack wisdom 
let him ask of God, who giveth to all men 
liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall 
be given him." 

I retired to a secret place in a grove, 
and began to call upon the Lord. While 
fervently engaged in supplication, my 
mind was taken away from the objects 
with which I was surrounded, and I was 
enrapt in a heavenly vision, and saw two 
glorious personages, who exactly resem- 
bled each other in features and likeness, 
surrounded with a brilliant light, which 
eclipsed the sun at noonday. They told 
me that all the religious denominations 
were believing in incorrect doctrines, and 
that none of them was acknowledged of 
God as his church and kingdom. And I 
was expressly commanded to " go not af- 
ter them,"' at the same time receiving a 
promise that the fulness of the gospel 
should at some future time be made known 
unto me. 

On the evening of the 21st Septem- 
ber, A. D. 1823, while I was praying 
unto God and endeavoring to exercise 
faith in the precious promises of scrip- 
ture, on a sudden a light like that of day, 
only of a far purer and more glorious ap- 
pearance and brightness, burst into the 
room ; indeed the first sight was as though 
the house was filled with consuming fire. 
The appearance produced a shock that 



HISTORY OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS 



345 



affected the whole body. In a moment a 
personage stood before me surrounded 
with a glory yet greater than that with 
which I was already surrounded. This 
messenger proclaimed himself to be an 
angel of God, sent to bring the joyful 
tidings, that the covenant which God made 
with ancient Israel was at hand to be ful- 
filled ; that the preparatory work for the 
second coming of the Messiah was speed- 
ily to commence ; that the time was at 
hand for the gospel in all its fulness to be 
preached in power, unto all nations, that 
a people might be prepared for the millen- 
nial reign. 

I was informed that I was chosen to be 
an instrument in the hands of God to 
bring about some of his purposes in this 
glorious dispensation. 

I was informed also concerning the 
aboriginal inhabitants of this country, and 
shown who they were, and from whence 
they came ; — a brief sketch of their ori- 
gin, progress, civilization, laws, govern- 
ments, of their righteousness and iniquity, 
and the blessings of God being finally 
withdrawn from them as a people, was 
made known unto me. I was also told 
where there was deposited some plates, 
on which was engraven an abridgment 
of the records of the ancient prophets that 
had existed on this continent. The angel 
appeared to me three times the same night 
and unfolded the same things. After 
having received many visits from the 
angels of God, unfolding the majesty and 
glory of the events that should transpire 
in the last days, on the morning of the 
22d of September, A. D. 1827, the angel 
of the Lord delivered the records into my 
hands. 

These records were engraven on plates 
which had the appearance of gold ; each 
plate was six inches wide and eight inches 
long, and not quite so thick as common 
tin. They were filled with engravings in 
Egyptian characters, and bound together 
in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with 
three rings running through the whole. 
The volume was something near six inches 
in thickness, a part of which was sealed. 
The characters on the unsealed part were 
small and beautifully engraved. The 
whole book exhibited many marks of an- 
tiquity in its construction, and much skill 



in the art of engraving. With the records 
was found a curious instrument which the 
ancients called " Urim and Thummim," 
which consisted of two transparent stones 
set in the rim on a bow fastened to a 
breastplate. 

Through the medium of the Urim and 
Thummim I translated the record, by the 
gift and power of God. 

In this important and interesting book 
the history of ancient America is unfolded, 
from its first settlement by a colony that 
came from the tower of Babel, at the con- 
fusion of languages, to the beginning of 
the fifth century of the Christian era. 

We are informed by these records, that 
America, in ancient times, has been in- 
habited by two distinct races of people. 
The first were called Jaredites, and came 
directly from the tower of Babel. The 
second race came directly from the city 
of Jerusalem, about six hundred years 
before Christ. They were principally 
Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph. 
The Jaredites were destroyed, about the 
time that the Israelites came from Jerusa- 
lem, who succeeded them in the inherit- 
ance of the country. The principal nation 
of the second race fell in battle towards 
the close of the fourth century. The 
remnant are the Indians who now inhabit 
this country. This book also tells us 
that our Saviour made his appearance 
upon this continent after his resurrection ; 
that he planted the gospel here in all its 
fulness, and richness, and power, and 
blessing ; that they had apostles, prophets, 
pastors, teachers, and evangelists ; the 
same order, the same priesthood, the same 
ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessing, as 
was enjoyed on the eastern continent ; 
that the people were cut off in conse- 
quence of their transgressions ; that the 
last of their prophets who existed among 
them was commanded to write an abridg- 
ment of their prophecies, history, &c, 
and to hide it up in the earth, and that it 
should come forth and be united with the 
Bible, for the accomplishment of the pur- 
poses of God, in the last days. For a 
more particular account, I would refer to 
the Book of Mormon, which can be pur- 
chased at Nauvoo, or from any of our 
travelling elders. 

As soon as the news of this discovery 



44 



346 



HISTORY OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS. 



was made known, false reports, misrepre- 
sentation and slander flew, as on the 
wings of the wind, in every directton ; my 
house was frequently beset by mobs, and 
evil designing persons ; several times I 
was shot at, and very narrowly escaped, 
and every device was made use of to get 
the plates away from me ; but the power 
and blessing of God attended me, and 
several began to believe my testimony. 

On the 6th April, 1830, the " Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," 
was first organized, in the town of Man- 
chester, Ontario Co., State of New York. 
Some few were called and ordained by the 
Spririt of revelation and prophecy, and 
began to preach as the Spirit gave them 
utterance, and though weak, yet were 
they strengthened by the power of God ; 
and many were brought to repentance, 
were immersed in the water, and were 
filled with the Holy Ghost by the laying 
on of hands. They saw visions and pro- 
phesied, devils were cast out, and the sick 
healed by the laying on of hands. From 
that time the work rolled forth with as- 
tonishing rapidity, and churches were 
soon formed in the States of New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and 
Missouri : in the last named state a con- 
siderable settlement was formed in Jack- 
son county ; numbers joined the church, 
and we were increasing rapidly ; we made 
large purchases of land, our farms teemed 
with plenty, and peace and happiness were 
enjoyed in our domestic circle and through- 
out our neighborhood; but as we could 
not associate with our neighbors, — who 
were, many of them, of the basest of men, 
and had fled from the face of civilized 
society to the frontier country, to escape 
the hand of justice — in their midnight 
revels, their sabbath-breaking, horse-ra- 
cing, and gambling, they commenced at 
first to ridicule, then to persecute, and 
finally an organized mob assembled and 
burned our houses, tarred and feathered 
and whipped many of our brethren, and 
finally drove them from their habitations ; 
these, houseless and homeless, contrary to 
law, justice, and humanity, had to wan- 
der on the bleak prairies till the children 
left the tracks of their blood on the prai- 
rie. This took place in the month of 
November, and they had no other cover- 



ing but the canopy of heaven, in that in- 
clement season of the year. This proceed- 
ing was winked at by the government ; 
and although we had warrantee deeds for 
our land, and had violated no law, we 
could obtain no redress. There were 
many sick who were thus inhumanly 
driven from their houses, and had to en- 
dure all this abuse, and to seek homes 
where they could be found. The result 
was, that a great many of them being de- 
prived of the comforts of life, and the ne- 
cessary attendance, died ; many children 
were left orphans ; wives, widows ; and 
husbands, widowers. Our farms were 
taken possession of by the mob, many 
thousands of cattle, sheep, horses, and 
hogs were taken, and our household goods, 
store goods, and printing press and types 
were broken, taken, or otherwise destroyed. 

Many of our brethren removed to Clay 
county where they continued until 1836 
(three years) ; there was no violence of- 
fered, but there were threatnings of vio- 
lence. But in the summer of 1836, these 
threatenings began to assume a more se- 
rious aspect ; from threats, public meet- 
ings were called, resolutions were passed, 
vengeance and destruction were threaten- 
ed, and affairs again assumed a fearful 
attitude ; Jackson county was a sufficient 
precedent, and as the authorities in that 
county did not interfere, they boasted that 
they would not in this ; which on appli- 
cation to the authorities we found to be 
too true ; and, after much violence, priva- 
tion, and loss of property, we were again 
driven from our homes. 

We next settled in Caldwell and Davies 
counties, where we made large and exten- 
sive settlements, thinking to free ourselves 
from the power of oppression by settling 
in new counties, with a very Cew inhabi- 
tants in them ; but here we were not al- 
lowed to live in peace ; and in 1838, were 
again attacked by mobs ; an exterminating 
order was issued by Governor Boggs, 
and under the sanction of law, an organ- 
ized banditti ravaged the country, robbing 
us of our cattle, sheep, horses, hogs, &c. ; 
many of our people were murdered in 
cold blood, the chastity of our women was 
violated, and we were forced to sign away 
our property at the point of the sword ; 
and after enduring every indignity that 



r 



HISTORY OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS. 



347 



could be heaped upon us by an inhuman, 
ungodly band of Marauders, — from twelve 
to fifteen thousand souls, men, women, 
and children, were driven from their own 
firesides, and from lands for which they 
had warrantee deeds, to wander houseless, 
friendless, and homeless, (in the depth of - 
winter,) as exiles on the earth, or to seek an 
asylum in a more genial clime, and among 
a less barbarous people. 

Many sickened and died in consequence 
of the cold and hardships they had to en- 
dure, many wives were left widows, and 
children orphans and destitute. 

It would take more time than I am able 
to devote to your service, at present, to 
describe the injustice, the wrongs, the 
murders, the bloodshed, thefts, misery and 
woe that have been committed upon our 
people by the barbarous, inhuman, and 
lawless proceeding of the State of Mis- 
souri. And I would refer you, and the 
readers of your history who may be de- 
sirous of further information on this topic, 
to the evidence taken on my recent trial 
before the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, on 
Saturday, July 1st, 1843, on a writ of 
habeas corpus, which is published in pam- 
phlet form by Messrs. Taylor & Wood- 
ruff, of this city. 

After being thus inhumanly expelled by 
the government and people from Missouri, 
we found an asylum and friends in the 
State of Illinois. Here, in the fall of 
1839, we commenced a city called Nau- 
voo, in Hancock county, which, in De- 
cember, 1840, received an act of incor- 
poration from the Legislature of Illinois, 
and is endowed with as liberal powers as 
any city in the United States. Nauvoo, 
in every respect, connected with increase 
and prosperity, has exceeded the most 
sanguine expectations of thousands. It 
now contains near 1500 houses, and more 
than 15,000 inhabitants. The charter 
contains, amongst its important powers, 
privileges, or immunities, a grant for the 
" University of Nauvoo," with the same 
liberal powers of the city, where all the 
arts and sciences will grow with the growth, 
and strengthen the strength of this beloved 
city of the " saints of the last days." 
Another very commendatory provision of 
the charter is, that that portion of the 
citizens subject to military duty are or- 



ganized into a body of independent mili- 
tary men, styled the " Nauvoo Legion," 
whose highest officer holds the rank, and 
is commissioned lieutenant-general. This 
legion, like other independent bodies of 
troops in this republican government, is at 
the disposal of the Governor of this State, 
and President of the United States. There 
is also an act of incorporation for an agri- 
cultural and manufacturing association, 
as well as the Nauvoo House Associa- 
tion. 

The temple of God, now in the course 
of erection, being already raised one story, 
and which is 120 feet by 60 feet, of stone, 
with polished pilasters, of an entire new 
order of architecture, will be a splendid 
house for the worship of God, as well as 
an unique wonder for the world, it being 
built by the direct revelation of Jesus 
Christ for the salvation of the living and 
the dead. 

Since the organization of this church 
its progress has been rapid, and its gain 
in numbers regular. Besides these United 
States, where nearly every place of noto- 
riety has heard the glad tidings of the 
gospel of the Son of God, England, Ire- 
land, and Scotland, have shared largely 
in the fulness of the everlasting gospel, 
and thousands have already gathered with 
their kindred saints, to this the corner-stone 
of Zion. Missionaries of this church have 
gone to the East Indies, to Australia, Ger- 
many, Constantinople, Egypt, Palestine, 
the Islands of the Pacific, and are now 
preparing to open the door in the exten- 
sive dominions of Russia. 

There are no correct data by which the 
exact number of members composing this 
now extensive, and still extending, Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can 
be known. Should it be supposed at 
150,000, it might still be short of the 
truth. 

Believing the Bible to say what it means 
and mean what it says ; and guided by 
revelation according to the ancient order 
of the fathers to whom came what little 
light we enjoy ; and circumscribed only 
by the eternal limits of truth : this church 
must continue the even tenor of her way, 
and " spread undivided, and operate un- 
spent." 

We believe in God the Eternal Father, 



IP 



348 



HISTORY OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS. 



and in his son Jesus Christ, and in the 
Holy Ghost. 

We believe that men will be punished 
for their own sins and not for Adam's 
transgression. 

We believe that through the atonement 
of Christ all men may be saved by obe- 
dience to the laws and ordinances of the 
gospel. 

We believe that these ordinances are : 
1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; fid, 
Repentance; 3d, Baptism by immersion 
for the remission of sins ; 4th, Laying on 
of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

We believe that a man must be called 
of God by " prophecy, and by laying on 
of hands," by those who are in authority 
to preach the gospel and administer in the 
ordinances thereof. 

We believe in the same organization 
that existed in the primitive church, viz., 
apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evan- 
gelists, &c. 

We believe in the gift of tongues, pro- 
phecy, revelation, visions, healing, inter- 
pretation of tongues, &c. 

We believe the Bible to be the word of 
God as far as it is translated correctly ; 
we also believe the Book of Mormon to 
be the word of God. 

We believe all that God has revealed, 
all that he does now reveal, and we be- 
lieve that he will yet reveal many great 
and important things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God. 

We believe in the literal gathering of 
Israel, and in the restoration of the Ten 
Tribes. That Zion will be built upon this 
continent. That Christ will reign person- 
ally upon the earth, and that the earth 
will be renewed and receive its paradisal 
glory. 

We claim the privilege of worshipping 
Almighty God according to the dictates 
of our conscience, and allow all men the 
same privilege, let them worship how, 
where, or what they may. 

We believe in being subject to kings, 
presidents, rulers, and magistrates ; in 
obeying, honoring, and sustaining the 
law. 

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, 
benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to 
all men ; indeed we may say that we fol- 
low the admonition of Paul ; " we believe 



all things : we hope all things :" we have 
endured many things, and hope to be able 
to endure all things. If there is any thing 
virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or 
praiseworthy, we seek thereafter. 

Note. — The Editor of the Pasa Ekkksia 
sent Joseph Smith a copy of his book in the 
spring of 1844. In a letter dated Nauvoo, 111., 
June 5th, 1844, Smith acknowledges the re- 
ceipt of the work, and concludes : " 1 shall be 
pleased to furnish further information, at a pro- 
per time, and render you such service an the work, 
and vast extension of our church may demand, 
for the benefit of truth, virtue, and holiness. 
Your work will be suitably noticed in our 
paper for your benefit." 

Smith never redeemed his promises. He, 
and his brother Hyrum Smith, were killed in 
jail, at Carthage, Illinois, June 28, 1844, under 
the following circumstances : — 

Sometime previous to the death of the Smiths, 
difficulties had arisen among the Mormans. 
A new paper was started in Nauvoo, entitled, 
Nauvoo Expositor, which very soon became 
obnoxious to the dominant party. The Com- 
mon Council, of which Joseph Smith was pre- 
sident, ordered the Nauvoo Expositor to be de- 
stroyed, which was accordingly done. For 
this illegal procedure a warrant was issued by 
the proper authorities against Smith and others 
for a riot. 

From a former disregard to the authority of 
the state on the part of Smith, the people of 
the vicinity of Nauvoo became much excited 
— and the question whether Smith, though es- 
teemed a prophet by his own, should set the 
laws and authority of the state at defiance, be- 
came one of fearful import ! The militia of 
the adjacent counties having been assembled, 
some two or three thousand in number, and 
some armed bands from Missouri and Iowa, 
having congregated in the vicinity of Nauvoo : 
Governor Thomas Ford, apprised of their in- 
tention to commit violence upon the Mormons, 
and dreading its consequences, repaired in 
person to the scene of action, and promptly 
allayed the impending storm for a short time. 

On Monday, June 24th, 1844, Joseph Smith 
and his brother Hyrum, receiving assurances 
from Gov. Ford of protection, in company with 
some of his friends, left Nauvoo for Carthage, 
Hancock county, to surrender themselves as 
prisoners, upon a process which had been pre- 
viously issued, and was then in the hands of 
the public officer to be executed. About four 
miles from Carthage, they were met by Cap- 
tain Dunn and a company of cavalry, on their 
way to Nauvoo, with an order from Gov. Ford 
for the state arms in possession of the Nauvoo 
Legion. Lieut. General Joseph Smith having 
endorsed upon the order his admission of its 
service, and given his directions for their de- 
livery, returned with Capt Dunn to Nauvoo, 
for the arms thus ordered by Gov. Ford to be 



HISTORY OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS. 



349 



surrendered. The arms having been given up, 
both parties again started for Carthage, where 
they arrived at twelve o'clock at night. The 
Smiths were imprisoned in what is called the 
debtor's room of the jail. Gov. Ford permitted 
the friends of the Smiths to visit them. The 
prison was secured by a guard. On the morn- 
ing of the 27th, Gov. Ford discharged a part 
of the troops under his command, and pro- 
ceeded with a portion of the residue, a single 
company only, to Nauvoo ; leaving the jail, 
the prisoners, and several of their friends, 
guarded by seven or eight men, and a com- 
pany of about sixty militia, the Carthage Grays, 
a few yards distant in reserve. About 6 o'clock 
P. M., June 27th, the guard stationed at the pri- 
son was overpowered by an armed mob in 
disguise, the jail was broken and entered, 
Joseph and H}^rum Smith were wantonly killed. 
Soon after the death of the Smiths, Dr. 
Richards, a prominent follower, who had ac- 
companied the accused to jail, transmitted to 
Nauvoo the following note, undersigned by 
Gov. Ford : 

Twelve o'clock at night, June 27th, 
Carthage, Hamilton's Tavern. 

To Mrs. Emma Smith, and) 
Maj. Gen. Dunham, &c. J 

The Governor has just arrived, and says 
that all things shall be inquired into, and all 
right measures taken. I say to all the citizens 
of Nauvoo : My brethren, be still, and know 
that God reigns — don't rush out of the city — 



don't rush to Carthage — stay at home, and be 
prepared for an attack from Missouri mobbers. 
The governor will render every assistance 
possible. He has sent out orders for troops. 
Joseph and Hyrum are dead — but not by the 
Carthage people. The guards were there, as 
I believe. We will prepare to remove the 
bodies as soon as possible. The people of 
the county are greatly excited ; and fear the 
Mormons will come out and take vengeance. 
I have pledged my word that the Mormans 
will stay at home, (as soon as they can be in- 
formed,) and no violence will be done on their 
part. Say to my brethren in Nauvoo, " In the 
name of the Lord be still — be patient," — only 
let such friends as choose, come here to see 
the bodies. Mr. Taylor's wounds are dressed, 
and not serious — I am sound. 

William Richards, John Taylor, Samuel H. 
Smith. Defend yourselves until protection 
can be furnished. — June 27, 1 844. 

Thomas Ford, 
Gov. and Commander-in-Chief. 

June 28th, at 3 o'clock, P. M., several thou- 
sands assembled, and the bodies of the Smiths, 
followed by Samuel H. Smith, brother of the 
deceased ; Dr. Richards, Mr. Hamilton of Car- 
thage, and others, in a wagon, guarded by 
eight men, were escorted into the city, and 
taken out at the Nauvoo house. The bodies 
of the deceased were buried with military 
honors. This is the end of prophet Smith. 
The fate of his followers is reserved for the 
future historian. — I. D. R., Editor. 



h=r. 



350 



HISTORY OF THE MORAVIANS. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE MORAVIANS. 

OR MORE PROPERLY 

UNITAS FRATRUM OR UNITED BRETHREN'S CHURCH.* 
BY L. D. VON SCHWEINITS, 

LATE SENIOR CIVILIS OF THE CHURCH OF U. F. 



United Brethren, or Unitas Fratrum, 
or sometimes called Moravians, were ori- 
ginally formed by the descendants of the 
Bohemiam and Moravian Brethren, who, 
being persecuted for their religious tenets, 
and non-conformity in their native country, 
founded a colony, under the patronage of 
Count Zinzendorf, on an estate of his called 
Berthelsdorf, in Upper Lusatia, in the year 
1722, to which colony the name of Herrn- 
hut was given, on account of its situation 
on the southern declivity of a hill called 
Hutberg. 

It was not until the number of emigrants 
from Bohemia and Moravia, who there 
found an asylum, had considerably in- 
creased, and many religiously disposed 
persons from other quarters, attracted by 
their pious zeal and their sufferings, had 
settled among them, that the diversity of 
sentiments, perceptible among so many 
zealous Christians of various modes of 
thinking, suggested to them the propriety 
of some general agreement concerning 
faith and rules of conduct. Accordingly, 
under the guidance of Count Zinzendorf, 



* This article was originally prepared by 
Rev. Mr. Schweinitz, and has the sanction of 
the Board of the Moravian Church. 



who, from an early age had entertained 
an idea of constituting a Christian com- 
munity on the model of the primitive apos- 
tolic congregations, certain articles of union 
were proposed among them, which, leaving 
all the distinctive doctrines of the various 
Protestant denominations of Christians en- 
tirely out of question, adopted as articles 
of faith only those fundamental scripture 
truths in which they all agree, and at the 
same time introduced a system of social 
compact and church discipline resembling 
that of the ancient church of the Mora- 
vian Brethren, and intended to form a so- 
ciety in some degree such as the primitive 
churches are represented to have been. 

All the inhabitants of Herrnhut, after 
mature consideration, adopted this social 
scheme and these statues, by the name of 
a brotherly agreement, and pledged them- 
selves mutually to its observance, in the 
year 1727, and thus formed the first stock 
of the present society of United Brethren. 
Count Zinzendorf was justly in some mea- 
sure considered the founder of the society, to 
which he thenceforward devoted his whole 
life, property and energy. It will be readily 
conceived, however, more especially after 
observing that further emigrations from 
Bohemia and Moravia were checked by 



*: ^^iIB 




NICOLAS LEWIS, (Count Zinzendorf.) 



HISTORY OF THE MORAVIANS. 



351 



the Saxon government at an early period, 
that the descendants of the emigrants, at 
this day, constitute but a small portion of 
the present society. Individuals from all 
Protestant denominations, coinciding in the 
fundamental doctrines of Christianity com- 
mon to all, and professing a desire to lead 
a truly Christian life, as members of such 
a community, under its peculiar regula- 
tions, were from the beginning admitted 
among them, without renouncing their 
original church and creed. On the con- 
trary, to facilitate the maintenance of their 
connection with their original churches, 
the society expressly includes three dif- 
ferent tropes or modifications within its 
pale : the Lutheran, the Reformed, and the 
Moravian, which latter comprises all other 
Protestant denominations. Experience has 
taught that these differences, among per- 
sons so intimately associated, vanish of 
themselves to such a degree, that the ori- 
ginal idea of these tropes is now main- 
tained only as an evidence of the principle 
of their union, while its practical conse- 
quences have become altogether imper- 
ceptible. 

The United Brethren, however, continue 
strenuously to object to being considered 
a separate sect or denomination, because 
their union is exclusively founded on gene- 
ral Christian doctrines, and their pecu- 
liarities relate solely to their social organi- 
zation, which is intended only to facili- 
tate their joint purpose of putting truly 
Christian principles of life and conduct 
into actual practice. They consequently 
admit of no peculiar articles of faith, con- 
fining themselves altogether to regulations 
of conduct and discipline. As a body they 
have at all times, when required by go- 
vernments to point out their creed, pro- 
fessed general adherence to the Confession 
of Augsburg, as most congenial to the 
views of a majority ; and although they 
do not pledge their ministers to an express 
adoption of its articles, it is agreed among 
them not to insist upon any doctrines 
utterly repugnant thereto. They avoid dis- 
cussions respecting the speculative truths 
of religion, and insist upon individual ex- 
perience of the practical efficacy of the 
gospel, in producing a real change of senti- 
ment and conduct, as the only essentials 
in religion. 



They consider the manifestation of God 
in Christ as intended to be the most bene- 
ficial revelation of the Deity to the human 
race ; and in consequence, they make the 
life, merits, acts, words, sufferings and 
death of the Saviour, the principal theme 
of their doctrine, while they carefully 
avoid entering into any theoretical disqui- 
sitions on the mysterious essence of the 
Godhead, simply adhering to the words of 
scripture. Admitting the sacred scriptures 
as the only source of divine revelation, 
they nevertheless believe that the Spirit 
of God continues to lead those who believe 
in Christ into all further truth; not by 
revealing new doctrines, but by teaching 
those, who sincerely desire to learn, daily 
better to understand and apply the truths 
which the scriptures contain. They be- 
lieve that, to live agreeably to the gospel, 
it is essential to aim in all things to fulfil 
the will of God. Even in their temporal 
concerns they endeavor to ascertain the 
will of God ; they do not, indeed, expect 
some miraculous manifestation of his will, 
but only endeavor to test the purity of 
their purposes by the light of the divine 
word. Nothing of consequence is done 
by them, as a society, until such an ex- 
amination has taken place : and, in cases 
of difficulty, the question is decided by lot, 
to avoid the undue preponderance of in- 
fluential men, and in the humble hope that 
God will guide them rightly by its deci- 
sion, where their limited understanding 
fails them. 

In former times the marriages of the 
members of the society were, in some re- 
spects, guarded as a concern of the society, 
as it was part of their social agreement that 
none should take place without the approval 
of the elders ; and the elders' consent or 
refusal was usually determined by lot. But 
this custom was at length abandoned ; and 
nothing is now requisite to obtain the con- 
sent of the elders, but propriety of conduct 
in the parties. They consider none of 
their' peculiar regulations essential, but all 
liable to be altered or abandoned whenever 
it is found necessary, in order better to 
attain their great object — the promotion of 
piety. Such alterations are effected through 
the medium of their synods. 

The society early undertook to propa- 
gate the gospel among heathen nations. 



352 



HISTORY OF THE MORAVIANS. 



The success of their attempt in this respect 
is generally known, and a great propor- 
tion of their energy is at this day devoted 
to this object. In the prosecution thereof, 
circumstances occurred which, combined 
with the increase of their numbers, and 
certain difficulties in their way at Herrn- 
hut, induced the society to plant colonies, 
on the plan of the mother society there, in 
different parts of Germany, England, Hol- 
land, America, &c, all of which, together, 
now constitute the Unity of the Brethren. 
Each individual colony, called a place 
congregation, is independent in its indivi- 
dual concerns, under the superintendence, 
however, of the Board of General Direc- 
tors of the Unity ; which superintendence, 
in England and America, is administered 
by subordinate local boards, in respect to 
all things not of a general nature ; but 
they are responsible to the General Board 
of the Directors, at present seated at Ber- 
thelsdorf, near Herrnhut, and denominated 
the Board of Elders of the Unity. The 
appointments of all the ministers and offi- 
cers of each community rest exclusively 
with this board. In England and America, 
however, these are committed to the local 
boards. To them is further committed 
the direction of all general objects of the 
whole society, such as their heathen mis- 
sions, the support of superannuated minis- 
ters and their widows, and the education 
of the children of such of these as are 
without means of their own. For, as the 
principles and circumstances of the society 
prevent them from allotting a greater salary 
to any officers, than their decent maintain- 
ance requires, those among them, who are 
not possessed of fortunes, cannot lay by 
any thing for their old age, or for the edu- 
cation of their children ; the charge of 
these, therefore, devolves upon the whole 
society. 

The economical affairs of each indivi- 
dual community are administered by one 
of the elders of that particular community, 
with the concurrence of a committee elected 
biennially from among the inhabitants, 
generally by the votes of all the male 
members, or by an intermediate body thus 
elected. 

The objects for which each community 
has thus to provide are, the erection and 
maintenance of a church, the support of 



the active ministers and other officers, of 
proper schools, and all other things ne- 
cessary for the well-being of the commu- 
nity, and the preservation of good order ; 
while the individuals composing it, are as 
entirely independent in their private pro- 
perty as any other person whatever — each 
carrying on his particular business, for his 
own profit, and upon his own responsibility. 

A contrary impression, viz. : that there 
exists a community of goods among them, 
is still very prevalent, especially in Ame- 
rica. This is attributable to the fact, that, 
when their colonies in America were com- 
menced, it was for some years found ne- 
cessary to combine the efforts of all the 
members, in order to maintain themselves 
amid their difficulties ; and, although each 
individual retained the absolute disposal of 
any property, formerly his own. their joint 
earnings, for the time, went into a common 
stock, from which the daily necessities 
were supplied. This unnatural state of 
things, however, continued no longer than 
it was imperiously necessary. Many other 
erroneous conceptions have become preva- 
lent, concerning the economical concerns 
of this society. The original members of 
it had nothing to depend on but their in- 
dustry. Count Zinzendorf and some of 
his nearest connexions sacrificed the whole 
of their estates in the various undertakings, 
missions, and colonies. As the society 
grew, numbers of wealthy members af- 
forded liberal aid ; but the society never 
had any actual funds, upon which they 
could depend. Individual members bor- 
rowed the necessary sums, upon their own 
credit. These funds were invested, partly 
in commercial undertakings, partly in 
landed estates, and various manufactures, 
and the profits applied to pay the expenses 
of the society. 

Upon the death of Count Zinzendorf, 
(he died, 1760,) it was found that a debt 
had accrued, greatly exceeding the value 
of all the available investments. A sepa- 
ration of interests now took place. Each 
individual community assumed a propor- 
tionable share of the assets and debts, and 
thenceforward undertook the management 
of its individual concerns, and to provide 
for its own necessities by means of an in- 
stitution, operating very much in the man- 
ner of* a savings bank, termed the Diet- 



HISTORY OF THE MORAVIANS. 



353 



cony of each community. Moneys were 
taken up, under the special superintend- 
ence of the elders, and of the committee 
above mentioned, and invested ,* the pro- 
I ceeds went to defray the disbursements of 
| that particular community ; the under- 
I standing was, that, if the avails were such 
as to leave any thing to be disposed of 
after defraying their own expenses, such 
surplus was to go to aid other communities, 
whose means might not be so ample, or to 
assist the general concerns. Thus, in 
most communities of the United Brethren, 
certain trades or manufactures are carried 
on for their benefit, as such. By these 
means, together with the voluntary annual 
subscriptions of the members towards the 
maintainance of the ministers, and the 
support of the church and schools, the 
necessary funds are raised for defraying 
the charges on the particular communities, 
and for certain proportionate contributions, 
which each is expected to furnish to that 
fund of the Unity, which is established for 
the support of the superannuated ministers 
and other officers, and their widows, as 
well as the education of their children. 
The funds required in each community, 
for the purposes of police and conveniences, 
are raised by regular taxes on the house- 
holders, assessed by the committee before 
mentioned. The rest of the assets on 
hand, at the death of Count Zinzendorf, 
was put under the control of a special 
board of elders of the Unity, and the pro- 
ceeds applied to discharge the debt before 
mentioned. The disbursements required 
by the missions among the heathen are 
supplied by voluntary contributions. The 
greater part of the annual amount at the 
present time is furnished by persons not 
connected with the society. Some i"ew of 
the West India missions are in part sup- 
ported by the industry of the missionaries, 
and those in Labrador by a commercial 
establishment trading thither under the 
guidance of a society established at Lon- 
don. In the United States, there is a so- 
ciety for propagating the gospel among 
the heathen, incorporated by several states, 
and consisting of members of the United 
Brethren's Church. This society has re- 
cently acquired large funds, by the bequest 
of one of its members. All these re- 
sources flow into the common fund, which 



is administered, and the missionary con- 
cern in general managed, by another de- 
partment of the Board of Elders of the 
Unity, called the Missionary Department. 
A third department of this board is termed 
the Department of Education. This has 
charge, not only of the subject of the edu- 
cation of children throughout the society 
generally, but, in a special manner, of 
those who are educated at the public ex- 
pense. 

In many of the communities of the Uni- 
ted Brethren in Germany, England, and 
America, boarding schools for the educa- 
tion of young persons of both sexes are 
established, in which not only their youth, 
but a great number of others, are in- 
structed in useful sciences and polite ac- 
quirements. For many years these schools 
have sustained, and still maintain, a con- 
siderable reputation both in Europe and 
America. At Niesky, in Upper Lusatia, 
the Unity maintains a higher classical in- 
stitution, where those receive a prepara- 
tory education, who intend to embrace the 
liberal professions, or to be prepared for 
the ministry. The latter complete their 
studies in a college situated at Gnadenfeld, 
in Silesia, which serves the purposes of a 
university. Similar institutions, upon a 
smaller scale, 'are established at Fulnec 
for the English, and at Nazareth for the 
American portion of the Unity. These 
are, properly speaking, theological semi- 
naries only. Young men, desirous of de- 
voting themselves to the medical or other 
learned professions, resort, of course, to 
the public universities of their respective 
countries. In the three departments of 
the Board of Elders of the Unity, before 
alluded to, taken collectively, the direc- 
tion of the whole Unity is concentrated. 
This board, however, is responsible to the 
synods of the society, which meet at stated 
times, generally at intervals of from seven 
to twelve years, and from whom all its 
authority emanates. They are composed 
of bishops and certain other general offi- 
cers of the society, such as the members 
of the Board of Elders of the Unity for 
the time being, and of the representatives 
chosen by each individual community. At 
these meetings, a revision of all the con- 
cerns of the society and its parts takes 
place, and such alterations are adopted as 



45 



354 



HISTORY OF THE MORAVIANS. 



circumstances seem to require. They are 
terminated by the appointment of a new 
Board of Elders of the Unity. 

The following is a sketch of the mode 
of life of the United Brethren where they 
form separate communities, which, how- 
ever, is not always the case ; for, in many 
instances, societies belonging to the Unity 
are situated in larger and smaller cities 
and towns, intermingled with the rest of 
the inhabitants, in which cases their pecu- 
liar regulations are, of course, out of the 
question. In their separate communities, 
they do not allow the permanent residence 
of any persons as householders who are 
not members in full communion, and who 
have not signed the written instrument of 
the brotherly agreement, upon which their 
constitution and discipline rest ; but they 
freely admit of the temporary residence 
among them of such persons as are will- 
ing to conform to their external regula- 
tions. According to these, all kinds of 
amusements, considered dangerous to strict 
morality, are forbidden, as balls, dancing, 
plays, gambling of any kind, and all pro- 
miscuous assemblies of the youth of both 
sexes. These, however, are not debarred 
! from forming, under proper advice and 
parental superintendence, that acquaint- 
ance which their future matrimonial con- 
nexions may require. 

In the communities on the European 
continent, whither, to this day, numbers 
of young persons of both sexes resort, in 
order to become members of the society, 
from motives of piety and a desire to pre- 
pare themselves to become missionaries 
among the heathen, and where, moreover, 
the difficulties of supporting a family 
greatly limit the number of marriages, a 
stricter attention to this point becomes ne- 
cessary. On this account, the unmarried 
men and boys, not belonging to the fami- 
lies of the community, reside together, 
under the care of an elder of their own 
class, in a building called the Single 
Brethren's House, where, usually, divers 
trades and manufacturers are carried on, 
for the benefit of the house or of the com- 
munity, and which, at the same time* fur- 
nishes a cheap and convenient place for 
the board and lodging of those who are 
employed as journeymen, apprentices, or 
otherwise, in the families constituting the 



community. Particular daily opportuni- 
ties of edification are there afforded them ; 
and such a house is the place of resort, 
where the young men and boys of the 
families spend their leisure time, it being 
a general rule, that every member of the 
society shall devote himself to some use- 
ful occupation. A similar house, under 
the guidance of a female superintendent, 
and under similar regulations, is called 
the Single Sister's House, and is the com- 
mon dwelling-place of all unmarried 
females, not members of any family, or 
not employed as servants in the families 
of the community. Even these regard 
the Sister's House as their principal place 
of association at leisure hours. Indus- 
trious habits are here inculcated in the 
same way. 

In the communities of the United Breth- 
ren in America, the facilities of supporting 
families, and the consequent early mar- 
riages, have superseded the necessity of 
Single Brethren's Houses ; but they all 
have Sisters' Houses of the above descrip- 
tion, which afford a comfortable asylum 
to aged unmarried females, while they 
furnish an opportunity of attending to the 
further education and improvement of the 
female youth after they have left school. 
In the larger communities, similar houses 
afford the same advantages to such widows 
as desire to live retired, and are called 
Widows' Houses. The individuals resid- 
ing in these establishments pay a small 
rent, by which, and by the sums paid for 
their board, the expenses of these houses 
are defrayed, assisted occasionally by the 
profits on the sale of ornamental needle- 
work, &c, on which some of the inmates 
subsist. The aged and needy are sup- 
ported by the same means. Each divi- 
sion of sex and station, just alluded to, 
viz. : widows, single men and youths, 
single women and girls, past the age of 
childhood, is placed under the special 
guidance of elders of their own descrip- 
tion, whose province it is to assist them 
in good advice and admonition, and to 
attend, as much as may be, to the spiri- 
tual and temporal welfare of each indivi- 
dual. The children of each sex are under 
the immediate care of the superintendent 
of the single choirs, as these divisions are 
termed. Their instruction in religion, 



HISTORY OF THE MORAVIANS. 



355 



and in all the necessary branches of hu- 
man knowledge, in good schools, carried 
on separately for each sex, is under the 
special superintendence of the stated mi- 
nister of each community, and of the Board 
of Elders. Similar special elders are 
charged to attend to the spiritual welfare 
of the married people. All these elders, 
of both sexes, together with the stated 
minister, to whom the preaching of the 
gospel is chiefly committed, (although all 
other elders who may be qualified parti- 
cipate therein,) and with the persons to 
whom the economical concerns of the 
community are entrusted, form together 
the Board of Elders, in which rests the 
government of the community, with the 
concurrence of the committee elected by 
the inhabitants for all temporal concerns. 
This committee superintends the observ- 
ance of all regulations, has charge of the 
police, and decides differences between 
individuals. Matters of a general nature 
are submitted to a meeting of the whole 
community, consisting either of all male 
members of age, or of an intermediate 
body elected by them. 

Public meetings are held every evening 
in the week. Some of these are devoted 
to the reading of portions of scripture, 
others to the communications of accounts 
from the missionary stations, and others 
to the singing of hymns or selected verses. 
On Sunday mornings, the church litany 
is publicly read, and sermons are delivered 
to the congregation, which, in many 
places, is the case likewise in the after- 
noon. In the evening, discourses are de- 
livered, in which the texts for that day 
are explained and brought home to the 
particular circumstances of the commu- 
nity. Besides these regular means of edi- 
fication, the festival days of the Christian 
church, such as Easter, Pentecost, Christ- 
mas, &c, are commemorated in a special 
manner, as well as some days of peculiar 
interest in the history of the society. A 
solemn church music constitutes a promi- 
nent feature of their means of edification, 
music in general being a favorite employ- 
ment of the leisure of many. On particu- 
lar occasions, and before the congregation 
meets to partake of the Lord's Supper, 
they assemble expressly to listen to instru- 
mental and vocal music interspersed with 



hymns, in which the whole congregation 
joins, while they partake together of a 
cup of coffee, tea, or chocolate, and light 
cakes, in token of fellowship and brotherly 
union. This solemnity is called a Love 
Feast, and is in imitation of the custom 
of the Agapce in the primitive Christian 
churches. The Lord's Supper is cele- 
brated at intervals, generally by all com- 
municant members together, under very 
solemn and but simple rites. Easter 
morning is devoted to a solemnity of a 
peculiar kind. At sunrise, the congrega- 
tion assembles in the grave-yard ; a ser- 
vice, accompanied by music, is celebrated, 
expressive of the joyful hopes of immor- 
tality and resurrection, and a solemn com- 
memoration is made of all who have, in 
the course of the last year, departed this 
life from among them, and " gone home 
to the Lord" — an expression they often 
use to designate death. Considering the 
termination of the present life no evil, but 
the entrance upon an eternal state of bliss 
to the sincere disciples of Christ, they de- 
sire to divest this event of all its terrors. 
The decease of every individual is an- 
nounced to the community by solemn 
music from a band of instruments. Out- 
ward appearances of mourning are dis- 
countenanced. The whole congregation 
follows the bier to the grave-yard (which 
is commonly laid out as a garden,) ac- 
companied by a band, playing the tunes 
of well-known verses, which express the 
hopes of eternal life and resurrection, and 
the corpse is deposited in the simple grave 
during the funeral service. The preser- 
vation of the purity of the community is 
entrusted to the Board of Elders and its 
different members, who are to give instruc- 
tion and admonition to those under their 
care, and make a discreet use of the es- 
tablished church discipline. In cases of 
immoral conduct, or flagrant disregard 
of the regulations of the society, the fol- 
lowing discipline is resorted to. If expos- 
tulations are not successful, offenders are 
for a time restrained from participating in 
the holy communion, or called before the 
committee. For pertinacious bad conduct, 
or flagrant excesses, the culpable indi- 
vidual is dismissed from the society. 

The ecclesiastical church officers, gen- 
erally speaking, are the bishops, through 



356 



HISTORY OF THE MORAVIANS. 



whom the regular succession of ordina- 
tion, transmitted to the United Brethren 
through the ancient Church of the Bohe- 
mian and Moravian Brethren, is preserved, 
and who alone are authorized to ordain 
ministers, but possess no authority in the 
government of the church, except such 
as they derive from some other office, 
being most frequently the presidents of 
some board of elders ; the presbyters, or 
ordained stated ministers of the commu- 
nities, and the deacons. The degree of 
deacon is the first bestowed upon young 
ministers and missionaries, by which they 
are authorized to administer the sacra- 
ments. 

Females, although elders among their 
own sex, are never ordained ; nor have 
they a vote in the deliberations of the 
Board of Elders, which they attend for 
the sake of information only. 

It now remains to give some account 
of the number and extension of this so- 
ciety, which are often strangely exaggera- 
ted. On the continent of Europe, together 
with Great Britain, the number of persons 
living in their different communities, or 
formed into societies closely connected 
with the Unity, does not exceed thirteen 
or fourteen thousand, including children. 
Their number in the United States falls 
somewhat short of six thousand souls. 
Besides these there are about three times 
this number of persons dispersed through 
Germany, Livonia, &c, who are occa- 
sionally visited by brethren, and strength- 
ened in their religious convictions, while 
they have no external connection with the 
Unity. These cannot be considered mem- 
bers of the society, though they may 
maintain a spiritual connection with it. 
The numbers of converts from heathen 
nations, are regularly reported, and do not 
now exceed 40,000 souls, comprehending 
all those who are in any way under the 
care of the missionaries. Indeed it never 
was the object of the society to attempt 
the Christianization of whole nations or 
tribes, as such must be a mere nominal 
conversion. They profess to admit those 
only to the rite of baptism who give evi- 
dence of their faith by the change wrought 
in their life and conduct. On this account, 
they have every where introduced among 
their heathen converts a discipline similar 



to their own, as far as circumstances per- 
mit. It would be preposterous to conceive 
that the peculiar views, and the regula- 
tions of a society such as that of the Uni- 
ted Brethren, could ever be adopted by 
any large body of men. They are exclu- 
sively calculated for small communities. 
Any one desirous of separating from the 
society meets with no hinderance. 

The following is a succinct view of the 
principal establishments of the society. In 
the United States, they have separate com- 
munities, at Bethelem, Nazareth, and Litiz, 
in Pennsylvania, and at Salem, in North 
Carolina. Bethelem is, next to the mother 
community at Herrnhut, in Germany, their 
largest establishment. Besides these, there 
are congregations at Newport, in Rhode 
Island, at New York, at Philadelphia, Lan- 
caster and York ; at Graceham in Mary- 
land ; and several country congregations 
scattered through Pennsylvania, the mem- 
bers of which chiefly dwell on their plan- 
tations, but have a common place of wor- 
ship. There are four of this description 
in North Carolina, in the vicinity of Salem. 
The whole number of congregations is 
twenty-two; of these there are ten village 
congregations, four city, and eight country 
congregations. The number of pastors 
and assistant pastors is twenty-four ; two 
bishops, two administrators, four wardens, 
and four principals of schools. The total 
number of members, at present, in the 
United States, is about six thousand. 

In England, their chief settlements are 
Fulnec in Yorkshire, Fairfield in Lanca- 
shire, Ockbrook in Derbyshire. Congre- 
gations exist likewise in London, Bedford, 
Bristol, Bath, Plymouth, Haverfordwest, 
together with a number of country congre- 
gations in divers villages. In Ireland, they 
have a considerable congregation at Grace- 
hill, in the county of Antrim, and small 
congregations at Dublin, Gracefield, and 
Ballinderry. On the continent of Europe, 
Herrnhut, Niesky, and Kleinwelke, in 
Upper Lusatia ; Gnadenfrey, Gnaden- 
berg, Gnadenfeld and Neusaltz, in Silesia; 
Ebensdorf, near Lobenstein ; Neudicten- 
dorf, in the duchy of Gosna, Konigsfeld, 
in that of Baden ; Neuwied on the Rhine ; 
Christianfeld, in Holstein ; Zeyst, near 
Utrecht, in Holland ; and Sarepta, on the 
confines of Asiatic E.ussia, are the names 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST SOCIETY. 



357 



of their separate communities ; besides 
which are organized societies at Berlin, 
Rixdorf, Potsdam, Konigsberg, Norden in 
Friesland, Copenhagen, Altona, Stock- 
holm, Gottenburg, St. Petersburg, and 
Moscow. 

Their principal missions among the 
heathens at this time are the following : 
among the negro slaves in the three Danish 
West India islands ; in Jamaica, St. Kitts, 
Antigua, Barbadoes, Tobago, and in Suri- 
nam, among the same description of per- 
sons ; in Greenland, among the natives of 
that desolate region ; in Labrador, among 
the Esquimaux ; at the Cape of Good 



Hope, among the Hottentots and Caffres ; 
and in North America, among the Dela- 
ware Indians in Upper Canada and in the 
Indian Territory, and among the Chero- 
kees in Arkansas. It is a general princi- 
ple of the society, that their social organi- 
zation is in no case to interfere with their 
duties as citizens or subjects of govern- 
ments under which they live, and wher- 
ever they are settled. They have always 
supported a good reputation, and been 
generally considered valuable members of 
the community, on account of the moral 
and industrious habits successfully incul- 
cated by their system. 



HISTORY 



OP 



THE METHODIST SOCIETY 



BY THE REV. W. M. STILWELL, NEW YORK. 



The society was first composed of a 
number of members seceding from the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in the city 
of New York, in the year 1820, together 
with several of the trustees. It had its 
origin from the circumstance of the ruling 
preacher, so called, insisting on receiving 
the money collected in the different 
churches under his charge, through stew- 
ards of his own appointment, instead of 
by the trustees appointed according to 
law, and in accordance with the practice 
of the church in all time previous, together 
with certain resolutions passed by the New 
York Annual Conference of Ministers, to 
petition the legislature for a law recogni- 
sing the peculiarities of the church disci- 
pline, by which the whole properties of 
the church would have been placed under 
the supervision and control of the body of 
ministers, who according to their disci- 

i 



pline, from the bishop, downwards, are to 
take charge of the temporal and spiritual 
business of the church. A church was 
erected, and about 300 members organized, 
under one preacher, the Rev. William M. 
Stilwell, who withdrew from the travelling 
connection, and assumed the pastoral charge 
of them, which he retains until this pre- 
sent year, (1843.) In the course of the 
three years following, they had erected 
two other places of worship, and formed 
a discipline, in which the general principles, 
as taught by the Methodists, were recog- 
nised ; but in the government of the church 
there was a difference : 1 . No bishop was 
allowed, but a president of each annual 
conference was chosen yearly, by ballot 
of the members thereof. 2. All ordained 
ministers, whether travelling or not, were 
allowed a seat in the annual conferences. 
3. Two lay delegates from each quarterly 



358 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



conference could sit in the annual confe- 
rence, with the ministers. 4. No rules or 
regulations for the church could be made 
unless a majority present were lay mem- 
bers. 5. A preacher could remain with a 
congregation as long as they agreed. 6. 
Class meetings, love feasts, &c, were to 
be attended ; the leader of each class being 
chosen by the members. 7. The property 
of the societies, to be vested in trustees of 
their own choice, and the minister to have 
no oversight of the temporal affairs of the 
church. They prospered greatly for a 
few years, when some of the preachers 
and people, being desirous to have a more 
itinerant connection, thought it best to unite 
with a body of seceders from the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, who held a convention 



in Baltimore, and took the name of Pro- 
testant Methodist Church : since which the 
Methodist Society have not sought to en- 
large their body so much, as to supply 
such congregations as may feel a disposi- 
tion to enjoy a liberty, which the other 
bodies of dissenting Methodists, as well as 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, do not 
see fit to grant to the laity. At the present 
time they have three annual conferences, 
and are prosperous according to the efforts 
made, perhaps as well as other churches. 
The above may be considered a sufficient 
notice of the " Methodist Society," and 
persons wishing farther information will 
find it in a small work entitled " Rise and 
Progress of the Methodist Society," printed 
in New York, 1822. 



HISTORY 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 



BY THE REV. NATHAN BANGS, D. D., NEW YORK. 



It is well known that the founder of 
Methodism, under God, was the Rev. John 
Wesley, a presbyter in the Church of 
England, who, after his own conversion, 
set out with a simple desire to revive pure 
and undefiled religion in the church of 
which he was a member and a minister. 
Of the several steps by which he was led 
to adopt the measures he did, it is not ne- 
cessary particularly to make mention ; as 
in this sketch it is designed to notice those 
events only which more especially relate 
to the rise and progress of Methodism in 
America. It is therefore sufficient for our 
purpose to remark, that Mr. Wesley com- 
menced his work in the University of Ox- 
ford, where he had been educated, in the 
year 1739, and that from there it spread 



in different directions, throughout Great 
Britain and Ireland, until by one of those 
providential occurrences, which mark all 
human events from which great results 
have their origin, it was introduced into 
this country. 

That Mr. Wesley was actuated by a 
pure desire to revive and spread experi- 
mental and practical godliness, is most 
evident from all his actions, from his nu- 
merous writings, and much more from the 
following general rules which he drew up 
for the government of his societies in 1743, 
and which still remain the same in Europe 
and America, except the item on slavery, 
which was inserted by the American Con- 
ference in 1784, and the one on drunk- 
enness, which has been altered for the 




Rev. JOHN WESLEY, D.D. 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



359 



worse it is believed, as it does not prohibit 
" the buying or selling of spirituous li- 
quors," as Mr. Wesley's Rule did. 

GENERAL RULES OF THE UNITED 
METHODIST SOCIETIES. 

1. In the latter end of the year 1739, 
eight or ten persons came to Mr. Wesley 
in London, who appeared to be deeply 
convinced of sin, and earnestly groaning 
for redemption. They desired (as did 
two or three more the next day) that he 
would spend some time with them in pray- 
er, and advise them how to flee from the 
wrath to come, which they saw continually 
hanging over their heads. That he might 
have more time for this great work, he 
appointed a day when they might all 
come together, which, from thenceforward, 
they did every week, viz., on Thursday 
in the evening. To these, and as many 
more as desired to join with them, (for 
their number increased daily,) he gave 
those advices from time to time which he 
judged most needful for them ; and they 
always concluded their meetings with 
prayer suited to their several necessities. 

2. This was the rise of the United So- 
ciety, first in Europe, and then in Ameri- 
ca. Such a society is no other than " A 
company of men having the form, and 
seeking the power of godliness, united, in 
order to pray together, to receive the word 
of exhortation, and to watch over one 
another in love, that they may help each 
other to work out their salvation." 

3. That it may the more easily be dis- 
cerned, whether they are indeed working 
out their own salvation, each society is 
divided into smaller companies, called 
classes, according to their respective places 
of abode. There are about twelve per- 
sons in a class ; one of whom is styled 
the leader. It is his duty, 

I. To see each person in his class, once 
a week, at least, in order, 

a. To inquire how their souls prosper; 

b. To advise, reprove, comfort, or ex- 
hort, as occasion may require ; 

c. To receive what they are willing to 
give, toward the relief of the preachers, 
church, and poor.* 

* This part refers to towns and cities, where 
the poor are generally numerous, and church 
expenses considerable. 



II. To meet the minister and the stew- 
ards of the society once a week, in 
order, 

a. To inform the minister of any that 
are sick, or of any that walk disorderly, 
and will not be reproved ; 

b. To pay to the stewards what they 
have received of their several classes in 
the week preceding. 

4. There is one only condition previous- 
ly required of those who desire admission 
into these societies, viz., " a desire to flee 
from the wrath to come, and to be saved 
from their sins ;" but wherever this is 
really fixed in the soul, it will be shown 
by its fruits. It is therefore expected of 
all who continue therein, that they should 
continue to evidence their desire of sal- 
vation, 

First, by doing no harm ; by avoiding 
evil of every kind, especially that which 
is most generally practiced. Such as 

The taking of the name of God in 
vain ; 

The profaning the day of the Lord, 
either by doing ordinary work thereon, 
or by buying or selling ; 

Drunkenness, or drinking spirituous 
liquors, unless in cases of necessity ; 

The buying and selling of men, women, 
and children, with an intention to enslave 
them. 

Fighting, quarrelling, brawling ; broth- 
er going to law with brother ; returning 
evil for evil, or railing for railing ; the 
using many words in buying or selling ; 

The buying or selling goods that Jiave 
not paid the duty ; 

The giving or taking things on usury, 
i. e., unlawful interest ; 

Uncharitable or unprofitable conversa- 
tion, particularly speaking evil of magis- 
trates or of ministers ; 

Doing to others as we would not they 
should do unto us ; 

Doing what we know is not for the 
glory of God ; as, 

The putting on of gold and costly ap- 
parel ; 

The taking such diversions as cannot 
be used in the name of the Lord Jesus ; 

The singing those songs, or reading 
those books which do not tend to the 
knowledge or love of God ; 

Softness and needless self-indulgence ; 



360 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



Laying up treasure upon earth ; 

Borrowing without a probability of 
paying ; or taking up goods without a 
probability of paying for them. 

5. It is expected of all who continue in 
these societies, that they should continue 
to evidence their desire of salvation, 

Secondly, by doing good ; by being in 
every kind merciful after their power, as 
they have opportunity — doing good of 
every possible sort, and, as far as is pos- 
sible, to all men ; 

To their bodies, according to the ability 
which God giveth, by giving food to the 
hungry, by clothing the naked, by visiting 
or helping them that are sick, or in 
prison ; 

To their souls, by instructing, reproving, 
or exhorting all we have any intercourse 
with : trampling under foot that enthusi- 
astic doctrine, that " we are not to do 
good, unless our hearts be free to it." 

By doing good, especially to them that 
are of the household of faith, or groaning 
so to be : employing them preferably to 
others ; buying one of another ; helping 
each other in business, — and so much the 
more, because the world will love its own, 
and them only. 

By all possible diligence and frugality, 
that the gospel be not blamed. 

By running with patience the race 
which is set before them ; denying them- 
selves, and taking up their cross daily ; 
submitting to bear the reproach of Christ ; 
to be as the filth and offscouring of the 
world ; and looking that men should say 
all manner of evil of them falsely, for the 
Lord's sake. 

6. It is expected of all who desire to 
continue in these societies, that they 
should continue to evidence their desire 
of salvation, 

Thirdly, by attending upon all the or- 
dinances of God : such are, 

The public worship of God ; 

The ministry of the word, either read 
or expounded ; 

The Supper of the Lord ; 

Family and private prayer ; . 

Searching the scriptures ; and 

Fasting or abstinence. 

7. These are the general rules of our 
societies; all which we are taught of 
God to observe, even in his written word, 



which is the only rule, and the sufficient 
rule, both of our faith and practice. And 
all these we know his Spirit writes on 
truly awakened hearts. If there be any 
among us who observe them not, who 
habitually break any of them : let it be 
known unto them who watch over that 
soul, as they who must give an account. 
We will admonish him of the error of his 
ways ; we will bear with him for a sea- 
son. But, if then, he repent not, he hath 
no more place among us. We have de- 
livered our own souls. 

Efforts have been made and are now 
making to restore the rule relating to 
drunkenness to the phraseology in which 
Mr. Wesley left it ; but as these rules are 
declared to be unalterable by the restric- 
tive regulations which bind the action of 
the General Conference, except on the 
recommendation of three-fourths of all the 
members of the several annual confer- 
ences who shall be present and vote on 
such recommendation, and then by a vote 
of two-thirds of the General Conference : 
a sufficient number of votes has not been 
procured to effect the alteration. 

With these introductory remarks we 
proceed to a few historical sketches of the 
rise and progress of Methodism on this 
continent. 

The first Methodist society in America, 
was established in the city of New York, 
in the year 1766. The circumstances 
attending this event were somewhat pecu- 
liar, and mark the providence of God over 
his people, in a very striking manner. A 
few pious emigrants from Ireland, who, 
previously to their removal, had been 
members of the Methodist society in their 
own country, landed in this city. Among 
their number was Mr. Philip Embury, a 
local preacher. Coming among strangers 
and finding no pious associates with whom 
they could confer, they came very near 
making " shipwreck of faith and a good 
conscience." In this state of religious 
declension they were found the next year 
on the arrival of another family from Ire- 
land, among whom was a pious " mother 
in Israel," to whose zeal in the cause of 
God they were all indebted for the revival 
of the spirit of piety among them. Soon 
after her arrival she ascertained that those, 
who had preceded her, had so far departed 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



361 



from their " first love," as to be mingling 
in the frivolities and amusements of the 
world. The knowledge of this painful 
fact excited her indignation ; and, with a 
zeal which deserves commemoration, she 
suddenly entered the room in which they 
were assembled, seized the pack of cards 
with which they were playing, and threw 
them into the fire. She then addressed 
herself to them in terms of expostulation, 
and turning to Mr. Embury, she said : 
"You must preach to us, or we shall all 
go to hell together, and God will require 
our blood at your hands !" This pointed 
appeal had its intended effect, in awaken- 
ing his attention to the peril of their con- 
dition. Yet, as if to excuse himself from 
the performance of an obvious duty, he 
tremblingly replied : " I cannot preach, 
for I' have neither a house nor congrega- 
tion." " Preach in yotfr own house first, 
and to our own company," was the reply. 
Feeling the responsibility of his situation, 
and not being able any longer to resist 
the importunities of his reprover, he con- 
sented to comply with her request, and 
accordingly he preached his first sermon 
" in his own hired house," to five persons 
only. This, it is believed, was the first 
Methodist sermon ever preached in Amer- 
ica. 

As they continued to assemble together 
for mutual edification, so their numbers 
were gradually increased, and they were 
comforted and strengthened by " exhort- 
ing one another daily." Notwithstanding 
the fewness of their number, and the se- 
cluded manner in which they held their 
meetings : they very soon began to at- 
tract attention, and they accordingly found 
that they must either procure a larger 
place, or preclude many from their meet- 
ings who were desirous to attend. 

This led them to rent a room of larger 
dimensions in the neighborhood, the ex- 
pense of which was paid by voluntary 
contributions. An event happened soon 
after they began to assemble in this place, 
which brought them into more public no- 
tice, and attracted a greater number of 
hearers. This was the arrival of Captain 
Webb, an officer of the British army, at 
that time stationed in Albany, in the State 
of New York. He had been brought to 
the knowledge of the truth, under the 



searching ministry of the Rev. John Wes- 
ley, in the city of Bristol, England, about 
the year, 1765 ; and, though a military 
character, such was his thirst for the sal- 
vation of immortal souls, that he was 
constrained to declare unto them the lov- 
ing kindness of God. 

His first appearance as a stranger 
among the " little flock" in the city of New 
York, in his military costume, gave them 
some uneasiness, as they feared that he 
had come to " spy out their liberties," or 
to interrupt them in their solemn assem- 
blies ; but when they saw him kneel in 
prayer, and otherwise participate with 
them in the worship of God, their fears 
were exchanged for joy, and on a farther 
acquaintance they found Captain Webb 
had " partaken of like precious faith" with 
themselves. He was accordingly invited 
to preach. The novelty of his appearance 
in the badges of a military officer, excited 
no little surprise. This, together with the 
energy with which he spoke in the name 
of the Lord Jesus, drew many to the place 
of worship, and hence the room in which 
they now assembled, soon became too 
small to accommodate all who wished to 
assemble. But what greatly encouraged 
them was, that sinners were awakened 
and converted to God, and added to the 
little society. 

To accommodate all who wished to hear, 
they next hired a rigging-loft in William 
Street, and fitted it up for a place of wor- 
ship. Here they assembled for a consi- 
derable time, and were edified in faith .and 
love, under the labors of Mr. Embury, 
who was occasionally assisted by Captain 
Webb. 

While the society was thus going for- 
ward in their " work of faith and labor of 
love" in New York : Captain Webb made 
excursions upon Long Island, and even 
went as far as Philadelphia, preaching, 
wherever he could find an opening, the. 
gospel of the Son of God ; and success 
attended his labors, many being awakened 
to a sense of their sinfulness through his 
pointed ministry, and were brought to the 
" knowledge of salvation by the remission 
of sins." In consequence of the accession 
of numbers to the society, and the con- 
tinual increase of those who wished to hear 
the word : the rigging-loft became also too 



46 



362 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



small, and they began to consult together 
on the propriety of building a house of 
worship. 

But in the accomplishment of this pious 
undertaking, many difficulties were to be 
encountered. The members in the society 
were yet but few in number, most of them 
of the poorer class, and of course had but 
a limited acquaintance and influence in 
the community. For some time they 
were in painful suspense. But while all 
were deliberating on the most suitable 
means to be adopted to accomplish an ob- 
ject so desirable : the elderly lady, whose 
pious zeal has been already mentioned, 
while earnestly engaged in prayer for 
direction in this important enterprise, re- 
ceived, with inexpressible sweetness and 
power, this answer, i, the Lord, will do 
it. At the same time a plan was sug- 
gested to her mind, which, on being sub- 
mitted to the society, was generally ap- 
proved of, and finally adopted. They 
proceeded to issue a subscription paper, 
waited on the mayor of the city and other 
opulent citizens, to whom they explained 
their object, and received from them such 
liberal donations, that they succeeded in 
purchasing several lots in John Street, on 
which they erected a house of worship 60 
feet in length, by 42 in breadth, calling it, 
from respect to the venerable founder of 
Methodism, Wesley Chapel. This was 
the first meeting-house ever erected for a 
Methodist congregation in America ; this 
was in the year, 1768 ; and the first ser- 
mon was preached in it, October 30, 1768, 
by Mr. Embury. This, therefore, may 
be considered as the beginning of Metho- 
dism in this country. 

While this house was in progress, feel- 
ing the necessity of a more competent 
preacher, they addressed a letter to Mr. 
Wesley, urging upon him the propriety 
of sending them the needful help. So 
.zealous were they in this good cause, that, 
after describing at large the general state 
of things here, they say : " With respect 
to money for the payment of the preach- 
ers' passage over, if they could not pro- 
cure it, we would sell our coats and shirts 
to procure it for them." 

Such an appeal had its effect. Mr. 
Wesley immediately adopted measures 
for complying with their request, and two 



preachers, namely, Richard Boardman 
and Joseph Pillmore, volunteered their 
services for America ; and Mr. Wesley 
sent with them fifty pounds, " As," he 
says, " a token of our brotherly love." 
These were the first regular itinerant 
preachers who visited this country ; and 
they landed at Gloucester point, six miles 
below Philadelphia, October 24, 1769. 
They immediately entered upon their 
Master's work, Mr. Boardman taking his 
station in New York, and Mr. Pillmore 
in Philadelphia, occasionally exchanging 
with one another, and sometimes making 
excursions into the country. Wherever 
they went, multitudes flocked to hear the 
word, and many were induced to seek an 
interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

About the same time that Mr. Embury 
was thus laying the foundation for this 
spiritual edifice in New Y'ork, and Cap- 
tain Webb was, to use his own words, 
" felling the trees on Long Island," and 
some other places : Mr. Robert Straw- 
bridge, another local preacher from Ire- 
land, came over and settled in Frederick 
county, Maryland, and commenced preach- 
ing " Christ and him crucified" with suc- 
cess, many sinners being reclaimed from 
the error of their ways by his instrumen- 
tality. After spending some time in Phi- 
ladelphia, preaching with great fervor and 
acceptance to the people, Mr. Pillmore 
paid a visit to Mr. Stravvbridge, in Mary- 
land, and endeavored to strengthen his 
hands in the Lord. He also went into 
some parts of Virginia and North Caro- 
lina ; and wherever he went he found the 
people eager to hear the gospel, to whom 
he preached with success, and formed 
some societies. On his return to Phila- 
delphia, under date of October 31, 1769, 
he addressed an encouraging letter to Mr. 
Wesley, in which he states that there 
were about one hundred members in so- 
ciety in that city, which shows the good 
effects of Captain Webb's labors among 
that people. 

Mr. Boardman, on his arrival in New 
York, found the society in a prosperous 
state under the labors of Mr. Embury. 
On the 24th of April, 1770, he addressed 
a letter to Mr. Wesley, in which he in- 
forms him that the house would contain 
about 700 people, and that he found a 



most willing people to hear, and the pros- 
pect every where brightening before him. 
Other local preachers occasionally came 
over, and were employed with various de- 
grees of usefulness. 

From this encouraging representation 
of things, Mr. Wesley was induced to 
adopt measures for furnishing additional 
laborers in this part of the Lord's vine- 
yard. Accordingly, the next year, 1771, 
Mr. Francis Asbury, and Mr. Richard 
Wright, offered themselves for this work, 
were accepted by Mr. Wesley, and sent 
with the blessing of God to the help of 
their brethren in America. They landed 
in Philadelphia, October 7, 1771, and 
immediately repaired to the meeting, and 
heard a sermon from Mr. Pillmore, whom 
they found at his station and in his work. 
They were most cordially received. " The 
people," says Mr. Asbury, " looked on us 
with pleasure, hardly knowing how to 
show their love sufficiently, bidding us 
welcome with fervent affection, and re- 
ceiving us as angels of God." 

On his arrival, Mr. Asbury, who had 
been appointed by Mr. Wesley to the 
general charge of the work, commenced 
a more extended method of preaching the 
gospel, by itinerating through the country, 
as well as preaching in the cities ; by 
which means a more diffusive range was 
given to the work of God. His energetic 
example excited the others to a more zeal- 
ous activity in the cause, and hence many 
new societies were established, and brought 
under disciplinary regulations. In Kent 
county, Maryland, and various places in 
Virginia and North Carolina, through the 
labors of Mr. Strawbridge and Robert 
Williams, preaching was commenced ; 
and these places were visited by Mr. As- 
bury and Mr. Pillmore, the latter of whom 
visited Norfolk, Virginia, and penetrated 
into North and South Carolina ; nor did 
he stop until he reached Savannah, Geor- 
gia. 

In this way the work of reformation 
went on until the arrival of Mr. Rankin, 
in June, 1773, who, being appointed to 
supersede Mr. Asbury as general superin- 
tendent, held the first conference in the 
city of Philadelphia, July 4, 1773, at 
which time there were 10 travelling 
preachers, and 1160 members in the va- 



rious societies. At this conference, they 
adopted the Wesley an plan of stationing 
the preachers, and taking minutes of their 
doings. 

The first meeting house in the city of 
Baltimore was built early in the year 1774. 

It appears that God blessed the labors 
of his servants this year, and that they 
extended their labors into the State of 
New Jersey, and into various places in 
the states before mentioned ; for we find 
that at the next conference, which was 
held May 25, 1774, in the city of Phila- 
delphia, they had so increased that there 
were returned on the minutes 17 travel- 
ling preachers, and 2073 private members. 

During this year, Messrs. Boardman 
and Pillmore left the continent, and return- 
ed to England ; the former, who had much 
endeared himself to the people by his truly 
Christian deportment, and faithfulness in 
preaching, never to return ; the latter soon 
came back, was admitted and ordained a 
minister in the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, in which he remained until his 
death. Through the labors of Mr. Wil- 
liams, the work extended to Petersburg, 
Virginia, and from there over the Roanoke 
river some distance into North Carolina ; 
so that three preachers were sent from the 
conference into that part of the vineyard, 
and towards the close of the year a most 
remarkable revival of religion followed 
their efforts. Such were the blessed effects 
of their evangelical labors, that they had 
increased, as was found at the next con- 
ference, to 3148, and the number of 
preachers was 19. 

No one individual contributed more to 
extend the work of God on every hand, 
than Mr. Asbury, who travelled exten- 
sively and labored most indefatigably for 
the salvation of souls, devoting his whole 
time and attention to this holy work. 
Others, to be sure, imitated his noble exam- 
ple, among whom was Mr. Shadford, whose 
labors were greatly blessed ; as also the 
Rev. Mr. Jarrat, a pious and evangelical 
minister of the English Church, who en- 
tered heartily into the work, giving the 
weight of his influence in favor of experi- 
mental and practical godliness, and assisted 
the Methodist preachers much by his 
cordial co-operation with them, as also by 
administering baptism and the Lord's 



364 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



Supper, to the children and members of 
their congregations. And though the 
minds of the people began to be much ex- 
cited on the subject of the war which was 
then approaching ; they were blessed with 
one of the most remarkable revivals of 
religion which had ever been witnessed in 
that part of the country, or, indeed, in any 
other portion of America. An account 
of this great work, written by Mr. Jarret, 
was published and extensively read at the 
time. 

God began now to raise up men in this 
country to preach that gospel which they 
had found " to be the power of God unto 
salvation." Among others, we find Free- 
born Garrettson, whose name appears on 
the minutes of conference of 1776, and 
who became one of the most zealous and 
successful ministers of the Lord Jesus. 

It is not to be supposed that this great 
work would go on without opposition. 
The lukewarm clergy and the wicked of 
all classes manifested their hostility in a 
variety of ways ; but they were so far from 
retarding the work, that their persecution 
only tended to add a fresh stimulus to the 
fervent zeal of God's servants, and to make 
them more bold and courageous in the cause 
which, they had espoused. In the year 

1776, after the revolutionary contest had 
commenced, persecution against the Metho- 
dist missionaries found a pretext in the 
fact, that most of them were from England, 
and that some of them had manifested a 
partiality for their king and country, and 
moreover that they were all under the 
direction of a leader who had written 
against the American principles and mea- 
sures. In consequence of this, all the 
English preachers, except Mr. Asbury, 
returned home before the close of the year 

1777, and early in the year 1778, he was 
obliged to seclude himself from public ob- 
servation, which he did by retiring to the 
house of Judge White, a pious member of 
the society, in the State of Delaware, 
where he remained, only occasionally 
visiting his friends and preaching private- 
ly, for about one year. 

He was not the only sufferer during 
that troublesome time. Mr. Freeborn 
Garrettson was whipped, thrown from his 
horse, bruised and mangled, and finally 
cast into prison, for preaching the word 



of life. Mr. Joseph Hartley, also, was 
persecuted in a variety of ways, and at 
last imprisoned. Their friends, however, 
interceded for them, the hearts of their 
enemies were softened, and finding no just j 
cause for their condemnation, they were 
liberated, and soon they preached the gos- 
pel with such power, that in those very 
places where the persecution had raged, 
God poured out his Spirit, and thousands 
were converted to God, among whom were 
many of their most violent persecutors. 

During the war of the revolution, as 
might be expected, the preachers and 
people had to contend with a variety of 
difficulties ; some places, particularly New 
York and Norfolk, had to be abandoned 
entirely, and others were but partially 
supplied. Yet they held on their way, 
and God owned and blessed their pious 
efforts ; so that at the conference of 1783, 
at the close of this sanguinary conflict, 
they had 43 preachers, and 13,740 pri- 
vate members ; so greatly had God pros- 
pered them, even in the midst of war and 
bloodshed. 

We come now, in 1784, to a very im- 
portant era in the history of Methodism. 
The independence of the United States had 
been achieved, and acknowledged by the 
powers of Europe ; and the churches in 
this country had become totally separated 
from all connection with the hierarchy of 
England, the Methodist societies as well 
as others. Hitherto the Methodist preachers 
had been considered merely as lay-preach- 
ers, and of course had not authority to 
administer the ordinances ; and hence the 
members of the societies had. been depen- 
dent upon other ministers for the rite of 
baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper. This had created so much dis- 
satisfaction among them that, contrary to 
the wishes and advice of Mr. Asbury and 
many others, some of the southern preach- 
ers, in the year 1770, had ordained each 
other, and began to form a party to whom 
they administered the ordinances. Through 
the persuasive influence of Mr. Asbury and 
those who believed and acted with him, 
these malecontents had desisted from their 
disorderly proceedings ; and now, at the 
close of the revolutionary struggle, they 
united in urging upon Mr. Wesley the 
necessity and propriety of his adopting 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



365 



measures to afford them relief. Though 
he had hitherto resisted all solicitations to 
exercise the power with which he fully 
believed the great Head of the Church had 
invested him, to ordain preachers for the 
benefit of his own societies, because he 
did not wish to disturb the established or- 
der of things in the Church of England : 
yet now, that that church had no longer 
any jurisdiction in this country, he felt 
himself at full liberty, as he did not inter- 
fere with any man's right, to set apart 
men whom he judged well qualified for 
that work, to administer the sacraments to 
the Methodists in America. Accordingly, 
on the 2d day of September, in the year 
of our Lord, 1784, assisted by other pres- 
byters, he consecrated Thomas Coke, LL. 
D., a presbyter in the Church of England, 
as a superintendent, and likewise ordained 
Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey to 
the office of elders, and sent them over to 
America, with instructions to organize the 
societies here into a separate and indepen- 
dent church, furnishing them, at the same 
time, with forms of ordination for deacons, 
elders, and superintendents, and likewise 
with forms for administering baptisms and 
the consecration and administration of the 
elements of the Lord's Supper. Being 
thus furnished with proper credentials, 
Dr. Coke, in company with Messrs. What- 
coat and Vasey, sailed for this country ; 
and at a conference which was called for 
the express purpose of considering the 
plan prepared by Mr. Wesley, convened 
in the city of Baltimore, December 25, 
1784, the measures were unanimously 
approved of; Dr. Coke was recognised in 
his character of superintendent ; Mr. As- 
bury was unanimously elected a joint 
superintendent with him ; and, on the 27th 
day of the same month, he was consecrat- 
ed by Dr. Coke, assisted by several elders, 
having been previously ordained deacon 
and elder, to his high and responsible 
office. Twelve others of the preachers 
were elected and consecrated deacons and 
elders, and three to the order of deacon. 
Mr. Wesley had also sent an abridgment 
of the Book of Common Prayer, contain- 
ing the forms of service above mentioned, 
and also twenty-five articles of religion, 
accompanied with various other rules for 
the regulation of the ministers and mem- 



bers of the newly -formed church, all of 
which were adopted by the conference. 

Being thus regularly organized, they 
went forth to their work with renewed 
faith and zeal, and were every where re- 
ceived by the people in their proper char- 
acter, as accredited ministers of the Lord 
Jesus, duly authorized to administer the 
ordinances of God's word, and to perform 
all the functions belonging to their holy 
office. 

As this organization has frequently been 
assailed as being unscriptural, and con- 
trary to primitive usage : it may be well 
to state a few of the arguments on which 
it rests for support. 

1. In the first place, there appeared to 
be a loud call for these measures, arising 
from the general state of things in this 
country. As to the clergy of the English 
Church, the most of them had fled from 
the country during the stormy day, and 
those who remained, with very few excep- 
tions, were fit for any thing rather than 
for ministers of the gospel. From the 
hands of these men the Methodists were 
unwilling to receive the ordinances. As 
to the Presbyterians and Congregation- 
alists, they would neither baptize the chil- 
dren unless at least one of the parents pro- 
fessed faith in their doctrines, nor admit 
these to the communion table, unless they 
became members of their church. The 
Baptists were more rigid than either, as 
they would admit none to church-fellow- 
ship unless they had been baptized by im- 
mersion. To none of these conditions 
could the Methodists conscientiously sub- 
mit. Hence a necessity, originating from 
the state of things in this country, com- 
pelled them either to remain destitute of 
the ordinances, to administer them with 
unconsecrated hands, or to provide for 
them in the manner they did. 

2. Those who laid hands on Messrs. 
Whatcoat and Vasey, namely, Mr. Wes- 
ley, Dr. Coke, and Mr. Creighton, were 
all regular presbyters in the Church of 
England ; and those who laid hands on 
Dr. Coke, and thereby set him apart for a 
superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in America, were also presbyters, 
regularly ordained to that order and office 
in the Church of God. 

3. It appears manifest, from several 



366 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



passages of scripture, particularly Acts 
xiii. 1, 2, and 1 Tim. iv. 14, and the tes- 
timonies of the primitive fathers of the 
church, that presbyters and bishops were 
of the same order, and that they originally 
possessed and exercised the power of or- 
dination. 

4. The doctrine of an uninterrupted 
succession from the Apostles, in a third 
order, made such by a triple consecration, 
as distinct from and superior to elders, has 
been discarded by many of the most emi- 
nent ecclesiastical writers, as resting upon 
no solid foundation, not being susceptible 
of proof from any authentic source. 

5. Mr. Wesley possessed rights over 
the Methodists which no other man did or 
could possess, because they were his spir- 
itual children, raised up under his preach- 
ing superintendence, and hence they justly 
looked to him for a supply of the ordi- 
nances of Jesus Christ. 

6. Therefore, in exercising the power 
of ordination, and providing for the or- 
ganization of the Methodist societies in 
America into a church, he invaded no 
other man's right, nor yet assumed that 
which did not belong to him. 

7. Hence he did not, as the objection 
which this argument is designed to refute 
supposes, ordain either presbyters or a 
bishop for the English Church, or for any 
other church then existing, but simply and 
solely for the Methodist societies in Amer- 
ica ; and, therefore, in doing this neces- 
sary work, he neither acted inconsistently 
with himself as a presbyter of the Church 
of England, nor incompatibly with his 
frequent avowals to remain in that church, 
and not to separate from it. 

8. For, in fact, in organizing the Me- 
thodist Episcopal Church he did not sepa- 
rate either from the English or Protestant 
Episcopal Church ; for the former had no 
existence in America, and the Methodist 
Episcopal Church was organized three 
years before the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States. 

Hence he acted perfectly consistently 
with himself, with all his avowals of at- 
tachment to the Church of England, while 
he proceeded to organize a church here ; 
for, while he did this, and thereby estab- 
lished a separate and independent church 
in America, where the English Church 



had no jurisdiction, where both the politi- 
cal and ecclesiastical power of England, 
was totally annihilated, and where the 
Protestant Episcopal Church had then no 
existence, he and his people in England 
still remained members of the Church of 
England. Nor did he invade the rights 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
least degree, seeing it had no existence at 
that time in the United States. 

9. While the scriptures are silent in 
respect to the particular form of church 
government which should be established, 
they certainly allow of an episcopal form, 
because it is not incompatible with any 
known precept or usage of primitive 
Christianity. 

10. This is farther manifest from the 
acknowledged fact that the apostles and 
evangelists did exercise a jurisdiction 
over the entire church — presbyters, dea- 
cons, and people ; though at the same 
time there is no proof that as to ministerial 
order, they were higher than presbyters. 

11. Distinguishing, therefore, between 
the power of ordination and the power 
of jurisdiction, we may see how an epis- 
copal government may be created by a 
presbyterial ordination, and hence justify 
the act of Mr. Wesley and his associates 
in setting apart Dr. Coke to the office of a 
superintendent. 

12. Another argument in favor of these 
measures arises out of the character of 
the men engaged in this business. As for 
John Wesley, it is almost superfluous to 
say anything in his commendation, as his 
qualifications for a minister of the Lord 
Jesus, his deep experience in the things of 
God, the evangelical character, and the 
astonishing success of his ministrations, 
place him beyond the reach of censure, 
and elevate him high in the estimation of 
all who know how to estimate true worth 
of character. 

As to Dr. Coke, for about six years 
previous to his sailing to America, he had 
given evidence of an entire devotion to the 
cause of God, of a genuine experience of 
divine things, and of his ardent attach- 
ment to the cause of Methodism as pro- 
mulgated by Mr. Wesley. 

Mr. Creighton was a presbyter of the 
Church of England, a man of sound un- 
derstanding and of deep piety. 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



567 



These were the men, all regularly 
ordained presbyters of the Church of Eng- 
land, who consecrated Messrs. Whatcoat 
and Vasey, and then they assisted in the 
consecration of Dr. Coke to the office of a 
superintendent. 

And as to Mr. Francis Asbury, he had 
furnished the most indubitable evidence 
of his qualifications to fill the office to 
which he was called both by the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Wesley and the unanimous 
vote of his brethren, those very brethren 
who had borne witness to his conduct for 
about eleven years, during which time he 
had made "full proof of his ministry," 
and whose subsequent life fully justified 
the wisdom of their choice. 

These are the facts, expressed in as 
few words as possible, on which we found 
the validity of our church organization, 
of our ministerial orders, and the scrip- 
tural character of our ordinances. 

Having so particularly detailed the his- 
tory of this church thus far, our subse- 
quent narrative must necessarily be brief, 
as the space allotted to this article will 
not allow of a very minute presentation 
of facts. 

Being thus regularly organized, and 
furnished with proper credentials as min- 
isters of the Lord Jesus, they went forth 
to their work with greater confidence than 
ever, and the Lord abundantly blessed 
their labors to the awakening and conver- 
sion of souls. New circuits were formed, 
new societies were established, and be- 
lievers were " built up upon their most 
holy faith." And as they thus spread 
abroad in every direction, over such a 
large surface of country : it became in- 
convenient for the preachers all to as- 
semble annually in one conference for 
the transaction of business ; hence several 
conferences were held the same year, at 
suitable distances from each other, at 
which the superintending bishop attended, 
presided over their deliberations, ordained 
such as were elected by the conferences 
to the order of deacons or elders, and ap- 
pointed the preachers to their several 
stations and circuits. 

The first General Conference was held 
in the year 1792. The necessity for 
this arose out of the increase of their 



work, the incompetency of the several an- 
nual conferences to form rules and regu- 
lations in harmony one with the other, 
which should be binding upon the whole, 
and the utter impracticability of their all 
coming together at the same time and 
place to do their business. To remedy 
the inconvenience arising out of this state 
of things, the annual conferences had 
agreed that there should be a General 
Conference held once in four years, to be 
composed of all the travelling elders in 
full connection, to whom should be com- 
mitted the entire authority of making 
rules for the regulation of the church. 
At this General Conference a secession 
was made, headed by James O'Kelly, a 
presiding elder in Virginia ; because he 
was dissatisfied with the bishop's power 
of stationing the preachers, and pleaded 
for an appeal to the Conference. This 
caused considerable disturbance for a sea- 
son, in some parts of Virginia and North 
Carolina ; but he very soon lost his influ- 
ence, and his party became scattered, and 
finally came to naught ; while the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church went on its way in- 
creasing in numbers and influence. At 
this time there were 266 travelling preach- 
ers, and 65,980 members of the church. 
Circuits had been formed and societies es- 
tablished throughout nearly every State 
and Territory in the Union, and also in 
Upper Canada, the whole of which was 
under the able and energetic superintend- 
ing of Bishop Asbury, who travelled from 
six to seven thousand miles annually, 
preaching generally every day, and on 
the sabbath twice or thrice. 

In 1800, Richard Whatcoat was elected 
and ordained a bishop, and immediately 
entered upon his work, and greatly as- 
sisted Bishop Asbury in his arduous la- 
bors. 

Such was the increase of members and 
preachers, that it was found quite incon- 
venient for even all the elders to assemble 
in General Conference quadrennially ; and 
hence in 1808, measures were adopted to 
form a delegated General Conference, to 
be composed of not less than one for every 
seven of the members of the annual con- 
ferences, nor more than one for every five, 
to be chosen either by ballot or by seni- 
ority ; at the same time the power of this 



368 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



delegated conference was limited by con- 
stitutional restrictions. 

The first delegated conference assem- 
bled in the city of New York, in the year 
1812, in which Bishops Asbury and Mc- 
Hendree, the latter of whom had been 
elected and consecrated a bishop in 1808, 
presided. In 1816, Bishop Asbury died, 
and in the same year, at the General 
Conference held in Baltimore, Enoch 
George, and Robert R. Roberts, were 
elected and consecrated bishops. 

In 1819, the Missionary Society of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church was formed. 
Its object was " to assist the several an- 
nual conferences to extend their mission- 
ary labors throughout the United States 
and elsewhere." This society has con- 
tributed mightily to diffuse the work of 
God, in the poor and destitute portions of 
our own country, among the aboriginal 
tribes of the United States and territories, 
among the slaves of the South, and South- 
west, and it has sent its missionaries to 
Africa, to South America, and even to 
Oregon, beyond the Rocky Mountains ; 
and thousands will doubtless rise up at a 
future day and praise God for the bles- 
sings they have received through the in- 
strumentality of this godlike institution. 

In this way the good work has con- 
tinued to spread until now, 1859, when 
there are 7632 travelling, and 12,876 
local preachers, and 1,365,745 private 
members of the church, including exhort- 
ers, stewards, class leaders, and trustees. 

This great prosperity, however, has 
not been unattended with difficulties from 
without, as well as within the church. 
Various individuals have arisen at differ- 
ent times, who have become dissatisfied 
with the government and some of the 
usages of the church, and not being able 
to effect an alteration in conformity to 
their wishes, have finally seceded and at- 
tempted to establish separate communities. 
The most considerable of these, beside 
that of James O'Kelly, already mentioned, 
was that which took place in 1830, when 
the "Methodist Protestant Church" was 
formed by a convention of delegates, as- 
sembled by previous arrangement, in the 
city of Baltimore, in which they provided 
for a mixture of lay and clerical influence 
in the government, both in the legislative, 



judicial, and executive departments ; in 
the mean time abolishing Episcopacy, and 
substituting, in the place of bishops, presi- 
dents of their Annual and General Con- 
ferences, to be elected whenever those 
bodies may assemble for the transaction 
of business. They hold fast, however, 
all the fundamental doctrines of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and likewise 
retain the use of class and quarterly 
meetings, love-feasts, and the sacramental 
services, annual and general conferences, 
and an itinerant ministry. 

Another secession has just commenced, 
ostensibly on the abolition principles and 
movements ; but they manifest the like 
hostility to those features of our govern- 
ment growing out of the Episcopal form, 
and seem determined to establish one more 
in conformity with their views of equal 
rights and privileges. 

How far these brethren may realize 
their wishes, remains to be seen. It is 
certainly an evidence of the strong con- 
victions with which all the leading doc- 
trines of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
have been received, that none of the se- 
ceding bodies have abjured any of these ; 
and so far as they may succeed in propa- 
gating them, we wish them all success, 
while we cannot but think, that they would 
have given them a still wider circulation 
had they remained quietly and firmly at- 
tached to their brethren, and continued to 
work in the " old ways." Be this as it 
may, the Methodist Episcopal Church so 
far from being shaken by these thrusts at 
her peculiarities, or retarded in her career 
of usefulness, has seemed to assume greater 
stability, and much to increase in her pros- 
perity ; and this, doubtless, she will do, so 
long as she keeps " a single eye" to the 
glory of God, and aims simply and solely, 
as it is believed she has done heretofore, 
for the salvation of a lost and ruined 
world. 



DOCTRINES. 

The following articles of faith contain 
all the cardinal doctrines of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and are declared, by 
the restrictive regulations which limit the 
powers of the General Conference, to be 
unalterable. 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



309 



I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity. — 
There is but one living and true God, 
everlasting, without body or parts, of in- 
finite power, wisdom, and goodness, the 
maker and preserver of all things, visible 
and invisible. And in unity of this God- 
head there are three persons of one sub- 
stance, power, and eternity : — the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

II. Of the Word, or Son of God, who 
was made very Man. — The Son, who is 
the Word of the Father, the very and 
eternal God, of one substance with the 
Father, took man's nature in the womb of 
the blessed Virgin ; so that two whole and 
perfect natures, that is to say, the God- 
head and manhood, were joined together 
in one person, never to be divided, whereof 
is one Christ, very God and very man, 
who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and 
buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and 
to be a sacrifice, not only for original 
guilt, but also for actual sins of men. 

III. Of the Resurrection of Christ. — 
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, 
and took again his body, with all things 
appertaining to the perfection of man's 
nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, 
and there sitteth until he return to judge 
all men at the last day. 

IV. Of the Holy Ghost.— The Holy 
Ghost, proceeding from the Father and 
the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and 
glory with the Father and the Son, very 
and eternal God. 

V. The Sufficiency of the Holy Scrip- 
tures for Salvation. — The Holy Scrip- 
tures contain all things necessary to sal- 
vation ; so that whatsoever is not read 
therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not 
to be required of any man, that it should 
be believed as an article of faith, or be 
thought requisite or necessary to salvation. 
By the name of the Holy Scripture we do 
understand those canonical books of the 
Old and New Testament, of whose au- 
thority was never any doubt in the Church. 

The Names of the Canonical Books. — 
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Du- 
teuronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the First 
Book of Samuel, the Second Book of Sa- 
muel, the First Book of Kings, the Second 
Book of Kings, the First Book of Chroni- 
cles, the Second Book of Chronicles, the 
Book of Ezra, the Book of Nehemiah, the 



Book of Esther, the Book of Job, the 
Psalms, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes or the 
Preacher, Cantica, or Songs of Solomon, 
Four Prophets the greater, Twelve Prophets 
the less : all the books of the New Testa- 
ment, as they are commonly received, we 
do receive and account canonical. 

VI. Of the Old Testament.— The Old 
Testament is not contrary to the New ; 
for both in the Old and New Testament 
everlasting life is offered to mankind by 
Christ, who is the only Mediator between 
God and man, being both God and man. 
Wherefore they are not to be heard who 
feign that the old fathers did look only for 
transitory promises. Although the law 
given from God by Moses, as touching 
ceremonies and rites, doth not bind Chris- 
tians, nor ought the civil precepts thereof 
of necessity be received in any common- 
wealth : yet, notwithstanding, no Chris- 
tian whatsoever is free from the obedience 
of the commandments which are called 
moral. 

VII. Of Original or Birth Sin. — Ori- 
ginal sin standeth not in the following of 
Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk,) 
but it is the corruption of the nature of 
every man, that naturally is engendered 
of the offspring of Adam, whereby man 
is very far gone from original righteous- 
ness, and of his own nature inclined te 
evil, and that continually. 

VIII. Of Free Will.— The condition of 
man after the fall of Adam is such, that 
he cannot turn and prepare himself, by 
his own natural strength and works, to 
faith, and calling upon God; wherefore 
we have no power to do good works, 
pleasant and acceptable to God, without 
the grace of God by Christ preventing us, 
that we may have a good will, and work- 
ing with us, when we have that good will. 

IX. Of the Justification of Man. — We 
are accounted righteous before God, only 
for the merit of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own 
works or deservings : — wherefore, that we 
are justified by faith only, is a most whole- 
some doctrine, and very full of Qomfort. 

I X. Of Good Works. — Although good 
works, which are the fruits of faith, and 
follow after justification, cannot put away 
our sins, and endure the severity of God's 
judgments : yet are they pleasing and 



47 



370 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



acceptable to God in Christ, and spring 
out of a true and lively faith, insomuch 
that by them a lively faith may be as evi- 
dently known as a tree is discerned by its 
fruit. 

XI. Of Works of Supererogation. — 
Voluntary works, besides, over and above 
God's commandments, which are called 
works of supererogation cannot be taught 
without arrogancy and impiety. For by 
them men do declare that they do not only 
render unto God as much as they are 
bound to do, but that they do more for his 
sake than of bounden duty is required ; 
whereas Christ saith plainly, When ye 
have done all that is commanded you, say, 
We are unprofitable servants. 

XII. Of Sin after Justification. — Not 
every sin willingly committed after justi- 
fication is the sin against the Holy Ghost, 
and unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant 
of repentance is not to be denied to such 
as fall into sin after justification : after we 
have received the Holy Ghost, we may 
depart from grace given, and fall into sin, 
and, by the grace of God, rise again and 
amend our lives. And therefore they are 
to be condemned who say they can no 
more sin as long as they live here ; or 
deny the place of forgiveness to such as 
truly repent. 

XIII. Of the Church.— -The visible 
Church of Christ is a congregation of 
faithful men, in which the pure word of 
God is preached, and the sacraments duly 
administered according to Christ's ordi- 
nance in all those things that of necessity 
are requisite to the same. 

XIV. Of Purgatory. — The Romish 
doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon, 
worshipping, and adoration, as well of 
images as of relics, and also invocation of 
saints, is a foul thing, vainly invented, 
and grounded upon no warrant of scrip- 
ture, but repugnant to the word of God. 

XV. Of speaking in the Congregation 
in such a Tongue as the People under- 
stand. — It is a thing plainly repugnant to 
the word of God, and the custom of the 
primitive Church, to have public prayer 
in the Church, or to minister the sacra- 
ments, in a tongue not understood by the 
people. 

XVI. Of the Sacraments. — Sacra- 
ments, ordained of Christ, are not only 



badges or tokens of Christian men's pro- 
fession ; but rather they are certain signs 
of grace, and God's good will toward us, 
by which he doth work invisibly in us, 
and doth not only quicken, but also 
strengthen and confirm our faith in him. 

There are two sacraments ordained of 
Christ our Lord in the gospel ; that is to 
say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. 

Those five commonly called sacraments ; 
that is to say, confirmation, penance, or- 
ders, matrimony, and extreme unction, 
are not to be counted for sacraments of 
the gospel, being such as have partly 
grown out of the corrupt following of the 
Apostles — and partly are states of life 
allowed in the scriptures, but yet have not 
the like nature of Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper, because they have not any visibi© 
sign, or ceremony ordained of God. 

The sacraments were not ordained of 
Christ to be gazed upon or to be- carried 
about ; but that we should duly use them. 
And in such only as worthily receive the 
same, they have a wholesome effect or 
operation ; but they that receive them un- 
worthily, purchase to themselves con- 
demnation, as St. Paul saith, 1 Cor. xi. 29. 

XVII. Of Baptism. — Baptism is not 
only a sign of profession, and mark of 
difference, whereby Christians are distin- 
guished from others that are not baptized ; 
but it is also a sign of regeneration, or the 
new birth. The baptism of young chil- 
dren is to be retained in the Church. 

XVIII. Of the Lord's Supper.— The 
Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of 
the love that Christians ought to have 
among themselves one to another, but 
rather is a sacrament of our redemption 
by Christ's death : insomuch that, to such 
as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive 
the same, the bread which we break is a 
partaking of the body of Christ; and 
likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking 
of the blood of Christ. 

Transubstantiation, or the change of 
the substance of bread and wine in the 
Supper of our Lord, cannot be proved by 
Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain 
words of scripture, overthroweth the na- 
ture of a sacrament, and hath given occa- 
sion to many superstitions. 

The body of Christ is given, taken, and 
eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



371 



and spiritual manner. And the means, 
whereby the body of Christ is received 
and eaten in the Supper, is faith. 

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, 
carried about, lifted up, or worshipped. 

XIX. Of both hinds. — The cup of the 
Lord is not to be denied to the lay people ; 
for both the parts of the Lord's Supper, 
by Christ's ordinance and commandment, 
ought to be administered to all Christians 
alike. 

XX. Of the one Oblation of Christ fin- 
ished upon the Cross. — The offering of 
Christ, once made, is that perfect redemp- 
iton, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the 
sins of the whole world, both original and 
actual ; and there is none other satisfaction 
for sin but that alone. Wherefore the 
sacrifice of masses, in the which it is 
commonly said, that the priest doth offer 
Christ for the quick and the dead, to have 
remission of pain or guilt, is a blasphe- 
mous fable, and dangerous deceit. 

XXI. Of the Marriage of Ministers. — 
The ministers of Christ are not com- 
manded by God's law either to vow the 
estate of single life, or to abstain from 
marriage ; therefore it is lawful for them, 
as for all other Christians, to marry at 
their own discretion, as they shall judge 
the same to serve best to godliness. 

XXII. OftJie Rites and Ceremonies of 
Churches. — It is not necessary that rites 
and ceremonies should in all places be 
the same, or exactly alike : for they have 
been always different, and may be changed 
according to the diversity of countries, 
times, and men's manners, so that nothing 
be ordained against God's word. Who- 
soever, through his private judgment, wil- 
lingly and purposely doth openly break 
the rites and ceremonies of he church to 
which he belongs, which are not repug- 
nant to the word of God, and are ordained 
and approved by common authority, ought 
to be rebuked openly, that others may 
fear to do the like, as one that offendeth 
against the common order of the church, 
and woundeth the consciences of weak 
brethren. 

Every particular church may ordain, 
change, or abolish rites and ceremonies, 
so that all things may be done to edifica- 
tion. 



XXIII. Of the Rulers of the United 
States of America. — The president, the 
congress, the general assemblies, the go- 
vernors, and the councils of state, as the 
delegates of the people, are the rulers of 
the United States of America, according 
to the division of power made to them by 
the constitution of the United States, and 
by the constitutions of their respective 
states. And the said states are a sove- 
reign and independent nation, and ought 
not to be subject to any foreign jurisdic- 
tion.* 

XXIV. Of Christian Men's Goods.— 
The riches and goods of Christians are 
not common, as touching the right, title, 
and possession of the same, as some do 
falsely boast. Notwithstanding, every 
man ought, of such things as he possess- 
ed, liberally to give alms to the poor, 
according to his ability. 

XXV. Of a Christian Mail's Oath. — 
As we confess that vain and rash swear- 
ing is forbidden Christian men by our 
Lord Jesus Christ and James his apostle : 
so we judge that the Christian religion 
doth not prohibit, but that a man may 
swear when the magistrate requireth in a 
cause of faith and charity, so it be done 
according to the prophet's teaching, in 
justice, judgment, and truth. 

GOVERNMENT. 

The government of this church, as its 
title imports, is episcopal. But that the 
reader may have a clear perception of the 
entire economy of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, the following analysis of its 
several parts is given : 

1. There is the society, which includes 
ail the members of the church attached to 
any particular place. 

2. The classes, which originally con- 
sisted of about twelve persons each, but 
unhappily have often increased to from 



* As far as it respects civil affairs, we be- 
lieve it the duty of Christians, and especially 
all Christian ministers, to be subject to the 
supreme authority of the country where they 
may reside, and to use all laudable means 
to enjoin obedience to the powers that be; 
and therefore it is expected that all our preach- 
ers and people, who may be under the British 
or any other government, will behave them- 
selves as peaceable and orderly subjects. 



I 



372 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



twenty to forty, meet together weekly for 
mutual edification, in singing, prayer, and 
exhortation. 

3. The class leader, who is appointed 
by the preacher, has charge of a class, 
and it is his duty to see each member of 
his class once a week, to inquire how his 
soul prospers, and to receive what he is 
willing to give for the support of the church 
and poor. 

4. The stewards, who are chosen by 
the quarterly meeting conference, on the 
nomination of the ruling preacher, have 
charge of all the money collected for the 
support of the ministry, the poor, and for 
sacramental services, and disburse it as 
the Discipline directs. 

5. The trustees have charge of all the 
church property, to hold it for the use of 
the members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. They are elected by the people 
in those states where the law so provides, 
in other places as the Discipline directs. 

6. There are the exhorters, who receive 
their license from the quarterly meeting 
conference, and have the privilege of hold- 
ing meetings for exhortation and prayer. 

7. A preacher is one who holds a license, 
and is authorized to preach, but not to 
baptize or administer the Lord's Supper. 
He may be either a travelling or local 
preacher. A local preacher generally 
follows some secular calling for a liveli- 
hood, and preaches on sabbath, and occa- 
sionally at other times, without any tem- 
poral emolument, except when he supplies 
the place of a travelling preacher. A tra- 
velling preacher devotes himself entirely 
to the work of the ministry, and is sup- 
ported by the people among whom he 
labors. All these, after being recom- 
mended by the class to which they re- 
spectively belong, or by the leaders' 
meeting, receive their license from the 
quarterly meeting conference, signed by 
the presiding elder. 

6. A deacon holds a parchment from a 
bishop, and is authorized, in addition to 
the discharging the duties of a preacher, 
to solemnize the rite of matrimony, to 
bury the dead, to baptize, and to assist 
the elder in administering the Lord's Sup- 
per. It is his duty, also, to seek after the 

; sick and poor, and administer to their 

I comfort. 



9. An elder is ordained to that office 
by a bishop, assisted by several elders, 
and, besides doing the duties above enu- 
merated, has full authority to administer 
all the ordinances of God's house. These 
generally, whenever a sufficient number 
of them can be had, have the charge of 
circuits or stations, and the administration 
of the several parts of Discipline. 

1 0. A presiding elder, though no higher 
as to order than an elder, has charge of 
several circuits and stations, called col- 
lectively a district. It is his duty to visit 
each circuit or station once a quarter, to 
preach, to administer the ordinances, to 
call together the travelling and local 
preachers, exhorters, stewards, and class 
leaders of the circuit or station for the 
quarterly meeting conference ; and, in 
the absence of a bishop, to receive, try, 
suspend, or expel preachers, as the Dis- 
cipline directs. He is appointed to his 
charge by the bishop. 

11. A bishop is elected by the General 
Conference, and is responsible to that 
body for his official conduct, and is con- 
secrated to that office by the imposition 
of the hands of three bishops, or by a 
bishop and several elders, or if there be 
no bishop living, by any three of the 
elders who may be appointed by the Ge- 
neral Conference for that purpose. It is 
his duty to travel through the work at 
large, to superintend the temporal and 
spiritual affairs of the church, to preside 
in the Annual and General Conferences, 
to ordain such as may be elected by the 
annual conferences to the order of deacons 
or elders, and to appoint the preachers to 
their several circuits or stations. 

12. A leaders' 1 meeting is composed of 
the class leaders in any one circuit or 
station, in which the preacher in charge 
presides. Here the weekly class collec- 
tions are paid into the hands of the stew- 
ards, probationers are received as mem- 
bers or dropped, as the case may be, in- 
quiry is made into the state of the classes, 
delinquents are reported, and the sick and 
poor inquired after. 

13. A quarterly meeting conference is 
composed of all the travelling and local 
preachers, exhorters, stewards, and lead- 
ers, belonging to any particular circuit or 
station, in which the presiding elder pre- 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



373 



sides, or in his absence the preacher in 
charge. Here exhorters and local preach- 
ers are licensed, preachers are recom- 
mended to an annual conference to be re- 
ceived into the travelling ministry, and 
also local preachers are recommended to 
the annual conference as suitable persons 
to be ordained deacons or elders j and 
likewise appeals are heard from any mem- 
ber of the church, who may appeal from 
a decision of a committee by whom he 
may have been tried for any delinquency. 

14. An annual conference is composed 
of all the travelling preachers, deacons, 
and elders within a specified district of 
country. These are not legislative, but 
merely executive and judicial bodies, act- 
ing under rules prescribed by the General 
Conference. Here the character and con- 
duct of all the travelling preachers within 
the bounds of the conference are examined 
yearly ; applicants for admission into the 
travelling ministry, if accounted worthy, 
are admitted, continued on trial, or drop- 
ped, as the case may be ; appeals of local 
preachers, which may be presented, are 
heard and decided ; and those who are 
eligible to deacon's or elder's orders are 
elected. An annual conference possesses 
an original jurisdiction over all its mem- 
bers, and may therefore try, acquit, sus- 
pend, expel, or locate any of them, as the 
Discipline in such cases provides. 

15. The General Conference assembles 
quadrennially, and is composed of a cer- 
tain number of delegates elected by the 
annual conferences. It has power to re- 
vise any part of the Discipline, or to in- 
troduce any new regulation, not prohibited 
by the following limitations and restric- 
tions : 

a. The General Conference shall not 
revoke, alter, or change our articles of 
religion, nor establish any new standards 
or rules of doctrine contrary to our present 
existing and established standards of doc- 
trine. 

b. They shall not allow of more than 
one representative for every fourteen mem- 
bers of the Annual Conference, nor allow 
of a less number than one for every thirty : 
provided, nevertheless, that when there 
shall be in any annual conference a frac- 
tion of two-thirds the number which shall 
he fixed for the* ratio of representation, 



such annual conference shall be entitled 
to an additional delegate for such fraction : 
and provided also, that no annual confer- 
ence shall be denied the privilege of two 
delegates. 

c. They shall not change or alter any 
part or rule of our government, so as to 
do away episcopacy, or destroy the plan 
of our itinerant general superintendency. 

d. They shall not revoke or change the 
General Rules of the United Societies. 

e. They shall not do away the privi- 
leges of our ministers or preachers of trial 
by a committee, and of an appeal ; neither 
shall they do away the privileges of our 
members of trial before the society, or by 
a committee, and of an appeal. 

f. They shall not appropriate the pro- 
duce of the Book Concern, nor of the 
Charter Fund, to any purpose other than 
for the benefit of the travelling, supernu- 
merary, superannuated, and worn-out 
preachers, their wives, widows, and chil- 
dren. Provided, nevertheless, that upon 
the concurrent recommendation of three- 
fourths of all the members of the several 
annual conferences, who shall be present 
and vote on such recommendation, then a 
majority of two-thirds of the General 
Conference succeeding shall suffice to alter 
any of the above restrictions, except the 
first article ; and also, whenever such al- 
teration or alterations shall have been re- 
commended by two-thirds of the General 
Conference, as soon as three-fourths of 
the members of all the annual conferences 
shall have concurred as aforesaid, such 
alteration or alterations shall take place. 

Under these limitations, the General 
Conference has full power to alter or mod- 
ify any part of the Discipline, or to intro- 
duce any new regulation which the exi- 
gencies of the times may require ; to elect 
the book-stewards, editors, corresponding 
secretary or secretaries of the Missionary 
Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and also the bishops; to hear and decide 
on appeals of preachers from the decisions 
of annual conferences ; to review the acts 
of those conferences generally ; to ex- 
amine into the general administration of 
the bishops for the four preceding years ; 
and, if accused, to try, censure, acquit, or 
condemn a bishop. The General Confer- 
ence is the highest judicatory of the church 



374 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUPOH. 



SALARIES OF THE PREACHERS. 

The amount allowed each preacher is 
one hundred dollars annually, and his 
travelling expense j if married, one hun- 
dred dollars for his wife ; sixteen dollars 
for each child under seven years of age ; 
and twenty-four dollars a year for each 
child over seven and under fourteen years 
of age. In addition to this, the quarterly 
meeting conference of the circuit or station 
appoints a committee to estimate what 
farther allowance shall be made for fur- 
nishing fuel and table expenses for the 
family or families of preachers stationed 
among them. 

The allowance to the bishops is the 
same. The committee to estimate the 
family expenses of the bishop is appointed 
by the annual conference within the bounds 
of which he may reside, and the amount 
thus allowed him is paid out of the avails 
of the Book Concern. 



THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SALA- 
RIES ARE RAISED. 

This is done by the voluntary contribu- 
tions of the people among whom the 
preacher labors. For this purpose, a 
weekly class collection is made in all the 
classes, in which it is expected that every 
i member will contribute something accord- 
ing to his or her ability ; and also by a 
public collection in all the congregations 
once in three months ; and to make up 
the deficiencies of those who labor in poor 
circuits, a yearly collection is made in 
every congregation, which is taken to the 
annual conference, and this, together with 
the avails of the Book Concern and Char- 
ter Fund, is divided among the several 
claimants, including the disciplinary al- 
lowance of the bishops, the supernumerary, 
superannuated preachers, their widows 
and children. 

FUNDS OF THE CHURCH. 

The only funds of the church, beside 
that which is in the hands of the people, 
and which is drawn forth in voluntary 
contributions, are the avails of the Book 
Concern and the Charter Fund. The an- 
nual income of the Charter Fund is now 
$1,360, and that of the Book Concern 



' varies from 817,000 to about $27,000 a 
year. In 1841-2, it amounted to $27,000, 
which is the largest sum ever realized in 
any one year, and in 1842-3, to $17,000; 
and this amount is equally divided among 
thirty-four annual conferences, making 
from $540 to $840 to each conference ; 
and this is again divided among the several 
claimants, amounting, probably, to over 
one thousand, giving from $18 to $28 to 
each claimant. 

In addition to this, some of the annual 
conferences, at the centennial celebration 
of Methodism, in 1839, appropriated a 
portion of what was collected, as a Per- 
manent Fund, the avails of which should 
be given to the superannuated preachers, 
the widows and orphans of preachers. 
The total amount of this money is not 
exactly known ; but, as near as can be 
ascertained, the interest on the sums in- 
vested amounts to about $1,300. 

The avails of these funds are sacredly 
devoted for the relief of the most worthy 
objects, namely, the supernumerary and 
superannuated preachers, and to the 
widows and orphans of those men of God 
who have died in the work. 



BOOK CONCERN. 

At an early period of Mr. Wesley's 
ministry he established a printing office, 
under his own control, and in 1773, he 
commenced the publication of a monthly 
periodical called the Arminian Magazine, 
which was filled with a variety of useful 
matter, on theological, scientific, and bio- 
graphical subjects. It has now reached 
its 65th volume, much enlarged from its 
original size, changing its name to the 
Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, containing 
at the present time upwards of nine hun- 
dred octavo pages in each volume. This 
publication together with a variety of tracts 
and volumes on religious, scientific, and 
philosophic subjects, have done immense 
good to the community in Great Britain 
and other parts of the world ; and the 
Wesleyan Connexion in England has pro- 
duced some of the first writers of the age, 
such as Wesley, Fletcher, Clark, Benson, 
Watson, and others, who have done much 
in spreading the light of, truth by means 
of the press. 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



375 



Soon after the organization of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, a similar 
establishment was commenced in this 
country, the first book being published in 
the year 1789, by the Rev. John Dickens, 
who was the first book-steward, and was 
at that time stationed in the city of Phila- 
delphia, where the book business was be- 
gun. Its commencement was very small, 
for it had no capital to begin with, except 
about six hundred dollars, which John 
Dickens lent to the Concern, to enable it 
to commence its benevolent operations. It 
has gone on from that time, however, 
gradually increasing the number and va- 
riety of its publications, until it has reached 
its present enlarged dimensions. Its loca- 
tion is 200 Mulberry Street, in the city of 
New York. 

The entire establishment is under the 
control of the General Conference, who 
elect the agents and editors, and appoint 
the Book Committee, to the general super- 
vision of which, together with the general 
superintendence of the New York Confer- 
ence, ail its concerns are committed during 
the interval of the General Conference. 
Here are published a great variety of 
books on theological, historical, scientific, 
and philosophical subjects, Bibles and 
Testaments, Commentaries upon the Holy 
Scriptures, a Quarterly Review, and a 
Weekly Religious Journal, Sunday School 
books, and tracts, all of which have an 
extensive circulation throughout the United 
States and Territories. 

There is also a branch establishment at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, where all the works 
issued at New York are sold, and, some 
of them re-published ; two periodicals are 
issued, one monthly, called the Ladies' 
Repository, and the other weekly, called 
the Western Christian Advocate and Jour- 
nal. These have a wide circulation, par- 
ticularly in the Western States and Terri- 
tories, and are doubtless doing much good. 

In addition to these there are four week- 
ly papers : one at Richmond, Va. ; one at 
Charleston, S. C. ; one at Nashville, Tenn., 
and another at Pittsburg, Pa., published 
under the patronage of the General Con- 
ference ; and two others, one at Boston, 
Mass., and the other at Geneva, N. Y. ; 
the former is published under the patron- 
age of the New England, Providence, 



Maine, and New Hampshire Conferences, 
and the latter on its own responsibility. 
These, it is believed, are exerting a highly 
favorable influence on the community, in 
proportion to their circulation respectively, 
which, though not as large as the others, 
is very considerable. 

The primary object of this book estab- 
lishment, is identical with the preaching 
of the gospel, namely, to spread scriptural 
holiness over the land, by bringing sinners 
to the " knowledge of the truth as it is in 
Jesus," and the building of believers " up 
in their most holy faith." Whatever pe- 
cuniary profits may arise from the sale 
of books, are devoted to the noblest of 
purposes, to the support of indigent and 
worn-out preachers, and the widows and 
orphans of those who have fallen in the 
itinerant field of labor. For this purpose 
was it established, and for this same bene- 
volent purpose it is now kept in operation. 

EDUCATION. 

It is not to be supposed that a man of 
that expanded intellect by which Mr. John 
Wesley was distinguished, and who owed 
so much of his celebrity to the education 
which he received, first from his mother, 
and then from the academy, and which 
was completed at the University of Oxford, 
would be indifferent to the cause of educa- 
tion. Accordingly we find him, at an 
early period of his ministry, exerting 
himself in establishing a school at Kings- 
wood, in the principles of Christianity, 
combining, as far as practicable, piety and 
knowledge together. This, though estab- 
lished at first chiefly for the benefit of the 
sons of itinerant preachers, has received 
youth from other sources, and has gone 
on prosperously to the present time ; and 
the Wesleyan Methodists in England have 
added another, called Woodhouse Grove 
School, which is accomplishing the same 
benevolent and enlightened object ; and 
finally they have established a theological 
institute, for the instruction of those young 
candidates for the Christian ministry, who 
are not immediately wanted in the itine- 
rant ranks. 

At the conference at which the Metho- 
dist societies in this country were organized 
into an independent church, a plan for the 



376 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



establishment of a college was adopted, 
and immediately after the adjournment 
of the conference, it was published; and 
Dr. Coke and Bishop Asbury set them- 
selves to work to carry it into effect by 
soliciting subscriptions, and selecting a site 
for the buildings. They finally succeeded 
in erecting a brick building, 80 feet in 
length and 40 in width, in the town of 
Abington, about 25 miles from the city of 
Baltimore, a spot of ground which gave a 
delightful and commanding view of the 
Chesapeake Bay, and of the country for 
twenty miles around. The college was 
opened for the reception of students on 
the 10th day of December, 1785, and 
continued in successful operation until the 
7th of December, 1795, just ten years, 
lacking three days, when the whole was 
consumed by fire. A second, which was 
soon after erected in Baltimore, shared the 
same fate. 

These calamitous circumstances attend- 
ing their first efforts to establish a college, 
threw a damper over the minds of its 
friends, and indeed induced Bishop Asbury 
to think that the Methodists were not 
called to labor in the cause of education. 
The whole subject was therefore laid aside, 
except some ineffectual efforts to found 
some district schools, and the establish- 
ment of some charity schools, for more 
than twenty years. This general apathy 
in the cause of education, together with 
the fact that Methodist ministers were ad- 
mitted into the Christian ministry without 
any specific literary qualifications, induced 
a belief in the public mind generally, that 
the Methodists were enemies, or at least 
indifferent to the cause of education ; and 
it must be confessed that there was too 
much ground for this belief, as many cer- 
tainly manifested, if not hostility, yet a 
great lukewarmness upon this subject. 

This, however, was not the case with 
all. Some of the most pious and enlight- 
ened of the preachers and people mourned 
over this state of things, and they at last 
made an effort to rescue the church from 
this reproach. The first was made in 
1817, by some friends in the city of Bal- 
timore, who commenced a literary institu- 
tion under the name of the " Asbury Col- 
lege ;" but this soon went down, much to 
the disappointment and mortification of its 



friends and patrons. In 1817, an academy 
was established in New Market, under the 
patronage of the New England Confer- 
ence, which succeeded and was finally re- 
moved to Wilbraham, Mass., and it con- 
tinues in successful operation to this day. 
In 1819, the Wesleyan Seminary was 
commenced in the city of New York, 
under the patronage of the- New York 
Conference, which was finally removed 
to White Plains, and still continues to 
bless the rising generation with its in- 
structions. 

At the General Conference in 1820, the 
subject of education was referred to a 
committee, who made a spirited report in 
favor of the two academies already in 
operation, and recommended that all. the 
annual conferences should adopt measures 
for the establishment of seminaries within 
their bounds. The adoption of this report 
by the General Conference, had a most 
happy effect in diffusing the spirit of educa- 
tion throughout its bounds. But still there 
were many obstacles to be removed, and 
much apathy to be overcome, some mani- 
festing an open hostility to the cause, 
while others looked on with cold indiffer- 
ence. 

In 1823, Augusta College, in Kentucky, 
was commenced, and it has gone forward 
with various degrees of prosperity to this 
day. 

In 1824, an academy was commenced 
at Cazenovia, New York State, under the 
patronage of the Oneida Conference, 
which has prospered from that day to 
this. In 1827, another was established 
at Readfield, Maine, under the patronage 
of the Maine Conference, on the manual 
labor system, and it has gone on success- 
fully to the present time. 

About the same time an academy was 
established in the bounds of the Mississippi 
Conference, which has done much to dif- 
fuse the spirit of education in that region 
of country. 

The report which was adopted by the 
General Conference of 1828, in favor of 
education, did much to excite the friends 
of the cause to persevering diligence in 
this grand enterprise. 

In 1831, three colleges were founded, 
namely : The Wesleyan University, lo- 
cated in Middletown, Connecticut ; Ran- 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



377 J 

I 



dolph Macon College, in Boydston, Meck- 
lenburgh county, Virginia; and La Grange, 
in North Alabama. These have all been 
thus far carried forward with success, 
though sometimes laboring under embar- 
rassment for lack of adequate endow- 
ments. 

In 1833, two other colleges were estab- 
lished, namely : Dickinson College, at 
Carlisle, Pa., and Allegheny College, in 
Meadville, Pa. They have both continued 
with various degrees of prosperity, but 
still need more funds to put them upon a 
permanent foundation. 

Another academy was established about 
the same time at Lima, Livingston county, 
N. Y., which is still in a prosperous 
state. 

In 1834, Lebanon College was founded 
at Lebanon, Illinois, under the patronage 
of the Illinois Conference, and it continues 
to prosper, though somewhat embarrassed 
for want of more ample endowments. 

The Troy Conference Academy, located 
at Poultney, Vermont, was commenced 
the same year, and it has been carried 
forward with much success to the present 
time though it is oppressed with a heavy 
debt, which the conference is exerting 
itself nobly to liquidate. 

In 1835, a Classical Manual Labor 
School was commenced in Covington, 
Georgia, and another for the education of 
females, both of which are still in success- 
ful operation. In 1836, The Emery Col- 
lege was founded. These literary insti- 
tutions are all under the patronage of the 
Georgia Conference. 

In 1837, The Indiana Asbury Univer- 
sity was commenced, and is still in opera- 
tion. This was undertaken by the Indiana 
Conference. 

The Amenia Seminary was established 
about this time. It is located in the town 
of Amenia, Duchess county, New York, 
and it has very much prospered from that 
day to this. 

Two, namely, Henry and Charles Col- 
leges, were founded in 1839, under the 
patronage of the Holston Conference, and 
they are still prosecuting their labors with 
success. 

In the same year, St. Charles College 
was commenced, under the patronage of 
the Missouri Conference, which promises 



much usefulness in that region of coun- 
try. 

The Cokesberg Manual Labor School, 
in the bounds of the South Carolina Con- 
ference, was begun about the same time. 

Two academies were also commenced 
in 1839, one male, and the other female, 
in the bounds, and under the patronage 
of the New Jersey Conference ; and the 
Newbury Seminary, and New Market 
Seminary, under the patronage of the 
New Hampshire Conference, were begun 
about the same time. These are all ful- 
filling the hopes of their friends. The 
Newbury Seminary has a theological de- 
partment attached to it. 

In 1841, the Transylvania University, 
in Lexington, Kentucky, was transferred 
to the Methodist Church, and is now in a 
prosperous condition. 

These make no less than thirteen col- 
legiate institutions, which are under the 
patronage of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in the United States. In addition 
to these a college has been commenced 
under favorable auspices in Rutersville, in 
the Republic of Texas, which has received 
a large endowment in land from the state, 
and it bids fair to be rendered a great 
blessing to that infant republic. 

There are a number of academies be- 
sides those above enumerated, which are 
under Methodist influence, and which are 
so far patronized by the conferences, with- 
in the bounds of which they are located, 
that the conferences appoint boards of 
visiters, and recommend them to the pa- 
tronage of their brethren and friends. 

It will be seen by the above, that the 
Methodist Episcopal Church has made an 
effort to redeem herself from the reproach 
which had been cast upon her, not without 
some show of reason, of being indifferent 
to the cause of education. And if she 
shall exert her energies to sustain those 
institutions of learning which she has so 
nobly begun, by more ample endowments, 
she will do her part towards shedding on 
the youth of our land the blessings of sound 
knowledge and a liberal education. These, 
combined with experimental and practical 
piety, will tend to cement our Union more 
firmly together, and to raise us to honor 
and respectability among the nations of 
the earth. 



48 



378 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



BIBLE, SUNDAY SCHOOL, AND TEM- 
PERANCE CAUSES. 

In these benevolent enterprises, this 
church has taken an active part. She 
has a Sunday School Union of her own, 
in which she endeavors to do what she 
may in training up the youth entrusted 
to her care in the knowledge of the holy 
scriptures, and in the practice of piety 
and virtue. In addition to Sunday school 
books and tracts, and a Sunday school 
library, in which are found some of the 
choicest books in the English language in 
the various departments of knowledge, 
particularly adapted to youth, she prints 
The Sunday School Advocate, a semi- 
monthly periodical, well calculated to 
attract and instruct the youthful mind, 
and containing lessons suited to teachers 
and superintendents of sabbath schools. 

In the great Bible cause, she unites her 
energies with the American Bible Society, 
many of her ministers being agents of 
this catholic and truly benevolent institu- 
tion, and they have free access to her 
pulpits for the purpose of pleading its 
cause, and taking up collections for its 
support. 

In the temperance reformation, as a 
church, she stands foremost in the ranks, 
always having made it a term of church- 
fellowship to abstain from " intoxicating 
liquors, unless in cases of necessity." 
And though this rule was somewhat re- 
laxed in its practical effects, when the 
temperance reformation commenced, and 
though she did not immediately see the 
necessity of uniting with the American 
Temperance Society in all its plans of 
operation : yet, no sooner did she per- 
ceive that many of her members were in- 
dulging in moderate drinking, and that 
therefore there was a danger of their 
" running into the same excess of riot" 
with those who were gratifying their ap- 
petites with intoxicating drinks, than she 
lifted up her warning voice against the 
deadly poison, and united with all those 
who declared in favor of a total abstinence 
from all intoxicating liquors as a bever- 
age ; and it is believed that the pernicious 
practice is now nearly banished from the 
church, and hopes are entertained that 
soon it will be so entirely. 

From the facts contained in the above 



brief view of the history, the doctrines, 
the government, and the usages of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, it will be 
seen I humbly trust, that she has con- 
tributed much towards the conversion of 
the world, and that, if permitted to go on 
in her career of usefulness to the souls 
and bodies of men, her ministers and 
members shall not be wanting, in that 
day when God shall " come to make up 
his jewels," in some share of that glory 
which shall be given to those " who turn 
many to righteousness." 

EARLY CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF \ 
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURUI1 
IN AMERICA. 

1766. First Methodist Society in Ame- 
rica established in the city of New York. 

1768. First Methodist meeting-house 
in America erected in New York city. 
The first sermon preached in it Oct. 30, 
by Mr. Philip Embury. 

1771. Mr. Francis Asbury and Mr. 
Richard Wright having volunteered their 
services for the ministry in America, were 
sent out from England by Mr. Wesley. 

1778. Mr. Asbury obliged to screen 
himself from the wrath of the tories, by 
retiring to the house of Judge White, in 
Delaware. 

1783. July 4. First Conference held at 
Philadelphia. The minutes state that 
there were 10 preachers and 1160 mem- 
bers in communion. 

1784. Thomas Coke appointed superin- 
tendent, and Richard Whatcoat and Thos. 
Vasey ordained elders, by Mr. Wesley, 
who sent them to America with instruc- 
tions to organize the societies there into a 
separate church. 

1796. October 20. Second General 
Conference met at Baltimore; present 120 
members. The minutes of the American 
conferences present 293 preachers, exclu- 
sive of local, and 56,664 members. 
Throughout the world, preachers, 685 ; 
members, 161,064. 

1797. The members in the society first 
estimated by States and Provinces. New 
England has 2999, and Virginia 13,536. 

Methodism planted in Ohio, on the 
Little Miami, by Mr. McCormick, a local 
preacher. 



HISTOKY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



379 



1798. August 20. First American Con- 
ference in Maine, at Readfield; present, 
ten preachers. 

1799. Mr. Tobias Gibson traverses the 
wilderness to the Mississippi, lands at 
Natchez, and commences his labors in the 
southern part of the great valley. 

1800. May 6. Third General Confer- 
ence met at Baltimore, and the oldest 
Methodist journal extant commenced. 

Camp-meetings began in Kentucky. 
Methodism introduced into Cincinnati. 

1801. First Society formed in the 
" Western Reserve," at Deerfield. 

1802. Camp-meetings introduced into 
the Southern Atlantic States. . 

1803. According to Bishop Asbury, the 
total number of members was 104,070. 

1804. Discipline thoroughly revised, 
and the article respecting government so 
altered as to recognise the Constitution 
of the United States. 

The numbers in the M. E. Church are, 
preachers 400, members 113,134 ; through- 
out the world 941 preachers, and 249,752 
members. 

1806. During the revival which com- 
menced this year in New York, penitent 
sinners were first invited to the altar for 
prayers by Bev. Aaron Hunt. 

July 15. Died, in the 71st year of his 
age, Richard Whatcoat, the third bishop 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

1807. Sept. 14. First Annual Confer- 
ence in Ohio, held at Chillicothe. 

1808. May 26. Fifth General Confer- 
ence held at Baltimore. Present, Bishop 
Asbury and 129 members. 

Bule providing for ordination of local 
preachers adopted. 

1810. Genesee Annual Conference 
formed. 

1812. May 1 to 22. Sixth General Con- 
ference held at New York. Present, 
Bishops Asbury and M'Kendree, and 90 
delegates. 

Western Conference divided into the 
Ohio and Tennessee Conference. 



Intercourse with the Canada societies 
interrupted by war. 

1813. The "Reformed Methodists" in 
New England attempt an organization. 

Some clergymen exhibiting a singular 
disaffection toward the government, Bishop 
Asbury " declared, on the floor of an an- 
nual conference, that he who refused, at 
this time especially, to pray for his coun- 
try, deserved not the name of a Christian 
minister." 

Oct. 29. Bishop Asbury wrote his vale- 
dictory address to the presiding elders. 

1814. In the American conferences 65 
preachers located. 

1816. March 11. Died, in the 78th 
year of his age, George Shadford, one of 
the early missionaries to America. 

March 31. Died, in the 71st year of his 
age, Francis Asbury, the second bishop 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

April 1. Defection of 1000 colored 
members in Philadelphia, and the "African 
Methodist Episcopal Church" formed. 

May 1-24. Seventh General Confer- 
ence met at Baltimore. 

Enoch George, of the Baltimore Con- 
ference, and Robert Richford Roberts, of 
the Philadelphia Conference, elected and 
consecrated bishops. 

1819. Missionary Society of Methodist 
Episcopal Church formed. 

1830. A convention of delegates assem- 
bled in Baltimore, who originated the 
"Methodist Protestant Church." 

The preceding facts are taken from 
Wesley's Works, 7 vols. 8vo. ; More's Life 
of Wesley, 1 vol. 8vo.; History of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, 4 vols. 12mo.; 
Asbury's Journal, 3 vols. 8vo.; Minutes 
of Conferences, 2 vols. 8vo. ; Methodist 
Discipline, 1vol. 24mo.; Original Church 
of Christ, 1 vol. 12mo.; and the Metho- 
dist Almanac. 

(For Statistics, seep. 609.) 



380 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 



HISTORY 



THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH 

BY THE REV. JAMES R. WILLIAMS, OF BALTIMORE. 

AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 



The Methodist Protestant Church com- 
prises all the associated Methodist churches 
in these United States, and numbers, at 
the present time, November, 1843, sixty 
thousand communicants, thirteen hundred 
ministers and preachers, twenty-two an- 
nual conference districts, and possesses 
upwards of a half million of church pro- 
perty, acquired since her organization. 

Her first General Convention, at which 
the church was regularly organized, was 
held in 1830, in the city of Baltimore, 
State of Maryland. There were in atten- 
dance at the convention eighty-three min- 
isterial, and lay representatives, from 

the following states : New York, Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
Georgia, Alabama, Ohio, New Jersey, and 
the District of Columbia. These repre- 
sented about five thousand members of the 
respective associated Methodist churches, 
a large majority of whom had withdrawn 
from the Methodist Episcopal Church, on 
account of her government and hostility 
to a lay representation ; she not only hav- 
ing withheld representation from the peo- 
ple, but actually denied that they have 
any right to representation. Moreover 
she had claimed for her itinerant ministry, 
exclusively, as of divine right, and with- 
out any authoritative control from the 
church, not merely the administration, but 
the sole right of expounding and main- 
taining, 1. Gospel doctrines, that is, a 
right to preach, and teach whatever they 
may please to admit into their creed as 



gospel doctrines. 2. Ordinances, that is, 
to set up whatever worship, sacraments, 
and services, they may deem conformable 
to the gospel ; and 3. Moral discipline, 
that is, to admit and expel, censure and 
suspend, whomsoever they please in the 
church of God, and for whatever causes 
to them shall seem meet. These unwar- 
rantable claims were preceded and fol- 
lowed by the expulsion of nearly eighty 
ministers and members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in different parts of the 
United States, who advocated a change in 
the church government, and opposed the 
Popish claims of the itinerant ministers 
and bishops of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

The above cited claims and expulsions 
produced numerous secessions in different 
parts of the United States, and the organi- 
zation of several annual conferences, of 
associated churches. These, respectively, 
elected their representatives, who assem- 
bled as above stated in the city of Balti- 
more, and framed a constitution and disci- 
pline for the government of the entire as- 
sociation. The basis on which the govern- 
ment is founded, embraces two very im- 
portant particulars : First — " The Lord 
Jesus Christ is the only Head of the 
Church, and the word of God is the suffi- 
cient rule of faith and practice, in all things 
pertaining to godliness." Secondly — " A 
written constitution establishing the form 
of government, and securing to the min- 
isters and members of the church, their 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 



381 



rights and privileges, on an equitable plan 
of representation, is essential to, and the 
best safeguaid of Christian liberty." 

The constitution is preceded by a set of 
elementary principles, which may be viewed 
as a bill of rights. These bind the church 
to the laws of Christ ; secure the rights of 
private judgment and the expression of 
opinion ; protect church membership ; de- 
clare the principles on which church trials 
shall be conducted, and guard against un- 
righteous excommunications ; point out 
the residence of legitimate authority to 
make and enforce rules and regulations, 
for the proper and wholesome government 
of the church. The constitution recog- 
nises the rights and secures the interests 
of both ministers and laymen, and grants 
an equal representation to both. By this 
provision, made permanent under consti- 
tutional law, the entire association is fairly 
represented in the General Conference, 
which is the legislative department of the 
church. The executive, legislative, and 
judicial departments are kept distinct, and 
in each and ail of them, the laity have 
their due weight, and equal power with 
the ministers. The government is, there- 
fore, representative, and admirably bal- 
anced in all its parts. 

The General Conference is assembled 
every fourth year, and consists of an equal 
number of ministers and laymen. The 
ratio of representation from each annual 
conference district, is, one minister and 
one layman for every thousand persons in 
full membership. This body, when assem- 
bled, possesses power, under certain re- 
strictions, to make such rules and regula- 
tions for the government of the whole 
church, as may be necessary to carry into 
effect the laws of Christ ; to fix the com- 
pensation and duties of the itinerant min- 
isters and preachers, and the allowance of 
their wives, widows, and children ; and 
also the compensation and duties of the 
book agent, editor, &c, and to devise 
ways and means for raising funds, and to 
define and regulate the boundaries of the 
respective annual conference districts. 

The respective annual conferences as- 
semble annually, and are composed of all 
the ordained itinerant ministers ; that is, 
all ministers properly under the stationing 
authority of the conference ? and of one 



delegate from each circuit and station, 
within the bounds of the district, for each 
of its itinerant ministers. The annual 
conferences respectively are invested with 
power to elect a president annually— to 
examine into the official conduct of all 
their members — to receive by vote such 
ministers and preachers into the confer- 
ence as come properly recommended by 
the quarterly conference of their circuit or 
station — to elect to orders those who are 
eligible and competent to the pastoral 
office — to hear and decide on appeals from 
the decisions of committees appointed to 
try ministers — to define and regulate the 
boundaries of circuits and stations — to 
station the ministers, preachers, and mis- 
sionaries — to make such rules and regula- 
tions as may be necessary to defray the 
expenses of the itinerant ministers and 
preachers and their families. The annual 
conferences, respectively, have authority 
to perform the following additional duties : 
1st. To make such special rules and regu- 
lations as the peculiarities of the district 
may require ; provided, however, that no 
rule be made inconsistent with the consti- 
tution — the General Conference to have 
power to annul any such rule. 2d. To 
prescribe and regulate the mode of station- 
ing the ministers and preachers within the 
district ; provided always, that they grant 
to each minister or preacher stationed, an 
appeal, during the sitting of the confer- 
ence. And no minister or preacher to be 
stationed longer than three years, succes- 
sively, in the same circuit, and two years, 
successively, in the same station. 3d. 
Each annual conference is clothed with 
power to make its own rules and regula- 
tions for the admission and government 
of colored members within its district ; 
and to make for them such terms of suf- 
frage as the conferences may respectively 
deem proper. Each annual conference is 
required to keep a journal of its proceed- 
ings, and to send a copy to the General 
Conference. 

The quarterly conferences are the im- 
mediate official meetings of the circuits 
and stations, and assemble quarterly, for 
the purposes of examining the official 
charter of all the members, consisting of 
the trustees, ministers, preachers, exhort- 
ers, leaders and stewards of the circuit or 



382 



HISTORY OF THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 



station ; to grant to persons properly quali- 
fied, and recommended by the class of 
which he is a member, license to exhort 
or preach ; to recommend ministers and 
preachers to the annual conference to 
travel, and for ordination ; and to hear 
and decide on appeals made by laymen 
from the decision of committees on 
trial. 

The leaders' meeting is peculiar to sta- 
tions, and is composed of the superintend- 
ent of the station, the stewards and the 
leaders. The superintendent is the minis- 
ter who has the charge of the station. 
The stewards are appointed by the male 
members of the station to receive and dis- 
burse the collections made in the classes 
and the church. The leaders are elected 
by their respective classes and represent 
them in the leaders' meeting. This meet- 
ing is the organ of reception of members 
into the church, and the dispenser of re- 
lief to the poor through the hands of the 
stewards. In the circuits, persons are 
received into full membership by vote of 
the society. Class leaders, stewards, trus- 
tees, exhorters, and private members, 
when charged with immorality or neglect 
of Christian duty, are duly notified by the 
superintendent, sufficient time being al- 
lowed to make preparation for their de- 
fence, and the right of challenge is granted 
to extend to any number of the committee 
not exceeding the whole number originally 
appointed. The committee of trial is ap- 
pointed in the following manner. The 
superintendent nominates two persons in 
full membership and good standing, over 



the age of twenty-one years. The class, 
of which the accused is a member, nomi- 
nates two more male members in like 
standing, those four persons select a fifth, 
and the five persons thus chosen, consti- 
tute a competent court of trial. 

The above particulars constitute a brief 
sketch of the origin and system of the 
Methodist Protestant Church. She has 
progressed with an even steady pace, 
maintained peace in all her borders, and 
has contributed her share of usefulness 
towards the general good. As a seceding 
church from the Methodist Episcopal, she 
entertains no unfriendly feelings to that 
denomination of Christians. The doc- 
trines taught by both churches, the means 
of grace and mode of worship being simi- 
lar, the only difference lies in govern- 
ment : the Methodist Episcopal Church 
rejecting lay representation and adopting 
an unlimited episcopacy ; while the Me- 
thodist Protestant Church admits lay re- 
presentation and a parity in the ministry. 
These points of difference, though very 
great, are deemed not sufficient to justify 
an alienation of Christian affection ; there- 
fore, the two churches are one in Christ 
Jesus, and are both laboring to promote 
the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom 
among men, and are to be viewed as two 
branches of the great Methodist family in 
Europe and in this country. 

For further particulars, the reader is 
referred to the Discipline, to Williams's 
History of the Methodist Protestant 
Church, and to Samuel K. Jennings' 
" Exposition." 



=H 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



383 



HISTORY 



THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH 



BY REV. WESLEY BAILEY, UTICA, NEW YORK, 



The writer, in the following article, can 
give but an outline, a brief and hasty 
sketch of the history of the body of 
Christians with which he stands connected, 
viz. : The Reformed Methodists. Want 
of time and documentary facts prevent, at 
this time, his laying before the public as 
extended and correct a view of this branch 
of the Methodist family, as he c<?uld wish 
for the excellent forthcoming " history of 
of the whole Church." 

The Reformed Methodists took their 
origin from a feeble secession from the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, in the towns 
of Whitingham and Readsborough, Ver- 
mont, January 16th, 1814. We sa.y feeble 
secession, because their entire number did 
not exceed fourteen persons, and these in 
no way distinguished for talent or learn- 
ing ; but were plain, unassuming me- 
chanics and farmers, none of whom held 
any higher relation to the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, than that of local preachers 
and exhorters. 

We trust the first Reformed Methodists 
entered upon the work of reform with 
lowliness of mind, and not through strife 
and vain-glory. They felt straitened in 
their religious rights and privileges un- 
der the Episcopal mode of church govern- 
ment. The gospel precept is : to " Es- 
teem each other better than ourselves ;" 
but they feared that this precept of humil- 
ity, under the practice of the Episcopal 
mode of church government, had been lost 
sight of, and that this anti-democratic form 
of church organization tended to beget its 



own likeness on the hearts of the itinerant 
superintendents. And in order to regain, 
and, if possible give a more abiding effect 
to the true and free spirit of the gospel, 
which, in their belief, had been departed 
from in practice ; to remove every inward 
and outward obstruction, and in hope of 
establishing rules of discipline and self- 
government more in conformity with the 
simple principles and primitive method 
prescribed in the gospel : they felt them- 
selves impelled by their conscientious 
scruples " to come out from creature 
bondage into the greater freedom of divine 
example." To evince to those with whom 
they had been on terms of fellowship that 
their motives were such as brethren and 
Christians should be governed by under 
these circumstances, they issued their 
manifesto of grievances, which, if not re- 
moved, presented no other alternative than 
that of separation. Failing in the hoped- 
for object, they on the 16th of January, 
1814, met in convention at Readsborough ; 
Elijah Bailey was called to the chair, and 
Ezra Amadon, chosen secretary. 

At this convention they formed them- 
selves into a church under the above name, 
and appointed a conference to be held on 
the following 5th of February, at which 
they adopted articles of religion and rules 
of church government. At this confer- 
ence their number was somewhat increas- 
ed. Wm. Lake, a local preacher of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, united with 
them at this time ; of him we shall speak 
in another place. Whether the govern- 



88.4 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



ment of an Episcopacy had obtained or 
was verging to the state and pageantry of 
ambassadors of pomp, instead of being 
ambassadors of bonds, or not ; whether 
ministerial oppression and selfish affections 
were wasting the new covenant blessings, 
and all the gentle and unassuming influ- 
ences of brotherly and loving kindness, 
one toward another, in godly fear — it is 
sufficient that they feared and believed it. 
With " fear and trembling" they entered 
upon the course they had chosen, in the 
hope that equality and union with each 
other, would bring the connexion into 
nearer and fuller union with Christ, the 
Head of the Church. 

The Reformed Methodists hold the fun- 
damental doctrines of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. On the Trinity and the 
Sonship of Christ, they are with John 
Wesley, Fletcher, Benson, and Watson, 
and opposed to the views of Dr. Adam 
Clarke. Their articles of religion are few 
in number, embracing those points only 
peculiar to Methodism. Their system of 
church government is essentially Congre- 
gational in its character, all power being 
in the primary bodies, the churches, and 
delegated from time to time with a rigid 
accountability to the bodies by whom it is 
conferred. 

The only point of religious faith which 
has distinguished the Reformed Methodists, 
from other branches of the same family, 
is perhaps, the extent which some of our 
leading men have given to faith and its 
operations. They have held and taught 
that the same faith now, would produce 
the same effects it did in primitive times. 
That the lapse of ages cannot render void 
the promises of God, or a living faith in 
Christ powerless, whether such faith be 
exerted with respect to the temporal or 
spiritual wants of man. And while some 
of the more " orthodox" have regarded the 
" Reformers as fanatics," on this point, 
they (the Reformers) have considered the 
charge as having its origin in their own 
infidelity and unbelief. They have be- 
lieved that the church has apostatized ; 
that as all blessings given in answer to 
prayer are suspended upon the condition 
of faith, that therefore faith is the restoring 
principle. They dare not limit faith, ex- 
cept by a " thus saith the Lord." They 



have not been enabled to see from the re- 
cords of truth any limitations interposed 
since apostolical times, and hence they 
conclude that we may now, in this age, 
pray for the removal of temporal as well 
as spiritual diseases ; and that " according 
to their faith it will be done unto them." 

It is not our object to discuss this point, 
but it is proper that we should notice it as 
a characteristic of the Reformed Metho- 
dists, a point for which they have suffered 
reproach ; but how justly we leave others 
to judge. In leaving the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, they aimed at a reform ex- 
tending farther and deeper than the exter- 
nal organization of the church — to a re- 
form that should infuse new vitality and 
living faith into the body. That God has 
heard the prayer of faith, and raised up 
the sick among them in numerous in- 
stances, is what they most firmly believe, 
and is to them a subject of devout thanks- 
giving to his blessed name. That those 
holding and preaching this doctrine should 
be liable to extravagances is quite obvious ; 
and we frankly confess, that in some in- 
stances the truth may have been blamed 
by the unskillfulness with which some of 
the Reformed Methodists have treated this 
subject. But we believe that unbelief has 
been the damning sin of the church, and 
that it is far better to believe too much 
than too little ; better to become a "fa- 
natic" in faith and love, than be the heart- 
less worshipper of a God, as ruthless as 
the rocks, and as merciless as the waves 
— a God who has tied himself up by phy- 
sical laws, which govern him as arbitrarily 
as they do the universe of matter. So 
much for the " fanaticism " of the Re- 
formed Methodists. Let it be placed upon 
the record of time — let it be placed upon 
the records of eternity, as a point in their 
faith, a trait in their religious sentiments. 

If the Reformed Methodists have stead- 
fastly insisted upon any one point in the 
gospel more than another, it is the doc- 
trine of the attainableness of entire sa noti- 
fication in this life, through faith in the 
all-atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Indeed, 
they have regarded the disbelief of this 
great truth, and the consequent neglect to j 
seek for the blessings, as the primary j 
cause of the disbelief of the sentiment I 
above noticed, — sanctification, which ! 



J 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



385 



cleansing the heart from all sin, and 
bringing the whole soul into communing 
with him, naturally begets faith in God, 
as a living God ; and the clear and abi- 
ding conviction that God is faithful to one 
promise, naturally leads to confidence in 
all his promises. 

The Conditions of Fettoivship and 
Membership. — The Reformed Methodists 
hold these as the same, or make them run 
parallel in admitting members to their so- 
cieties. The " fruits of righteousness 
witnessed by taking up the cross and fol- 
lowing Christ," says the Discipline, " shall 
be the only test of Christian fellowship." 
All who " walk according to this rule," 
are, on application, received into the 
church ; its ministers are required to sub- 
scribe to their articles of religion, but per- 
sons are received to membership on the 
simple test of their experience, without 
requiring an assent to all the doctrines of 
the Discipline. The Church of Christ is 
a spiritual body. They are made one, 
brought into spiritual sympathy, not by 
the letter of a creed, or by the subscribing 
to certain doctrines, but by the Spirit of 
God. Hence the Reformed Methodists 
hold that a union of spirit should be made 
indispensable to a union of Christians in 
visible church bonds ; and when that union 
is broken, the spirit of love departed, then 
there should be a dissolution of the con- 
nection. Consequently, the Reformed Me- 
thodists hold that the door out of the 
Church should be the same as into it — 
that as evidence of sins forgiven and heart 
renewed, is the only condition of admis- 
sion to the church, so the want of these 
continued fruits is regarded as sufficient 
occasion for expulsion. They believe this 
term of church membership is the only 
one on which a living spiritual church can 
be maintained. Their views of Christian 
fellowship are equally liberal with respect 
to other Churches. They hold that all of 
the children of God have a right to all the 
ordinances of God's house in all places of 
his people — and that no rite dependent on 
human sanction, can lawfully bar a Chris- 
tian from the table of the Lord. Baptism 
is administered to all, according to their 
consciences, and enforced upon none, and 
in no case made a test of church-fellow- 
ship. 



POLITY OF THE REFORMED METHO- 
DIST CHURCH. 

That the polity of the Reformed Me- 
thodist Church may be the better under- 
stood, we shall examine it under three dif- 
ferent heads. 

1. The Church. — The local churches 
are regarded as the origin of power. All 
officers in the church must derive their 
authority from the people, either by a di- 
rect election or by their delegates chosen 
for the expressed purpose. A number of 
believers may ordain for themselves elders 
or bishops, and do all things necessary to 
constitute themselves a church of Christ. 
Acting upon this principle in the infancy 
of their organization, the Reformed Me- 
thodist connexion set apart a few of their 
number by prayer and the laying on of 
the hands of a committee, to the office of 
elder. They hold this as a right which a 
local church may, in cases of necessity, 
exercise — but still as a prudential regula- 
tion, have placed the ordination of elders 
in the hands of the annual conferences. 
Churches are divided into classes accord- 
ing to their numbers, with a leader for 
each class, chosen by themselves. The 
churches have the right of selecting their 
own ministers, the ministers the right of 
selecting their own fields of labor, without 
the interference of a higher foreign or cen- 
tral power, and this with respect to length 
of time and salary. 

Tlw Annual Conferences. — An annual 
conference is composed of delegates from 
all the churches in a given district, the 
number of delegates from each church or 
circuit being proportioned to their num- 
bers. Ministers may be chosen delegates, 
but are not delegates by virtue of their 
office. The object of the annual confer- 
ence is to transact business which equally 
interests all the local, primary bodies — 
such as the examination of preachers as 
to their moral character, gifts and useful- 
ness, the ordination of elders, the provision 
of ways and means for missionary opera- 
tions, the support of feeble and destitute 
churches, and general objects of common 
interest. These conferences are held an- 
nually, and ordinarily hold their session 
three or four days. The annual confer- 
ence has power to withdraw fellowship 
from a disorderly church, but no power to 



49 



386 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



interfere with the internal affairs of any- 
church, except for unchristian conduct. 
At the annual conference circuits are 
sometimes formed, and preachers engaged 
to supply them ; but conference has no 
power to station a preacher contrary to 
his own, and the wishes of the people. 
Ordination is performed by a committee 
of elders chosen by the annual conference, 
the candidates for orders first being elected 
to orders by the annual conference. 

The General Conference. — The Gene- 
ral Conference is composed of delegates 
from .the annual conferences, the number 
of delegates from these conferences are 
in proportion to the respective numbers 
of their church members. The General 
Conference has power to revise the Disci- 
pline under certain limitations. It can 
pass no rule giving to preachers power 
over the people, except such as belongs to 
them as ministers of the word. The alter- 
ations in Discipline must, before they go 
into effect, first be recommended by three- 
fourths of the annual conferences, or after 
the General Conference has passed upon 
them, receive their ratification. General 
Conferences are held at the call of annual 
conferences, not periodically, and the dele- 
gates to them are chosen at the session of 
the annual conferences next preceding the 
General Conference. 

Such is the outline of the articles of 
religion and church polity of the Reformed 
Methodist Church. We pass next to a 
brief notice of their progress. And here 
we would premise, that a cause however 
good, and principles however wisely 
adapted to an end, cannot progress with- 
out an appropriate instrumentality. The 
first Reformed Methodists had not money, 
and as for talent, however good it might 
have been in its uncultivated state, they 
had not the refinements of the schools of 
learning or divinity with which to com- 
mand attention. They were poor men, 
men with families dependent upon their 
own hands for bread, living among the 
peaks of the Green Mountains. However, 
some of them by application have become 
able ministers of the New Testament. 
Of the original number of the seceders, 
four have been regarded as leading men 
in the denomination, and have contributed 
much by their devotion and self-denial to 



raise up and perpetuate this body of re- 
formers. 

Elijah Bailey, father of the writer, was 
a native of the town of Douglas, Mass., 
but immediately after his matrimonial al- 
liance with Miss Lydia Smith, removed 
to the town of Readsborough, Vt. ; this 
mountainous region being the Elysium of 
the " Far West," to the people of Massa- 
chusetts. He was accompanied by his 
brother, James Bailey, and Ezra Amadon, 
his brother-in-law, both of whom in course 
of time became useful preachers of the 
Reformed Methodist Church. 

Elijah Bailey was a young man of so- 
ber habits, of a contemplative turn of 
mind, but indebted to a few weeks in the 
common school of his times for his edu- 
cation ; to which should be added the in- 
structions received from his grandfather 
Phillips, a man of great soundness of 
moral principle and variety and richness 
of maxims of law and morality, with 
whom Mr. Bailey passed the greater por- 
tion of his juvenile years. Being bred a 
Congregationalist, he knew not the power 
of godliness, though a strict observer of 
its form, until the Methodist preachers 
came into Vermont. He was among the 
first fruits of their labors ; was awakened, 
convicted, and received into their society, 
and continued an acceptable member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church up to the 
year 1814. In this wilderness country 
he became the father of eleven children, 
whom he reared by the sweat of his own 
brow, from the products of a small Green 
Mountain farm, and the trade of a cooper. 
He was a staunch Jeffersonian in politics, 
was for sixteen years a justice of the 
peace of the town of Readsborough, and 
at the same time a member of the assem- 
bly from that town. In the legislature 
of that state those lessons of democracy, 
early inculcated, were more clearly ex- 
plained and more firmly fixed ; and it is 
to this course of mental and moral train- 
ing that he was afterwards led to question 
the justice of the Methodist Episcopal form 
of church government, and ably to defend 
religious democracy, not only from the 
genius of Christianity, and the precepts 
of the New Testament, but from the in- 
alienable rights of man. Up to the lime 
of the secession from the Methodist Epis 



j 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



387 



copal Church, he was but a local preacher, 
and was severely opposed by his family 
connexions for attempting to exercise the 
ministry of the word without a regular 
course of literary and theological training. 
But immediately after the organization of 
the Reformed Methodist Church he was 
ordained elder, an office which he has 
continued to fill, up to the present time ; 
travelling extensively, exposing himself to 
the inclemency of all seasons of the year, 
and that, too, with no* other pecuniary 
compensation than such as friends from 
time to time might contribute. To his 
self-denying labors, labors unrequited ex- 
cept with spiritual blessings upon his own 
soul, is the cause of Reformed Methodism 
indebted, as much, if not more than to 
any other one. Although past forty-five 
years of age before he entered upon an 
itinerant life, few men have travelled more 
extensively in preaching the gospel, in the 
regions between Cape Cod on the east, 
Ohio on the west, Canada on the north, 
and Pennsylvania on the south. 

James Bailey, brother of Elijah, has' 
likewise occupied a conspicuous place in 
the progress of this branch of Methodists. 
In preaching talent, though inferior to 
Elijah Bailey, and not so well versed in 
the conference business and the exposition 
of intricate questions, he is a sound divine, 
and will doubtless have many souls as 
seals of his ministry in the great day of 
accounts. He is a man of indomitable 
perseverance, always laborious and never 
discouraged ; more local in his labors, 
with a wife who has been confined to her 
sick room for nearly forty years ; to him 
the cause is indebted for some of its best 
societies in central New York. 

Ezra Amadon, another of the original 
seceders, is, in the true sense of the word, 
a nursing father. Of strict integrity and 
universal love for the cause, surrounded 
by a large family of connexions, he has 
been a pillar in the cause of reform in 
western New York. His" words are al- 
ways few and to the point, his counsels 
safe and conciliatory, he enjoys himself 
best when servant of all, and the instru- 
ment of good ; a truly great man in the 
affections of his acquaintances, but of 
humble pretensions. 

Ebenezer Davis was likewise of the 



original fourteen who organized the Re- 
formed Methodist Church. He is, we 
think, a native of Vermont, still resident 
in that state, and has stood from the be- 
ginning as one of the pillars of the cause 
in the Vermont Conference. He is a 
self-made man, like his coadjutors above 
alluded to, and from a boy, indeed, has 
become a man in the things of God ; wise 
in council, and of universal integrity and 
Christian simplicity. 

William Lake gave his name, his heart, 
his hand to the cause of Methodist reform, 
at. the first conference. He was a native 
of White Creek, N. Y., of Low Dutch de- 
scent, and inherited all the roughness of 
character peculiar to that class of our 
citizens in this state. Previous to his con- 
version he was a gambler, a horse-jockey, 
boxer, &c, a rare specimen of a man to 
look up, of an ardent temperament, hasty 
and undaunted in any thing he undertook. 
After his conversion, his ardor, zeal, and 
physical energies, were all turned into a 
new channel. He was as zealous for God 
and the salvation of souls, as he had be- 
fore been the devoted of all unrighteous- 
ness. Having much of the " good things 
of this life," he brought not only his own 
personal services to the aid of the cause, 
but by his money did much to sustain his 
poorer brethren. He has some two years 
since gone to his long-sought rest. He 
was a man distinguished for the power of 
his exhortations, more than the richness 
and correctness of his sermons. In the 
prime of his years, the sinner trembled 
under the eloquence of spirit with which 
he spoke. Few persons ever stormed the 
bulwarks of iniquity with more undaunted 
courage and better success. He could 
accomplish what could be effected by zeal, 
and moral and physical force, better than 
that which required prudence and discri- 
mination. He was an illiterate man, but 
acquired an easy use of the English lan- 
guage, and was a fine specimen of natural 
eloquence. He travelled extensively, was 
itinerant in his feelings, and in the prime 
of his years revivals uniformly followed 
his labors. He travelled a few times into 
the State of Massachusetts, where his 
boisterous zeal very much shocked the 
puritanic habits of the people; but the 
greater portion of his ministry was spent in 



388 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



Vermont, New York, and Upper Canada. 
His family residence was Granby, N. Y., 
for the last twenty years of his life. Pecu- 
niary embarrassments greatly depressed 
him in the latter part of his days, and to 
a considerable degree impaired his useful- 
ness ; but thousands will bless his memo- 
ry, and appear as stars in his crown of 
rejoicing at the last day. 

Caleb Whiting deserves likewise to be 
noticed as one of the original band. Soon 
after the organization of the Reformed 
Methodist Church he removed to this state, 
and has been extensively useful as a 
minister of Jesus Christ in central New 
York. He has been distinguished more 
for the power of his exhortations than for 
his preaching talent, though he has held 
the office of an elder from the beginning, 
and is worthily regarded as a father in the 
cause. Elder Whiting is now superan- 
nuated, and resides at Berkshire, Tioga 
county, N. Y. 

The six persons above alluded to, are 
regarded as fathers in the cause of Re- 
formed Methodism, and have been the 
leading instruments in the progress of this 
body of Methodists ; their history is inter- 
woven with the history of the church with 
which they stand connected. Other breth- 
ren of great merit and usefulness have 
come in to their aid, which the limits of 
this article will not allow us to notice. 
Rev. Pliny Brett, of Mass., early united 
with the Reformers, and his self-denial 
and love for souls have done much for the 
cause in that state. *But he, several years 
since, left us and joined the Protestant 
Methodists. Rev. Seth Sterling, of Ver- 
mont, a man of God, whose praise is in 
all the church, likewise united with this 
church while in her infancy, and still 
lives, an ornament to the Christian name. 
Rev. Jeremiah Fry, of the Green Mountain 
State, born a Reformed Methodist, is one 
of the most talented ministers, though self- 
made, of any in the Vermont Conference. 
Rev. Messrs. Dunham, Snow, and Harris, 
of Mass., reared up among the Reformers, 
are able ministers of the New Testament. 

At the present time we have five con- 
ferences of Reformed Methodists : the 
Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, New 
York Western, and Canada Conferences, 
and about fifty ordained preachers or el- 



ders, and twenty-five licensed preachers- 
The memberships are computed at 3,000. 

Of the progress of the cause in Vermont, 
I need not farther speak. The year of 
the close of the war, with a view to thrust 
laborers into the field, a sort of community 
was formed ; Wm. Lake, E. Bailey, E. 
Davis, E. Amadon, and several others 
being members of it. They bought a 
farm on the state line in the town of Ben- 
nington, Vt., and Hosack, N. Y. This 
farm consisted of several hundred acres, 
and the community, of near a dozen 
farmers. Providence did not seem to 
smile on the undertaking, though conceived 
in the purest benevolence. The cold sea- 
sons coming on, the want of funds to pay 
in advance for the farm, rendered it im- 
possible for them to pay for the place, and 
after remaining two years on the premises, 
they were compelled to scatter ; not scat- 
tered to abandon their principles, but to 
promulgate them in other regions, where 
Providence might open the way. Rev. E. 
Bailey removed to Slatersville, R. I., in 
which place he labored two years, and 
then removed to Onondaga, N. Y. For 
eighteen years his family remained in 
Manlius, Onondaga, while he himself was 
itinerating from Cape Cod to Ohio. About 
ten years ago he removed to Cape Cod, 
Mass., at which place he has labored 
since that time, and where he still resides, 
in the 77th year of his age, though capa- 
ble of sustaining a pastoral charge. He 
has frequently remarked, that preaching 
was to him a healthful exercise. This is 
owing, no doubt, to the natural, easy mode 
of speaking which he had acquired, and 
the self-control he had obtained over him- 
self; so that he was always cool and col- 
lected, his zeal the effect of the flow of 
spirit, and not a labored effort for effect, 
against the impulses of his own heart. He 
is emphatically a man of integrity, and 
steady devotion to God. 

Rev. Wm. Lake, soon after the com- 
munity was dissolved, removed to the 
town of Granby, N. Y., where his family 
still resides ; and from this central point 
travelled extensively, and was eminently 
useful in planting and watering the Re- 
formed Methodist societies in this state. 
He was unlike the Rev. E. Bailey in the 
temperament of his mind and gifts ; but 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



389 



for several years, when the providence of 
God opened the way for them to labor 
together, they most harmoniously drew to- 
gether as true yoke-fellows, and scarcely 
did they strike a blow, but that a powerful 
revival attended the effort. He was indeed 
" a son of thunder," whose powerful ap- 
peals touched the most stony heart. 

Failing in the " community " project, 
tended no doubt to subserve the cause 
which they had so nearly at heart. They 
were scattered, and in their scattered con- 
dition have accomplished more than they 
would have done if confined to one spot as 
a centre of operations. This attempt to 
build up a permanent community was an 
unwise move, and is now universally so 
regarded by the persons interested. So 
the fathers think ; and some of their sons, 
now that property associations and com- 
munities are heralded as the sovereign 
panacea of the ills of human society, look 
back to that time with an instinctive dis- 
like to such schemes for human improve- 
ment. 

Reformed Methodism was planted in 
Upper Canada by the Rev. Messrs. Wm. 
Lake and E. Bailey, some time in 1817 
or 1818. Here they soon found faithful 
co-laborers in the persons of Rev. Messrs. 
Robert and Daniel Perry. The history 
of the revival which followed their first 
labors in this province would be most in- 
structive, affording one of the most inter- 
esting instances, of the conversion of hard- 
ened sinners, found in modern history of 
revivals. Instances of slaying power 
were common. Infidels feared and trem- 
bled in view of the manifest tokens of the 
divine presence. 

In the state of New York, worthy co- 
laborers soon came to the aid of " the 
fathers," whose piety and devotion have 
placed them high in the affections of the 
people with which they stand connected. 
But our limits will not allow us to notice 
them particularly. 

The Reformed Methodists, up to the 
year 1837, labored under the inconve- 
nience of having no periodical organ. In 
the year 1837,the " South Cortland Lumi- 
nary " was started, edited by the writer. 
This paper was started by the New York 
Conference, but was soon made the organ 
of the whole church. The press in the 



year 1839, was removed to Fayetteville, 
N. Y., and took the name " Fayetteville 
Luminary," edited as before. In the fall 
of 1841, an association was formed be- 
tween the Reformed Methodists, Society 
Methodists, and local bodies of Wesleyan 
Methodists, the object of which was to aid 
each other, without merging the various 
bodies in one church. By the terms of 
this association, the name of the Luminary 
was changed to that of the " Methodist 
Reformer," the Reformer to be the organ 
of the association, but still the press to be 
the property of the Reformed Methodists. 
The Reformer was started in Fayetteville, 
but removed to Utica, in the fall of 1842 ; 
and after the organization of the Wesleyan 
Methodist Church, May, 1843, by an ar- 
rangement between the Reformed Metho- 
dists and the Wesleyans, on the associa- 
tion principle, the Reformer subscription 
list was transferred to the True Wesleyan, 
published at Boston, Massachusetts, as a 
preliminary step to a union of the two 
bodies. Six years only of the time of the 
existence of the Reformed Methodist body, 
they had the advantages of the press. 
Rev. E. Bailey had, however, written two 
works, one, " Bailey on the Trinity," and 
"Thoughts on Government," previous to 
this. 

The Reformers are still distinct in their 
organization, but bound to the Wesleyan 
Methodists by the ties of sympathy in 
principle and mode of church polity, and 
likewise by an association which secures 
mutual advantages, and it is contemplated 
that at no distant day, they will be lost in 
the Wesleyan Methodist Church. 

Such is but a meagre outline of the 
history of this body of Methodists. It has 
often been tauntingly said, " Why, you 
Reformers have done nothing !" We 
have, truly, nothing of which to boast. 
But considering the material with which 
they commenced, the number, men, want 
of schools and an educated ministry, the 
opposition which a body must meet, that 
has the plainness to intimate that the 
Methodist Episcopal Church needs reform- 
ing, and the actual opposition, to say 
nothing of outright slander from that quar- 
ter : the wonder is greater that they have 
done as much as they have. The actual 
number in a denomination is not the true 



390 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH. 



standard of the good they are accomplish- 
ing. The Reformers have been the in- 
struments of the conversion of thousands 
who, in consequence of their itinerant 
habits, have sought a home in other 
churches. One whole conference went 
off in Ohio, and joined the Methodist Pro- 
testant Church. Some ten years since, 
more than one half of the ministers of the 
Massachusetts Conference, and several 
societies, seceded and joined the Protestant 
Methodists. Then, again, it requires 
some humility and attachment to princi- 
ple to induce men to stand long with a 
small and persecuted people. Reformers 
have had seceders from them — I will not 
call them apostates — and all these things 
taken into the account, we have abundant 
reason to thank God that our labor has 
not been altogether in vain. 

I might have added, under the head of 
" articles of religion," that the Reformed 
Methodist Church has always had an article 
against war, offensive and defensive. I 
add it here, for I have aimed to give every 
" radical" as well as " fanatical" trait in 
the history of this people. For if the 
public have any interest in the history of 
this branch of the Church of Christ, they 
are most interested in those portions where- 
in they differ from others. And surely, 



we need be ashamed of nothing but our 
sins. And I must add another fact : it 
might be expected that a body formed upon 
the democratical principle of the Reformed 
Methodist Church would be anti-slavery in 
its character. The Reformed Methodists 
have from the beginning had Mr. Wesley's 
general rule with respect to " buying or 
selling men, women and children, with an 
intention to enslave them," and not that 
spurious interpolated one now in the Dis- 
cipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; 
and when the recent anti-slavery discus- 
sion sprung up, this body was prompt to 
respond to this effort to rid the church and 
country of this " sum of all villanies." 
They soon added an article to the Disci- 
pline, excluding apologists for this sin 
against " God, man, and nation," from the 
church. And we are happy to add, that 
they have great harmony on this question. 
In conclusion, Mr. Editor, I shall thank 
you for allowing space in your History of 
the whole Church, for transmitting to pos- 
terity the brief record of this body of 
Christians which I have furnished ; but 
the haste with which it has been written, 
and amidst the pressing cares which at 
present devolve upon me, and the want of 
statistics and records, I must beg to urge 
as an apology for deficiencies. 



HISTORY OF THE TRUE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 391 



HISTORY 



THE TRUE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH 

BY THE REV. J. TIMBERMAN, 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST TRUE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH, CITY OF NEW YORK. 



The polity of the original Wesleyan 
societies rested upon the principle that 
their illustrious founder had a right to con- 
trol every minister and preacher, and 
every member of his societies, in all mat- 
ters of a prudential character. As he 
himself states, he had the exclusive power 
to appoint, when, where and how, his 
societies should meet ; and to remove those 
whose lives showed that they had no de- 
sire to flee the wrath to come ; and this 
power remains the same, whether the peo- 
ple meeting together were eight hundred 
or eight thousand. He exercised a simi- 
lar power over the preachers, to appoint 
each, when, where and how to labor, and 
to tell any, " If I see causes, I do not de- 
sire your help any longer." Mostly, the 
members of these societies were members 
of the Church of England; some were 
members of the dissenting churches. Mr. 
Wesley was a minister of the Church of 
England, and as such he died ; and with 
very few exceptions, his preachers were 
laymen. He was their tutor and governor. 
He was the patron of all the Methodist 
pulpits in England and Ireland for life : 
the sole right of nomination being vested 
in him by the deeds of settlement. He 
was also the patron of the Methodist so- 
cieties in America, and as such, he is ac- 
knowledged by the Methodist Episcopal 
Church as its founder. That he is the 
author of the Episcopacy of that church, 
is questioned by some for the following 
reasons: 1st. Tt was not until some years 



after the institution of Episcopacy, in 1784, 
that Mr. Wesley's authority was alleged 
as its basis. But without any mention of 
Mr. Wesley, the itinerant preachers de- 
clared in their first minutes : " We will 
form ourselves into an Episcopal Church," 
&c. 2d. Mr. Wesley alleged no other 
authority than himself to ordain ministers, 
but his right as a presbyter. 3d. He so- 
lemnly forbid Mr. Asbury to assume the 
title of bishop in his letter to Mr. Shinn, 
dated London, Sept. 20th, 1788, in which 
he says : " One instance of this, your 
greatness, has given me great concern. 
How can you, how dare you suffer your- 
self to be called a bishop ? I shudder at 
the very thought. Men may call me a 
man, or a fool, or a rascal, or a scoundrel, 
and I am content ; but they shall never, 
with my consent, call me a bishop. For 
my sake, for God's sake, for Christ's sake, 
put a full end to this." Signed, John 
Wesley. 4th. Some of the first symp- 
toms indicative of dissatisfaction with the 
new economy were evinced by those 
preachers, who were well acquainted with 
Mr. Wesley's sentiments on this subject, 
and had themselves been made to feel the 
tremendous power of this economy among 
Methodists, namely, Episcopacy. On no 
question have they been so equally di- 
vided. No changes, however, have been 
effected. The Episcopacy still maintains 
its prerogatives in their original integrity. 
In 1824, memorials and petitions were 
presented to the General Conference, com- 



392 



HISTORY OF THE TRUE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 



plaining of the government being so con- 
stituted and administered, as to exclude the 
local preachers and the lay members from 
every sort of participation in their own 
government, as Methodists. But some of 
these petitioners were satisfied with the 
plea of expediency ; still the most of them 
took the ground of right. All of them 
claimed a representative form of govern- 
ment. The Conference replied, that they 
knew no such right, nor did they compre- 
hend any such privileges. From that time 
the controversy assumed a new character, 
the result of which was the call of a con- 
vention of all Methodist families, to a re- 
presentative form of church government, 
to be held at Baltimore, Maryland, in No- 
vember, 1828. Here, a provisional gov- 
ernment, under the formal articles of asso- 
ciation, was adopted, to continue for two 
years ; after which, another convention 
was also held in Baltimore, and continued 
its sessions from the 2d to the 23d of No- 
vember, 1830. One hundred and twelve 
persons were elected as members, eighty- 
one of whom attended. A constitution 
and discipline were adopted ; called, " the 
Constitution and Discipline of the Protes- 
tant Methodist Church." In this, much 
contemplated by Reformed Methodists was 
gained, and prosperity greatly attended 
said church. But many things contem- 
plated by True Wesleyans were not yet 
gained ; for the true founder of Wesleyan 
Methodism was not only opposed to the 
Episcopal form of church government, as 
it exists in America among the Metho- 
dists, but also to slavery as it exists in this 
country. And yet this vile system is 
cherished by both Episcopal and Protes- 
tant Methodists ; therefore, both churches 
are still agitated by those who were not 
one in sentiment upon Episcopacy and 
slavery. True Wesleyans and some of 
the chief men are engaged in this latter 
reform with Mr. Hervey, who calls this 
system of slavery the vilest system ever 
seen beneath the sun. In the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, were Rev. Leroy Sun- 
derland, Orange Scott, Luther Lee, J. 
Horton, E. Smith, C. Prindle, &c. In 
the Protestant Methodist Church, were 
Rev. John Crocker, Hiram Mackee, R. 
McMurdy, G. Pegler, Dr. Timberman, J. 
Culver, &c. These, with a host of 



others from different associated Methodist 
Churches, united in calling a convention 
of ministers and laymen, for the purpose 
of forming a Wesleyan Methodist Church, 
free from Episcopacy, intemperance and 
slavery ; which convention was held at 
Utica, New York, on May 31st, 18-43. 
And after many days' peaceful delibera- 
tion, the glorious design of this convention 
was accomplished, VxZ., the formation of 
a Discipline, called " the Discipline of the 
Wesleyan Methodist Church in America," 
granting to all men their rights, and mak- 
ing them free and equal, according to the 
word of God and the preamble of the De- 
claration of Independence of these United 
States. They also organized six annual 
conferences, including the chief portions 
of the Northern and Eastern States, con- 
nected with which, are many interesting 
societies, and talented ministers and 
preachers, which number about twenty 
thousand members, and about three hun- 
dred itinerant ministers and preachers, 
besides a greater number of unstationed 
ministers and preachers. Thus much for 
the history of this branch of the Church 
of Christ. We now come to notice se- 
condly, the doctrines of the True Wes- 
levan Methodist Church. 



ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 

1. A Christian church is a society of 
believers in Jesus Christ, assembled in 
any one place for religious worship, and 
is of divine institution. 

2. Christ is the only Head of the 
Church ; and the word of God the only 
rule of faith and conduct. 

3. No person who loves the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and obeys the gospel of God our 
Saviour, ought to be deprived of church 
membership. 

4. Every man has an inalienable right 
to private judgment, in matters of religion ; 
and an equal right to express his opinion, 
in any way which will not violate the 
laws of God, or the rights of his fellow- 
men. 

5. Church trials should be conducted 
on gospel principles only; and no minis- 
ter or member should be excommunicated 
except for immorality, the propagation of 
unchristian doctrines, or for the neglect 



HISTORY OF THE TRUE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 



393 



of duties enjoined by the word of 
God. 

6. The pastoral or ministerial office 
and duties are of divine appointment, and 
all elders in the church of God are equal; 
but ministers are forbidden to lord it over 
God's heritage, or to have dominion over 
the faith of the saints. 

7. The church has a right to form and 
enforce such rules and regulations only, 
as are in accordance with the holy scrip- 
tu;es, and may be necessary, or have a 
tendency, to carry into effect the great 
system of practical Christianity. 

8. Whatever power may be necessary 
to the formation of rules and regulations 
is inherent in the ministers and members 
of the church ; but so much of that power 
may be delegated from time to time, upon 
a plan of representation, as they may 
judge necessary and proper. 

9. It is the duty of all ministers and 
members of the church to maintain godli- 
ness, and to oppose all moral evil. 

10. It is obligatory on ministers of the 
gospel to be faithful in the discharge of 
their pastoral and ministerial duties ; and 
it is also obligatory on the members to 
esteem ministers highly for their work's 
sake, and to render them a righteous 
compensation for their labors. 

ARTICLES OF RELIGION. 

I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity. — 
There is but one living and true God, ever- 
lasting, of infinite power, wisdom, and 
goodness : the Maker and Preserver of all 
things visible and invisible. And in unity 
of this Godhead there are three persons 
of one substance, power, and eternity, the 
Father, the Son (the Word), and the Holy 
Ghost. 

11. Of the Son of God.— The only be- 
gotten Son of God was conceived of the 
Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, 
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was cruci- 
fied, dead, and buried, to be a sacrifice, 
not only for original guilt, but also for the 
actual sins of men, and to reconcile us to 
God. 

III. Of the Resurrection of Christ. — 
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, 
taking his body, with all things apper- 
taining to the perfection of man's nature, 



50 



wherewith He ascended into heaven, and 
there sitteth until He shall return to judge 
all men at the last day. 

IV. Of the Holy Ghost.— The Holy 
Ghost, proceeding from the Father and 
the Son, very and eternal God. 

V. The Sufficiency of the Holy Scrip- 
tures for Salvation. — The holy scriptures 
contain all things necessary to salvation ; 
so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor 
may be proved thereby, is not to be re- 
quired of any man, that it should be be- 
lieved as an article of faith, or be thought 
necessary or requisite to salvation. In 
the name of the holy scriptures, we do un- 
derstand those canonical books of the Old 
and New Testament, of whose authority 
there is no doubt in the Church. 

The canonical books of the Old Testa- 
ment are : Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 
Ruth, the First Book of Samuel, the Se- 
cond Book of Samuel, the First Book of 
Kings, the Second Book of Kings, the 
First Book of Chronicles, the Second 
Book of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra, 
the Book of Nehemiah, the Book of Es- 
ther, the Book of Job, the Psalms, the 
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Songs of Solo- 
mon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, 
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Oba- 
diah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakuk, 
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Mal- 
achi. 

The canonical books of the New Tes- 
tament are : Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 
the Acts, the Epistle to the Romans, First 
Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Gala- 
tians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 
First Thessalonians, Second Thessalo- 
nians, First Timothy, Second Timothy, 
Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, First 
Peter, Second Peter, First John, Second 
John, Third John, Jude, Revelation. 

VI. Of the Old Testament.— The Old 
Testament is not contrary to the New ; 
for both in the Old and New Testament 
everlasting life is offered to mankind 
through Christ, who is the only mediator 
between God and man, wherefore they 
are not to be heard who feign that the 
old fathers did look only for transitory 
promises. Although the law given from 
God by Moses, as touching rites and cere- 
monies, doth not bind Christians, nor 



394 



HISTORY OF THE TRUE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 



ought the civil precepts thereof of neces- 
sity be received in any commonwealth ; 
yet, notwithstanding, no Christian whatso- 
ever is free from the obedience of the 
ten commandments, which are called the 
moral law. 

VII. Of Relative Duties. — Those two 
great commandments which require us to 
love the Lord our God with all our hearts, 

j] and our neighbors as ourselves, contain 
the sum of the divine law, as it is revealed 
in the scriptures, and are the measure 
and perfect rule of human duty, as well 
for the ordering and directing of families 
and nations and all other social bodies, as 
for individual acts, by which we are re- 
quired to acknowledge God as our only 
supreme ruler, and all men created by 
Him, equal in all natural rights. Where- 
fore all men are bound so to order all 
their individual and social acts, as to ren- 
der to God entire and absolute obedience, 
and to secure all men the enjoyment of 
every natural right, as well as to promote 
the greatest happiness of each in the pos- 
session and exercise of such rights. 

VIII. Of Original or Birth Sin.— 
Original sin standeth not in following of 
Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk,) 
but it is the corruption of the nature of 
every man, that naturally is engendered 
of the offspring of Adam, whereby man 
is wholly gone from original righteous- 
ness, and of his own nature inclined to 
evil, and that continually. 

IX. Of Free Will— The condition of 
man after the fall of Adam is such, that 
he cannot turn and prepare himself by his 
own natural strength and works, pleasant 
and acceptable to God, without the grace 
of God by Christ working in us, that we 
may have a good will, and working with 
us when we have that good will. 

X. Of the Justification of Man. — We 
are accounted righteous before God, only 
for the merit of our Lord and Saviour, 
Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our 
own works or deservings ; wherefore that 
we are justified by faith only, is a most 
wholesome doctrine, and very full of com- 
fort. 

XI. Of Good Works. — Although good 
works, which are the fruit of faith, and 
follow after justification, cannot put away 
our sins and endure the severity of God's 



judgments : yet are they pleasing and 
acceptable to God in Christ, and spring 
out of a true and lively faith, insomuch as 
by them a lively faith may be as evidently 
known as a tree is discerned by its fruit. 

XII. Of Sin after Justification. — Not 
every sin willingly committed after justifi- 
cation, is a sin against the Holy Ghost, 
and unpardonable ; wherefore, repentance 
is not denied to such as fall into sin after 
justification ; after we have received the 
Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace 
given, and fall into sin, and by the grace 
of God, rise again to amend our lives. 
And therefore they are to be condemned, 
who say they can no more sin, as long as 
they live here ; or deny the place of for- 
giveness to such as truly repent. 

XIII. Of Sacraments. — Sacraments 
ordained of Christ are not only badges or 
tokens of Christian men's profession ; but 
they are certain signs of grace, and God's 
good will toward us, by which he doth 
work invisibly in us and doth not only 
quicken, but also strengthen and confirm 
our faith in him. 

There are two sacraments ordained of 
Christ our Lord, in the gospel ; that is to 
say, Baptism and the Supper of our Lord. 

XIV. Of Baptism. — Baptism is not 
only a sign of profession, and mark of dif- 
ference, whereby Christians are distin- 
guished from others that are not baptized ; 
but it is also a sign of regeneration or the 
new birth. The baptism of young chil- 
dren is to be retained in the church. 

XV. Of the Lord's Supper. — The 
Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of 
the love that Christians ought to have 
among themselves one to another, but 
rather it is a sacrament of our redemption 
by Christ's death ; insomuch that, to such 
as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive 
the same, it is made a medium through 
which God doth communicate grace to the 
heart. 

XVI. Of the one Oblaiion of Christ 
finished on the Cross. — The offering of 
Christ, once made, is that perfect redemp- 
tion and propitiation for all the sins of the 
whole world, both original and actual ; 
and there is none other satisfaction for sin 
but that alone. Wherefore, to expect sal- 
vation on the ground of oui own works, 
or by suffering the pains our sins deserve, 



HISTORY OF THE TRUE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 



395 



either in the present or future state, is de- 
rogatory to Christ's offering for us, and a 
dangerous deceit. 

XVII. Of the Rites and Ceremonies 
of Churches. — It is not necessary that 
rites and ceremonies should in all places 
be alike ; for they have always been dif- 
ferent, and may be changed according to 
the diversity of countries, times, and 
men's manners, so that nothing be or- 
dained against God's word. Every par- 
ticular church may ordain, change, or 
abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all 
things may be done to edification. 

XVIII. Of the Resurrection of the 
Dead. — There will be a general resurrec- 
tion of the dead, both of the just and the 
unjust, at which time the souls and bodies 
of men will be reunited, to receive together 
a just retribution for the deeds done in the 
body. 

XIX. Of the General Judgment.- — 
There will be a general judgment at the 
end of the world, when God will judge all 
men by Jesus Christ, and receive the 
righteous into his heavenly kingdom, 
where they shall be for ever secure and 
happy; and adjudge the wicked to everlast- 
ing punishment suited to the demerit of 
their sins. 

STATISTICS OF THE TRUE WESLEYAN 
CHURCH. 

Boundaries of Amiual Conferences. — 
1. The New England Conference com- 
prises the New England States, except 
that portion of Vermont west of the Green 
Mountains. In the bound's of this confer- 
ence are contained thirty-four circuits and 
congregations, and nineteen ministers. 

2. Champlain Conference includes that 
part of Vermont west of the Green Moun- 
tains ; that part of New York State which 
lies north and east of Black river, and a 
line running;; from Carthage to the west 
corner of Vermont. This conference con- 
tains at present, nine stations and eleven 
ministers. 

3. New York Conference comprises so 
much of New York as is not included in 



the Champlain Conference, Eastern Penn- 
sylvania, and New Jersey. In this con- 
ference are contained thirty-five stations 
and thirty ministers. 

4. Alleghany Conference includes that 
part of Pennsylvania west of the Alleghany 
Mountains, that part of Ohio east of the 
Scioto river, and Western Virginia. We 
find included in this conference thirteen 
stations and circuits, and eleven ministers. 

5. Miami Conference includes the State 
of Ohio west of the Scioto river, the States 
of Indiana, Illinois, and the Territories of 
Wisconsin and Iowa, containing twelve 
stations and circuits, and five ministers. 

6. Michigan Conference embraces the 
State of Michigan, containing nine stations 
and fourteen ministers. 

Reserve List of Preacliers — Contains j 
nine preachers. 

Thus making the summary, as before 
stated, reckoning from the best data in our 
possession, of six conferences, including 
about three hundred ministers and preach- 
ers, who itinerate, and upwards of three 
hundred other ministers and preachers 
who are as yet unstationed ; and about 
twenty thousand communicating members 
of the respective churches belonging to 
this division of the vineyard of our com- 
mon Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Having thus seceded from the other 
branches of the Methodist Church, after 
much prayerful deliberation, and purely 
from conscientious motives, whilst our 
devout and fervent prayer is, that grace, 
mercy, and peace, from God the Father, 
and his anointed Son, Jesus, our Saviour, 
through the effectual operations of the 
Holy Ghost, the Comforter, may be mul- 
tiplied abundantly unto all who love and 
long for the appearance of the great God, 
our Saviour : we would go forward in re- 
lying on the grace of that -God which 
maketh rich and addeth no sorrow, in ac- 
complishing the work which God has 
given us to do ; whilst we would ever look 
to the Redeeming Saviour to work in us 
to will and to do of his own good pleasure. 
Amen. 



396 HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



HISTORY 



THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 



BY REV. D. A. PAYNE, BALTIMORE, MD. 



Tins humble branch of the Redeemer's 
Church was founded in the year 1816, in 
the city of Philadelphia, by Rev. Richard 
Allen, (afterwards its first Bishop,) Rev. 
Daniel Boker, Rev. James Champion, Rev. 
Clayton Durham, and others, whose names 
have not reached the present time. The 
organization of said church, took place in 
a convention held for ecclesiastical pur- 
poses, by a large number of colored per- 
sons, who had seceded from the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, both in the city of Phi- 
ladelphia and Baltimore, for reasons which 
they considered perfeety justifiable in them- 
selves ; — reasons growing out of their cir- 
cumstances as an oppressed people, in 
church as well as in state. 

As the history of our rise and progress, 
and reasons which led our fathers to secede 
from the M. E. Church, are not generally 
known, I shall insert here an extract from 
the address of our bishops, Brown, Waters, 
and Quinn, to the members of the African 
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United 
States. 

" In November, 1787, the colored peo- 
ple belonging to the Methodist Society of 
Philadelphia, convened together, in order 
to take into consideration the evils under 
which they labored, arising from the un- 
kind treatment of their white brethren, 
who considered them a nuisance in the 
house of worship, and even pulled them 
off their knees, while in the act of prayer, 
and ordered them to the back seats. From 
these and various other acts of unchristian 
conduct, they considered it their duty to 



devise a plan in order to build a house of 
their own, to worship God under their own 
vine and fig-tree. In this undertaking they 
met with great opposition from an elder of 
the Methodist Church, (J. M'C.) who 
threatened, that if they did not give up the 
building, erase their names from the sub- 
scription paper, and make acknowledg- 
ments for having attempted such a thing, 
that in three months they should all be 
publicly expelled from the Methodist So- 
ciety. Not considering themselves bound 
to obey this injunction, and being fully 
satisfied they should be treated without 
mercy, they sent in their resignation. 

" Being now as out-casts, they had to 
seek for friends where they could ; and the 
Lord put it into the hearts of Dr. Benja- 
min Rush, Mr. R. Ralston, and other re- 
spectable citizens, to interpose for them, 
both by advice and assistance in getting 
their building finished : — Bishop White 
also aided them, and ordained one from 
among themselves, after the order of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, to be their 
pastor. 

" In 1793, the number of the serious 
people of color having increased, they were 
of different opinions, respecting the mode 
of religious worship j and, as many felt a 
strong partiality for that adopted by the 
Methodists, Richard Allen, with the advice 
of some of his brethren, proposed erecting 
a place of worship on his own ground, and 
at his own expense, as an African Metho- 
dist meeting house. As soon as the preach- 
ers of the Methodist Church in Philadel- 




Kev. BICHAKD ALLEN. 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



397 



phia came to the knowledge of this, they 
opposed it with all their might, insisting 
that the house should be made over to the 
Conference, or they would publish them 
in the newspapers, as imposing on the 
public, as they were not Methodists. How- 
ever, the building went on, and when finish- 
ed, they invited Francis Asbury, then 
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
to open the house for divine service, which 
invitation, he accepted, and the house was 
named Bethel. (See Gen. chap. 28.) 

" It was now proposed by the resident 
elder, (J. M'C.) that they should have the 
church incorporated, that they might re- 
ceive any donation or legacy, as well as 
enjoy any other advantages arising there- 
from ; this was agreed to ; and in order to 
save expense, the elder proposed drawing 
it up for them. But they soon found that 
he had done it in such a manner as en- 
tirely deprived them of the liberty they 
expected to enjoy. So that, by this strata- 
gem, they were again brought into bondage 
by the Methodist preachers. 

" In this situation they experienced grie- 
vances too numerous to mention ; at one 
time the elder (J. S.) demanded the keys 
of the house, with the books and papers 
belonging thereto ; telling them at other 
times they should have no more meetings 
without his leave, and that the house was 
not theirs, but belonged to the Methodist 
Conference. Finding themselves thus em- 
barrassed, they consulted a lawyer, who 
informed them, that by means of supple- 
ment, they could be delivered from the 
grievances under which they labored. The 
congregation unanimously agreed to sign 
the petition for a supplement, which the 
Legislature of Pennsylvania readily grant- 
ed ; and they were liberated from the dif- 
ficulties which they experienced for many 
years. They now hoped to be free from 
any other perplexity ; but they soon found 
that their proceedings exasperated their 
opponents. In order to accommodate mat- 
ters they proposed supplying them with 
preaching if they would give $600 per 
year to the Methodist Society. The con- 
gregation not consenting, they fell to $400 ; 
but the people were not willing to give 
more than $200 per year. For this sum 
they were to preach for them twice a week 
during the year. But it proved to be only 



six or seven times a year, and sometimes 
by such preachers as were not acceptable 
to the Bethel people, and not in much 
esteem among the Methodists as preachers. 
The Bethel people being dissatisfied with 
such conduct, induced the trustees to pass 
a resolution to give but $100 per year to 
the Methodist preachers. When a quar- 
terly payment of the last sum was tendered, 
it was refused and sent back, insisting on 
the $200, or they would preach no more for 
them. At this time they pressed strongly 
to have the supplement repealed ; this they 
could not comply with. 

" They then waited on Bishop Asbury, 
and proposed taking a preacher to them- 
selves, and supporting him in boarding and 
salary, provided he would attend to the 
duties of the church, such as visiting the 
sick, burying the dead, baptising, and ad- 
ministering the sacrament. The Bishop 
observed, ? He did not think there was more 
than one preacher belonging to the Con- 
ference that would attend to those duties, 
and that was Richard Allen.' The Bishop 
was then informed that they would pay a 
preacher four or five hundred dollars a 
year, if he would attend to all the duties 
of their church, that they should expect ; 
he replied, ' We will not serve you on 
such terms.' 

" Shortly after this an elder (S. R.) then 
in Philadelphia, declared that unless they 
would repeal the supplement, neither he 
nor any of the Methodist preachers, tra- 
velling or local, should preach any more 
for them ; so they were left to themselves. 
At length the preachers and stewards be- 
longing to the Academy proposed serving 
them on the same terms, that they had 
offered to the St. George's preachers ; and 
they preached for them better than twelve 
months, and then demanded $150 per 
year ; this not being complied with, they 
declined preaching for them, and they 
were once more left to themselves, as an 
edict'was passed by the elder, that if any 
local preacher served them, he should be 
expelled from the connection. John Emory, 
then elder of the Academy, published a 
circular letter, in which they were dis- 
owned by the Methodists. A house was 
also fitted up, not far from Bethel, and an 
invitation given to all who desired to be 
Methodists, to resort thither; but, being 



398 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



disappointed in this plan, Robert R. Ro- 
berts, the resident elder of St. George's 
charge, came to Bethel and insisted on 
preaching to them, and taking the spiritual 
charge, for they were Methodists. He was 
told, he should come on some terms with 
the trustees ; his answer was, that he did 
not come to consult with Richard Allen, 
nor the trustees, but to inform the con- 
gregation, that on next Sabbath day he 
would come and take the charge ; they 
told him, he could not preach for them 
under existing circumstrnces. However, 
at the appointed time he came ; but, having 
taken previous advice, they had their 
preacher in the pulpit when he came, and 
the house so fixed that he could not get 
more than half way to the pulpit ; finding 
himself disappointed, he appealed to those 
who came with him as witnesses,, that 
* That man,' meaning the preacher, < had 
taken his appointment.' Several respect- 
able white citizens, (who knew the colored 
people had been ill used,) were present, 
and told them not to fear, for they would 
see them righted, and not suffer Roberts to 
preach in a forcible manner : after which 
Roberts went away. 

" The next elder stationed at Philadel- 
phia, was Robert Birch, who followed the 
example of his predecessor, came and pub- 
lished a meeting for himself; but the be- 
fore-mentioned method was adopted, and 
he had to go away disappointed. In con- 
sequence of this, he applied to the Supreme 
Court, for a writ of Mandamus, to know 
why the pulpit was denied him, being 
elder ; this brought on a law suit, which 
ended in favor of Bethel. Thus, by the 
providence of God, they were delivered 
from a long, distressing and expensive 
suit, which could not be resumed, being 
determined by the Supreme Court; for 
this mercy they were unfeignedly thankful. 

" About this time the colored people in 
Baltimore and other places were treated in 
a similar manner as those in Philadelphia, 
who, rather than go to law, were com- 
pelled to seek places of worship for them- 
selves ; this induced the people of Phila- 
delphia to call a general convention in 
April, 1816, to form a connection ; dele- 
gates appointed to represent different 
churches, met those of Philadelphia, and 
taking into consideration their grievances, 



and in order to secure their privileges and 
promote union among themselves, it was 
resolved, That the people of Philadelphia, 
Baltimore, and all other places who should 
unite with them, should become one body 
under the name and style of the * African 
Methodist Episcopal Church.' " 

Having thus sketched out a brief his- 
tory of our little Zion, and the causes 
which led to a separate organization un- 
der the aforesaid title, I would further 
state, that as these did not involve any 
difference in doctrine or practice, the 
aforementioned Convention, held in Phila- 
delphia, in the year 1816, adopted the 
same doctrines, discipline, and general 
government, in which they had been in- 
structed, and by which they had been 
governed, differing only in those points 
which did not apply to their peculiar cir- 
cumstances. These points of difference 
are the following : 

1. They have no presiding elders, just 
because they are not able to maintain 
them. 

2. Their local preachers are eligible to 
membership in the Annual Conferences, 
and as such, are entitled to all the privi- 
leges of the itinerant members. 

3. Their local preachers have a seat, 
voice, and vote, in the General Confer- 
ence, when sent there as delegates from 
the Annual Conferences, to represent the 
lay members of the church, i. e. For 
every four hundred lay members, there is 
one local preacher in the General Con- 
ference. 

According to documentary evidence, 
the first Annual Conference was held in 
the city of Baltimore, in the month of 
April, 1818, at which the following per- 
sons were present, viz : 

Rt. Rev. Richard Allen, Rev. Jacob 
Tapsico, Rev. Richard Williams, Rev. 
Henry Harden, Thomas Robinson, Chas. 
Pierce, James Torosen, Jerry Millar, 
and William Quinn. 

In May, of the same year, the second 
Annual Conference was held in Philadel- 
phia, and was composed of the following 
persons, viz : 

Rt. Rev. Richard Allen, Rev. James" 

Champion, Rev. Richard Williams, Rev. 

Henry Warden, Rev. Charles Pierce, 

J Rev. Reuben Cuff, Jeremiah Millar, Wil- 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



399 



Ham Quinn, James Toroson, Robt. Butler, 
Joseph Oliver, David Smith, Jacob Tap- 
sico, John Messer, Sampson Peters, Adam 
Clincher, Zarah Hall, Julius Stewart, 
Daniel C. Hall, (Steward), William John- 
son, James Woolford, Samuel Ridley, 
Thomas Robinson, Abner Cooker. 

The A. M. E. Church has a book con- 
cern, and a magazine, edited by that man 
of God, the Rev. George Hogarth, gene- 
ral book steward of the connection. It 
has also 3 Education, and 7 Missionary 
Societies. 

There are lands purchased in the State 
of Ohio for the establishment of a Manual 
Labor School, and an agent employed in 
collecting funds to establish another east 



of the Allegheny Mountains. Since the 
organization of the A. M. E. Church, it 
has had four bishops, namely: Bishop 
Richard Allen, who was ordained in 1816 ; 
Bishop Morris Brown, who was ordained 
in 1828; Bishop Edward Waters, who 
was ordained in 1836 ; and Bishop Wil- 
liam P. Quinn, who was ordained in 1844. 
The first and third are dead; the second 
is superannuated, and now 87 years of 
age; the last is actively engaged in the 
oversight of the churches. 

And may the great Head of the Church, 
who has led us thus far, still continue to 
shed the dews of his grace upon this little 
branch, until it shall become like the ce- 
dars of Lebanon in strength, and like the 
I garden of the Lord in beauty and fertility 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



BY REV. JOHN J. MOORE, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



A compendious account of the rise, pro- 
gress, doctrines, government, and statistics 
of the African Methodist Episcopal Church 
in America, commonly known by the title 
of the Zion Wesley Methodist connection. 

I. History. 

II. Doctrines. 

III. Government. 

IV. Statistics. 

I. History. — The mother Church of 
said denomination, commenced her for- 
mation in the city of New York, in A. D. 
1796. From the following circumstances, 
the colored members connected with the 



Methodist Episcopal Church, (White,) in 
the city of New York, being considerable 
in number, and being limited in their 
Christian privileges and usefulness among 
themselves : not being privileged to im- 
prove their religious talents, on the account 
of those popular prejudices, existing against 
colored people, therefore they determined, 
from the suggestions of some of the most 
pious and intelligent of them, the propri- 
ety of having meeting among themselves, 
which they did, with the consent of Bishop 
Asbury (Francis) : for the full particulars 
of this movement, see History of said 



400 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



connection, by Rev. Christopher Rush, 
published in New York. The leading 
men in this movement, were Francis Ja- 
cobs, William Brown, William Miller and 
others too tedious to name. In a short 
time after the commencement of this sepa- 
rate plan of worship, they secured a place 
of worship, where they held stated meet- 
ings ; there were three licensed preachers, 
that conducted these meetings, with the 
permission of the white Bishop Asbury ; 
they held their meetings on Sabbath, in 
the intermediate time of preaching in the 
white church ; for the persons of color 
principally composing those meetings, were 
members connected with the white Metho- 
dist Church, and had to give their atten- 
tion there, at its proper hours of worship, 
thus for several years they worshipped in 
this way ; the white Church being their 
proper and permanent place of worship, 
but privileged to worship among them- 
selves, in such places as they could secure 
for that purpose ; which places of worship 
they had frequently to change from con- 
tingencies. 

In A. D. 1799, their number of mem- 
berships having greatly increased, and 
their disadvantages likewise, in the white 
Church. They therefore thought of build- 
ing a house of worship for themselves, and 
to become a body corporate to themselves, 
distinct from the white Church, and ac- 
cordingly a meeting of the colored breth- 
ren was called to consult on the matter : 
for the particulars in this move, see His- 
tory of said Church, by Rev. C. Rush, 
page 11. The following were some of the 
leading men in this movement, George E. 
Moore, Thomas Sipkins, David Bias, Geo. 
White, Thomas Cook, John Teesman, 
George Colling. After mature reflection 
on the subject, they determined to be a 
body corporate, separate from the whites 
but under the government of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church ; they also determined 
to be titled the African Methodist Episco- 
pal Church ; in this purpose they suc- 
ceeded, and became a body corporate, 
separate to themselves, but governed by the 
discipline of the white Methodist Church. 
Being successful in procuring a lot of 
ground on the corner of Church and 
Leonard streets, they succeeded in erect- 
ing a Church on it, where the Zion Church 



now stands, in the city of New York ; the 
house was dedicated October, A. D. 1800, 
and titled the African Methodist Episcopal 
Zion Church. When the white ministers 
of the Methodist E. Church found that the 
colored brethren were determined upon 
becoming a separate society, they appoint- 
ed Rev. John McClaskey, at their general 
conference, (who was a stationed elder in 
the city of New York,) to effect a stipula- 
tion with the trustees of the A. M. E. Zion 
Church, to secure the government spiritual 
part of said church to the general confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and secure a union between the two bodies, 
so as to give the general conference ec- 
clesiastical control over the former, from 
time to time. Accordingly he met them, 
(the trustees) on his mission, and in con- 
cert with them, he framed an article of 
agreement to that effect ; for said article of 
agreement, see History of African Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church in America, by C. 
Rush, pages 17-24. An instrument was 
then drawn up by the trustees, to present 
to the master in Chancery, to obtain a 
charter of incorporation, which they re- 
ceived from the master in Chancery, as 
follows : 

In pursuance of an act, entitled an Act 
to enable religious denominations of this 
State, to appoint trustees, who shall be a 
body corporate, for the purpose of taking 
care of the temporalities of their respec- 
tive congregations, and for other purposes, 
therein mentioned, passed this 6th day of 
April, A. D. 1784. Public notice was 
given in the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, (called Zion Church) of the city 
of New York, in the state of New York, 
as the aforesaid law directs ; and we, the 
subscribers, being nominated, and ap- 
pointed agreeably to the foresaid act, in- 
spectors for an election held in our place 
of meeting, the 8th day of September, A. 
D. 1800, do report and declare the fol- 
lowing persons duly elected by a plurality 
of voices, to serve as trustees for the said 
church, viz : 

Francis Jacobs, George Collins, Thomas 
Sipkins, George E. Moore, George White, 
DaVid Bias, Peter Williams, Thomas 
Cook, William Brown, which said persons 
so elected, and their successors in office, 
shall forever be styled and denominated, 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



401 



the trustees of the corporation of the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church in 
the city of New York. 

Given under our hands and seals this 
the fifth day of February, one thousand 
eight hundred and one. 

his 
Peter X Williams, 

mark. 
Francis Jacobs. 

State of New York, ss. on the sixteenth 
day of February, A. D. 1801, before me 
personally came Peter Williams and 
Francis Jacobs, to me known to be the 
persons within described, and who exe- 
cuted the within conveyance, who dtily 
acknowledge the same, and there being no 
material erasures or interlineations therein, 
I do allow it to be recorded. 

[signed] James M. Hughes, 

Master in Chancery. 

Recorded in the office of the Clerk of 
the city and county of New York, in lib. 
No. l,of incorporations of religious denom- 
inations, page 28, this ninth day of March, 
A. D. 1801. 

[signed] Robert Benson, Clerk. 

Thus the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, was established distinct from the 
whites in their temporalities, (government 
of) but under the spiritual government of 
the white General Conference. Thus 
they remained for a number of years, 
during which time, their efforts to promote 
the kingdom of Christ, were crowned 
with the utmost success. In A. D. 1820, 
the General Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, (white) met according 
to usual mode, during the sitting of which 
several resolutions were passed in that 
body, which were considered, by the more 
pious and wise portion of members, as 
detrimental to the general prosperity of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, but they 
had the majority in favor of their passage. 
The most important of those resolutions, 
was a resolve that a petition be drawn up 
and subscribers obtained by the preachers, 
and the said memorial to be presented to 
the legislature of New York, praying them 
to pass a special act, on the incorporation 
of religious bodies, to suit the peculiarities 
of the Methodist discipline, giving the 



preachers more power over the temporali- 
ties of said Methodist Episcopal Church; 
this resolution was highly objectionable to 
many of the ministers, common officiary, 
and laity of said church, and created great 
dissatisfaction, which resulted in a schism 
in the said church. The trustees of the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
hearing of this movement, were equally j 
dissatisfied ; also the entire officiary and 
laity of said church, knowing that it would 
deprive the trustees of the right of the 
control of the temporalities of the church, 
and effect the general prosperity of their 
church. The trustees therefore called a 
meeting to consult on the subject, and to 
adopt such measures as might avert the 
impending danger ; after the trustees meet- 
ing, the entire officiary were convened, to 
consult on the matter, then the laity, with 
all of which there was a concomitancy of 
conclusions, as to the impropriety of this 
movement of General Conference ; (white) 
and also as to the danger of the African 
Methodist Episcopal Church, if she con- 
tinued in connection with the white bishops 
and conference for further particulars in 
the case. See History of the African 
Methodist Episcopal Church, by Rev. C. 
Rush, pages 40 — 45. — On Friday even- 
ing, July 21st, A. D. 1820. The official 
members of said church were convened 
pursuant to a call, and after duly consid- 
ering the case, they unanimously agreed 
upon the following : 

Whereas, a very grievous Resolution 
was passed in the last general conference 
of the M. E. Church, and acted upon by 
the annual conference of the New York 
district, the substance of which was, that 
a memorial be drawn up, and subscribers 
obtained by the preachers, and the same [ 
to be presented at the next session of the 
State Legislature of New York, praying 
it to pass a special Act of incorporation to ; 
suit the peculiarities of the Methodist dis- i 
cipline ; to give the preacher more au- \ 
thority to exercise their functions in the ' 
Church ; and so change the present man- 
ner of conducting the temporalities of the 
said Church, that the trustees or stewards 
appointed, (according to the contemplated 
mode of the above memorial,) will hold 
the property of the society, for the preach- 
ers in conference instead of the members 



51 



402 HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



of the society. Upon the event of the 
success of this move of the General Con- 
ference of the M. E„ Church, our Church, 
our property will be transferred into the 
hands of Methodist preachers in Confer- 
ence. Therefore, * 

Resolved, that we cannot receive any 
longer, a preacher from the Methodist 
Episcopal Conference, nor any service 
from them, as respects church govern- 
ment ; as we are highly dissatisfied with 
their proceedings in the above case. 

Be it further Resolved, that a commit- 
tee of three be appointed to inform the 
Presiding Elder of the district, or the 
ruling Elder of New York city, of the 
above resolutions of this Meeting; the 
following were the committee: George Col- 
lins, Thobias Hawkins, William Brown. 
It was also Resolved, that William M. 
Stilwell,our present Elder from the white 
conference, continue his services with us 
the remainder of this year. ' Thus was 
the African Methodist Episcopal Zion 
Church disconnected with the white Bish- 
ops and conference. In a short time after 
this, in the same year, measures were 
adopted by the A. M. E. Church, to es- 
tablish their own government. (In which 
they met with little or no opposition from 
the white Methodists : for the particulars 
of which, see History of said Church, by 
C. Rush.) 

They proceeded to the establishment of 
their ecclesiastical government, 1st, by 
the election of Elders to take pastoral 
charges, as there were no ordained minis- 
ters among them to take pastoral charges ; 
as they had applied to the white Bishop of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church to ordain 
two ministers, which application was neg- 
atived, therefore, they were necessitated 
to take Mr. Wesley's plan of necessity, 
and elect Elders, which was done with 
entire consent of the Church, and with the 
assistance of William M. Stilwell, (Elder 
of the Protestant Methodist church, who 
was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and seceded from Methodist Epis- 
copal church in its chism) the church 
elected two Elders, Abraham Thompson, 
James Varick. 2d, They proceeded to 
appoint a committee to form a discipline 
from the discipline of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, which they succeeded in 



after considerable labor. The committee 
was composed of the following : James 
Varick, George Collins, Charles Anderson, 
Christopher Rush ; their discipline was 
completed and adopted on the 20th of Sep- 
tember, A. D. 1820, in the city of New 
York. 

Thus they progressed for one year, par- 
tially organized, as the now known con- 
nections during the progress of the said 
year. Asbury church, distinct from Zion, 
(which was raised by William Miller while 
disconnected with Zion church,) formed a 
connection with Zion Church, under her 
new govervment. Also, the same year, 
two other societies, from New Haven, Ct., 
and Philadelphia, Pa., formed a connection 
witli the African Methodist Episcopal Zion 
Church, in New York ; subsequent to 
which, the same year, application was 
made to the white Bishops and Conferences 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to es- 
tablish an Annual Conference for the Afri- 
can Methodist Episcopal Church, to be 
under the presidency of a white bishop, 
which application was negatived by Bishop 
McKendree and the New York Annual 
Conference : for the particulars in this 
case, see the History of the African Metho- 
dist Episcopal church, by C. Rush. — From 
the failure of this move, the ministers of 
the A. M. E. church, (composed of the 
above named distinct societies,) met, ac- 
cording to arrangement, on the 21st June, 
1821, to hold their first Annual Confer- 
ence, in Zion Church, in the city of New 
York. 

Joshua Soul, then elder, now bishop of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr. Wm. 
Phebus, were invited to attend the meet- 
ing, which they did. Dr. Wm. Phebus was 
elected president of the conference pro ex 
viso. Joshua Soul was appointed secre- 
tary, and the conference commenced ac- 
cordingly. The number of ministers in 
attendance were 22, the number of mem- 
bers reported at the conference were 1426 , 
the financial receipt 35 dollars : thus was 
the first Annual Conference of said de- 
nomination. The next movement of said 
Church was the ordination of its elders, 
(which had only been elected) by the im- 
position of hands, which was succeeded in 
at the next Annual Conference, in June 
17, 1822. James Covel, Sylvester Hutch- 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



403 



inson and William M. Stilwell, (all reg- 
ular elders of the Methodist Protestant 
Church,) were solicited to assist in the or- 
dination of elders, which they cordially 
consented to, and three elders were or- 
dained during the conference sitting : the 
following were the persons : Abraham 
Thompson, James Varick, Leven Smith. 
Thus were established the Discipline, An- 
nual Conference and the ordination of the 
said church ; thus the Annual conference 
convened, for seven years successively, 
at each of which conventions, it appointed 
its president. At the Annual Conference, 
May 15, 1838, the Rev. Christopher Rush, 
was elected the permanent superintendent 
for four years. Thus was fully establish- 
ed the African Methodist Episcopal Church 
in America. 

IL— DOCTRINES. — FIRST OF THEIR 
FAITH. 

1. They hold the doctrine of three 
persons in the Eternal Godhead, the Holy 
Trinity, these three, equal in power and 
glory, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; 
the Son, the Eternal Logos, which was 
made flesh and dwelled among men, being 
God and man in the person of Jesus 
Christ, who possessed two natures in one 
person, never to be completely separated. 
That he was born of the Virgin Mary ; 
that he suffered in this world, was cruci- 
fied, dead, and was buried, and rose again 
and ascended into Heaven, having made 
full Redemption for all men, on the con- 
ditions of obedience to God. That He 
will Judge the world in the last day. They 
also believe that the Holy Ghost proceeds 
from the Father and the Son, by which 
the souls of men are justified, and their 
nature sanctified. 

2. They hold the doctrine of the suffi- 
ciency of the Scriptures, with the Holy 
Spirit for salvation ; also the validity of 
the thirty-nine canonical books of the Old 
Testament, also the twenty-seven of the 
New Testament. 

3. They also admit the doctrine of hu- 
man depravity, as the consequence of the 
fall, or original sin. That man, in his 
natural state after the fall, was totally 
unable to do any thing acceptable with 
God, without his grace, by which he is 
brought into his favor. 



4. They hold the doctrine of repentance 
towards God, also good works ; but though 
they are the fruits of faith, and follow 
after justification, yet they cannot put 
away our sins, but we produce good works, 
as our duty to God ; and then the merits 
of Christ are bestowed upon us. 

5. They believe in justification by faith 
in the merits of Jesus Christ. 

6. In the doctrine of faith as the gift of 
God, but must be put into exercise by 
man. 

7. Also the doctrine of sanctification or 
Christian perfection ; that is, that a Chris- 
tian can have a conscience void of offence 
toward God and man, that he can order 
his conduct so before God and man as not 
to encourage his carnal nature in the 
least ; then the Holy Spirit is bestowed 
richly upon him, forming in him a new 
nature, in opposition to his carnal ; thus 
his spiritual nature becomes predominant ; 
God ruling upon the main altar of the 
heart ; then he is sanctified, or entirely 
consecrated to the service of God. 

8. They believe in a possibility of sin- 
ing after justification or sanctification. 

9. They discountenance the doctrine 
of superogation ; also the doctrine of pur- 
gatory. 

10. They believe in the sacrements ; 
the Lord's Supper ; Baptism ; and Holy 
Matrimony : 

a. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
they believe substantially to be the seal 
of our obligation, to obey and serve God 
with all our hearts. That it is the great 
memorial of the death and passion of 
•Jesus Christ, by which our souls are re- 
freshed in hope of eternal life through 
Christ. Also, that the humble penitent 
who truly repents, is entitled to its benefits, 
as much so as those who have been jus- 
tified. 

6. Baptism : that it is a sign or seal of 
faith in Christ, or faith in the Christian 
Religion ; it is also the sign or seal of the 
regeneration of the heart ; also a sign of 
membership of Christ's kingdom : as to 
its subjects, children or adults ; adults who 
are true penitents. Children are entitled 
to it because they are classed among 
Christian believers ; substantially, by the 
scriptures, they are entitled to it as mem- 
bers of Christ's kingdom ; they are en- 



404 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



titled to it as being truly among the rege- 
nerates. As to the mode, any one is 
equally important. 

11. They believe that rites and cere- 
monies of churches may vary as necessity 
may require. 

12. That Christian men may make 
civil oath to sustain truth and justice. 
They admit that it is the privilege of 
Christians in their religious exercises, to 
enjoy themselves physically to any extent 
that does not infringe upon moral or na- 
tural law ; they do not admit that their 
religious enjoyment or impulse should be 
circumscribed by the mere feeling or 
customs of the common refinement of our 
present age. 

SECOND OF THEIR PRACTICE. 

1. The entire consecration of the Chris- 
tian Sabbath. 

2. They practice entire temperance, 
all use of spirituous liquors are prohibited 
except in case of necessity. 

3. They are to avoid all traffic in sla- 
very, in any way. 

4. They are to avoid fighting, quarrel- 
ing, and brawling, and breaking all civil 
law, one with another, maintaining a 
peaceable deportment. 

5. They are to avoid all evil retalia- 
tion. 

6. To observe the strictest honesty and 
justice in all dealings, without the use of 
many words, in buying or selling, not 
giving or taking any thing on usury or 
unlawful interest. 

7. To avoid uncharitable or unprofit- 
able conversation, doing to others what 
we would have othersdo unto us. 

8. Practice nothing but what they con- 
ceive to tend to the glory of God, avoiding 
the wearing of costly apparel and gold 
ornaments, singing songs, reading novels, 
and all unnecessary self-indulgences, lay- 
ing up treasure upon earth ; borrowing 
without a probability of paying ; taking 
up goods without a probability of paying 
for them. 

9. To do all the good they can, by 
being merciful according to their power ; 
by clothing the naked, feeding the hungry ; 
helping them that are sick or in prison ; 
instructing all they have any intercourse 



with to do good, especially to them that 
are of the household of faith, or groaning 
so to be, employing them in preference to 
others, buying and selling one of another, 
helping each other in business ; also in- 
structing children in Christian theory and 
practice. 

10. Submiting to bear Christian re- 
proaches, suffering men to say all manner 
of evil of us falsely for the Lord's sake. 

11. They practice regular attention to 
all the ordinances of the Lord : such as 
the public worship of God ; the ministry 
of the word either read or expounded ; 
the Supper of the Lord ; family and pri- 
vate prayer; searching the scriptures. 
These are the principal doctrines of the 
faith and practice of the African Methodist 
Episcopal Church in America. 

III. GOVERNMENT.— FIRST ECCLESIAS- 
TICAL ORDERS. 

1. The order of spiritual functionaries 
consists in a superintendent, who is elected 
to his office every four years by the suf- 
frage of the members of the general con- 
ference ; at the expiration of his term, he 
is re-elected, or another in his place ; he 
must be an elder previous. His business 
is to preside at the general and annual 
conferences ; to ordain deacons and elders 
in the church with the assistance of other 
elders, also to appoint the preachers of 
each annual conference to their pastoral 
charges; and also to travel round the 
general connection, as often as possible ; 
he has no regular stipulated salary, but 
his compensation is anomalous. 

2. Functionary, is the Eldership, (the 
highest of holy orders, as resting upon 
divine appointment of orders in the Chris- 
tian Church,) he is elected by the Annual 
Conference to receive holy orders, and 
then ordained by the superintendent, as- 
sisted by elders. His office is to take 
pastoral charges wherever the superin- 
tendent may appoint him, to preach on 
the same as often as practicable, admin- 
ister the sacrament, to baptize and marry, 
to preside at Quarterly Conferences, give 
statistics of his charge annually, and give 
licenses to preach; his salary is anomalous. 

3. Deacon : he is elected to receive this 
order by the Annual Conference, (after 



HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 405 



he has travelled two years in the itin- 
erancy,) then ordained by the superin- 
tendent, with the elder's assistance. His 
duty is to preach at the requisition of the 
elder in whose cnarge he is, to assist in 
the administration of the eucharist, to bap- 
tize and administer matrimony, and to 
try disorderly members in the absence of 
the elder. 

4. Licensed preacher, he receives his 
authority from the Quarterly Conference, 
in concert with the elder. His duty is to 
preach at the requisition of the pastor of 
the charge where he resides. His ser- 
vices are gratuitous. 

5. Exhorter, his licenses are given by 
the elder, and Quarterly Conference ; his 
duty is to exhort, without selecting par- 
ticular texts. His services are gratuitous. 

6. Are class leaders, whose duty it is 
to take charge of from twenty to thirty 
lay members, to meet them weekly for 
religious instruction, exhortation, correc- 
tion, or reproof. They are elected by the 
Quarterly Conference, annually. 

7. Are temporal functionaries. They 
are trustees and stewards, and are elected 
annually, generally by the Quarterly 
Conference, or by the male members of 
the society with which they are connected, 
as the society may determine in its con- 
stitution. Their business is to control the 
temporalities of the society, to make or 
grant bargains for it, to receive and dis- 
burse all its monies, properly. 



SECOND. — THE CONVENTIONAL DE- 
PARTMENT. 

1. The General Conference. — This 
body convenes every four years, is com- 
posed of all the travelling ministers of the 



connection. Its power is to elect the su- 
perintendent, to confirm any ruler or 
rulers of general government of said 
church, that may have been proposed and 
acted upon by the several Annual and 
Quarterly Conferences of the sole con- 
nection. 

2. The Annual Conference. — This 
body convenes annually, and is composed 
of the travelling ministers of a district. 
Its business is to over look the moral con- 
duct of its members, to elect candidates 
for holy orders, to receive candidates on 
probation, and into full membership ; to 
propose the establishment of new districts 
to the General Conference, also to receive 
statistics of its pastoral ministers, and to 
try and expel immoral members. 

3. The Quarterly Conference. — This 
body meets quarterly, and is composed of 
the entire officiary over which it holds 
jurisdiction. The minister holding pas- 
toral charge presides over it. Its duty is 
to look over the moral conduct of the of- 
ficiary, to try and expel immoral mem- 
bers, to propose any articles for general 
government to the Annual Conference, 
for their legislation, &c. 

4. Trustees^ Meeting. — This body con- 
venes monthly, and is composed of the 
trustees and stewards of a church. Its 
duty is to look over the temporalities of 
the society of their jurisdiction, to see 
that there is a proper disbursement of 
their monies, and proper grants of bar- 
gains, &c. 

5. Leaders' Meeting. — This body meets 
monthly, and is composed of all the class 
leaders and class stewards. Its business 
is to report, to the pastor in charge, the 
moral conduct of the laity of the church, 
and to report deaths, marriages and 
sick. 



406 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



HISTORY 



THE MENNONITES 



BY CHRISTIAN HERR.< 



The names of CEcolampadius, Luther, 
Zwinglius, Melancthon, Bucer, Bullinger, 
Calvin, and others, whom God in his pro- 
vidence raised up as humble instruments 
to reform, to no small extent, abuses 
which had crept into the church, are fami- 
liar to almost every ordinary reader ; 
while that of Menno Simon is little known, 
although he was cotemporary with Luther, 
Zwinglius, and others, and with some of 
whom he had personal interviews — with 
Luther and Melancthon, in Wittenberg; 
with Bullinger, at Zurich ; and at Stras- 
burg, with Bucer. 

In an article necessarily brief as this 
must be, the question, Whether the Men- 
nonites are descendants from the Wal- 
denses ? cannot be discussed. The testi- 
mony, however, of Dr. Ypeij, Professor of 
Theology at Groningen, and a member of 
the Dutch Reformed Church, may here be 
appropriately introduced, on this point. In 
a work written by the Professor, published 
at Breda, 1813, he says : " We have now 
seen that the Baptists, who were formerly 
called Anabaptists, and in later times 
Mennonites, were the original Waldenses ; 
and have long in the history of the Church 
received the honor of that origin." This 
testimony is borne from high official au- 
thority in the Dutch Reformed Church. 

The Mennonites freely acknowledge 
that they derived their name from Menno 



* This article has been prepared by the aid 
of the Rev. Christian Herr, of Pequea, Lan- 
caster county, a Bishop in the Mennonite 
Church, and has his approbation. — Ed. 



Simon, a native of Witmarsum, born in 
Friesland, A. D. 1495. He, as well as 
all his cotemporaries, was educated a Ca- 
tholic, and in his twenty-fourth year, he 
undertook the duties of a priest in his 
father's village, called Pinningum, in Fries- 
land ; although in utter darkness of mind 
and worldliness of spirit, yet not without 
some tenderness of conscience and appa- 
rent piety. In 1530, he was induced to 
examine the New Testament for himself. 
" I had not," says he, " proceeded far 
therein, before I discovered that I was de- 
ceived." His mind was completely 
changed ; he renounced his former views, 
and embraced the doctrines of the New 
Testament, and which he zealously advo- 
cated. 

He now commenced to travel, with a 
view to consult with some of his cotempo- 
raries, such as Luther, Bucer, Bullinger, 
and others; having done so, he strenuously 
opposed the Munsterites. " He condemn- 
ed," says Mosheim, " the plan of ecclesi- 
astical discipline of the Munsterites, that 
was founded on the prospect of a new 
kingdom, to be miraculously established 
by Jesus Christ on the ruins of civil go- 
vernment, and the destruction of human 
ruler-i, and which had been the pestilential 
source of such dreadful commotions, such 
execrable rebellions, and such enormous 
crimes. "* 

Menno Simon plainly foresaw to what 
horrid extremities the pernicious doctrines 
of the Munsterites were calculated to lead 



* Mosheim, Eccl. History, vol. ii. p. 1 32. 



;\\.4i* 




MENNO SIMON, 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



40' 



the inconsiderate and unwary ; neverthe- 
less, as there were many pious souls who 
had been misled by this pernicious sect, 
but who had renounced all connection and 
intercourse with them, and as there were 
also others, descendants of the ancient 
Waldenses, all of whom were as dispersed 
sheep of the house of Israel : Menno, at 
their earnest solicitation, assumed among 
them the rank and functions of a public 
teacher. That he was calculated to dis- 
charge the duties of his office, is evident 
from his success. " He had," says Mos- 
heim, " the inestimable advantage of a 
natural and persuasive eloquence, and his 
learning was sufficient to make him pass 
for an oracle in the eyes of the multitude. 
He appears, moreover, to have been a man 
of probity, of a meek and tractable spirit, 
gentle in his manners, pliant and obse- 
quious in his intercourse with persons of 
ail ranks and characters, and extremely 
zealous in promoting practical religion and 
virtue, which he recommended by his ex- 
ample, as well as by his precepts. A man 
of such talents and dispositions could not 
fail to attract the admiration of the people, 
and to gain a good number of adherents 
wherever he exercised his ministry."* 

From 1537, Menno Simon, in the capa- 
city of a public teacher, commenced tra- 
velling from one country to another, 
amidst pressures and calamities of various 
kinds, and was constantly exposed to the 
imminent danger of falling a victim to the 
severity of the laws. He first visited East 
and West Friesland, the province of Gro- 
ningen, thence he directed his course to 
Holland, Guelderland, Brabant, Westpha- 
lia, and continued through the German 
provinces that lie on the coast of the Baltic 
Sea, and penetrated as far as Livonia. 
" In all these places his ministerial labors 
were attended with remarkable success, 
and added a prodigious number of fol- 
lowers."f He labored assiduously till the 
close of his life. He died at Fresenburg, 
near Oldeslohe, January 31, 1561. 

His object was reformation, and the 

I spiritual edification of his fellow-men, 

| which he accomplished to an unparalleled 

extent. He purified the doctrines of the 



* Mosheim, Eccl. History, vol. ii. d. 132. 
f Mosheim. 



Anabaptists — some of them he reclaimed, 
others he excluded, who were tainted with 
the Munsterite heresy. He founded many 
communities in various parts of Europe. 

From the year 1537, to the beginning 
of the present century, many of the Men- 
nonites were sorely persecuted in Europe. 
They were compelled to flee from one 
country to another, and consequently have 
been dispersed. Some went to Russia, 
Prussia, Poland, Holland, Denmark, and 
many, on the invitation of the liberal- 
minded William Penn, transported them- 
selves and families, into the province of 
Pennsylvania, as early as A. D. 1683. 
Those who came in that year and in 1698, 
settled in and about Germantown, where 
they erected a school and meeting house 
in 1708. 

In 1709, other families from the Palati- 
nate, descendants of the distressed and 
persecuted Swiss, emigrated to America, 
and settled in Pequea Valley, then Ches- 
ter, now Lancaster county. Among these 
were the Herrs,Meylius, Kendigs, Millers, 
Oberholtz, Funks, Bowmans, and others. 
They settled in the midst 'of the Mingo or 
Conestoga, Pequea, and Shawanese In- 
dians, where under unpropitious circum- 
stances, they improved lands. The first 
who settled here were soon joined by 
others, who came to America, in 1711, 
1717, 1727, and at a later period. Before 
the year 1735, there were probably rising 
of five hundred families settled in Lancas- 
ter county. For some time they held 
their religious meetings, and school, in the 
same rude buildings. As a body, in this 
country, the Mennonites have spent little 
money in erecting stately buildings as 
churches, or for schools. Economy and 
comfort being their chief aim, they dis- 
card ornament. 

Their religious views were at an early 
date, and since, misrepresented, and no 
small degree of prejudice excited against 
them. To allay such unfounded preju- 
dices, they had " The Christian Confes- 
sion of Faith, &c, containing the chief 
doctrines held by them, translated into 
English, and published at Philadelphia, in 
1727." In the preface to that publica- 
tion, they say — " that the Confession of 
Faith of the harmless and defenceless 
Christians, called Mennonites, is as yet 



408 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



little known, &c. : so that the greatest 
portion of people doth not know what they 
believe and confess of the word of God, 
and by reason of that ignorance, cannot 
speak and judge rightly of their confes- 
sion, nor of the confessors themselves ; 
nay, through prejudice, as a strange and 
unheard of thing, do abhor them, so as 
not to speak well, but oftentimes ill of 
them. Therefore it hath been thought fit 
and needful to translate, at the desire of 
some of our fellow-believers in Pennsyl- 
vania, our Confession of Faith into Eng- 
lish, so as for many years it hath been 
printed in the Dutch, German, and French 
languages ; which confession hath been 
well approved of, both in the Low Coun- 
tries and in France, by several eminent 
persons of the Reformed religion ; and 
therefore it hath been thought worth the 
while to turn it also into English, that so 
those of that nation may become ac- 
quainted with it, and so might have a bet- 
ter opinion thereof, and of its professors ; 
and not only so, but also that every well- 
meaning soul might inquire and try all 
things, and keep that which is best." 

This confession, which is given below, 
was, at that time, (1727), approved and 
received by the elders and ministers of 
the congregations of the people called 
Mennonites. " We do, (say they,) ac- 
knowledge and hereby make known, that 
we own the Confession. In testimony 
whereof, and that we be'lieve the same to 
be good, we have subscribed our names : 

" Shipack — Jacob Gaedtschlack, Hen- 
ry Kolb, Claes Jansen, Michael Zigeler. 
Germantown — John Gorgas, John Cone- 
rads, Clas Rittinghausen. Conestoga — 
Hans Burgholtzer, Christian Heer, Bene- 
dict Hirchi, Martin Bear, Johanna s Bow- 
man. Great Swamp — Velte Clemer. 
Manatant — Daniel Langenecker, Jacob 
Beghtly." 

ARTICLES OF FAITH. 

The leading Articles of the Christian 
Faith of the Churches of the United 
Flemish , Friesland, and other Men- 
nonites, and those in America, adopted 
A. D, 1632. 

Of God, of tJie Creation of all things 
and of Man. — Since it is testified, that 



without faith it is impossible to please 
.God, and that whosoever would come to 
God, must believe that God is, and that 
he is a rewarder of all those who seek 
him ; we therefore confess and believe, 
according to the scriptures, with all the 
pious, in one eternal, omnipotent, and in- 
comprehensible God : the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost ; and in no more or none 
other ; before whom there was no God, 
nor shall there be any after him ; for 
from him, by him, and in him, are all 
things ; to whom be praise, honor, and 
glory for ever and ever : Amen. (Heb. xi. 
6 ; Deut. vi. 4 ; Gen. xvii. 1 ; Isa. xlvi. 
8; Job. v. 7; Rom. xi. 36.) 

We believe in this one God, who works 
all in all ; and confess that he is the Crea- 
tor of all things, visible and invisible ; 
who, in six days, created heaven and 
earth, the sea and all that is therein ; and 
that he governs and upholds all his works 
by his wisdom, and by the word of his 
power. (1 Cor. xii. 6 ; Gen. i. 1-28 ; 
Acts xiv. 14.) 

Now, as he had finished his work, and 
had ordained and prepared every thing 
good and perfect in its nature and proper- 
ties, according to his good pleasure, so at 
last he created the first man, Adam, the 
father of us all ; gave him a body, formed 
of the dust of the earth, and breathed into 
his nostrils the breath of life, so that he 
became a living soul, created by God 
after his own image and likeness, in 
righteousness and true holiness, unto eter- 
nal life. He esteemed him above all 
creatures, and endowed him with many 
and great gifts ; placed him in a delight- 
ful garden, or paradise, and gave him a 
command and a prohibition ; afterwards 
he took a rib from Adam, made a woman, 
and brought her to Adam for a helpmate, 
consort, and wife. The consequence is, 
that from this first and only man, Adam, 
all men that dwell upon the earth have 
descended. (Gen. i. 27 ; ii. 7 ; v. 1 ; ii. 
18 ; xvii. 22 ; Acts xvii. 26.) 

II. Of the Fall of Man.— We believe 
and confess, according to the tenure of 
the scriptures, that our first parents, Adam 
and Eve, did not remain long in the glo- 
rious state in which they were created ; 
but being deceived by the subtlety of the 
serpent and the envy of the devil, they 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



409 



transgressed the high commandment of 
God, and disobeyed their Creator ; by 
which disobedience sin entered the world, 
and death by sin, which has thus passed 
upon all men, in that all have sinned, and 
hence incurred the wrath of God and con- 
demnation. They were, therefore, driven 
of God out of paradise, to till the earth, 
to toil for sustenance, and to eat their 
bread in the sweat of their face, till they 
should return to the earth whence they 
had been taken. And that they, by this 
one sin, fell so far as to be separated and 
estranged from God, that neither they 
themselves, nor any of their posterity, nor 
angel, nor man, nor any other creature 
in heaven or on earth, could help them, 
ledeem them, or reconcile them to God; 
but they must have been eternally lost, 
had not God, in compassion for his crea- 
tures, made provision for them, interpo- 
sing with love and mercy. (Gen. iii. 6 ; 
Rom. v. 12 ; Gen. iii. 23 ; Psalm xlix. 8. 
9 ; Rev. v. 1,5; John iii. 16.) 

III. Of the Restoration of Man by the 
promise of Chrisfs coming. — Concerning 
the restoration of the first man and his 
posterity, we believe and confess, that 
God, notwithstanding their fall, transgres- 
sion, sin, and perfect inability, was not 
willing to cast them off entirely, nor suffer 
them to be eternally lost ; but that he 
called them again to him, comforted them, 
and testified that there was yet a means 
of reconciliation ; namely, the Lamb with- 
out spot, the Son of God, who was ap- 
pointed for this purpose before the foun- 
dation of the world, and was promised 
while they were yet in paradise, for con- 
solation, redemption, and salvation unto 
them and all their posterity ; nay, from 
that time forth was bestowed upon them 
by faith ; afterwards all the pious fore- 
fathers, to whom this promise was fre- 
quently renewed, longed for, desired, saw 
by faith, and waited for the fulfilment, 
that at his coming he would redeem, liber- 
ate, and release fallen man from sin, guilt, 
and unrighteousness. (John i. 29 ; 1 Pet. 
i. 19; Gen. iii. 15; John iii. 8; ii. 1; 
Heb. xi. 13, 39; Gal. iv. 4.) 

IV. Of the Coining of Christ, and the 
Cause of his Coming. — We further be- 
lieve and confess, that when the time of 
his promise, which all the forefathers 



anxiously expected, was fulfilled, the pro- 
mised Messiah, Redeemer, and Saviour, 
proceeded from God, was sent, and ac- 
cording to the predictions of the prophets, 
and the testimony of the evangelists, came 
into the world, nay, was made manifest 
in the flesh, and thus the Word was made 
flesh and man ; that he was conceived by 
the Virgin Mary, who was espoused to 
Joseph, of the Plouse of David ; and that 
she brought forth her first-born Son at 
Bethlehem, wrapped him in swaddling 
clothes, and laid him in a manger. (John 
iv. 25 ; xvi. 28 ; 1 Tim. iii. 15 ; John i. 
14; Matt. i. 22; Luke ii. 7.) 

We confess and believe, that this is he 
whose going forth is from everlasting to 
everlasting, without beginning of days, or 
end of life ; of whom it is testified that he 
is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
the end, the first and the last ; that he is 
the same, and no other, who was provided, 
promised, sent and came into the world, 
and who is God's first and only Son, and 
who was before John the Baptist, Abra- 
ham, and prior to the formation of the 
world ; nay, who was the Lord of David, 
and the God of the universe, the first born 
of all creatures, who was sent into the 
world, and yielded up the body which 
was prepared for him, a sacrifice and 
offering, for a sweet savor to God ; nay 
for the consolation, redemption, and sal 
vation of the who^e world. (Micah v. 1 
Heb. vii. 3 ; Rev. i. 8, 18 ; John iii. 16 
Heb. i. 6; Rom. viii. 32; John i. 30 
Matt xx. 11, 41 ; Col. i. 15.) 

But as to how and in what manner this 
worthy body was prepared, and how the 
Word became flesh, we are satisfied with 
the statement given by the evangelists ; 
agreeably to which, we confess, with all 
the saints, that he is the Son of the living 
God, in whom alone consist all our hope, 
consolation, redemption, and salvation. 
(Luke i. 30, 31 ; John xx. 30, 31 ; Matt, 
xvi. 16.) 

We further believe and confess with 
the scriptures, that when he had fulfilled 
his course, and finished the work for 
which he had been sent into the world, he 
was, according to the providence of God, 
delivered into the hands of wicked men ; 
that he suffered under Pontius Pilate ; was 
crucified, dead, and buried ; rose again 



52 



410 



HISTORY OF THE MENONNITES. 



from the dead on the third day ; ascended 
to heaven, and sits on the right hand of 
the majesty of God on high ; whence he 
■will come again to judge the living and 
the dead. (Luke xxii. 53 ; xxiii. 1 ; xxiv. 
5, 6, 51.) 

And also that the Son of God died, 
tasted death, and shed his precious blood, 
for all men ; and that thereby he bruised 
the serpent's head, destroyed the works 
of the devil, abolished the handwriting, 
and obtained the remission of sins for the 
whole human family ; that he became the 
means (author) of eternal salvation to all 
those who, from Adam to the end of the 
world, believe in and obey him. (Gen. 
iii. 15; John iii. 8; Col. ii. 14; Rom. 
v. 18.) 

V. Of the Law of Christ — the Gospel 
or the Neiv Testammt. — We believe and 
confess, that previous to his ascension, he 
made, instituted, and left his New Testa- 
ment, and gave it to his disciples, that it 
should remain an everlasting testament, 
which he confirmed and sealed with his 
blood, and commended it so highly to 
them, that it is not to be altered, neither 
by angels nor men, neither to be added 
thereto, nor taken therefrom. And that, 
inasmuch as it contains the whole will and 
counsel of his heavenly Father, as far as 
is necessary for salvation, he has caused 
it to be promulgated by his apostles, mis- 
sionaries, and ministers, whom he called 
and chose for that purpose, and sent into 
all the world, to preach in his name among 
all people, and nations and tongues, tes- 
tifying repentance and the forgiveness of 
sins ; and that consequently he has therein 
declared all men, without exception, as his 
children and lawful heirs, so far as they 
follow and live up to the contents of the 
same by faith, as obedient children ; and 
thus, he has not excluded any from the 
glorious inheritance of everlasting life, 
except the unbelieving, the disobedient, 
the obstinate, and the perverse, who de- 
spise it, and, by their continual sinning, 
render themselves unworthy of eternal 
life. (Jer. xxxi. 18 ; Heb. ix. 15 ; xvi. 17 ; 
Matt. xxvi. 27 ; Gal. i. 8 ; 1 Tim. vi. 3 ; 
John xv. 15 ; Matt, xviii. 19 ; Mark xvi. 
13; Luke xxiv. 4, 5; Rom. viii. 17; 
Acts xiii. 46.) 

VI. Of Repentance and Reformation. 



— We believe and confess, since the 
thoughts of the heart are evil from youth, 
and prone to unrighteousness, sin, and 
wickedness, that the first lesson of the 
New Testament of the Son of God, is 
repentance and reformation. Men, there- 
fore, who have ears to hear and hearts to 
understand, must bring forth fruits meet 
for repentance, reform their lives, believe 
the gospel, eschew evil and do good, desist 
from sin and forsake unrighteousness, put 
off the old man with all his works, and 
put on the new man, created after God in 
righteousness and true holiness ; for nei- 
ther baptism, supper, church, nor any 
other outward ceremony, can, without 
faith, regeneration, change or reformation 
of life, enable us to please God, or obtain 
from him any consolation, or promise of 
salvation. But we must go to God with 
sincere hearts and true and perfect faith, 
and believe on Jesus Christ, according to 
the testimony of the scriptures ; by this 
living faith we obtain remission or forgive- 
ness of sins, are justified, sanctified, nay, 
made children of God, partakers of his 
image, nature, and mind : being born 
again of God from above, through the in- 
corruptible seed. (Gen. viii. 21 ; Mark i. 
15; Ezekiel xii. 1; 1 Col. iii. 9, 10; 
Eph. iv. 21, 22; Heb. x. 21, 22; John 
vii. 38.) 

VII. Of Baptism. — As regards bap- 
tism, we confess that all penitent believers, 
who, by faith, regeneration, and renewing 
of the Holy Ghost, are made one with 
God and written in heaven, must upon 
their scriptural confession of faith, and 
reformation of life, be baptized with 
water,* in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, agree- 
ably to the doctrine and command of 
Christ, and the usage of his apostles, to 
the burying of their sins ; and thus be 
received into fellowship with the saints ; 
whereupon they must learn to observe all 
things which the Son of God taught, left 
to, and commanded his disciples. (Matt. 
xviii. 19, 20 ; Rom. vi.'4 ; Mark xvi. 15 ; 
Matt. iii. 15; Acts ii. 28; viii. 11 ; ix. 
18 ; x. 47; xvi. 33; Col. ii. 11, 12.) 

VIII. Of the Church of Christ,— We 



* The Mennonites baptize by pouring water 
upon the head of the person baptized. — En. 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



411 



believe and confess there is a visible 
Church of God ; namely, those who, as 
aforementioned, do works meet for re- 
pentance, have true faith, and received a 
true baptism, are made one with God in 
heaven, and received into fellowship of the 
saints here upon earth : those we profess 
are the chosen generation, the royal priest- 
hood, the holy nation, who have the wit- 
ness that they are the spouse and bride of 
Christ; nay, the children and heirs of 
everlasting life ; a habitation, a tabernacle, 
a dwelling-place of God in the spirit, built 
upon the foundation of the apostles and 
the prophets, Christ being the chief corner- 
stone (upon which his church is built) — 
this church of the living God, which he 
bought, purchased, and redeemed with his 
own precious blood, with which church, 
according to his promise, he will always 
remain to the end of the world, as protec- 
tor and comforter of believers, nay, will 
dwell with them, walk among them, and 
so protect them, that neither floods nor 
tempests, nor the gates of hell shall pre- 
vail against or overthrow them. This 
church is to be distinguished by scriptural 
faith, doctrine, love, godly walk or deport- 
ment, as also by a profitable or fruitful 
conversation, use and observance of the 
true ordinances of Christ, which he strictly 
enjoined upon his followers. (1 Cor. xii. 
1 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; John iii. 29 ; Rev. xix. 
7; Tit. iii. 6, 7; Eph. ii. 19, 20, 21 ; 
Matt. xvi. 18 ; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19 ; 2 Cor. 
vi. 16 ; Matt. vii. 35.) 

IX. Of the Election and Office of 
Teachers, Deacons, and Deaconesses in 
the Church. — As regards offices and elec- 
tions in the church, we believe and con- 
fess, since the church cannot subsist in 
her growth, nor remain an edifice without 
officers and discipline, that, therefore, the 
Lord Jesus Christ himself instituted and 
ordained offices and ordinances, and gave 
commands and directions, how every one 
ought to walk therein, take heed to his 
work and vocation, and do that which is 
right and necessary ; for he, as the true, 
great and chief Shepherd and Bishop of 
our souls, was sent and came into the 
world, not to wound or destroy the souls 
of men, but to heal and restore them ; to 
seek the lost ; to break down the middle 
Wall of partition ; of two to make one ; 



to gather together out of Jews, Gentiles, 
and all nations, a fold to have fellowship 
in his name ; for which, in order that 
none might err or go astray, he laid down 
his own life, and thus made a way for 
their salvation, redeeming and releasing 
them, when there was no one to help or 
assist. (1 Pet. ii. 29; Matt. xii. 19; 
xviii. 11 ; Eph. ii. 13 ; Gal. iii. 28 ; John 
x. 9 ; xi. 15 ; Ps. xlix. 8.) 

And further, that he provided his 
church, before his departure, with faithful 
ministers, evangelists, pastors and teach- 
ers, whom he had chosen by the Holy 
Ghost, with prayers and supplications, in 
order that they might govern the church, 
feed his flock, watch over them, defend, 
and provide for them ; nay, do in all 
things as he did, going before them, as he 
taught, acted and commanded ; teaching 
them to do all things whatsoever he com- 
manded them. (Eph. iv. 11 ; Luke x. 
1 ; vi. 12, 13; John ii. 15; Matt, xxviii. 
20.) 

That the Apostles, likewise, as true fol- 
lowers of Christ, and leaders of the church, 
were diligent with prayers and supplica- 
tion to God, in electing brethren, provid- 
ing every city, place or church, with 
bishops, pastors and leaders, and ordaining 
such persons as took heed to themselves, 
and to the doctrine and flock ; who were 
sound in the faith, virtuous in life and con- 
versation, and were of good report, both 
in and out of the church, in order that 
they might be an example, light, and pat- 
tern, in all godliness, with good works, 
worthily administering the Lord's ordi- 
nances, baptism and supper, and that they 
might appoint in all places, faithful men 
as elders, capable of teaching others, or- 
daining them by the imposition of hands, 
in the name of the Lord ; further, to have 
the care, according to their ability, for all 
things necessary in the church ; so that 
as faithful servants, they might husband 
well their Lord's talent, gain by it, and 
consequently save themselves and those 
who hear them. (1 Tim. iii. ; Acts i. 23, 
24; Tit. i. 5; 1 Tim. iv. 14. 16; Tit. ii. 
1,2; 2 Tim. ii. 2; 1 Tim. v. 2.) 

That they should also have a care for 
every one, of whom they have the over- 
sight ; to provide in all places deacons, 
who may receive contributions and alms, 



412 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



in order faithfully to dispense them to the 
necessitous saints, with all becoming hon- 
esty and decorum. (Luke xix. 13. Of 
deacons, Acts, v. 3-6 ; of deaconesses, 1 
Tim. v. 9 ; Rom. xvi. 1 ; James i. 27.) 

That honorable and aged widows should 
be chosen deaconesses, who, with the 
deacons, may visit, comfort, and provide 
for poor, weak, infirm, distressed and in- 
digent persons, as also to visit widows and 
orphans ; and further, assist in taking care 
of the concerns of the church, according 
to their ability. 

And further respecting deacons, that 
they, particularly when they are capable, 
being elected and ordained thereto by the 
church, for the relief and assistance of the 
elders, may admonish the members of the 
church, being appointed thereto, and labor 
in word and doctrine, assisting one another 
out of love with the gift received of the 
Lord ; by which means, through the mu- 
tual service and assistance of every mem- 
ber, according to his measure, the body of 
Christ may be edified, and the vkie and 
church of the Lord may grow up, increase, 
and be preserved. 

X. Of the Holy Supper. — We likewise 
confess and observe a breaking of bread, 
or supper, which the Lord Jesus Christ 
instituted with bread and wine before his 
passion, did eat it with his Apostles, and 
commanded it to be kept in remembrance 
of himself; which they consequently 
taught and observed in the church, and 
commanded to be kept by believers, in re- 
membrance of the sufferings and death of 
the Lord, and that his body was broken, 
and his precious blood was shed for us, and 
for the whole human family ; as also the 
fruits thereof, namely, redemption and 
everlasting salvation, which he procured 
thereby, exhibiting so great love towards 
sinners, by which we are greatly admon- 
ished to love one another, to love our 
neighbor, forgiving him, as he has done 
unto us, and we are to strive to preserve 
the unity and fellowship which we have 
with God and with one another, which is 
also represented to us, in the breaking of 
bread. (Acts ii. 46.) 

XL Of Washing the Saints' Feet. — 
We also confess the washing of the saints' 
feet, which the Lord not only instituted 
and commanded, but he actually washed 



his Apostles' feet, although he was their 
Lord and Master, and gave them an ex- 
ample that they should wash one another's 
feet, and do as he had done unto them : 
they, as a matter of course, taught the 
believers to observe this as a sign of true 
humility, and particularly as directing the 
mind by feet-washing, to that right wash- 
ing, by which we are washed in his blood, 
and have our souls made pure. (John xiii. 
4-17; 1 Tim. v. 10; Gen. xvii. 4; xix. 
2 ; xxiv. 32 ; xliii. 24.) 

XII. Of Matrimony or State of Mar- 
riage. — We confess that there is in the 
church, an honorable marriage between 
two believers, as God ordained it in the 
beginning in paradise, and instituted it be- 
tween Adam and Eve ; as also the Lord 
Jesus Christ opposed and did away the 
abuses of marriage, which had crept in, 
and restored it to its primitive institution. 
(Gen. i. 27 ; Matt. xi. 4.) 

In this manner, the Apostle Paul also 
taught marriage in the Church ; and left 
it free for every one, according to its pri- 
mitive institution, to be married in the 
Lord, to any one who may consent ; by 
the phrase, in the Lord, we think it ought 
to be understood, that as the patriarchs 
had to marry among their own kindred or 
relatives, so likewise the believers of the 
New Testament are not at liberty to mar- 
ry, except among the chosen generation 
and the spiritual kindred or relatives of 
Christ ; namely, such and no others, as 
have been united to the church, as one 
heart and soul, having received baptism 
and stand in the same communion, faith, 
doctrine, and conversation, before they 
become united in marriage. Such are 
then joined together according to the ori- 
ginal ordinance of God in his church, and 
this is called marrying in the Lord. (1 
Cor. v. 11; ix. 5; Gen. xxiv.; xxviii. ; 
1 Cor. vii. 39.) 

XIII. Of the Magistracy. — We believe 
and confess, that God instituted and ap- 
pointed authority and a magistracy for the 
punishing of the evil-doers, and to protect 
the good ; as also to govern the world, and 
preserve the good order of cities and coun- 
tries ; hence, we dare not despise, gainsay 
or resist the same ; but we must acknow- 
ledge the magistracy as the minister of 
God, be subject and obedient thereunto in 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



413 



all good works, especially in all things not 
repugnant to God's law, will and command- 
ment ; also faithfully pay tribute and tax, 
and render that which is due, even as the 
Son of God taught and practised, and 
commanded his disciples to do ; that it is 
our duty, constantly and earnestly to pray 
to the Lord for the government, its pros- 
perity, and the welfare of the country, that 
we may live under its protection, gain a 
livelihood, and lead a quiet, peaceable life, 
in all godliness and sobriety. And further, 
that the Lord may reward them in time 
and eternity, for all the favors, benefits, 
and the liberty we here enjoy under their 
praiseworthy administration. (Rom. xiii. 
1-7 ; Tit. iii. 1 ; 1 Pet. ii. 17 ; Matt. xxii. 
21 ; 1 Tim. ii. 1.) 

XIV. Of Defence or Revenge. — As re- 
gards revenge, or defence, in which men 
resist their enemies with the sword : we 
believe and confess, that the Lord Jesus 
Christ forbade his disciples his followers, 
all revenge and defence, and commanded 
them, besides, not to render evil for evil, 
nor railing for railing, but to sheath their 
swords, or in the words of the prophet, 
" to beat them into ploughshares." (Matt. 
v. 39-44; Ro*m. xii. 14; 1 Pet. iii. 9; 
Isa. ii. 4 ; Mic. iv. 3 ; Zech. ix. 8, 9.) 

Hence it is evident, according to his 
example and doctrine, that we should not 
provoke or do violence to any man, but 
we are to seek to promote the welfare and 
happiness of all men ; even, when neces- 
sary, to flee, for the Lord's sake, from one 
country to another, and take patiently the 
spoiling of our goods ; but to do violence 
to no man : when we are smitten on one 
cheek to turn the other, rather than take 
revenge or resent evil. And, moreover, 
that we must pray for our enemies, feed 
and refresh them when they are hungry 
or thirsty, and thus convince them by 
kindness, and overcome all ignorance. 
(Rom. xii. 19, 20.) Finally, that we should 
do good, and approve ourselves to the con- 
sciences of all men ; and according to the 
law of Christ, do unto others as we would 
wish them to do unto us. (2 Cor. iv. 2 ; 
Matt. vii. 12 ; xii. 7.) 

XV. Of Oaths or Swearing. — Respect- 
! ing judicial oaths, we believe and confess, 
that Christ our Lord did forbid his disci- 
ples the use of them, and commanded them 



that they should not swear at all ; but that 
yea should be yea ; and nay, nay. Hence 
we infer, that all oaths, greater and minor, 
are prohibited ; and that we must, instead 
of oaths, confirm all our promises and as- 
sertions, nay, all our declarations or testi- 
monies, in every case, with the word yea 
in that which is yea ; and with nay in that 
which is nay ; hence we should always 
and in all cases perform, keep, follow, and 
live up to our word or engagement as fully 
as if we had confirmed and established it 
by an oath. And we do this ; we have the 
confidence that no man, not even the ma- 
gistrate, will have just reason to lay a 
more grievous burden on our mind and 
conscience. (Matt. v. 34, 35 ; James v. 12 ; 
2 Cor. i. 17.) 

XVI. Of Ecclesiastical Excommunica- 
tion or Separation from the Church. — 
We also believe and profess a ban, excom- 
munication, or separation, and Christian 
correction in the church, for amendment, 
and not for destruction, whereby the clean 
or pure may be separated from the unclean 
or defiled. Namely, if any one, after 
having been enlightened, and has attained 
to the knowledge of the truth, and has 
been received into the fellowship of the 
saints, sins either voluntary or presump- 
tuously against God, or unto death, and 
falls into the unfruitful works of darkness, 
by which he separates himself from God, 
and is debarred his kingdom ; such a per- 
son, we believe, when the deed is manifest 
and the church has sufficient evidence, 
ouwht not to remain in the congregation of 
the righteous ; but shall and must be sepa- 
rated as an offending member and an open 
sinner ; be excommunicated and reproved 
in the presence of all, and purged out as 
leaven ; and this is to be done for his own 
amendment, and an example and terror to 
others, that the church be kept pure from 
such foul spots ; lest, in default of this, 
the name of the Lord be blasphemed, the 
church dishonored, and a stumbling-block 
and cause of offence be given to them that 
are without ; in fine, that the sinner may 
not be damned with the world, but become 
convicted, repent and reform. (Isa. lix. 2 ; 
1 Cor. v. 5, 12 ; 1 Tim. v. 20 ; 2 Cor. x. 
8 ; xiii. 10 ; James v. 8, 9.) 

Further, regarding brotherly reproof or 
admonition, as also the instruction of those 



414 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



who err, it is necessary to use all care and 
diligence to observe them, instructing them 
with all meekness to their own amend- 
ment, and reproving the obstinate accord- 
ing as the case may require. In short, 
that the church must excommunicate him 
that sins either in doctrine or life, and no 
other. (Tit. iii. 10; 1 Cor. v. 12.) 

XVII. Of Shunning or Avoiding the 
Separated or Excommunicated. — Touch- 
ing the avoiding of the separated, we be- 
lieve and confess, that if any one has so 
far fallen off, either by a wicked life or 
perverted doctrine, that he is separated 
from God, and consequently is justly se- 
parated from and corrected or punished by 
the church, such a person must be shunned, 
according to the doctrine of Christ and 
his apostles, and avoided without partiality 
by all the members of the church, espe- 
cially by those to whom it is known, 
whether in eating or drinking, or other 
similar temporal matters ; and they shall 
have no dealings with him: to the end 
that they may not be contaminated by in- 
tercourse with him, nor made partakers of 
his sins ; but that the sinner may be made 
ashamed, be convicted, and again led to 
repentance. (1 Cor. v. 9, 10, 11 ; 2 Thess. 
iii. 14; Tit. iii. 10.) 

That there be used, as well in the avoid- 
ance as in the separation, such modera- 
tion and Christian charity as may have a 
tendency, not to promote his destruction, 
but to insure his reformation. For if he 
is poor, hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or in 
distress, we are in duty bound, according to 
necessity, and agreeably to love and to the 
doctrine of Christ and his apostles, to 
render him aid and assistance ; otherwise, 
in such cases, the avoidance might tend 
more to his ruin than to his reformation. 
(2 Thess, v. 14.) 

Hence we must not consider excommu- 
nicated members as enemies, but admon- 
ish them as brethren, in order to bring 
them to knowledge, repentance, and sor- 
row for their sins, that they may be re- 
conciled with God and his church ; and, 
of course, be received again into the 
church, and so may continue in love to- 
wards him, as his case demands. 

XVIII. Of the Resurrection of the 
Dead, and tire last Judgment. — Relative 
to the Resurrection of the Dead, we be- 



lieve and confess, agreeably to the scrip- 
tures, that all men who have died and 
fallen asleep, shall be awakened, quicken- 
ed, and raised on the last day, by the in- 
comprehensible power of God; and that 
these, together with those that are then 
alive, and who shall be changed in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the 
last trumpet, shall be placed before the 
judgment seat of Christ, and the good be 
separated from the wicked; that then 
every one shall receive in his own body 
according to his works, whether they be 
good or evil ; and that the good and pious 
shall be taken up with Christ, as the 
blessed, enter into everlasting life, and 
obtain that joy, which no eye hath seen, 
nor ear heard, nor mind conceived, to 
reign and triumph with Christ from ever- 
lasting to everlasting. (Matt. xxii. SO, 31 ; 
Dan. xii. 12 ; Job xix. 26, 27 ; John v. 
28; 2 Cor. v. 10; 1 Cor. xv.; Rev. xxi. 
11; 1 Thess. iv. 13.) 

And that, on the contrary, the wicked 
or impious shall be driven away as ac- 
cursed, and thrust down into utter dark- 
ness ; nay, into everlasting pains of hell, 
where the worm dieth not, and the fire is 
not quenched ; and that they shall never 
have any prospect of hope, comfort, or re- 
demption. (Mark ix. 44.) 

May the Lord grant that none of us 
may meet the fate of the wicked ; but that 
we may take heed and be diligent, so that 
we may be found before him in peace, 
without spot and blameless. Amen. 

Done and finished in our United 
Churches, in the city of Dortrecht, 21st 
April, A. D. 1632 ; 'subscribed : 

Dortrecht — Isaac de Koning, John Ja- 
cobs, Hans Corbryssen, Jaques Terwen, 
Nicholas Dirkson, Mels Gylberts, Adriaan 
Cornelisson. Zeeland — Cornelius de Moir, 
Isaac Claasz. Middleburg — Bastian Wil- 
lemsen, John Winkelmans. Vlissingen — 
Oillaert Willeborts, Jacob Pennen, Lieven 
Marynesz. Zierich — Anthony Cornelli- 
son, Peter Jansen Zimmerman. Gorcum 
— Jacob Van der Heyde Sebrechts, Hans 
Jansen van de Kruysen. Arnhem — Cor- 
nelius Jahnsen, Dirk Ronderson. Rot- 
terdam — Balten Centen Schoomaker, Mi- 
chel Michelsson, Israel van Halmael, 
Henry Jahnsen Appeldoorn, Andries Luck- 
en, jr. Amsterdam — Tobias Govertson, 



HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES. 



415 



Peter Jahnsen Moyer, Abraham Dirkson, 
David ter Haer, Peter Jahnsen van Singe! , 
Leyden — Christian de Koning, Johannes 
Weyns. Harlem — Johannes Doom, Peter 
Gryspeer,Dirk Wouters Kolenkamp, Peter 
Joosten. Schiedam — Cornelius Bom, 
Lambert Paeldink. Blokziel — Claes Clae- 
sen, Peter Petersen, Dirk Rendersen. 
Utrecht — Hermann Segerts, John Hend- 
ricksen Hooghvelt, Daniel Plorens, Abra- 
ham Spronk, William von Brockhuysen. 
Bommel — Wilhelm Jansen van Exselt, 
Gyspert Spiering. Germany — Peter van 
Borsel, Anthony Hans. Krevelt — Her- 
man op de Graff, Wilhelm Kreynen. 

The foregoing articles are received and 
maintained by all the Mennonites through- 
out the United States, Territories, and in 
Canada, wherever they have been dis- 
persed ; for, since the first immigration of 
the Mennonites to this country, they have 
been spread over a great portion of Penn- 
sylvania, where large bodies of them are 
found in Lancaster county, in Bucks, 
Chester, Philadelphia, Montgomery, Dau- 
phin, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Frank- 
lin, York, Westmoreland, and some other 
counties, and also in Maryland, Ohio, In- 
diana, New York and in Canada. 

The Mennonite congregations in Penn- 
sylvania are divided into three general 
circuits, within each of which, semi-annual 
conferences, consisting of bishops, elders 
or ministers, and deacons, are held for 
the purpose of consulting each other, and 
devising means to advance the spiritual 



prosperity of the members. A similar 
conference is held in Ohio, where the 
Mennonites are very numerous, consist- 
ing, however, principally of foreign im- 
migrants who have settled there within 
the last thirty years. The members of 
the congregations in Indiana are princi- 
pally from Switzerland. In Canada they 
have from fifteen to twenty places where 
religious meetings are held ; their semi- 
annual conferences are alternately held at 
Waterloo, Clinton, and Markham. 

Bishops, elders or ministers, and dea- 
cons, are usually chosen by casting lots. 
Their pastors neither receive nor accept 
stipulated salaries, nor any kind of remu- 
neration for preaching the gospel, or in 
attending to the functions of their office. 
Their number of ministers, members, con- 
gregations, and houses of public worship, 
in America, has been variously estimated ; 
but the exact number of members cannot 
be given, as they keep no records among 
them for that purpose. In this they hold 
the same views as they do in giving alms, 
when our Saviour says (Matt, vi.) : " Take 
heed that ye do not your alms," &c. So 
they believe it would not be acceptable in 
the sight of God to make a public display 
of the number of their communicants, as 
they know the Head of the Church of 
God, namely, Jesus Christ, sees and 
knows who are his children in the whole 
world. Furthermore, they bear in mind 
the confession of King David, declaring 
himself that he greatly sinned by causing 
Israel to be numbered. (2 Sam. xxiv.) 



416 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED MENNONITE SOCIETY. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE REFORMED MENNONITE SOCIETY* 

BY THE REV. JOHN HERR. 

STRASBURG, LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 



HISTORY. 

The Mennonite denomination derived 
its name from Menno Simon, a very zeal- 
ous and successful reformer ; but, owing 
to the manner in which he and his fol- 
lowers were persecuted, and his doctrines 
and views misrepresented, through the 
malice of his papistical adversaries, his 
name was never handed down to posterity, 
side by side with that of Luther, Calvin, 
and others ; though it must be admitted, 
he did as much towards the enlightening 
of mankind, and contended with adver- 
saries as powerful, as ever impeded the 
progress of Luther, and all those illus- 
trious personages, whose names shed such 
a lustre on the history of the Reforma- 
tion. 

But as there is required a history of the 
Reformed branch of the Mennonite Society 
only, it will not fall within the design of 
this sketch, to trace her history to that 
dark and superstitious period, when the 
earth was daily drenched with the blood 
of the righteous. 

How long the followers of Menno, ad- 
hered to the doctrines he had inculcated — 
how long they practised his precepts, and 
guarded with a jealous eye those divine 
truths, that he had promulgated, is not ex- 
actly known ; but we are informed from 



* This article has the sanction of the Rev. 
John Herr, of Strasburg, a Bishop of the So- 
ciety — Ed. 



a source which cannot be doubted, that 
soon after the persecution ceased, there 
was a gradual falling off from their former 
purity, and that they did not carry into 
effect the doctrines they had formerly 
taught and professed. From this it is 
evident, that they became, by degrees, 
more and more corrupted. 

It was when viewing their fallen state, 
and on reflecting how they had deviated 
from the path in which they had formerly 
trod ; how they resisted minor-evils, though 
they were instructed that the New Testa- 
ment showed expressly, that Christ taught 
his disciples to resist no evil whatever ; in 
short, it was when contrasting their con- 
ditions now, with what they professed then, 
that a few individuals contemplated the 
design of restoring them to their former 
purity. They, for this purpose, met re- 
peatedly, and exchanged in simplicity of 
heart the sentiments of their minds. They 
warned the Mennonites of their delusion ; 
but as they were unwilling to be convinced 
of the errors under which they were la- 
boring, and as those few enlightened souls 
found it impossible to take part in their 
proceedings, as long as they remained in 
their defiled condition, they found it neces- 
sary to renovate and renew the whole 
Mennonite doctrine. They accordingly 
razed the rubbish t6 the foundation, on 
which they commenced building the church 
of Christ anew. This happened in the 
year 1811 ; and as their number was con- 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED MENNONITE SOCIETY. 



417 



tinually on the increase, they found it ne- 
cessary, after much prayer, supplication, 
and submission to the will of God, to ap- 
point one, from amongst their number, to 
superintend this desirable work. But as 
they were all aware that the undertaking 
was of no ordinary kind, and each one 
being impressed with the conviction that 
he was too feeble to take the lead in ex- 
posing the evils that arise from holding the 
laws of God at defiance, and from bring- 
ing perverted and sinful souls from dark- 
ness unto light, they, as may be readily 
supposed, felt considerable diffidence about 
making a choice. It was, for a long time, 
their general theme for discussion at their 
private meetings ; but, on finding that it 
was unnecessary to delay it any longer, 
and being convinced of the necessity of 
appointing one to fill the ministerial sta- 
tion, they made a choice, which devolved 
upon John Herr. It was a grievous task 
— as he himself expresses it — but, owing 
to the conviction that he had been called 
by the Almighty to exert himself to the 
utmost to re-establish the fallen state of 
the church, and to the powerful appeals 
and pressing solicitations of his fellow- 
laborers, he found himself unable to refuse. 

And now that they were fairly in the 
field, they invited the public, and com- 
menced operations with redoubled vigor ; 
and though public opinion has pointed the 
finger of scorn at their perseverance and 
exertions ; and though their doctrines were 
despised by the ignorant multitude, and 
the difficulties they had to surmount not a 
few, they nevertheless removed every ob- 
stacle that was intended to impede their 
progress, fearless and undismayed ; and 
notwithstanding the predictions to the con- 
trary, by certain individuals, success has 
crowned their efforts. 

Before concluding the first part of this 
sketch, it will not be amiss, perhaps, to 
give the reader a passage from the Illus- 
trating Mirror, page 393, written by John 
Herr. 

Speaking about his entering on his min- 
isterial duties, he says : " At last I con- 
sented to put my talent to usury, accord- 
ing as God imparted to me the measure of 
faith, by the influence of his Spirit ; to him 
alone be the praise, who has at all times 
comforted and supported me in all my in- 



firmities under which I have frequently 
groaned. Yes, from the depth of my soul 
I thank the everlasting God, through Jesus 
Christ, who granted me blessing, power 
and success in speaking his words without 
timidity, and made it fruitful in the hearts 
of many, who, by the hearing of the word, 
have been brought to believe ; yea, have 
been turned, through Jesus, from darkness 
to light, and from the power of Satan to 
God. So I began to labor at this holy 
city and temple, not only with the word 
of repentance and faith, but also with the 
holy baptism, supper, foot-washing and 
all the apostolical ordinances, and to join 
the fallen and scattered stones together 
again for a spiritual body and temple of 
the Lord. Moreover, the Lord of mercy 
rendered me assistance, by the word of his 
power, in bringing the rough and unshapen 
stones from the mountain of sublimity and 
carnal reason ; which stones, through the 
hidden power of the Holy Spirit, were, 
and daily are, changed or dressed, and 
made brilliant by the rays of eternal light ; 
to the eternal and only wise God, the Fa- 
ther of mercies and ail good, be alone the 
honor and the praise, through Jesus Christ, 
for ever and ever, Amen." 

DOCTRINE. 

Regarding the doctrinal points, it be- 
comes necessary to state that the articles 
of their Confession of Faith have been 
modified and condensed, as much as is 
allowable, without destroying the sense, in 
order to make it as brief and perspicuous 
as possible. 

A representation of the chief Articles of 
their Christian Faith, as taught and 
practised in their Church. 

1. They believe, and confess, accord- 
ing to scripture, in one Eternal, Almighty, 
and Incomprehensible God, the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, and no more, and 
no other ; who works all in all, and is the 
Creator of all things visible and invisible ; 
and that he created our first parents after 
his own image and likeness, in righteous- 
ness and true holiness, unto eternal life ; 
and that he endowed them with many and 
great gifts, and placed them in paradise, 
and gave them a command and prohibition. 



53 



418 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED MENNONITE SOCIETY. 



2. They believe and confess, that our 
first parents were created with a free will, 
susceptible of change ; and that they were 
at liberty to fear, serve, and obey their 
Creator, or disobey and forsake him ; and 
that, through the subtlety of the serpent, 
and the envy of the devil, they trans- 
gressed the command of God, and dis- 
obeyed their Creator ; by which disobe- 
dience sin and death came into the world, 
and thus passed upon all men. They also 
believe that, by this one sin, they were 
driven from paradise, became so far fallen, 
separated, and estranged from God, that 
neither they nor their posterity, nor any 
other creature in heaven or on earth, could 
redeem or reconcile them to God ; and 
that they would have been eternally lost, 
had not God interposed with his love and 
mercy. 

3. They believe and confess, that God, 
notwithstanding their fall and transgres- 
sion, did not wish to cast them away, and 
have them eternally lost; but that he 
called them again to him, comforted them, 
and testified that there was yet a means of 
reconciliation ; namely, that the Son of 
God, who was appointed unto this purpose 
before the foundation of the world, and 
who was promised unto them and their 
posterity, for their reconciliation and re- 
demption, while yet in paradise, from that 
time forth was bestowed upon them by 
faith. 

4. They believe and confess, that when 
the time of the promise was fulfilled, this 
promised Messiah proceeded from God, 
was sent, and came into the world, and 
thus the Word was made flesh and man ; 
they also believe, that his going forth is 
from everlasting to everlasting, without 
beginning of days, or end of life : that he 
is the beginning and the end, the first and 
the last ; and, also, that he was God's first 
and only Son, and who was the Lord of 
David, and the God of the world. 

They further believe, that when he had 
fulfilled his course, he was delivered into 
the hands of the wicked ; was crucified, 
dead, and buried ; rose again on the third 
day, ascended to heaven, and sits on the 
right hand of the majesty of God ; from 
whence he will come again to judge the 
quick and the dead. And that through 
his death, and the shedding of his blood 



for all men, he bruised the serpent's head, 
destroyed the works of the devil, and ob- 
tained the forgiveness of sins for the whole 
human family. 

5. They believe and confess, that pre- 
viously to his ascension he instituted and 
left his New Testament, which he con- 
firmed and sealed with his blood, and 
commended it so highly to his disciples, 
that it is not to be altered, nor added to, 
nor diminished. And that, inasmuch as 
it contains the whole will of his heavenly 
Father, he has caused it to be promul- 
gated over the earth, and appointed Apos- 
tles, missionaries, and ministers, to teach 
it in his name to all people, nations, and 
tongues ; and has therein declared all men 
his children and lawful heirs, provided 
they live up to the same by faith. 

6. They believe and confess, that the 
first lesson of the New Testament of the 
Son of God is repentance and reforma- 
tion ; hence it is their opinion, that men 
must reform their lives, believe in the gos- 
pel, desist from sin, forsake unrighteous- 
ness, sacrifice the old man with all his 
works, and put on the new man created 
after God in unsullied holiness. 

7. As regards baptism, they confess, 
that all penitent believers, who by faith, 
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost, are made one with God, must, upon 
their scriptural confession of faith, and re- 
formation of life, be baptized with water, 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost, agreeably to the 
doctrine and commandment of Christ ; 
whereupon they must learn to observe all 
which the Son of God taught and com- 
manded his disciples. 

8. They believe and confess a visible 
Church of God ; namely, those that are 
made one with God in heaven, and re- 
ceived into the fellowship of the saints 
here on earth. They also confess, that 
the same are the chosen people, the royal 
priesthood, the holy nation, and the chil- 
dren and heirs of everlasting life, a dwell- 
ing-place of God in the spirit, built upon 
the foundation of the Apostles and Pro- 
phets, Christ being the chief corner-stone, 
upon which the church is built ; and this 
church must be known, by her obedience 
to her supreme Head and King; in all 
matters of faith to obey him, and to keep 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED MENNONITE SOCIETY. 



419 



all his commandments ; and as a virgin 
and bride forsakes father, mother, and all 
strange company, and yields herself to the 
will of her bridegroom, so all the true 
children of God, must separate from all 
false worship, flee from the voice of stran- 
gers, and give ear unto no one, except 
Christ and his commissioned ministers. 

9. With regard to the offices and elec- 
tions of the church, they believe and con- 
fess, that the Lord Jesus Christ himself 
instituted and ordained offices, and ordi- 
nances, and gave directions how every one 
should do that which is right and neces- 
sary ; and further, that he provided his 
church, before his departure, with minis- 
ters, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, in 
order that they might govern the church, 
watch over his flock, and defend and pro- 
vide for it ; and that the Apostles likewise 
elected brethren, and provided every city, 
place, or church, with bishops, pastors and 
leaders ; and that they always had to be 
sound in faith, virtuous in life and conver- 
sation, and of good report both in and out 
of church, in order that they might be an 
example in all good and virtuous deeds. 

10. They also confess, and observe a 
breaking of bread or supper, which Qhrist 
instituted with bread and wine before his 
suffering, eat it with his apostles, and 
commanded it to be kept in remembrance 
of himself, which they consequently taught 
and practised in the church, and command- 
ed to be kept by all true believers in re- 
membrance of the sufferings and death of 
the Lord ; and that his body was broken, 
and his precious blood shed for the benefit 
of the whole human race ; the fruits of 
which are redemption and everlasting sal- 
vation, which he procured thereby, mani- 
festing such great love towards sinners, 
by which all true believers are greatly 
admonished to love one another, even as 
he has loved them ; and as many grains are 
united together into one bread, and many 
grapes into one cup of wine : so shall they 
as many members be united into one body, 
and all partakers of the same bread ; 
and without this union of spirit, and true 
holiness, no one can be admitted to this 
holy supper. 

11. They also confess the washing of 
the saints' feet, because the Lord not only 
commanded it, but actually washed the 



feet of his disciples, although he was their 
Lord and Master ,* and by so doing, he 
gave them an example, which they were 
necessitated to follow. Besides, they be- 
lieve it their duty to consider with pro- 
found meditation, how the blessed Son of 
God humbled himself, not only in washing 
his disciples' feet, but much rather, be- 
cause he washed and purified our souls, 
with his precious blood, from all the pol- 
lution of eternal damnation. 

12. With regard to marriage, they be- 
lieve there is in the church an honorable 
marriage, between two believers, as God 
ordained in the beginning in paradise, and 
instituted it between Adam and Eve ; as 
also Christ opposed and reformed the 
abuses that had taken place, and restored 
it to its original condition. They further 
believe, that as the patriarchs had to 
marry among their own kindred, so like- 
wise, the followers of Christ are not at 
liberty to marry, except such, and no 
others, as have been united with the church 
as one heart, and one soul, and stand in 
the same communion, faith,- and doc- 
trine. 

13. They confess and believe, that God 
instituted and appointed authority and the 
magistracy as a punishment for evil-doers, 
and a protection for the good ; hence they 
dare not gainsay or resist it ; but must 
acknowledge the magistracy as the minis- 
ter of God, be subject and obedient in all 
things, not repugnant to God's law and 
commandments ; also faithfully pay tribute 
and tax, and render that which is due, as 
Christ taught, practised, and commanded 
his disciples to do ; and also, that it is 
their duty to pray constantly for the pros- 
perity of the government and welfare of 
the country. They further believe that, 
as Christ avoided the grandeur of this 
world, and conducted himself as an hum- 
ble minister, none of his followers must 
discharge the duties of a magisterial office, 
or any branch of it, following, in this, the 
example of Christ and his apostles, under 
whose church these specified offices were 
not administered ; and as they are in- 
structed not to hold any worldly office 
whatever, they likewise think themselves 
deprived of the liberty of elevating others 
to a magisterial, or any other office. 

14. Concerning the spiritual kingdom 



420 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED MENNONITE SOCIETY. 



of Christ, they confess and believe, that it 
is not of this world ; and that he dissuaded 
all his ministers and followers from all 
worldly power, forbidding the same, and 
instituted a diversity of offices in his 
church, whereby the saints may be joined 
together, so as to build up the body of 
Christ ; and that they must not be equipped 
with carnal weapons ; but, on the contrary, 
with the armor of God, and the sword of 
the Spirit, which is the word of God, in 
order that they may be enabled to fight 
against, and overcome flesh and blood — 
the allurements of the world and sin — and 
thus, finally to overcome and receive, 
through grace, the crown of everlasting 
life, from this our Eternal King, as their 
recompense and reward. 

15. As regards revenge, they believe 
and confess, that Christ did forbid his dis- 
ciples all revenge and defence, and com- 
manded them not to render evil for evil ; 
hence they consider it evident, according 
to his example and doctrine, that they 
should not provoke, or do violence to any 
man, or enter into any legal process, but 
seek to promote the welfare and happiness 
of all men ; and that they should pray for 
their enemies, feed and refresh them when 
hungry or thirsty, and thus convince them 
by kindness, and overcome all ignorance 
by doing unto others, as they would that 
others should do unto them. 

16. Respecting oaths, they believe and 
confess, that Christ did forbid his disciples 
the use of them, and commanded that they 
should not swear at all. Hence they in- 
fer, that all oaths, greater or minor, are 
prohibited ; and that they must, instead of 
this, confirm all their declarations, asser- 
tions, and testimonies with the word, yea 
in that which is yea, and nay in that 
which is nay. Hence they should always 
perform, follow, keep and live up to their 
words, as though they had confirmed them 
with an oath. 

17. They also believe and confess a 
ban, separation, and Christian correction 
in the church, whereby the pure may be 
distinguished from. the defiled. Namely, 
if any one, who has embraced religion, 
and attained the knowledge of truth, sins 
either voluntarily or presumptuously 
against God or unto death : they believe 
that such a person, when the church has 



sufficient evidence of the case, cannot re- 
main in the congregation of the righteous ; 
but shall and must be separated, excom- 
municated and reproved in the presence 
of all, and considered as an offending 
member and open sinner ; in order that 
he may be an example and terror to 
others, and that the church may remain 
pure and undefiled. And concerning 
brotherly reproofs and admonition, they 
consider it necessary to instruct them with 
all meekness to their own amendment, and 
reprove the obstinate, according as the 
case may require. 

18. Respecting the avoiding of the sepa- 
rated, they believe and confess, that if any 
one, by a wicked life, or perverted doc- 
trine, has separated himself from God, and 
consequently from the church, he must be 
shamed, according to the doctrine of Christ 
and his Apostles, and avoided without par- 
tiality, by all members of the church unto 
whom it is known, whether in eating, 
drinking, or other similar matters ; and 
that they should have no dealings with 
him ; for the purpose of making the sin- 
ner ashamed, be convicted, and called to 
repentance. 

It -is also their belief, that there should 
be used in the avoiding, as well as in the 
separation, such moderation and Christian 
charity, as may have a tendency to insure 
his reformation ; hence they do not con- 
sider them as enemies, but admonish them 
as brethren, in order to bring them to 
knowledge, and be reconciled to God and 
his church. 

19. Relative to the resurrection of the 
dead, they believe and confess, agreeably 
to scripture, that all men. that have died, 
shall be awakened, quickened, and raised 
on the last day, by the incomprehensible 
power of God ; and that these, together 
with those that are then alive, who shall 
be changed in the twinkling of an eye at 
the sound of the last trumpet, shall be 
placed before the judgment seat of Christ ; 
and that the good will be separated from 
the wicked : that then every one shall re- 
ceive in his own body, according to his 
works, whether they be good or evil ; and 
that the good or pious shall be taken up 
with Christ, as the blessed, enter into ever- 
lasting life, and obtain that joy, which no 
eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor mind 




EMANUEL SWEDENBOEG. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 421 



conceived, to reign with Christ from ever- 
lasting to everlasting. 

And that, on the contrary, the wicked 
shall be driven away as accursed, and 
thrust down to outer darkness, and into 
the everlasting pains of hell, where the 
worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
quenched ; and that they shall have not any 
prospect of hope, comfort, or redemption. 

These, as briefly stated above, are the 
chief articles of their general Christian 
faith, which they teach and practise uni- 
versally in their churches and among their 
members, which in their conviction are the 
only true Christian faith, which the Apos- 
tles taught, nay testified with their death, 
and some also sealed with their blood ; 
wherein they willingly abide, live, and die, 
that they may with them attain to salva- 
tion by the grace of the Lord. 

Respecting the statistical part of this 
sketch, it becomes necessary to say, that 
they never deemed themselves at liberty 
to keep an accurate account of their mem- 



bers ; because they do not wish to make 
a great display respecting their numbers, 
but they believe all that is necessary, is to 
have their names recorded in the book of 
life ,* and because they read (2 Sam. xxiv. 
and 1 Chron. xxi.) that the anger of the 
Lord was kindled against David for num- 
bering his people, so that he sent a pesti- 
lence which destroyed seventy thousand. 

The number of churches, however, that 
have been organized in different parts of 
the country, are as follows : 

Lancaster county — where the reforma- 
tion first commenced — Montgomery coun- 
ty, Dauphin county, Cumberland county, 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania ; Richland 
and Wayne counties, Ohio ; Wayne county, 
Indiana; Erie county, and Livingston 
county, New York ; and in the province 
of Canada ; besides which, there are num- 
bers scattered through the adjoining coun- 
ties, that have never been regularly or- 
ganized. 

The churches above stated are all pro- 
vided with ministers, deacons, pastors, &c. 



HISTORY 



OP 



THE NEW JERUSALEM, 

OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
BY A LAYMAN OF THAT DENOMINATION. 



This body of Christians accepts the 
doctrines and theological writings of the 
late Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg* as a 

* Emanuel was the son of Jesper Swedberg, 
born near Fahlun, Sweden, 1653. Jesper was 
several years chaplain to the army of a regi- 



rational and authoritative exposition of 
scripture. The general ignorance re- 



ment of cavalry, finally bishop of Skara, West 
Gothland, and many years superintendent of 
the Swedish mission established in England 
and America. He died in 1 735. 



422 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



specting this author ; the true nature and 
object of his works ; and the character of 
his followers may justify a fuller exposi- 
tion of these and some other collateral 
points, than would otherwise comport with 
the plan of this History, or than would be 
necessary in the case of churches of longer 
standing, and hence better known to the 
community. But before proceeding to a 
sketch of its faith, it is proper to announce, 
that this church refuses to be regarded as 
one of the many different sects into which 
the general body of Christians is unhappily 



Emanuel Swedberg was born in Stockholm, 
January 29, 1688. He enjoyed early the ad- 
vantages of a liberal education, and being na- 
turally endowed with uncommon talents for 
the acquirement of learning, his progress in the 
sciences was rapid and extensive. "His 
youth was marked by an uncommon assiduity 
and application in the study of philosophy, 
mathematics, natural history, chemistry, and 
anatomy, together with the Eastern and Eu- 
ropean languages. He had an excellent me- 
mory, quick conceptions, and a most clear 
judgment." 

In 1716, he was appointed by Charles XII., 
Assessor Extraordinary of the Metallic Col- 
lege. In 1719, he was ennobled by Queen Ul- 
rica Eleonora, when he assumed the name of 
Swedenborg, and took his seat with the Nobles 
of the Equestrian order, in the Triennial As- 
sembly of the States. He was made a fellow 
by invitation of the Royal Academy of Sciences 
at Stockholm, and had a like honor conferred 
on him by foreign societies. 

He is distinguished in the literary, scientific, 
and theological world, by his numerous publi- 
cations in the Latin language, which give 
proof of great genius and profound erudition. 
He closed his eventful life in London, March 
29th, 1772, in the 85th year of his age. He 
lived in much esteem with the bishops and 
nobles of his own country ; and his acquaint- 
ance was sought after by the most distin- 
guished characters in various parts of Europe, 
with many of whom he continued to corres- 
pond till his death. 

The Rev. Thomas Hartley, a clergyman of 
the Church of England, Rector of Winwick, 
England, who was intimately acquainted with 
Swedenborg, in a letter to a friend, bears this 
testimony of him: "It may reasonably be 
supposed, that I have weighed the character 
of Swedenborg in the scale of my best judg- 
ment, from the personal knowledge I had of 
him, from the best information I could pro- 
cure concerning him, and from a diligent 
perusal of his writings ; and according thereto, 
I have found him to be the sound divine, the 
good man, the deep philosopher, the universal 
scholar, and the polite gentleman." — Editor. 



divided ; but claims, as the name imports, 
to possess an entirely new dispensation of 
doctrinal truth, as compared with any of 
the systems which at present prevail. 

' A new church !' will the reader ex- 
claim in wonder or indignation : — ' and to 
supersede the one established by Christ in 
person ! ! Have we not the lawful suc- 
cessor of Peter, Prince of the Apostles, the 
Vicar of Jesus Christ on Earth — empow- 
ered to declare true doctrine and deter- 
mine controversies in Religion V says the 
Romanist. ' Nay,' says the Episcopalian, 
' the Apostles were equal in authority 
among themselves. Our Bishops are 
their legitimate successors — the chain of 
descent having never been broken — and 
they have preserved the christian doctrine 
entire, or restored it when corrupt.' i And 
we,' say Protestants of another type, 
' thanks to the glorious Reformation, are 
free from the tyranny alike of Pope and 
prelate : we have the Word of God in our 
own language, and each one is at liberty 
to draw his doctrine from the source.' 
' Your churches were but half reformed,' 
say others still, ' In the exercise of that 
very freedom which you have failed to 
use, we have attained the true light.' 
Thus various are the voices in remon- 
strance, however they may unite at the 
close in the enquiry: '"Where then can 
be the necessity of a new dispensation 1 — 
or show of reason for a pretension which 
by implication condemns — not one, but all 
other churches extant V And we meet 
the question at the threshhold. The rea- 
sons are many. We can here cite but a 
few — and even these cannot be given 
without reference to opinions of other 
Christians, from which we dissent. We 
would, therefore, premise that we desire 
such reference and such dissent may not 
be interpreted into any want of respect to 
their holders as such ; since erroneous 
opinions may be innocently adopted or 
retained, where there has been no full col- 
lation of conflicting systems. 

There was a time when the followers 
of our Lord were of one heart and one 
mind; but now we see them hopelessly 
sundered into Romanists on the one hand, 
and Greeks and Protestants on the other ; 
and the latter rent into many-colored and 
uncompromising factions. And if there 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 403 



be a temporary or seeming union among 
them, neutral spectators still think or fear, 
that it is not because they love each other 
more, but Rome less. What is the object 
of any church, but to preserve and pro- 
pagate the truth for the sake of good? 
And has the former Christian church done 
this ? Conceding for the present, what 
some of us may actually believe, that there 
has been an uninterrupted succession of 
Bishops at Rome, from Peter to Pius IX. ; 
— or that the line from the Apostles ge- 
nerally has been somewhere preserved 
through all vicissitudes : as it may also 
have been from Aaron to Caiaphas, or 
from Mahomet to the present Mufti at 
Constantinople, — the requisition is not 
fully met. Quis custodiet custodes ipsos 1 
Have they been faithful to their trust ? 
Have they kept in purity what was com- 
mitted to their charge? Or, while they 
have been careful to preserve and adorn 
the casket, may not its most precious jew- 
els have been purloined and substituted by 
counterfeits ? ' The priest's lips verily 
should keep knowledge, and we should 
seek the law at his mouth.' But what, if 
the Oracle when consulted remains dumb, 
or gives forth an uncertain sound? nay, 
forbids our hearkening to any other voice ? 
While we acknowledge with Protestants, 
that the Church of Rome had become 
utterly corrupt in doctrine and practice 
before the Reformation, the radical differ- 
ences among themselves show that they 
cannot all be right. Nor will it avail to 
assert that they agree in fundamentals. 
We know of no such accordance in any 
one doctrine, either as to the nature of 
God, the character and wants of man, the 
mode of divine interposition, or the Inspi- 
ration of the Scriptures. Granting that 
each sect has retained some truth, — and 
were there not a portion in the worst, we 
should not, as we do, see good men in 
every one, — the true system of doctrine 
has been lost. The true ideal of Christian 
character has also been forgotten, if it 
was ever fully known. Things indiffer- 
ent have been denounced as sinful. The 
relation of life which is the origin and 
support of society — instituted and blessed 
by God himself — has been proscribed as 
comparatively impure and forbidden to 
whole classes of mankind. Under pre- 



tence of a life of Piety and Devotion, a 
train of factitious virtues with Spiritual 
Pride in the rear, has been generated ; or 
the claim of license therefor, served but 
as an entrance for Idleness and a host of 
consequent evils. The passive and nega- 
tive duties have been honored as of prime 
importance : while functions, necessary to 
the protection or prosperity of States, and 
their energetic pursuit, have been discoun- 
tenanced as ' worldly.' Hence men of 
enlarged views and practical wisdom, 
aware of the objects of life and tenacious 
of their own freedom, whose estimate of 
Christianity was based on the report of its 
accredited votaries, were left to infer that 
this religion was incompatible with ra- 
tional pleasure and manly dignity or vir- 
tue. Christianity lies in ruins, and the 
life of its several fragments is only that 
of the segments of a polypus, hopeless of 
reunion. And it must be owned, that, if 
we are to look for nothing better in the 
future than the past, it has proved a fail- 
ure. The adulterous connection with the 
state early led to its corruption, and to the I 
reproach that Catholicism, like the Koran, 
if not propagated, has at least been main- 
tained, by policy and the sword. Re- 
monstrants were denounced under the 
name of heretics — their tenets and apolo- 
gies suppressed with them. And where 
violence was no longer employed or per- 
mitted, how rarely has a fair hearing been 
accorded by a Creed in the ascendant to 
a different faith ! Some of its fragments, 
even now, lay more stress on church go- 
vernment and obedience to authority, than 
on knowledge ; and all insist more on faith 
than on works. Reason has been dis- 
carded as an enemy, and Mystery re- 
ceived into alliance. As a natural conse- 
quence, the ablest minds of the last age 
became infidel or indifferent to Religion 
as a personal affair, while too many of 
their successors in this, seeing that society 
cannot subsist without it, yield a formal 
and political support, while the feeble have 
been inflamed to fanaticism. 

The clergy have sometimes complained 
•of the slight esteem in which their order 
is held where not patronized by the state, 
and of the opposition they encounter where 
they are. Not to mention their demeanor 
towards opponents and their unwavering 



424 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



regard to their corporate interests, we 
think they need look no farther than to 
their own dogmas, to account for the de- 
cline of reverence for their sacred func- 
tion. We do not say that their lives are 
spent in laboriously doing nothing; for 
any religion which does not discourage 
good morals is better than none ; but they 
do reap an immature and stinted harvest, 
themselves being judges. Men "will not 
freely bestow even on spiritual rulers the 
fruits of their labors without an adequate 
return. Why is it, that, after eighteen 
centuries, Mahommedism is more extended 
than Christendom, and Heathenism more 
than either? Nay, why did Mahommed 
rise at all ? and why is the conversion of 
his followers now so hopeless ? The Cross 
had once well-nigh sunk before the Cres- 
cent : and though the latter has in his 
turn grown pale, the hold of its Priest- 
hood on the minds of the people is yet 
unbroken. The Koran, Brahminism, and 
Boodhism — the leading corrupt religions 
of the world — have almost everywhere lost 
their ancient theocratic influence, yet, 
fallen as they are from the political hea- 
vens, or succeeded by Christian powers 
whose rule is less tyrannous : and though 
Providence seems thus to have prepared 
the way for a purer faith, — the lives of 
nominal Christians and the difficulties of 
his own doctrines are standing obstacles 
to the success of the Missionary. Why, 
also, has the Church become so inefficient, 
or so shorn of its influence, that irrespon- 
sible societies are left to discharge duties 
which would otherwise pertain to her? 
To these and other questions which might 
be asked, we can conceive of no sufficient 
answer other than this. It is, that those 
who had the control of religion, 'did xot 

UNDERSTAND HlS WoRD.' ' THEY ERRED, 

not knowing the scriptures, nor the 
power of God.' 

But if we concede for a moment the 
purity of what is taught, it is inadequate 
to the increased demand of the general 
mind. Men outgrow the garments of 
their youth. Philosophy and religion are 
in unnatural conflict. And the breach is 
daily widening. Every fresh accession 
to knowledge, each new theory in science, 
is viewed with suspicion by the Orthodox 
priesthood — and is welcomed or opposed 



according to its bearing on existing creeds. 
We need a new development of Christi- 
anity, in which all parts of knowledge 
shall assume their proper positions. We 
have no clear views of the fundamentals 
of all religion, as distinguished from those 
of the wiser Heathen and Deists. They 
believed in one God, the immortality of 
the soul, and retribution ; and the preva- 
lent systems throw us back on their in- 
sufficient ideas. Or rather, we are fain 
to believe that, with advancing time, we 
know less and less of the truth. If our 
present teachers know all that is neces- 
sary, free of error, why is it that the 
good and wise do not see it ? and if either 
Protestant or Catholic is entitled to exclu- 
sive ascendancy, why has Providence per- 
mitted neither to attain it ? 

Again, however opposed to the received 
opinion, we think that scripture clearly 
teaches us that ' the earth abideth for 
ever.'* Con we suppose, then, that our 
benevolent Teacher will permit the exist- 
ing state of doubt and distraction to be 
also perpetuated, and never interpose for 
our relief! Why should he not? Every 
founder of a sect, every believer in a Mil- 
lennium, in effect, says that he may. He 
has nowhere told us that he would never 
clear up the mysteries of his Word. To 
do so would but be in accordance with the 
progressive character of all former dispen- 
sations, which were given as necessity 
arose. If, as may hereafter appear, Mo- 



* Gen. ix. 12, 16, Ecc.i. 4; Ps. lxxii. 17; 
lxxviii. 69 ; Ixxxix. 35-37 : xcvi. 10 ; xciii. 1 ; 
civ. 5 ; cxxv. 1 ; cxix. 90 ; cxlviii. 6; (2 Sam. 
vii. 1 6 ; Isa. ix. 7 ; Dan. ii. 44 ; vii. 14, 27 ; Micah 
iv. 5, 7 ; Comp. Luke i. 33, and Rev. xi. 15.) Every 
Greek scholar knows that the phrase " end of the 
world," in Matt. xiii. 39 ; xxiv.'30 ; xxviii. 20 ; 
should be translated "consummation of the 
age." Peter, who (Acts ii. 16-20) had explain- 
ed similar language of the prophet Joel as ful- 
filled on the day of Pentecost, in his 2d Epistle 
hi. 7-10, has reference to the above words of 
our Lord : of course to be fulfilled in a simi- 
lar manner, as also wherever it is used in the 
prophetic style. That there is such a style : 
that it is peculiar : that its primary sense is 
not always its true sense : that it is figurative, 
and something more than metaphorical: that 
it is symbolical: — are points now generally con- 
ceded. Matt. v. 18, Luke xvi. 17, and the like, 
declare, by a strong Hebraism, of two events 
that both are equally improbable ; so that the 
passages first cited retain their literal import. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 425 



ses and the prophets have been so per- 
verted that they cannot be understood by 
unassisted reason, there cannot occur a 
more fitting occasion for divine interfe- 
rence than the present, when the hearts 
of men are failing them for fear, and 
when many are looking and praying for 
such a blessing ; though some, when it is 
offered, refuse it, with a strange perverse- 
ness, as inconsistent with ideas which 
prevail ! 

Once more : A Religion, some of whose 
principles are yet undeveloped, or a part 
of whose teachings is merely above the 
present apprehension of its professors, is 
one thing ; A Religion which is mysterious 
in its own nature is another, and very 
different. A Religion of the latter kind, 
whose fundamental dogmas are unintelli- 
gible mysteries — however its existence 
may be protracted by the force of circum- 
stances — carries within itself the seeds of 
dissolution. The sage observer must see 
the tendency of such a faith, and if he 
permit himself to reason on it, may predict, 
as its inevitable issue, different results, 
akin to Popery — to Formalism — to Indif- 
ferentism, or Infidelity, — or else to incura- 
ble schisms — according to the several 
classes of character on which it is brought 
to bear. For, in such a one, from the 
nature of the human mind, numerous 
questions must arise, and beget contro- 
versies. If these are ever authoritatively 
determined, it must be by dicta which to 
some minds will appear arbitrary. To 
such authority the timid or indifferent 
may submit, especially when a pretence 
of Infallibility has been long assumed and 
conceded. Others, who, if not indiffer- 
ent to truth of doctrine, leave such dis- 
putes to be settled by the Clergy, and lay 
more stress on outward forms of govern- 
ment and Worship, may take refuge in a 
milder Communion. But many will still 
remain, who, in default of convincing 
reasons, will persist in dissenting; and 
yet for their own conclusions, where po- 
sitive or opposite, they can often have 
nothing better than doubtful or probable 
grounds ; thus are their weapons retorted 
and the differences perpetuated. 

Apart from these considerations, it 
might have been inferred from Sacred 
Scripture itself, that the True Religion in 



54 



all its comprehensive depth was not of- 
fered, nor, for sufficient reasons, were its 
mysteries fully explained to the primitive 
Christians. Said our Lord to his disci- 
ples, ' I have many things to say unto 
you, but you cannot bear them now.'' 
' The time will come when I will show 
you plainly of the Father.' (John xvi. 12, 
25.) In the effort to understand what was 
already written, doubts and questions did 
arise, — and on this very subject. Instead 
of acknowledging their present ignorance, 
angry controversies did ensue. Too 
faithless to trust the promise of their 
Lord, or too impatient to wait until they 
had rendered themselves worthy of the 
true and only solution — decisions were 
made, and by Authority ; — but such de- 
cisions as darkened counsels by words 
without understanding ! This authority, 
by slow gradations, grew up into a Spirit- 
ual Despotism which overshadowed all 
Christendom, and yet was never so firmly 
established but that there always had been 
rebels against the pretended Infallibility 
of Rome. That the antagonist systems 
of the Reformation did not give universal 
satisfaction, is proved, as well by the re- 
maining strength of the Papacy, as by 
the growth of numerous bodies of Dis- 
senters where freedom of religion is al- 
lowed, or by secret Infidelity where it is 
not. All these felt that something — that 
much was wrong, though none of them 
penetrated to the root of the evil ; — and by 
their unskilful attempts at Reform, created 
fresh difficulties of their own. Without 
some further light, or the disturbing in- 
fluence of political causes, the various 
classes of mind and character might have 
revolved forever in the old circle of con- 
troversies, without materially changing 
their relative positions, or satisfactorily 
determining one of the vexed questions of 
theology. Shall Christians, then, who 
profess to believe that the mercy of the 
Lord is infinite, and that neither the gates 
of hell, nor yet the treason or apostacy 
of one or more of its branches shall pre- 
vail against His Church — start back with 
incredulity from the bare suggestion, that, 
in this her day of distraction and wan- 
dering, a new guide should be raised up 1 
Nor should her present lamentable 
condition occasion either surprise or des- 



426 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



pair. Himself had predicted the decline 
of that dispensation, and its utter over- 
throw from its foundations ; and that he 
would come again. (Matt, xxiv.) And the 
prophet of the future fortunes of the 
Church saw in vision « the Holy City, 
New Jerusalem, descending from God out 
of heaven, like a bride adorned for her 
husband ;' — ' the tabernacle of God with 
men. 9 (Rev. xxi. 1--5.) 'The kingdoms 
of this world become the kingdoms of our 
Lord.' (xi. 15.) It is for the fulfilment 
of this promise, that we believe all things 
are now ready. It is for this hope's sake, 
nay, confidence, that he has come — not 
in person, as many are even now looking 
for him — but in the poicer and glory of 
the spiritual meaning of his Word, which 
has heretofore been clouded by the literal 
sense, (Matt. xxiv. 30,) that we are de- 
nounced as enthusiasts or worse. Is a 
prophecy ever understood until accom- 
plished? When he does come, is it prob- 
able that the world in general will be 
aware either of the fact or mode of his 
appearance; or believe it, if true? (Matt, 
xxiv. 44 ,* Luke xviii. 8.) 



In all religious inquiries, the principal 
object should be the knowledge of God. 
As, if clear ideas are wanting here, all 
subsequent reasoning is darkened and 
perplexed, if not entirely vitiated. We 
suppose few will be found at the present 
day to deny, at least in words, that God 
is one, and God is good ; and that this is 
discoverable from his works. But the 
Christian is asked yet another question, — 
and surely when aided by Revelation, his 
answer should be full and exact, — ' Who 
then was that dread, mysterious one that 
walked the earth more than eighteen cen- 
turies since ; and whose appearance was 
the signal for a. contest of opinions, which 
has widened and extended to our own 
day ?' We do not care, even if our space- 
permitted, to rake into ecclesiastical his- 
tory, among the ashes of forgotten here- 
sies, whose authors ' would not have this 
man to reign over them.' Let us descend 
to more recent times. The Master him- 
self, when here, inquired of his disciples, 
'What think ye of Christ?' and the 



question is re-echoed through the long 
tract of ages. ' He is one of three divine 
persons, each of whom by himself is 
God,' says the Athanasian. ' Be it so,' 
says the Arian, ' if you grant that his is 
a derived divinity.' ? He is one of three 
differences,' says Archbishop Tillotson. 
' Or of three subsistences," says Seeker 
from the same chair. ' One of three dis- 
tinct cogitations,' says Le Clerc. ' He 
is one of three somewhats] says the 
mathematical! Dr. Wallis. Sirs, we do 
not understand you ; nor can we accom- 
pany the logic which would put a differ- 
ence between three separate divine per- 
sons, and three distinct gods ! ' Your ob- 
jection is natural,' says Priestley ; ' he 
was a good man : a prophet, if you will : 
but still the son of Joseph and Mary, and 
naturally fallible and peccable as you or 
I.' ' I go farther,' says Mr. Belsham, 
' and assert that his too partial biogra- 
phers may have suppressed certain por- 
tions of his private history, which would 
have proved him actually guilty of com- 
mon frailties.' Sirs, your statement, 
though irreverent to our ears, is intelligi- 
ble ; but it contradicts the general tenor 
and many express declarations of Scrip- 
ture. ' We would offend neither prejudice 
nor reason,' says the transcendental Uni- 
tarian ; ' We believe in but one God, and 
neither affirm nor deny the divinity of 
Christ ; but we do accept him as our 
teacher.' Very good apology for a lover 
of mystery, all of whose honors, however, 
you disclaim. ' We are not required to 
express an opinion,' says John Locke, or 
Alexander Campbell, and as Thomas 
Hobbes had said before either ; * suffi- 
cient it is, if we believe, with the primi- 
tive Christians, that Jesus is the Messiah, 
the Saviour of the world.' Very well, 
and who is the Messiah ? 

It is plain, that, on a point of such im- 
portance, statements so various or inade- 
quate cannot be satisfactory to all minds. 
And should any unsatisfied inquirer put the 
question to us, we answer, without ambi- 
guity, equivocation, evasion Or reserve, 
He was God manifest in the flesh. 
We know, we conceive of, we worship 
no other ; we pray to no other for his 
sake. We have an apostle's assertion 
that " in him dwells all the fulness of the 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 427 



Godhead bodily ;' and his own, that 
'whosoever sees him, seeth the Father:' 
and that he hath ' all power in heaven 
and on earth.'* The Deist and the Pan- 
theist believe in a God diffused through 
all space. This is the Christian's God — 
visible in a human form : visible to his 
disciples after his Resurrection : and since 
then, to the mental eye of every Christian. 
The anthropomorphism that is to be 
shunned, is not that which ascribes body 
and parts to the Deity, (for the human 



* As this is the fundamental doctrine of the 
system, the reader may desire a more especial 
and extended reference to passages of Scrip- 
ture, which are thought to prove it. We offer 
the following as sufficient though incomplete. 

1. That God is one: Ex. xx. 3; Deut. vi. 4; 
Mark xii. 29; Matt. xix. 17; xxiii. 9; 1 Cor. 
viii. 4 ; Gal. iii. 20 ; Mark xii. 32 ; 2 Kings xix. 
15 ; Deut. xxxii. 39 ; Isa. xlv. 5 ; Zech. xiv. 9. 

2. Jesus is the bridegroom and husband of 
his Church, and the Redeemer of his people. 
Matt. ix. 15; xxv. 1, 5, 6; John iii. 39; Rev. 
xix. 7 ; xxi. 2, 9 ; 2 Cor. xi. 2 ; — Com. Isa. liv. 
5; Jer. xxxi. 32; Hos. ii. 2, 7, 18; Luke xxiv. 
21 ; Gal. iii. 13 ; 1 Pet. i. 18 ; Rev. v. 9 ; Eph. i. 
7 ; Heb. ix. 12. 

3. The Creator and Redeemer or Saviour 
are one and the same. Isa. xlv. 21, 32; xliv. 
6; xliii. 3, 11; xlv. 15; xlix. 26; lx. 16; xii. 
14; xliii. 14; xliv. 24; xlviii. 17; xlvii. 4; 
xlix. 7 ; liv. 8 ; Ixiii. 1 6 ; Jer. i. 34 ; Hos. xiii. 
4 ;— Com. with Matt. i. 21 ; Luke ii. 11 ; John 
iv. 42 ; Phil. iii. 20 ; 1 Tim. i. 15 ; 2 Tim. i. 10 ; 
Tit. i. 3, 4 ; ii 13 ; iii. 7 ; 2 Pet. i. 1, 11 ; ii. 20 ; 
iii. 2, 18; 1 John iv. 14; Acts iv. 12; Rev. 
xix. 10. 

4. John was the Precursor of Jehovah. 
Isa. xl. 3 ; Mai. iii. 1 ; iv. 5 ; Com. Matt. xi. 10, 
14. 

5. Jesus is Jehovah. Ex. iii. 14 ; Com. John 
viii. 58 ; Isa. vi.; Com. John xii. 38 — 41 ; Jer. 
xxxiii, 5,,6 ; Rev. xxii. 6 & 16. 

6. Christ is God. Isa. ix. 6 ; John i. 1, 14 ; 
Rev. i. 8 ; Phil. ii. 6 ; 1 John v. 20 ; Rom. ix. 
5 ; Col. i. 16, 17 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; Tit. ii. 13 ; 
Eph. ii. 1 ; Com. Ps. xxiv. 10 ; 1 John iii. 16 ; 
Jude 25 ; Isa. xlviii. 12 ; & Iii. 4 ; Com, Rev. i. 
11,13,17; iv, 8; xxii. 12, 13; xvii. 14; xix* 
16 ; i. 6 ; iv. 10, 11 ; Com. v. 8, 12, 13. 

7. Jesus and the Father are one. John x. 
30 ; xii. 45 ; xiv. 6, 7, 8, 9. 

8. The Father dwells in the Son and the 
Holy Spirit proceeds from him. John xiv. 1 ; 
xv. 26 ; xvi. 7 ; xx. 22 ; Col. ii. 9. 

9. Jesus Christ has all Goodness, Wisdom 
and Power, is omnipresent. Mark x. 17; 
Luke i. 35 ; Heb. vii. 25 ;— Col. ii. 3 ; Matt. xii. 
25 ; John ii. 24, 25 ; vi. 64 ; Matt. xi. 12 ; 
xxviii. 18; — xviii. 19. 

10. And is therefore God. — 1 John v. 20. 



farm is the original type from which all 
organized forms are degradations,) but 
the malignant passions of Anger, Wrath, 
and Revenge, from which, surely, one 
being in the universe ought to be exempt. 

But farther — what was the true charac- 
ter of man, and the occasion of God's 
becoming incarnate ? < He is wholly 
defiled in all the faculties and parts of 
soul and body ;' says a particular creed ; 
1 utterly indisposed, disabled, and made 
opposite to all good, and wholly inclined 
to all evil.' Even if not a reflection on 
his Maker, does not this statement leave 
man irresponsible ? ' The new-born in- 
fant,' says the Pelagian, ' is as pure as 
was the first man before the fall — the con- 
sequences of whose sin are confined to 
his own person.' If so, what need of a 
Redeemer ? and why do all inevitably de- 
generate ? 

To return— what did he do on our 
behalf while here ? and what connexion 
is there between his obedience and suffer- 
ings and our benefit ? ' He died that he 
might rise again,' and 'thus bring life 
and immortality to light,' says the Unita- 
rian ; and so far truly.* ' He died to 
exhibit God's hatred of sin,' says Dr. 
Murdock. ' He did something? says 
Coleridge, ' we do not and cannot know 
what, beyond its effects ; and it is not 
proper that the various metaphors by 
which Paul would illustrate the manifold 
consequences of the redemptive act, should 
be set up as separate and substantive doc- 
trines.' ' Some have attempted to trace 
the connexion, but we do not perceive that 
it is explained in Scripture,' says Bishop 
Butler, with the modesty of a great man 
who was not a dogmatist. i How is this,' 
says the rigidly orthodox, ' need anything 
be plainer ? Our salvation was bought 
and sold. Man having disobeyed the 
law, its honor required that punishment 
should fall somewhere, to avert the wrath 
of the Father, who could not else be just 
and merciful. The son of God undertook 
to mediate between us and the Father, 
became incarnate, obeyed, suffered penally 
and in our stead ; and thus paid the infi- 
nite debt we had contracted to the law. 
It is not altogether certain whether he paid 
it to the Law, the Father, or the Devil ; 
but he rose, ascended, and now intercedes 



428 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



with the Father, for the sake of his merits, 
wounds and sufferings, to have mercy on 
the elect, who, if they will only believe all 
this, will have their sins blotted out, and 
his merits imputed to them,' &c. It is 
impossible to enumerate all the objections 
which justly lie against this whole alleged 
proceeding.* Enough, that no ingenuity 
can reconcile it, either with the unity of 
the Deity or his attribute of Justice. Nor 
are we singular in rejecting it as having 
no foundation either in reason or Scripture 
properly interpreted. We regret that we 
can only glance at what we would offer in 
lieu thereof, as the true doctrine, and 
which is largely dwelt on in the writings 
of our author ; and, in order to this, the 
reader will pardon a slight apparent di- 
gression. 

All things in the universe, which are 
according to divine order, have relation to 
Goodness or Truth ; those which have 
departed from this order, to Evil or False- 
hood. God himself is Love and Wisdom, 
the correlatives of the two former, (1 
John iv. 8 ; v. 6 ; John xiv. 6 ;) and this 
is that likeness in which man was created. 
The constituents of the human mind are 
the Will and the Understanding ; the for- 
mer, the seat of the Affections — the latter 
of the Thoughts. And the Soul itself is 
not an ethereal vapor, nor a bundle of 
Ideas or of Faculties, nor simply the 
result of bodily Organization ; but a sub- 
stantial Form (the image of God) recep- 
tive of goodness and truth, which are 
Spiritual light and heat, from their source ; 
or of their Opposites from below. When 
the internal man has been deformed from 
the latter cause, the great object of Regen- 
eration is to restore its lost symmetry. 
This is the grand end of Providence in 
maintaining a Church on earth ; and all 
minor events are overruled to its further- 
ance. The Platonic idea, that, ' As 
Beauty is the virtue of the body, so Virtue 
ij is the beauty of the mind,' and which has 
been regarded as a rhetorical metaphor, is 
thus a most emphatic truth. And ideas 
themselves are not the airy, evanescent 
things, the intangible abstractions, set 
forth by modern metaphysicians; but may 



* Many of them are drawn out in the work 
entitled ' Job Abbot,' hereinafter mentioned. 



and ought to be presented to the mental 
eye in corresponding,/c>rw25, and thus they 
do appear in that world which is freed 
from the trammels of Time and Space. 

We gather from the allegorical language 
of the first chapters of Genesis, that the 
early race of men on this earth held di- 
rect communication with their Maker, who 
either taught them what was for their good 
by a sensible internal dictate, or enabled 
them to read it in the outward Creation, 
whose significance was then understood ; 
that, in the use of Freedom and Reason, 
without which they would not have been 
Men, and which they exercised as if from 
themselves, they attained a high degree 
of wisdom and virtue ; that, although 
these, together with life itself, were gifts 
continually received from Jehovah, by 
virtue of their union icith him, in process 
of time, and because it did not so appear 
to them, they began to call this in ques- 
tion, and fell at length into the amazing 
fallacy that these were all their own and 
self -derived. Heee was the origin of 
evil. Is it asked, ' Why was this per- 
mitted?' we answer, ' It could not have 
been prevented without the destruction of 
mankind.' Sin is necessarily incidental 
to every probationary system. Until we 
upset the axiom, 'That it is impossible 
for the same thing to be and not to be at 
the same time,' it is no derogation from 
Omnipotence to say, that it could not do 
things so contradictory as to convert man 
into a machine and still preserve his free- 
dom. We do not suppose that the fall 
was sudden or total, but the degeneracy 
was gradual ; and in time it became ne- 
cessary, in order to his preservation, that 
the relation of man to his Maker should 
be changed. The immediate intercourse 
was now suspended as dangerous, and all 
the communion from thence forward to the 
incarnation was through the intervention 
of an angel. (Gen. xlviii. 16 ; Ex. iii. 2 ; 
xxiii. 20-23 ; Is. lxiii. 9 ; Heb. xii. 29.) 
To meet his successive declensions, and 
continue the possibility of salvation, suc- 
cessive Churches were provided of Divine 
Providence — the germ of a new one, be- 
fore its predecessor had become corrupt 
or inadequate. Throughout this long in- 
terval, the free-will of man, which con- 
sisted in his being placed in equilibrio 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 429 



between good and evil influences, with 
power to yield to either, was preserved. 
Still the ungrateful, reckless race, having 
once turned their backs on the Son, wan- 
dered farther into the gloom — forgot their 
God — sunk to the lowest depth consistent 
with humanity, when liberty itself was 
threatened by a preponderance of the evil 
influence, which, from oppressing the 
spirits, had come to possess the very bodies 
of men ! And did their merciful Parent 
desert them here ? Alas ! the creatures had 
hurt themselves, and not him, by their 
folly. In this extremity it was, — this 
8 fulness of time' which he had forseen, — 
that himself became incarnate as Divine 
Truth, restored in his own person the true 
exempler of Humanity, subdued the Infer- 
nals, which could not else be reached 
without destruction to all concerned, and 
thus render salvation for ever possible to 
all men on all earths without danger of 
their again falling into a like abyss. Then 
it was that all things necessary were done, 
though then they could not be seen in the 
fulness of light. But all may see it noiv. 
This is the love which demands our eter- 
nal gratitude ; this the condescension of 
the Supreme which we contemplate with 
wonder and with awe. 

We say then, that we know of no son 
of God born from eternity. That title 
should alone be predicated of the human 
nature born in time, (Luke i. 35,) at first 
properly termed the son of Mary, though 
afterwards changed. Physiologists know 
that a man receives his soul from his 
father, and his body from his mother. 
As the latter was produced without the 
intervention of an earthly father, (Luke i. 
20-25,) our Lord could have had nothing 
corresponding with a- human soul; but 
was animated directly by the Divinity 
instead. (Mai. iii. 1 ; com. John ii. 21 ; 
Heb. x. 5.) We likewise believe that the 
human mind has three several degrees ;* 
the natural, serving as the basis of the 
other two, which are successively opened. 
His body or humanity, including the na- 
tural mind, being derived from an imper- 



* This distinction, which is recognised or 
implied throughout the writings of Sweden- 
borg, is demonstrated and enforced at length 
in his work entitled, < The Divine Love and 
Wisdom.' 



feet mother, partook of her infirmity, (Job 
xiv. 4,) was subject to temptation ; (Matt. 
iv. 1—8 ; xxii. 18 ; Heb. iv. 15 ; com. Jas. 
i. 13, and Ex. xxxiii. 20,) and had tend- 
ency to sin. It was by submitting to 
temptation in all possible variety, and by 
a successful resistance in every case, that 
this human nature was perfected, (Heb. ii. 
10, 18,) glorified, (John xiii. 31, 32 ; xvii. 
15 ; xii. 27, 28 ; Luke xxiv. 26,) or made 
divine. This process was gradual, (Luke 
ii. 40, 52,) and any seeming difference 
between the Father and himself was pre- 
vious to its completion. Indeed, his whole 
life was a combat with an infernal influ- 
ence, (Isa. lxiii. 1-9; lxix. 16, 17, 20; 
Jer. xlvi. 5, 10 ; Ps. xlv. 4-7 ; John xii. 
31 ; xvi. 11 ; xvii. 33 ; Luke x. 18 ; Rev. 
i. 18,) in which he was progressively vic- 
torious, not for himself alone, but for man 
also, on the true principle of overcoming 
evil with good. The tendency of the soul 
is generally to assimilate the body to itself. 
In his case, when the principles of the 
infirm humanity, with their corresponding 
forms, were successively 'put off during 
temptations, divine forms were put on in 
their stead. The last temptation was the 
passion of the cross, when the warfare 
was finished, (John xix. 30,) and the union 
between the human and divine nature was 
complete and reciprocal. (John xvii. 10, 
21.) From thenceforth his Divine Hu- 
manity became the fit residence, the ap- 
propriate organ through which the Holy 
Spirit, or new divine influence, operates 
throughout creation. (John vii. 39 ; xx. 
22.) And thereafter all appearance of 
personality separate from the Father is 
merged in this indissoluble union ; or 
rather, he is the person of the Father. 
(Heb. i. 3.) His sufferings, which had no 
merit as such, and could not satisfy a be- 
nevolent Parent, were not penal, nor sub- 
stituted, but merely incidental to his 
changes of state and his intense anxiety, 
bordering on despair, during his humilia- 
tion, and were endured by him to repre- 
sent the state of the church at that time, 
and in all ages, when it rejects or falsifies 
his truth, and ' does despite to the spirit 
of his grace.' His merit consisted in that 
exercise of divine power and virtue, 
whereby he glorified human nature in 
himself, and healed, restored and elevated 



430 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



it into newness of life in his creatures. 
This merit of righteousness is a satisfac- 
tion to his father, because it answers the 
cravings of the divine love within him. 

Here, then, is the one God in one per- 
son ; in whom, nevertheless, we acknow- 
ledge a trinity ; for the Father dwells in 
the Son, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from 
Him, as the divine Love dwells in the di- 
vine Wisdom, and the Spirit of Truth pro- 
ceeds from it. 

It was ignorance of this Glorification, 
which caused most of the heresies which 
have disgraced Ecclesiastical History, ar- 
rested the spread of the church, and have 
shorn it of its best influence where it re- 
mained. And yet each individual carries 
in his own person an analogy which would 
sufficiently illustrate such a union to the 
plainest mind. For he possesses a soul, a 
body, and a power or operative energy, 
which is the result of the joint action of 
the other two ; and the Regeneration 
which we all need, is but an image of that 
Glorification. (Matt. xix. 28.) 

To the classical reader we say, that 
1 person' {persona, per sonans,) originally 
meant an actor's mask — by transfer, the 
character which he enacted. ' Making 
satisfaction,' is doing enough. 'Atone- 
ment,' means reconciliation, and not the 
payment of a debt. To * sacrifice' is to 
make holy, to consecrate, to dedicate ; and 
its essence is not shedding of blood. ' Re- 
demption' is recovery from bondage. ' To 
intercede' is to go between ; « to mediate,' 
to serve as a medium ; < to propitiate,' 
(prope ito,) is to make nigh to. < To 
justify' is to make just, as clearly as « to 
sanctify' is to make holy. We rejoice to 
believe that God appeared in a new aspect 
or character in Christ Jesus ; that he has 
done enough for our salvation, by the con- 
secration of his human nature; that he 
has thus rescued us from spiritual slavery; 
that his Divine Humanity goes betiueen us 
and the Father ; nay, serves as the per- 
petual medium by which we may draw 
near to Him, be reconciled, made just, 
and fit for heaven. 

The whole Word of God in its celestial 
or highest sense, explains in its progress 
this most stupendous event that ever oc- 
curred in the universe. It is divinely sha- 
dowed forth in the lives of the Patriarchs ; 



more clearly in the acts and sufferings of 
the Prophets ; but most particularly in the 
afflictions of David, the great Representa- 
tive of the Lord, as expressed in the book 
of Psalms. In the New Testament it is 
briefly but plainly asserted. 

It was not then any selfish regard { to 
his own glory,' which led to this grand 
expedient, but ' in his love and his pity he 
redeemed us.' There never was any < con- 
flict' between his attributes. The Justice 
of God is but his Goodness in restorative 
action. He does not demand the punish- 
ment of an innocent substitute. (Gen. 
xviii. 25 ; Ez. xviii. 20.) He requires 
our repentance and reformation alone. 
(Jer. xviii. 7, 8 ; Isa. lvi. 7 ; Luke xxiv. 
47-8 ; Acts v. 30-1 ; 1 John i. 9.) It is 
not enough barely to believe all this, though 
true ; to repent in extremity ; or to con- 
fess our sins in the gross. Man must ex- 
amine himself in detail ; fight against his 
evils in the strength of the Lord ; follow 
the great exemplar ; (Matt. x. 38 ; xvi. 24 ; 
xix. 28 ; 1 Pet. ii. 21-2 ; John xii. 26 ; 
1 Cor. x. 13 ; 2 Cor. hi. 17', 18 ; iv. 16 ;) 
and thus, by an union of Faith, Charity 
and Good Works, without attaching any 
merit to either, ( work out his own salva- 
tion,' or qualify himself for happiness. 
We know of no shorter road to heaven. 
A God of truth will not impute to us, 
either the good or evil which was not and 
could not have been done by us. (Ez. 
xviii. 20, 21.) And though all are pre- 
destinated to heaven, yet none will be 
forced to accept it ; nor will any be elected 
but by that principle of spiritual Affinity, 
which leads those, who are, by Reforma- 
tion and Regeneration made like Him, to 
choose Him freely and reciprocally. In a 
reasonable service, man need not be fright- 
ened into a slavish compliance ; and can- 
not be passive, but must co-operate with 
his Maker, who continually gives him the 
power to obey his commands, and provides 
the means of salvation for all, nay, for the 
very Heathen, who are only responsible 
for the employment of such advantages as 
they possess. (John ix. 41 ; Acts x. 35 ; 
Rom. ii. 13-15; v. 13.)' Infants, being 
incapable of sinning, are all saved. (James 
i. 14, 15 ; Deut. xxiv. 16 ; Matt, xviii. 10, 
14.) As the ability to keep the commands 
is constantly afforded, voluntary per sever- 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 431 



ance^ and constant vigilance, are as little 
as could be expected in turn. Who then 
can estimate the importance of Regenera- 
tion, when we reflect that man is by every 
thought, word, and act of his life drawing 
his own portrait for eternity ! 

When death — which is not in itself a 
curse, but a natural stage in the progress 
of man, that terminates his probationary 
state, — when death once separates the soul 
from the material body, the latter will 
never be resumed; (1 Cor. xv. 50; Matt. 
xxii. 31, 32; Phil. i. 21, 23; Luke xxiii. 

43 ; com. Rev. ii. 7 ;) and the former rises 
up a spiritual body, in a spiritual world, 
adapted to its new and permanent condi- 
tion. (Luke xvi. 22-4 ; ix. 30 ; 1 Cor. xv. 

44 ; Rev. xxii. 8, 9.) # Indeed, the spirit 
is the man himself; and most men, being 
of mixed character, enter, at death, the 
Intermediate State, or first receptacle of 
departed spirits. Here dissimulation is not 
long permitted. The hypocrite is stripped 
of his mask — erring piety is instructed in 
the truth. After abiding for a period suf- 
ficient to develope the real state, the indi- 
vidual is advanced to heaven, or descends 
to hell, and becomes an ' Angel' or ' Devil' 
accordingly. We know of no other classes 
entitled to those names respectively, ( Judg. 
xiii. 6, 10, 11 ; Dan. ix. 21 ; Micah xvi. 
5 ; John xx. 12 ; Rev. xxi. 17 ; xxii. 8, 9.) 
We recognize no other intelligent and ra- 
tional beings in the universe, but God, and 
the human race in perpetual progress or 
descent. W T e cannot conceive of an hybrid, 
apocryphal, winged order superior to men ; 
lest of all would we ascribe, with Milton, 
some of the highest attributes of divinity 
to the Devil ! The two grand divisions of 
human kind are those which are marked 
by a preponderance of the Affections or 
of the Intellect. Within these limits the 
modifications of character are innumer- 
able. As many classes are formed in the 
other life, where like consorts with like. 
Here, too, a like distinction is drawn be- 
tween the kingdom of the good and the 
kingdom of the Wise. And we are told 
there are three gradations in each, answer- 



* For a full discussion of this and some 
other points of doctrine to which we can here 
but little more than advert, we would refer the 
reader to 'Noble's Appeal in behalf of the 
New Church.' 



ing to the three degrees of the mind, or 
to those angels whose predominating cha- 
racteristic is respectively love, wisdom, or 
simple Obedience to what is good and true. 
And analogous differences and grades ob- 
tain among the Infernals. 

Such is a sketch of the principal doc- 
trines which Swedenborg has drawn from 
the literal sense of that book which all 
Christians acknowledge as the repository 
of their faith. And we cannot but advert, 
in this connection, to the manner in which 
it has been degraded even by those who 
claim to think with reverence of it as the 
charter of their freedom. We are pained 
to hear of the Poetry of the Hebrews ; of 
the Eloquence of this prophet ; of the 
simple or more philosophical narrative of 
that historian or evangelist. We are in- 
dignant at the results of the slashing prin- 
ciples of biblical criticism and hermeneu- 
tics in the hands of German Rationalists. 
Do our fellow-Christians know what the 
boldest of them have conceded to these 
sappers and miners ? have they any defi- 
nite idea of what Inspiration is ? of what 
it is to say of any book that it is the Wosd 
op God ? We certainly do not believe 
that all the tracts bound up in our Bible 
can claim that grand designation ; but 
think we have a criterion for determining 
the products of the * divine afflatus' from 
all the works of man.* 

The reader has now a specimen of the 
views of men who are reported to set plates 
at their tables for their dead friends ! and 
to converse familiarly with Peter and 
Paul ! ! — by those who perhaps find it 



* The books of the Word are the Pentateuch, 
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, the Psalms 
and all the Prophets in the Old Testament ; 
and the four Evangelists and Revelation in the 
New. The other books (except the Canticles 
and Apocrypha) contain the truth — are often 
quoted by Swedenborg in proof of his doc- 
trines — are useful to the church — and are writ- 
ten with as high a degree of inspiration as 
writers generally ascribe to those enumerated, 
but do not contain the internal sense, in a con- 
nected or divine series. The book of Job con- 
tains an internal sense, being written accord- 
ing to the Science of Correspondences, which 
was known to the ancient people on this earth, 
but does not come within that connected and 
intimately related series of divine truths which 
makes the Word an infinitely complex and 
harmonious whole. 



432 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



more convenient to divert public attention 
from this faith than to refute it. We know 
not how many can be found to credit such 
dull fictions ; but if, among the entire body 
of Swedenborg's followers one such vo- 
luntary fool could be discovered, it would 
only prove that he did not understand his 
own doctrine, which teaches the impossi- 
bility of seeing spiritual objects with the 
natural eye ; and declares that the veil be- 
tween that world and this is never removed 
except by Providence, and for sufficient 
reasons. 

Would that our space permitted us to 
fill up the above outline with the rich va- 
riety of subaltern truths, at once new and 
suggestive, with which his works abound, 
and all of which are germain to the lead- 
ing doctrines. We leave the rest to the 
Rev. Wm. Mason, of England, who gives 
the estimate of this system by a plain but 
vigorous and undebauched intellect, which 
had tried several others and examined all: 

' Pciti was a new system of doctrine 
presented to him, not to be blindly believed, 
but rationally understood — a system which 
inculcated the divinity of Jesus Christ 
without a mystery, and which, neverthe- 
less, rejected the supposed vicarious sacri- 
fice with all its horrors and injustice, and 
vindicated the Scriptures from the charge 
of setting it forth ; a system which gave 
a new view of the inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures, and which, if it could be established 
by conclusive evidence, would prove them 
indeed the ' W 7 ord of God,' by raising 
them to that true and real dignity which 
that magnificent title implies — the dignity 
of being in every part of it, the repository 
of infinite goodness and infinite wisdom. 
. . . . A new intellectual and moral world 
opened upon his delighted view. He found 
he was able to see the Lord Jesus Christ 
as « God over all blessed for ever,'' without 
qualification, or reservation, and in a clear 
and glorious light, without a single over- 
shadowing cloud of mystery or contradic- 
tion. Without going back to tripersonal- 
ism, he could now embrace a new scrip- 
tural doctrine of the Divine Trinity, and 
one perfectly free from every blemish of 
contradiction, and thus could entertain far 
more exalted ideas of his Saviour than he 
was ever able to form while he was a be- 
liever in the three persons in the Godhead. 



He could also now see his God as one, 
because one Divine Person, and in the 
aspect of love and mercy immensely ex- 
ceeding his utmost efforts so to behold his 
Maker, while, as a Unitarian, he endea- 
vored to think of God as a Benevolent 
Somewhat, diffused like an etheral essence 
through infinite space. Indeed, he was 
delighted to find that whatever is good and 
useful, whatever is lucid and consistent, in 
other systems of Christianity, is harmo- 
niously brought together in its proper ar- 
rangement and connection, in the doctrines 
of the New Church, so that those doctrines 
may be regarded as embracing all the re- 
vealed truths deduced from the Holy Word 
by all denominations of Christians, puri- 
fied from all admixture of error and hu- 
man invention. He found the divine au- 
thority and sanction, the unchangeableness 
of doctrine, and the infallibility of inter- 
pretation, which is the boast of the Roman 
Catholic, combined with the utmost free- 
dom of investigation ; so that the general 
doctrines of the New Church may be re- 
garded as invisible ' bands of love,' (Hos. 
xi. 4,) by which the Father of mercies 
holds and guides his children, while he 
tenderly suffers them freely to expatiate 
hither and thither into all the particulars 
involved in the articles of their faith, with- 
out wandering away from the grand funda- 
mental principles of all true religion, that 
God is one, and God is good. He found 
the great principle of the Protestant, that 
the Scriptures are the only rule of a Chris- 
tian's faith and practice, earnestly con- 
tended for, and yet perfectly harmonized 
with the Catholic doctrine of authority 
and uniformity, abstractedly considered. 
He found that nothing is required to be 
believed in the New Church, but what 
may be clearly drawn from, and confirm- 
ed by, the literal sense of the Word ; and 
that the important duty of searching the 
Scriptures, which is thus individually to 
be performed, in order to the formation of 
a real and sincere faith, is blessed with a 
sure and unerring guidance, which has all 
the effect of a voice from heaven, while it 
is congenial with the freest exercise of the 
understanding, and clear of all mischiefs 
of priestly dictation, and the liability to 
contradictory decisions of erring and 
changeful men. He saw that, while the 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 433 



doctrine of transubstantiation is rejected, 
the member of the New Church is enabled 
clearly to discern hoiv the Lord is really 
present in the holy supper, without re- 
ducing that divine institution to the un- 
spiritual and unmeaning ceremony which 
it is made to be by some. He found in 
the New Church an equally determined 
adherence to the belief of what is thought 
to be revealed with that which is mani- 
fested by Trinitarians, but combined with 
a clear opening of the mysterious words 
of Scripture, and which by Trinitarians 
are implicitly believed without being un- 
derstood. He found here the freedom of 
discussion, the demand for reasonable 
proof, and the determination to believe 
nothing but what is rationally proved to 
be true, as instanced in the tone of the 
Unitarian and Sceptic, but combined with 
a full and fair answer to that demand, to 
the full satisfaction of sound reason, acting 
under the influence of true humility, and 
a supreme love of what is good and pure 
and spiritually useful. He found vital and 
inward religion, so exclusively vaunted by 
Evangelicals, and the inward waiting on 
and communion with the Spirit, so much 
cultivated by the followers of George Fox, 
here duly regarded and combined with 
just philosophical views, practical princi- 
ples, and moral habits, founded in the 
deepest reverence for the Scriptures, so 
that the internal affections are thus brought 
down, and firmly fixed in a corresponding 
external. He found the supremacy of 
moral principle and practice over doctrine, 
as contended for by the moral philosopher 
and Utilitarian, in full operation under the 
designation of charity, or the love of use 
for the Lord's sake ; so that the external 
principle of morality derives interiorly 
from the spiritual mind, and thus from the 
Lord, an interior principle of spiritual life, 
by which it is made spiritually alive, and 
iu exalted to a conjunction with the source 
of all good. He found an entire and uni- 
versal reference of all things to God, and 
which is aimed at by the Predestinarian, 
accomplished in an enlightened trust in 
a particular and overruling Providence, 
resting on clear, rational, and scriptural 
grounds, and yet perfectly free from all 
the objections which justly lie against the 
Calvinistic doctrine of predestination and 



election, and perfectly reconcilable with 
human liberty and rationality. He found 
the doctrine of free-will asserted, and 
clearly exhibited, without removing man 
in the least degree from a momentary 
dependence on the source of life and 
power. He was enabled to see the origin 
of moral and physical evil in such a light 
as to justify the divine goodness, and to 
make the divine foreknowledge appear 
perfectly compatible with human freedom 
and accountability. He perceived that, 
although man is a fallen creature, he is 
continually kept in the capability of sur- 
mounting his infirmities, and overcoming 
his evil propensities ; and thus he was 
enabled to obviate the objections of disbe- 
lievers in hereditary evil on the one hand, 
and the advocates of man's moral inca- 
pacity on the other. Pie saw the Wesley- 
an doctrine of assurance of salvation rec- 
tified, and placed on a rational basis ; and 
the religious feelings, so strongly culti- 
vated by Methodists, not extinguished, but 
directed into useful and sanctifying chan- 
nels, so as to be active without enthusiasm 
on the one hand, and without being im- 
peded on the other, by cold, unprofitable, 
and barren speculations : thus maintaining 
a happy medium through the affections of 
the will and the truths of the understand- 
ing, justly and mutually tempering and 
balancing each other. He saw the belief 
in the agency of good and evil spirits, 
called angels and devils, as set forth in 
the Scriptures, placed on a truly rational 
and edifying basis, accompanied with clear 
views of the nature of such agency, and 
of its varied manifestations ; the whole 
being calculated to guard the man of the 
church against running into fanaticism 
and superstition on the one hand, and 
scepticism on the other. Besides all this, 
he saw all that is terrible in what is com- 
monly believed concerning hell, rendered 
more acceptable to the discriminating 
mind, by a sound explanation, yet with- 
out the belief in a future state of retribu- 
tion being in the least degree impaired in 
its moral efficacy : — he also saw all that 
is attractive in what is commonly believed 
concerning heaven rendered inexpressibly 
more so, by an explanatory adaptation of 
heavenly joys to the various affections, 
faculties and powers of the being who is 



55 



434 HTSTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



destined to partake of them. In short he 
found no point of doctrine strained, or 
raised out of its proper place, by being 
cultivated above, or to the neglect of, 
other points, nor any point unduly de- 
pressed or neglected, but all duly and 
equally regarded, as forming one harmo- 
nious whole ; he contrasted this keeping 
of all the points of faith in their proper 
connections with each other, with the con- 
trary conduct of the various Christian 
sects, each of which takes some one point 
out of its place, and fondly prefers and 
cherishes it above others, until the whole 
lose their proper order, harmony, mutual 
dependence and connection, and thus be- 
come perverted and falsified. And farther, 
he found he was placed in the fullest 
liberty to discuss the contents of the Scrip- 
tures, without any temptation to warp 
them, or take the slightest liberty with 
them ; because he was blessed with such 
an infallible rule of interpretation as pre- 
cluded almost the possibility of his stray- 
ing into the wilds of error. He saw that, 
v, !;.liuut countenancing the infidel asser- 
tion, that facts have proved the inefficacy 
and therefore unsuitability of the Bible to 
effect the moral improvement of man, he 
had not been mistaken in his moral esti- 
mate of the Christian world : for accord- 
ing to a testimony that is beyond dispute, 
the Christian Church, as predicted in the 
New Testament, has now really come to 
its end, through evils of life and errors of 
doctrine ; so that now there is not one 
stone of the spiritual temple left standing 
upon another, which has not been thrown 
down. On every hand there is nothing 
but a confusion of ideas and doctrines 
amongst Christian sects, which may fitly 
be compared to the confusion of tongues 
at the building of Babel. Doctrines either 
derogatory to the divine character irre- 
verent to the Holy Word, or subversive 
of morality, are put forth with the utmost 
confidence as genuine Christianity. 

'But, above all, he was delighted that 
he had now obtained a solution of all 
doubts and difficulties attendant on the 
literal construction of Scripture. He was 
now able to account for all that before 
appeared unaccountable ; he was able to 
understand all that previously seemed 
incomprehensible ; to reconcile what here- 



tofore appeared utterly contradictory ; 
and by means of the key he had now 
obtained to the spiritual sense which 
pervaded the tvhole ; he was able to see 
and to experience, that ' All Scripture 
given by inspiration of God, is profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness, that the 
man of God may be perfected.' By 
means of the divine science of correspon- 
dences between things spiritual and natural, 
now revived by Swedenbors, and a^reea- 
bly to which, by the providence of their 
author, the Scriptures have been written, 
he found he could penetrate the clouds of 
the literal sense, and behold the spiritual 
sense which lies concealed therein, and in 
which the Lord is now making his second 
and spiritual advent into the souls of those 
who numbly and thankfully receive Him, 
with power and great glory. The gates 
of all creation seemed y thrown open to 
admit him to view the heavenly realities 
which all natural existences symbolize. 
Thus could he ' look through nature up to 
nature's God,' and equally so in the na- 
tural creation and the literal or natural 
sense of the Scriptures. He now saw the 
divine goodness and wisdom fully justified, 
both in the works of God and his Word. 
All His Providence, and all His dispensa- 
tions of grace, alike shone before his men- 
tal vision, in the fulness of glory and 
beauty !' (Mason's Job Abbott.) 

Strong and comprehensive as this lan- 
guage may appear, there is perhaps not a 
member of the New Church whose oppor- 
tunities of comparing this creed with others 
enable him to speak understandingly, that 
would not readily adopt it as his own. 

The reader will also have seen that, 
without denying the possibility of salvation 
to any class of Christians, or even of Ma- 
hometans or Heathens, this faith is essen- 
tially and intensely Protestant. They, 
who believe that God himself will not do 
violence to the will or reason of his crea- 
tures, will scarce submit to the dictation 
of man in the affair of religion. But the 
past is not, therefore, useless to us. His- 
tory is not an old almanac ; and, in pro- 
fiting of her lessons, we are not surprised 
at certain events she records, — some oc- 
curring in our own day, — which seem 
strange to Protestants generally. With- 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 435 



out doubt, our thanks are due to those 
who fought the battles of religious free- 
dom and restored the Word of Life to the 
world. But here our commendation must 
stop ; for through their imprudence the 
tide of victory was rolled back when at 
its height, and more than half the worth 
of the rescued treasure concealed for ages. 
Our Huguenot and Pilgrim sires resisted 
the tyranny of their day ; and shall they 
exercise a posthumous dominion over us ? 
We wonder not then that Erasmus, much 
as he desired the reformation of the church, 
should have held himself aloof from the 
intemperate party which undertook the 
task ; or that Grotius, who had felt their 
want of moderation, should have returned 
in spirit to Rome. We verily believe that 
Turenne, and Conde, and Wallenstein, 
may have been urged by other than mo- 
tives of ambition, when they abandoned 
their Protestant predilections, and threw 
their swords into the scale of civil law and 
political order, against the baneful doc- 
trine of 'justification by faith alone,' now 
the article of a falling church. And when 
even the daughter of Gustavus yielded her 
father's sceptre and her father's religion 
to the wants of the heart, or imagination, 
if you will : we think the Protestant lead- 
ers should have remembered that ' Straws 
may show the direction of the wind,' and 
have suspected some sad deficiency in 
what they had offered as 'the whole gos- 
pel.' Oxenstiern, who knew 'With how 
little wisdom the world was governed,' 
did not refer to politics alone. The great, 
wise and good Sully, — who did not oppose 
his royal master, (where there was so 
little to choose between them,) in conform- 
ing to the faith of his people, while he 
tolerated dissent, — had he served the Eng- 
lish James, would doubtless have dis- 
suaded him from giving ' three kingdoms 
for a mass.' Protestantism has too often 
warred against the refinements, the cha- 
rities, the innocent pleasures of life. She 
has been charged with too great naked- 
ness, and with systematically refusing to 
worship the Lord in ' the beauty of holi- 
ness ;' with favoring a tame mediocrity 
in all things ; and where not propped by 
tithes, with being alone sustained by fac- 
titious excitement, either Enthusiastic or 
Political ; and can we sav, ' without 



ground V There is needed a comprehen- 
sive faith, which shall meet the wants of 
the great and the little — the intellectual 
and the feeling — the imaginative and the 
practical. If invited to enlist under such 
a banner, would so many of the great 
Teutonic family of nations, with all their 
hereditary hatred of the Roman name, 
have continued submissive to her yoke ? 
Would gallant France have refused such 
a reform and accepted despotism instead 1 
Would Popish Ireland have continued to 
this day a thorn in the side of her con- 
queror 1 We think not. And to us it 
seems natural, where both extremes erred 
so widely, and human nature was so long 
abused, that there should have been such 
phenomena as Mysticism, Quietism, and 
even Jansenism on the one hand, — and 
Pietism and Methodism on the other. 
And Puseyism, though in its wanderings 
it has taken the high road to Babylon, 
was, in its origin, but an outbreak of the 
same feeling in a higher sphere. ' All? 
[the different Christian churches,] says 
Hartley, ' have left the true, pure, simple 
religion, and teach for doctrines the com- 
mandments of men. They are all mer- 
chants of the earth, and have set up a 
kingdom of this world. They have all a 
dogmatizing spirit, and persecute such as 
do not receive their mark, and worship 
the images which they have set up.' See- 
ing, then, that their contemporaries were 
unworthy of true liberty, and knowing no 
middle ground, we wonder not that the 
great souls of Dryden, Kenelm Digby, and 
Du Perron, and, more recently, that 
Wickleman, Werner, and Genz, and Schle- 
gel, should have renounced such masters 
and ' fled,' as they thought, ' from petty 
tyrants to the throne.' 

We pity, rather than blame, many of 
those that are stigmatized as ' infidels,' 
because they examined prevailing dogmas 
with freedom and reason. And most 
noteworthy it is, that the points to which 
they have generally excepted, constitute 
no part of genuine Christianity. The all- 
accomplished Julian, the virtuous Shaftes- 
bury,never saw her fair face without a mask. 
Christianity, in its essence, is verily ' as 
old as the creation !' The Truth, against 
which nothing shall prevail, has been from 
eternity, and its aspect has only varied 



436 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



to meet the changing condition of man. 

j Christianity ' is not mysterious] in the 

I sense of being unintelligible, (Matt. xih. 

! 11 ; Mark iv. 11 ; Luke viii. 10; Rom. 

! xi. 25; xvi. 25; 1 Cor. ii. 7 ; viii. 10 ; 

i xiii. 2; xv. 51; Eph. i. 9; iii. 8-10; 

j Col. i. 25-8,) and we are required to be- 

1 lieve no proposition which conveys no 
meaning. (Isa. i. 18; Ez. xviii. 25.) 
The bold manoeuvre of Hume could not 
have occasioned such consternation in the 
Christian camp, had it not been pitched 
on a false position. Miracles are not vio- 
lations of the laws of nature. They are 
the effects of laws unknown to the observ- 
ers. They alone never did,*' never can, 
afford permanent conviction of any truth. 
None but the carnal require to have their 
attention thus drawn to what should be 
sufficiently attractive in its own nature. 
(Mark viii. 12; John iv. 48; xx. 29; 1 
Cor. i. 22 ; John vii. 17 ; Matt. xxiv. 24 ; 
2 Thess. ii. 9.) ' What a divine religion 
might be found out, if charity were really 
made the principle of it, instead of faith,' 
said the truth-loving Shelley, all unknow- 
ing that what he sought was extant and 
near at hand. And every one who knows 
the world, is also aware that thousands 
are sighing in secret under the pressure 
of doubt, (which, however, may not affect 
their morality,) while they conform to the 
worship around them, lest the example of 
their defection from received opinions 
should operate injuriously on those who 
have less self-control. Had Europe early 
listened to the warning voice of him who 
told her of the volcano over which she 
slept, in consequence of the church's de- 
parture from Truth and Duty : she might 
have been spared the mountains of trea- 
sure and rivers of blood, the wreck of 
arts, the desolation of her fields, and the 
blighted and broken hearts, which have 
made the past age the wonder of history, 
and that may have been but the opening 
scene of a mighty drama, which is to 
have the whole earth for its stage. But 
alas ! it seems fated to be ever thus. No- 
thing less than a succession of earthquakes 
can break the spell of custom. And, if 
necessary to purify the atmosphere, we 



See the history of the Jews passim. 



may yet have a hurricane, to which the 
former was but a breeze. 

It is with peculiar propriety, then, that 
Americans are invited to weigh this sys- 
tem in the balance of justice. What have 
we to do with the political religions of 
Europe ? Why should their ecclesiastical 
differences be transferred and perpetuated 
here ? It has been said in derision that ' a 
religious controversy never dies ;' and 
some have really supposed that to battle 
with doubt and uncertainty is our lot while 
here, ordained for the trial of our faith ! 
And is our God indeed a God afar off? 
and will he continue to sleep in the hinder 
part of the ship, when it is threatened 
with wreck ? The scornful question of 
Pilate cannot surely be forever reiterated 
in vain. Are we to take up our rest with 
Hobbes, and suppose that truth is some- 
thing that can be made by a government ? 
or with the Romanist, that it can be deter- 
mined by a priest ? 



If then, the question is asked, Who is 
Emanuel Swedenborg, that we should 
turn away from all others and put our 
trust in him? we must own, that it is 
natural and reasonable ; and we only re- 
quest that his claims be not dismissed 
without examination. His pretensions are 
extraordinary, and the more important if 
just. He presents himself as the herald 
of the Lord's second advent in a new dis- 
pensation of doctrinal truth, and the pro- 
claimer of a great consequent change in 
the state of the ivorld. In evidence of the 
first, he offers (what no one else has ever 
given) a rational, complete and consistent 
interpretation of the Word of God. Of 
the second, the nations have already been 
furnished with a fearful proof in the revo- 
lutionary flood which has successively 
swept over the whole of Christendom. 
And if the tide has receded for a time, 
from every quarter of the horizon may be 
seen the clouds which betoken a second 
storm, a war of opinions, and on that 
subject which occupies the centre of every 
man's mind and modifies his views of all 
others. Himself alleges that, for this 
holy office, he was prepared from his 
youth ; and that, as a necessary and 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 4.37 



crowning qualification, like the Prophets, 
and Seers, and Apostles of old, his spirit- 
ual eyes were opened, and he was admit- 
ted, as to his interior man, into the spirit- 
ual world, with permission to reveal a 
portion of what he saw and heard.* (Ex. 
xx «v. 9-11 ; Num. xxiv. 3; 1 Sam. ix. 
9 ; 1 Kings xviii. 12 ; 2 Kings vi. 17 ; 
Zech. i. 8-18; ii. 1 ; iv. 23; Ez. xi. 1, 
24 ; viii. 3 ; iii. 12, 14 ; Dan. viii. 1,2; 
ix. 21 ; x. 1, 7, 8 ; Acts viii. 39 ; x. 11- 
13 ; 2 Cor. xii. 1, 5, 7 ; Rev. i. 10, 12, 
13 and passim.) We say not that he was 
inspired in the proper sense of that term, 
or that his writings are additions to Scrip- 
ture, whose canon has long been complete 
and ' settled in heaven.' But we do be- 
lieve he was illuminated from the foun- 
tain of all light — with a conscious per- 
ception of that source — to understand the 
true meaning of what was already writ* 
ten. Thus his was not a new Revelation 
in the sense of being different from the 
old, but a revelation anew of what was no 
longer understood, with additional infor- 
mation for its more perfect comprehen- 
sion. 

The son of a learned Swedish bishop, 
he was early trained to knowledge and 
virtue. He sought the former in all its 
departments, first in his own country, and 
afterwards by extensive travels throughout 
Europe. His powers as a natural man 
were thus enlarged and strengthened by 
discipline the most vigorous and varied. 
As a philosopher, he won the regard of 
his most celebrated contemporaries. In 
some provinces of natural science he ven- 
tured beyond them ; leaving his discov- 
eries to *be afterwards rediscovered or 
coolly appropriated by others without ac- 
knowledgment. He was even ennobled 
for his virtues and distinguished services 
to the state. But when called in the ma- 
turity of life to higher duties, he left all 
other pursuits and devoted himself to his 
exalted function. He was not a Mystic. 
His taste favoring neither extravagant 
feelings nor indefinite ideas, he never read 



* To the objection that <■ Paul did not reveal 
what he saw and heard in the spiritual world,' 
it has been briefly but sufficiently answered, 
that Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, Peter, and 
John, did. 



their writings ; and his mind was alike a 
tabula rasa as to all the systematic theo- 
logy of his time, throughout his early life. 
His was no revival of Sabellianism, or 
any other heresy : he exposed the weak- 
ness of them all. He aspired not to be 
the head of a sect. He never persuaded 
any one to embrace the doctrines he 
taught ; but, having given them to the 
press, he left them to the divine providence 
of the Lord, from whom they proceeded, 
and who, he doubted not, would make 
them ' accomplish that which he pleased,' 
and cause them to ' prosper in that where- 
unto he had sent them.' Neither was 
literary fame his object. His name which 
had accompanied but two of his smaller 
volumes, was appended to his last and 
crowning work only at the instance of a 
friend. Nor did fear induce concealment. 
He boldly fronted the danger, when his 
person was threatened with violence or 
exile, and his writings with suppression. 
To crown the whole, when, on his dying 
bed, and conjured by his friend to speak 
with candor, he avouched, as in the pre- 
sence of heaven, the truth of all he had 
written. 

To those who profess to give his doc- 
trines a fair hearing, yet feel a repugnance 
to his supernatural pretensions, we can 
say, that nearly the whole of his present 
disciples can sympathize with them, for it 
was in spite of the latter that they yielded 
their faith to the former. It was not till 
they had sought a good reason why they 
should not receive them, that they found 
none, but much internal evidence instead — 
both of their truth and value.* We know 



*The 'Memorable Relations' (as they are 
called) of Swedenborg, were not designed to 
gratify an idle curiosity. They contain noth- 
ing stranger than many of the memorable re- 
lations of Scripture, and nothing which, when 
their true character and object are understood, 
ought to repel from the perusal of his other 
writings. The light which they throw on the 
constitution of man and the laws of the Spiri- 
tual world soon divests them of what usually 
startles the novitiate reader. So that, if any 
were needed, they furnish the corrective to 
their own supposed tendencies. That the pre- 
sent is a state of probation : that character is 
the aggregate result of habits formed or innate 
tendencies unopposed : that the character pos- 
sessed at death is carried into the other life, 
the individual reaping there what he sowed 



438 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



too well the spirit of this Sadduceean age, 
not to appreciate such an obstacle. And 
yet none who receive the Scripture can 
deny the possibility of such communica- 
tions — besides that, during life, he gave 
proof of such knowledge on other subjects, 
satisfactory to judicious persons previously 
incredulous.* To such as concede this 
possibility, and have not closed their 
minds against evidence, we present the 
argument in a nutshell. 

Our Lord, before his ascension, an- 
nounced a judgment to come. We need 
not state with what accompaniments Chris- 
tians have anticipated this scene. If, then, 
the material body rise not again ; if the 
material earth be never destroyed ; (and 
we invite their attention to the proof of 
both ;) where can this judgment take place 
but in that world to which the spirits of 
men are hastening? If there, could it be 
visible to the natural eyes of men ? If 
not, may it not have been already accom- 
plished ? For aught they can tell, it may 
be so. And if so, of course it must be 
important that men on earth be apprised 



here, — are parts of the common faith. If then, 
there be neither angel or demon other than the 
spirits of men departed: if they inhabit a 
world of their own, never to resume their bodies 
of flesh : if intercourse between those who 
have gone before and those who remain be- 
hind were possible to the prophets, it is possi- 
ble to men of all ages. — Not that it is desirable 
to all, or to be sought by any, or permitted ex- 
cept in rare cases. The capacity, potentially 
possessed by all, is never conferred solely as 
a privilege ; but, on the few individuals who, 
since the fall of man, have found themselves 
gifted with it, it has been imposed as a quali- 
fication for the better discharge of some duty. 
If sought from improper motives, or irregu- 
larly obtained, we are .taught that it is ex- 
tremely dangerous ; and that, in such cases, 
the reports from thence are by no means to be 
credited. It is, however, desirable to possess 
some authentic intelligence of the land to which 
we are hastening in addition to the brief hints 
given in Scripture ; and some account of the 
effects in the other life of principles inherited 
or confirmed in this. This knowledge is more- 
over essential to the elucidation of many parts 
of the word of God. For these purposes alone, 
as we believe, was it granted to Swedenborg, 
and through him to us. The reader will ex- 
cuse this hasty glance at a topic which has 
been so generally misunderstood, and the sub- 
ject of endless misrepresentation. 

* In proof of this, see Hobart's Life of Swe- 
denborg, or Noble's Appeal, sec v. part 2d. 



of it ; or else it would not have been pre- 
dicted. How could the information be 
imparted, except by a voice from heaven ; 
or by some credible individual, who was 
permitted to witness it ? If, then, from the 
changed and changing state of the world, 
we beiieve this last to have been the case : 
are not objectors bound to show that his 
testimony on this and other allied topics 
has internal evidence of falsehood, and no 
analogy to what we already know to be 
true 1 Swedenborg was a philosopher ; it 
is not probable that he was self-deceived. 
Swedenborg was of independent fortune ; 
he had no vulgar motive to deceive. He 
was, moreover, a gentleman ; he would 
not, if he could. He was of sincere and 
simple manners ; he could not, if he would. 
Nay, he well knew, that, for a time, his 
name would be cast out as evil ; and yet 
he shrunk not from his high mission. He 
did not, like Anthony or Bernard, mace- 
rate himself with penance until reason was 
driven from her throne. And if Imagina- 
tion — that universal solvent of such diffi- 
culties — is to account for all the pheno- 
mena in his case : we must still say that 
she has wrought greater marvels in him, 
'than in any other man known to history. 
Every lawyer knows that it is the most 
difficult of feats to frame the briefest cir- 
cumstantial narrative, which shall be at 
once fabulous and consistent ; and shall 
he be called ' impostor' or ' insane' in 
whose thirty volumes, published through 
twenty-seven years, no scrutiny has ever 
discovered a contradiction ?* and that too, 
when he never speaks conjecturally, or 
with doubt, but announces his vjews with 
all positive directness '! We can conjec- 
ture the bearing of his friend of forty 
years, — the Swedish Prime Minister, Count 
Hopken, — towards such as would inquire 
of him concerning » the amiable enthu- | 
siast !' as he might have asked in turn : 
' What sort of specimen of that tame mon- 
ster they expected to find in this man of 
prodigious learning and science, — of which 
he was yet the master and not the slave, — 
whose unsullied honor, whose knowledge 
of mankind and affairs, and varied expe- 



* The assertion of Dr. Pond to the contrary 
notwithstanding, whose allegations to this effect 
are easily met and explained away. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 439 



rience in life, had made him the compan- 
ion of sages, of princes and nobles, of 
statesmen and heroes ; and whose memory 
was honored with exalted eulogy, through 
the representative of the highest scientific 
body of his country ?' # And the reproof 
would probably fall powerless on such 
hearers, who, forgetting that a fair tablet 
is better for inscription than a blotted 
sheet, would still be incredulous, that the 
man who was called to illuminate all the 
dark places of theology, should have been 
trained in such a school. 

Here, then, we might rest our case ; but 
there is another aspect in which it should 
be viewed. This faith has nothing to fear 
from the progress of knowledge in any of 
its branches. The advance of science 
never can expel the Deity from his own 
universe, while we believe that ' Preserva- 
tion is continual Creation.' Discoveries 
in geology have no terrors for us. We 
do not believe that the world was made 
out of nothing, or in six natural days ; 
nor do we undertake to account for a 
literal flood over the highest mountains ; 
or the impossibilities of a literal ark. 
Modern views of astronomy — with which 
all the eloquence of Chalmers cannot re- 
concile modern views of the atonement — 
are but part and parcel of our faith. See- 
ing no reason why Jehovah, if he took 
flesh at all, should not assume it here, we 
offer them good and abundant reasons why 
he should ; as also why the Word, which, 
in its letter, was written on this earth, in 
its spirit may be useful to men of all 
worlds of which he is Lord. The nascent 
sciences of Phrenology and Mesmerism, 
should they ever be established, could find 
a place in this catholic system. For 
though it is not known, as has been some- 
times said, that Swedenborg discovered 
the leading principle of the former, there 
is nothing in it to contradict his views ; 
and the higher phenomena of the latter, 
while they are readily explained by his 
philosophy, have been supposed in turn to 
throw a light on the supposed mysteries of 
his own case. In truth it is here alone 
that we can find — what we seek in vain 



* See the Chevalier Sandel's Eulogium on 
Swedenborg, before the Swedish Academy of 
Sciences. 



elsewhere — clear views of the nature and 
operation of Mind, a perfect system of 
Philosophy combined with a perfect sys- 
tem of Religion — though the former is yet 
to be popularized and illustrated to the 
common apprehension. Hence also shall 
the laws of nature be ultimately traced to 
their source in the power and providence 
of Deity. Here, too, at last may we hope 
to find a ' Standard of Taste ;' just and 
comprehensive canons of criticism in the 
Arts ; and, in coming ages, a new litera- 
ture expository of the whole ; and much 
of the old defecated, and presented with a 
new aspect and meaning. 

It may serve to suspend the force of 
prejudice, so far at least as to induce in- 
quiry, if the reader is informed that, for 
many of our views deemed most singular 
or obnoxious, we have the sanction of pre- 
cedent or authority in other and respect- 
able quarters. We say nothing of the 
fact that many texts of Scripture hereto- 
fore cited to confirm favorite tenets, have 
been separately surrendered as irrelevant 
by candid critics. Some bolder spirits, in 
different communions, have dared to wan- 
der from their standards on one point of 
doctrine and another, without being hunted 
for heresy, where they were regarded as 
substantially loyal. Others again have 
renounced so many of their public te- 
nets, or adopted so many new ones, as 
to leave the remainder without consist- 
ency. It may not be aside from our 
purpose to gather up a few of these testi- 
monies, both from individuals and classes 
of men. 

The Unitarian refuses to acknowledge 
more than one God, or to deny his good- 
ness ; and so far we must own he is right, 
while we regret that he persists in wor- 
shipping an abstraction. The ancient phi- 
losophers universally taught that ' from 
nothing nothing could come,' and they 
generally, as well as several moderns, be- 
lieved in the perpetuity of the earth. There 
is a striking similarity between the hypo- 
thesis of Buffon and Laplace, that ' the 
planets proceeded from the sun,' and the 
previous statements of Swedenborg to the 
same purport. The modern school of 
geology has disturbed the literal interpre- 
tation of the first chapter of Genesis. The 
main argument of Peyre're in his hypothe- 



440 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



sis of ' the Preadamites' which produced 
such a sensation on its appearance, has 
never yet been refuted. Sir William Jones 
has conceded that the first eleven chapters 
may be allowed figurative without injury, 
and perhaps with advantage to the literal 
truth of the other narrative parts of Scrip- 
ture. Many have said the same of the 
first three.* Antiquarian researches in 
China and India — among the ruins of 
Egypt and of Central and Southern Ame- 
rica, have led many to doubt the estimate 
of literal chronologers as to the age of 
society. Dr. Pye Smith has recently re- 
volted against the current notions of the 
flood. Several oriental systems ; Platon- 
ists of all times, particularly of the Alex- 
andrian School ; Philo ; certain Mystics, 
(so called,) Fenelon among them, recog- 
nise the doctrine of a Spiritual Sun, within 
which the Divinity dwells, and the emana- 
tion thence of all things. What else means 
that most brilliant thought of all antiquity 
— ' Truth is the body of God, and light is 
his shadow V That the Deity is in human 
form, was a part of every ancient faith, 
until corrupted by the Greek philosophy, — 
of all Mythology — of Tertullian, and per- 
haps other Fathers of the church. That 
the soul was in the same form, was set 
forth by the same authorities — by Maca- 
rius and other Fathers — more recently by 
Shakspeare, Spenser, Young, and is now 
the spontaneous faith of the unperverted 
popular mind throughout the world. That 
angels and demons were once men, was 
the belief of Pythagorus, some of the latter 
Platonists, of Clement of Rome, and Ori- 
gen. We know not how many have taught 
the existence of ' guardian' and « tempting 
spirits.' Scaliger and Semler have both 
exposed the misinterpretation of the refer- 
ence in Jude (6) to the Apocryphal book 
of Enoch. Grotius and Heber have re- 
cognised ' the Devil ' of Scripture as a 
collective term for the infernal powers in 
the aggregate ; and Chalmers, Hurd, and 
Harris,* have spoken of our Lord's com- 
bat with them while in the flesh as a prin- 
cipal means of redemption. That the 
Scriptures contained a spiritual sense, was 
the well-nigh universal opinion before 
the Reformation, and of multitudes 



* In his Great Teacher. 



since ;* though they have not always 
agreed as to what it was. Not poets alone, 
but the finer spirits in every age, have 
perceived a correspondence between natural 
and spiritual things. The general repug- 
nance of mankind to the Jews as a people 
concurs with this system in pronouncing on 
their peculiar characteristics as a nation. 
Nor are we careful to defend against the 
infidel the atrocious acts public and private 
of certain characters in the Old Testament, 
which were permitted because of their 
representative import. The repeated con- 
troversies on the Trinity among the Or- 
thodox themselves, leading to various con- 
clusions, indicate a want of clear concep- 
tions on that fundamental point. Some 
who have examined the collections of Bull, 
Whiston, and Burton from the Ante-Ni- 
cenc Fathers, know that many of their 
testimonies will bear an interpretation fa- 
vorable to this doctrine. Who has not 
read the heart-rending prayer of Dr. Watts, 
in which he gave vent to the agonies oc- 
casioned by the common dogmas on this 
subject ; and that he ultimately reached a 
view very similar to our own? The late 
Edward Irving, in the zenith of his fame 
and before his unhappy fall, taught the 
true doctrine of our Lord's human nature. 
Schwenkfeld asserted the Omnipresence of 
his risen body. Adam Clark denied the 
eternal sonship of Christ, (as also does a 
distinguished theological professor of our 
own country,) and admitted Granville 
Sharpe's rule of the Greek article, though 
inconsistent with other portions of his 
creed. ' The Discipline of the Secret,' as 
we believe, was neither the acknowledg- 
ment of Transubstantiation, nor solely the 
giving the Apostles' Creed as a password 
among Christians, but rather the true doc- 
trine. of the Lord, held by the Gnostic or 
perfect Christian, and which the catechu- 
mens and others less advanced, were not 
prepared to receive. Sir Thomas Browne, 
Jeremy Taylor, Locke, Conyers Middle- 
ton, Coleridge, Brougham — and many 
others deny that Miracles are the best 
proofs of a divine mission. 

There are those who will boldly pro- 
nounce that no one can be a Christian 



* See Noble's Plenary Inspiration of Scrip- 
tare, Lee. i. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 441 



who denies a vicarious atonement. When 
such shall have digested Isa. lxiii. 16, and 
Rom. xiv. 4, and have reflected whether 
the parable of the prodigal proves their 
Maker to be altogether such an one as 
themselves ; they may be prepared to hear, 
that Mr. Isaac Taylor has recently told us 
that the works of the Fathers before Au- 
gustin exhibit few traces of the doctrine ; 
that William Law, Coleridge, Hartley, 
Irving and many more in England — innu- 
merable in Germany — Drs. Bellamy, Mur- 
dock and Beman, the late learned Bishop 
of Pennsylvania, and several orthodox 
periodicals in this country — all reject the 
ordinary scholastic statement. ' Justifi- 
cation by faith alone,' is discarded by the 
new Oxford School ; as is also ' imputed 
righteousness,' &c. by many New Eng- 
land divines, who still adhere to its 
kindred fallacies. The more sober and 
rational theologians ■ are every where be- 
ginning to teach, though in other terms, 
that Regeneration is gradual, during man's 
co-operation. Sir J. Mackintosh declares 
Conscience itself to be of gradual forma- 
tion: — Jeremy Taylor, the invalidity of a 
death-bed repentance. Locke, Dr. Thomas 
Burnet and Sir H. Davy denied the resur- 
rection of the material body, and Taylor, 
in his ' Physical Theory,' has virtually 
done the same, by stripping the risen body 
of all the properties of matter. Nearly 
all the Fathers believed in a separate place 
for departed souls before the last judgment ; 
and many writers have since seen the ne- 
cessity of such an intermediate state, other 
than purgatory. A sensible change has 
been wrought in the opinions of the more 
intelligent as to the nature and causes of 
the joys of heaven and the pains of hell. 
It is not mere rhodomontade to say that 
i Vice is its own punishment, while virtue 
is its own exceeding great reward ;' and 
that neither retribution is arbitrary. Such 
was the doctrine of the Stoics and Pla- 
tonists, and of many subsequent moralists, 
as Shaftesbury and Cumberland. It is the 
basis of the phrenological philosophy, and 
of the Universalist's religion, though, in 
this last, carried to a suicidal extent. 
Isaac Taylor has recently — as had seve- 
ral less popular authors before him — ex- 
posed the vulgar error, that primitive 
Christianity offered the highest attainable 



model of purity or intelligence. Bishops 
Taylor and Watson agree that the apos- 
tles themselves were mistaken as to our 
Lord's second coming ; and they and 
others dismiss with little ceremony the 
current notions of a Millennium and his 
personal reign. Hammond and Stanley 
Faber tell us that the ' New Jerusalem' 
denotes an improved state of the church 
on earth. John Robinson, the founder of 
the New England churches, believed that 
' more light was yet to break out of God's 
Word,' as also did Dr. Watts. And, to 
say nothing of several popular French 
writers, Thomas Carlyle has written on 
this point, as though he barely re-echoed 
the sentiment of the New Church.*' Anal- 
ogous to the important doctrine of ' de- 
grees,' is the common, though mutilated 
idea of a * scale of beings.' The same 
is dimly shadowed forth in the philosophy 
of Plato — as also of the Rosicrucians. 
Des Cartes' Occasional Causes, Male- 
branche's ' Seeing all things in God,' 
Hume's denial of material causation, are 
all approximations to the truth ; as are 
many things in the philosophical collec- 
tions of Cudworth and Stanley. There is 
much also in transcendentalism — as ex- 
hibited in the writings of Kant and Schel- 
ling, of Cousin, of Coleridge and Carlyle 
— which we can readily approve as we 
understand them, though not the tendency 
of the system as a whole. We instance 
their ideas of Time and Space, of Free- 
dom, of Reason, of the Spiritual, as a 
higher power than the sensual understand- 
ing, or natural mind. The Iaet writer 
disclaims all knowledge of the works of 
Swedenborg until of late ; but his masters, 
we know, had read them to some extent. 
Coleridge knew something of them directly, 
and much at second hand. The instances 
might be greatly multiplied — though Swe- 
denborg himself rarely or never quotes 
from others, except statements of the doc- 
trine he designs to refute. But enough. 
Fragments of truth have been dispersed 
with every wind, and drifted to every 
shore ; here only do we see them em- 
bodied in their original and beautiful sym- 
metry. Particles of the previous ore are 
widely diffused ; but where else is that 



* See Sartor Resartus, Book III. Chap. 1, 2, 7. 



56 



442 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



spiritual mercury which shall purge and 
collect it from the heaps of dross in which 
it is buried.* Since the outburst of infi- 
delity, in the last age, there has been more 
than a partial return to a sense of religion. 
Though much indifference still prevails, it is 
chiefly among those to whom, in any form, 
it would prove an irksome restraint ; or with 
another class who will not be trammelled 



* ' The man of moderation, who at this day 
takes a coup d'asil of the entire field of polem- 
ics, must find something to disapprove in 
every sect ; and if he allies himself to any 
one, it must be on the principle of a « choice 
of evils.' And this reflection may serve to 
account in part for the inveteracy of religious 
differences. In ages past, the body of Truth 
was torn to pieces and the limbs dispersed to 
the four quarters of the Earth. Each religious 
sect, then, finds a plausible pretext for its dis- 
sent in the weak or vulnerable points of its 
neighbor : and for its separate organization, in 
the supposed possession of some truths which 
the others have not. In the discussion of their 
differences, for want of an accredited umpire, 
they are all driven into some extreme opinions. 
For the same reason, the line being once 
drawn, the diversities become more marked 
with each generation. And in their mutual 
recriminations, an impartial observer must 
needs conclude that * they seem to know each 
other very well, for that each gives a very cor- 
rect account of the other.' Hence also it may 
appear, why former peace-makers have been 
unsuccessful : why divisions have been rather 
multiplied in spite of their laudable efforts to 
heal them : and that it is vain to hope for their 
future composition by such agency. The end- 
less quiddities, in the discussion of which their 
respective champions had perplexed them- 
selves and their readers, — nay, numerous ques- 
tions of real moment could not be adjusted by 
them. Their very axioms were often falla- 
cious — their principles of interpretation un- 
settled — or the requisite information wanting. 
Here the fallacy of the first was laid bare, and 
what was doubtful or lacking in the others 
ascertained or furnished. What I wanted was 
not half-truths, but a si/atem of truth ; and such 
I found this. Viewed in any aspect — from 
any stand-point, there it was, perfect as a Gre- 
cian Statue. Not only are the defects of other 
systems here supplied ; their redundancies are 
retrenched: their exaggerations chastened: 
what was awry, straightened. Hence also it 
is, that the weapons with which those who 
should have been friends have so long annoy- 
ed each other, rebound from the shield of the 
New Churchman, and here therefore, we may 
hope is the true ground on which all their dif- 
ferences,pregnant with such infinite mischief, 
may ultimately be compromised. — < Reflec- 
tions of an Enquirer after Religious Truth.' M.S. 



with the peculiarities of the authorized 
creeds. For those, the clergy do battle 
manfully, even while the walls are crumb- 
ling around, but do not find the laity, in 
all cases, coming so promptly to their aid 
as in time past. There is, in truth, a very 
general disposition to waive them, and 
seek others, in which parties may agree. 
And the wise observer of the signs of the 
times, who is at the same time acquainted 
with this faith, may perceive much in the 
tone of ordinary conversation that par- 
takes of it ; and, that our whole current 
literature forms one grand revolt against 
those offensive peculiarities, and exhibits 
much that is germain to the teachings of 
this rational and catholic system. 

And why is this not more generally 
seen .' It is because there is not in all 
literature a question on which, with a few 
honorable exceptions, unlawful arts of 
controversy have been so uniformly em- 
ployed. The policy of silence has been 
sometimes observed by those who affected 
a contempt they did not feel. Where this 
was broken, men who would fain be thought 
just, not content with the whole quiver 
of sophistry, have resorted to poisoned 
weapons. In proof of this we might refer 
the reader to almost any one of the as- 
saults, or to such passages as are met with 
in the apologies of the church.* It be- 
comes not any class of Christians, to 
speak of themselves. But they may offer 
the testimony of a decided though liberal 
opponent as to the effect of their doctrine 
on the holders. 

* Whether it be owino- to the direct in- 



* It would really seem to have been a part 
of a regular system of tactics, to credit every 
idle tale brought against Newchurchmen, and 
to repeat without shame mis-statements often 
refuted. We instance the fact that to this day, 
the followers of John Wesley continue to re- 
print his libel — would that we could charac- 
terize it by a milder term — on the character 
and works of Swedenborg, though the personal 
charges were disproved at the time, in part by 
his own witnesses ; and the semblance of ar- 
gument arising from mutilated quotations, 
promptly refuted. We pretend not to say 
whether he was wholly imposed on by others, 
or in part by his own credulity and prejudice, 
from which his most ardent admirers must 
admit he was not wholly exempt. We are 
willing to adopt the more charitable suppo- 
sition. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 443 



fluences of their faith, or to the operation 
of prudential motives, or to the faet that 
this religion is not adapted to attract any 
but spiritually minded men, certain it is, 
that the disciples of the New Church, as a 
body, have generally exhibited a more 
consistent holiness in their lives and con- 
versation than any other sect with which 
we are acquainted, and this notwithstand- 
ing a. laxity on one point* of their moral 
code, which might seem to authorize an 
occasional deviation from the strict line 
of rectitude. And not only so, but this 
church is also marked by an onward ten- 
dency, a progressive spirit, too often 
wanting in sects of higher pretensions. 
The propulsive elements of Christianity — 
liberty, charity, and truth are largely 
mixed up with their system. They are 



* From this it would appear that a writer, 
otherwise commendable for his spirit, has per- 
mitted himself to be affected by a calumny as 
contemptible as it has been industriously 
spread. We will not stain the pages of this 
work with the details. The primitive Chris- 
tians had to endure worse. We will barely 
say that Swedenborg has asserted gradations 
in the vice of impurity, from the casual com- 
merce necessarily tolerated by law to the dam- 
nable sin of adultery; andhas, therefore, been 
charged with a relaxation of morals ! We 
have a short answer : It is not true. No com- 
prehensive moralist, any more than the physi- 
cian, can altogether omit such topics. The 
Bible itself has not. All are not required to 
know them, though every father of a family 
should. Our author has neither made dis- 
tinctions without a difference, nor confounded 
things essentially diverse. There is a sin not 
unto death ; and while the least will injure, 
some will wound past recovery. He has but 
recognised the justice of distinctions long 
known to the civil law and public conscience 
of Christendom. Had the charge been true, 
the effects of such principles could not have 
been concealed, but would have been mani- 
fested in a body of Christians known to the 
world for more than half a century. Many 
have asserted, none have done half so much 
as he, to explain the sanctity of the marriage 
tie ; none have so clearly shown the hideous 
effects of the opposite vices. No Christian 
can tolerate such things in himself. The dif- 
ferences were stated for the benefit of merely 
natural men, in their efforts to reform. But 
enough, and more than we intended here. 

From the nature of the subject, it is evident 
that we cannot be forward to take the initia- 
tive in this discussion. The friend of justice 
who may be willing to pursue the enquiry, is 
commended to an impartial perusal of the 



not a sect who suppose that religion is got 
by spasms, or that Christ is formed within 
by one convulsive effort of the soul. Their 
religion is not one which stops short of 
any given standard ; it is of that kind 
which maketh wiser and better every day. 
They are pre-eminently an improving 
race.' (Christian Examiner, Novem- 
ber, 1833.) 

This is doubtless more than justice, if 
predicated of all its professors ; but that 
such is its tendency, if permitted to have 
its legitimate influence, we cannot doubt. 
Are we not then justified in hoping that 
the ideal of a true, well-balanced Chris- 
tian may be again restored and carried to 
even higher perfection than has yet been 
realized 1 And yet this is a liberal doc- 
trine. It does not damn for mere error 



work of Swedenborg by which it is pretended 
to justify the charge. It was, we believe, first 
publicly uttered in England, in 1819, by a Mr. 
Pike, of Derby, in a document, made up in 
great part of garbled quotations from the work 
in question ; and repelled in 1822, by Mr. 
Hindmarsh, in his * Vindication, &c.' It was 
successively renewed there by a Mr. Roebuck 
in 1838 ; (who was triumphantly refuted by 
the several replies of Messrs. Bayley, Goyder, 
and 'an Examiner.') — and in 1840, by Rev. 
Geo. Gibbon, curate of Ramsbottom, who was 
answered by Mr, Smithson, Editor of the 'In- 
tellectual Repository.' Pike's Pamphlet with 
additions was reprinted by a clergyman of 
New England, and secretly circulated in that 
region for years. It was again met by Rev. 
Samuel Worcester, in his ' Remarks on seve- 
ral common Errors, concerning the writings 
of Emanuel Swedenborg.' Nothing daunted 
by the repeated discomfiture of similar assail- 
ants, we have a revival of the same slander in 
the recent « Lectures' of Professors Woods and 
Pond. The former has been most victoriously 
overthrown by Prof. Bush in his 'Reply, &c.' 
— to whose work we confidently refer the 
reader as containing all the materials for 
forming a judgment in the case. Dr. Pond's 
Remarks have been noticed by a critic in the 
N. J. Magazine, (Boston) for Oct. 1846, and 
may yet be further exposed. It is worthy of 
remark that not one of these writers has di- 
rected his attack against former defences • or 
so much as alluded to them: or had the magna- 
nimity to retract his errors when clearly point- 
ed out. Did these gentlemen hope to carry 
their point by dint of hardy and reiterated as- 
sertion 1 or do they presume that all readers 
will be content with examining one side — that 
which falls in with their prejudices 1 And 
such are the opponents with whom we have 
most generally had to deal ! 



444 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



of the head. It arms against a thousand 
panic fears ; promotes a spirit of cheerful 
piety ; fixes and simplifies the objects of 
the affections ; while it encourages an 
intelligent activity in all useful chan- 
nels. In this it accords with the spirit 
of the age, which protests against gloomy 
dogmas and demands a show of reason 
for its faith. Under this system, priestly 
domination never can attain a dan- 
gerous ascendancy. And though that 
function will ever be required in the 
church, its holders can aspire to nothing 
more than to become helpers of our faith 
and examples to the flock. And chiefly 
because such knowledge is no longer too 
high for laymen, who may seek and find 
it without stint, and readily attain enough 
to check any such spirit in its birth. 

He then who proves his to be the ' Re- 
ligion of good sense,'* should not be met 
as an Ishmaelite, whose hand is against 
every man ; but rather as a guide through 
a tangled forest, or the peace-maker, who 
shows a common ground, on which friends 
long at variance can meet. Is the Bible 
so very plain without a doctrine to direct 
the reader ? Why then do not all earnest 
seekers find the same way ? To us there 
seems a peculiar propriety in one man's 
being empowered to expound what many 
wrote. Prophets, evangelists, and apos- 
tles, appeared at intervals. Their several 
messages, all unknown to themselves, 
constitute one Word of God. For ages it 
stood an enigma, which resisted every 
effort of self-derived intelligence to elicit 
its meaning. Were it not better, then, 
that one heaven-taught scribe should show 
the harmony of the several parts and their 
concurrence to one great end ? And 
those, who refuse to acknowledge his cre- 
dentials as an authorized ambassador, 
have to account for the phenomenon of an 
impregnable system of theology, rising up 
symmetrical and complete under the hands 
of a man until then devoted to other pur- 
suits. 

But why, we farther ask, should any 
object to our worshipping the Lord? 
Though we have a surer method of 
proving the Scriptures to be his word, we 



* See the work of Mr. Edouard Richer, with 
this title. 



For the literary, scientific, and official 
career of Swedenborg, and for the titles 
of his earlier publications, we would refer 
the reader to any accessible biography. 
It is sufficient to observe here, that, with 
the exception of a small volume of poems 
and two classical dissertations, they relate 
chiefly to subjects of pure or mixed math- 
ematics, or certain branches of physics. 
For twenty years before his attention was 
exclusively given to sacred studies, his 
speculations dwelt chiefly on the higher 
philosophy of nature and of man. The 
works, which, during this interval, he gave 
to the world — save two extensive treatises 
on subjects connected with his department 
of Assessor of the Royal Board of Mines 
— all partook of that character, and won 
for him a European reputation among the 
scientific of his day. They are severally 



reject not the grammarian's or critic's art. 
And we see nothing on the face of the 
New Testament record of the sayings and 
acts of Jesus, unworthy of Divinity itself. 
We think it no degradation to The Su- 
preme to assume a temporary disguise, if 
by so doing he could save a world which 
was fast sinking into night, as a perpetual 
seminary of heaven ; and by the same 
means render the loss of any other for- 
ever impossible. Here, then, is the true 
' end of controversy ;' for here every le- 
gitimate question is fully and fairly an- 
swered. How much logic does it require 
to lead the orthodox, who protest that they 
believe in but one God, yet assert the di- 
vinity of Christ, to the conclusion that he 
must be that God I And will not the Uni- 
tarian in time review his opinions, and 
consider of a doctrine which, while it 
avoids the errors which he has rejected, 
leaves the divinity of the Saviour consist- 
ent with the unity of the Deity ? Thus it 
may be seen that the fundamental princi- 
ples of our system are very plain, and 
yet meet the wants of the heart. And 
though its higher truths will task the 
strongest intellect, we assure such a one 
that in his long progress he need have no- 
thing to unlearn ; but, in added know- 
ledge or diversified application, will find 
ever new delight. 



=1 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 445 



entitled, ' Philosophy reasoning concerning 
the Infinite and the Final Cause of Crea- 
tion,' ' The Principles of Natural Things,' 
' The Animal Kingdom,' and ' Economy 
of the Animal Kingdom ;' the last inclu- 
ding a dissertation on Psychology — as the 
first did ' On the Mechanism of the Inter- 
course between the Soul and Body.' Being 
written in Latin, they have ever since 
been favorably known to a learned few ; 
but having been translated and well edited, 
are now presented in an English dress to 
the public, who will thus be enabled to 
judge whether those judicious or partial 
friends are to be credited, who say they 
neither are, nor are likely to be superseded 
by any thing since written on the same 
subjects. Besides these, he had projected 
and in part executed a number of other 
works in completion of his Physiology 
and Psychology — as also of his philoso- 
phical theory of nature ; but the manu- 
scripts were left unpublished by himself — 
though yet, as we hope, to be drawn from 
their long repose. 

His very remarkable book, ' The Wor- 
ship and Love of God,' may be regarded 
as the transition stage between his philo- 
sophical and theological writings, — as par- 
taking of the nature of both, — though it 
is not very clearly characterized by its 
title. Not an especial exhortation to a 
life of piety and prayer, it is rather an 
eloquent descant on the creation of the 
world, and the original state of man ; and 
wants nothing but measure to constitute it 
a poem of the highest order of excellence 
— its charms being the more abiding, in 
that its substance is truth. 

Himself always regarded his whole pre- 
vious course and mental discipline as an 
unconscious preparation for the important 
spiritual function, which occupied the last 
twenty-nine years of his life — from 1743 
to 1772. We mean the writing and pub- 
lishing the series of works which unfold 
the truths of the new dispensation. These 
may be conveniently thrown into four 
classes — Doctrinal, Sacred Metaphysics 
or Divine Philosophy, Expository, and 
lastly, treating of the nature and laws of 
the spiritual world and the state of man 
after death. Besides these there are also 
certain posthumous publications of each 
kind. Of the first class, the small tract ; 



entitled ' The New Jerusalem and its 
Heavenly Doctrine,' gives a view in min- 
iature of the entire system. Certain 
leading heads of doctrine were afterwards 
expanded into separate treatises, as ' Con- 
cerning the Lord,' ' The Sacred Scrip- 
tures,' 'Faith,' 'Life,' 'Charity,' &c. 
' The True Christian Religion,' contain- 
ing a complete body of theology, as con- 
trasted with those of both Catholics and 
Protestants, was the last he published, it 
having been preceded by a ' Brief Expo- 
sition' of the doctrine, and followed by a 
' Coronis, or Appendix.' To the second 
class may be referred ' The Divine Love 
and Wisdom,' ' Divine Providence,' ' In- 
flux, or the Nature of the Intercourse 
between Soul and Body,' and the treatise 
on ' Conjugal Love.' The third and far 
the largest portion of his works, embracing 
about two thirds of the whole, comprise 
' Arcana Ccelestia,' (an exposition of the 
internal sense of Genesis and Exodus,) 
' Apocalypse Revealed,' and ' Apocalypse 
Explained' — the last a posthumous publi- 
cation, though prepared by himself for 
the press. Another tract gives briefly 
' The Internal Sense of the Prophets and 
Psalms :' and there has been recently 
published from his MSS. an exposition of 
the remaining historical books of the 
Word according to the same principles. 
Besides these there is a small tract, enti- 
tled ' The White Horse of The A'poea- 
lypse.' The first and third of those 
named above, incidentally explain a large 
portion of Scripture besides that of which 
they expressly treat. And the writings 
entire contain the meaning of the whole. 
It is very commonly supposed that most 
of his books are such as would properly 
come under the fourth class ; though, in 
truth, they make scarce a tenth of the 
series. The distinct treatises are on 
' Heaven and Hell,' ' The Last Judgment,' 
which, he says, took place in 1757, and 
' The Earths in the Universe.' Many 
things of the same kind are interspersed 
through his other works, as also through 
his Spiritual Diary, the publication of 
which, for the first time, is just com- 
pleted. 

All the theological works put forth by 
Swedenborg himself (two or three ex- 
cepted) were first translated into English 



446 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



by the Rev. John Clowes, of the Church 
of England, and, for sixty-two years, rec- 
tor of St. John's, Manchester; a man, 
who, with distinguished talents and learn- 
ing, is believed, from the concurring tes- 
timony of all who knew him, to have 
made as great progress in the regenerate 
life as any one of his day. He embraced 
these principles after his ordination ; and 
was of that class of Newchurchmen who, 
without suppressing his sentiments, or 
preaching or praying in violation of them, 
did not think it necessary to abandon his 
former connections, unless required to do 
so by his ecclesiastical superiors. And 
the subject was brought to the notice of 
his Bishop, (the late Dr. Porteus,) who, 
on full conference with him, declined 
either to remove or censure him. Rare 
and most honorable example of spiritual 
integrity on the one side, and liberality 
on the other ! The Apocalypse Explained 
was translated by the Rev. William Hill, 
hereinafter mentioned. The complete 
series have received a French version, a 
German in part, though all are not pub- 
lished in either language. We learn that 
they are in course of being rendered in 
Spanish. The Latin style of Sweden- 
borg, which, in his other works, is always 
classical, sometimes ambitious, is here 
only remarkable for its didactic simplicity, 
clearness, and precision, except in por- 
tions-, where the nature of the subject 
compels him to adopt a higher strain. 

It is known that there are disciples of 
Swedenborg in Russia, Sweden, Denmark, 
several of the German States, Switzer- 
land ; in France, Great Britain, and some 
of her colonies ; in the United States ; in 
several of the West India Isles ; and at 
one or two points in South America. On 
the Continent of Europe they generally 
continue, in the absence of religious toler- 
ation, attached to their national churches. 
In France and England there are two 
classes : those who remain thus undis- 
tinguished, and those who have separated. 
Their numbers, except in the last case, 
are difficult to be ascertained, though 
thought to be greater than the public gen- 
erally are aware of. From hence it 
would appear that this doctrine has not 
made very rapid progress in the world. 
While its adherents admit the fact, it does 



not shake their faith in the truth of the 
system. As much might have been an- 
ticipated from the tardy reception which 
awaited innovations in other branches of 
knowledge, though both true and impor- 
tant. We were also taught by our author 
that, for a time, but few would believe his 
report ; that the church in its infant state, 
would remain, as it were, in the wilder- 
ness : and encounter peculiar opposition 
from the Protestantism which prevails.* 
Other churches, we know, were for a long 
season maturing, before they took the 
place of their predecessors, which did not 
recede until they had ceased to answer 
the purposes of such an institution. And 
in an enlarged view of the history, of one 
which is to endure for ever, a few centu- 
ries even of infancy dwindle to a point. 
The wonder rather is, that it has not 
been whelmed beneath the tide of obloquy, 
and every species of persecution short of 
actual violence, which it has met from 
surrounding communions ; or that it 
should have grown to its present size 
under such disadvantages. This church 
has had neither wealth, nor rank, nor 
power, nor patronage, nor the prestige of 
popularity on its side. And against all 
these it has declined to use some of the 
ordinary means of propagation — it being 
a cardinal maxim with its teachers * al- 
ways to respect the freedom of others,' 
and not to press on them truths which 
they were not prepared to receive, and of 
which such had better remain in igno- 
rance, lest they should profane them. In 
the state of the world since this doctrine 
was first given to it, it was not to be ex- 
pected that principles so new and so 
repugnant to its most cherished opinions 
would readily receive its serious attention. 
It is not probable that those who are be- 
netted round with the accumulated sophis- 
tries of fifteen centuries, will as yet break 
their bands — or until further collision 
among the fragments of the old Christian 
church shall have still more proved to 
their members the weakness and uncer- 
tainty of their respective tenets, and force 
them to seek a safer refuge. Had Swe- 
denborg claimed his doctrine as his own, 
or had its moral requirements been more 
compromising, the case might have been 
different. As it is, nothing but its intrin- 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 447 



sic excellence, sustained, as we believe, 
by the especial care of Divine Providence, 
and, as a secondary cause, the protection 
of princes and the countenance of honora- 
ble and virtuous men of the world, could 
have enabled it to survive such repeated 
and combined assaults. It may be suffi- 
cient, if the truth can be simply preserved, 
to be called into requisition at a more 
favorable juncture. 

The uniform and unequivocal declara- 
tion of Svvedenborg was, that ' his doc- 
trine' was ' revealed from Heaven.' But 
it does not, therefore, follow that he anti- 
cipated any thing like a revolutionary, 
certainly not an immediate change in the 
church organization then extant. Their 
several doctrines had been once partially 
reformed : why not again and entirely ? 
He continued his own adherence to the 
Lutheran Communion to the last. His 
views were freely imparted to the Bishops 
of his own country. But as Germany 
had been the Cradle of the Reformation," 
and Britain was then, as now, the centre 
of Protestant activity : his works were 
presented to the Ecclesiastical Authorities 
of both countries. Thus as Christianity 
had been first offered to the Jews, so was 
New-Christianity held out to the Chris- 
tians. They were in general coldly re- 
ceived by the dignitaries, who have ever 
been ultra-conservative. The God of 
Heaven desires only a voluntary service ; 
nor were there wanting some who dared 
to render it. From a few of the inferior 
clergy and more of the laity the boon had 
met a more grateful reception. These 
weary of all other teaching, recognized 
this new and brilliant light. These men 
were not ignorant of the past, or of what 
still survived ; and yet they accounted 
this wonderful body of doctrine as the 
greatest spiritual treasures — committed, 
though it might be, to earthen vessels. 
They regarded it as a complete Rule of 
Faith, and, when considered in that aspect, 
as probably the last hope of the ivorld. 
On them, therefore, under Providence, 
seemed to devolve the responsibility of 
providing an organization which should 
diffuse and preserve for posterity what 
had afforded such perfect satisfaction to 
themselves. A torch had been thrown to 
the church in its hour of darkness. Those 



who should have been the first to welcome 
and cherish its flame, had neglected or 
shrunk from it. What then remained to 
those who dreaded to see it expire, or to 
provoke its withdrawal, but to proceed 
without the sanction of their superiors, 
and to commit it for safe keeping to less 
timid or more faithful hands ? in a word, 
to a New Priesthood who by holding 
up the same might call together a Neiv 
Church? But a new priesthood must 
have a new origin. And though human 
expedients should be exhausted before 
divine interposition is invoked, — to such 
an appeal were they now virtually shut 
up. A few of those who had long cher- 
ished this truth in private, men of clear 
heads and of strong purpose, met in Lon- 
don in 1787* to take the steps necessary 
to this end. Two of their number, who 
had been disciples of Wesley and preach- 
ers in his connexion, now offered them- 
selves as ministers of the New Faith. To 
this the assembled friends had given their 
assent. But some one must be selected 
to perform the ordination. In choosing 
an individual for this purpose bij lot, they 
felt justified as well by the precedent re- 
corded in Acts i. 23-6, as by the necessity 
of the case. The lot fell on Robert 
Hindmarsh, one of the twelve, who, as 
he had originated the movement, convoked 
the first meeting in 1783, and suggested 
their former proceedings, so now he was 
called to discharge the further office of 
ordaining according to an appropriate 
form, the first public proclaimers of that 
doctrine of which himself also continued 
to be the intrepid advocate and most con- 
spicuous champion. 



* In December, 1783, a meeting of the ad- 
mirers of Swedenborg's writings was called in 
London by advertisement. Five individuals 
assembled. Wishing to promote the know- 
ledge and practice of the doctrines contained 
in those writings, they continued their meet- 
ings for the purpose of reading and conversa- 
tion, at regular intervals during several years, 
by which time their number had increased to 
something more than thirty. At length, in 
April, 1787, they resolved to form themselves 
into a more regular Society: in May drew up 
rules for its guidance : and, a minority having 
determined on a step which the others thought 
premature — viz: public worship by a separate 
ministry — proceeded, in July, to the ordination 
mentioned in the text. 



448 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



Such was the commencement, in a se- 
parate form, so far as is known, of the 
New Christian Church : though public 
worship was not held until the month of 
January following. From those who 
were then invested with her priesthood, 
have been derived in regular succession 
most of the ordinations which have since 
taken place in England and America ; it 
being neither necessary or proper to make 
a new origin by a fresh appeal to the lot, 
without extreme difficulty of access to 
those who were then clothed with the pro- 
per authority — the Divine Providence 
having apparently concurred with the 
act of its first depositories. 

Thus far the labor to diffuse and to de- 
fend the truths and doctrines of the New 
Church has not been altogether in vain. 
They have been propagated by individual 
effort in conversation and correspondence ; 
by associations for ' reading and enquiry ; 
by parental instruction and Sabbath 
schools ; by preaching,' both regular and 
missionary ; by courses of lectures ; by 
circulating the works of Swedenborg, 
periodicals, tracts and larger books in 
their illustration. It is not deemed law- 
ful to resort to declamation or persuasion. 
But the truth is stated plainly — some- 
times in contrast with common errors — 
and left to produce its own effect on the" 
mind of the hearer. As a general rule, 
controversy is shunned ; discussion never ; 
and when, as has often happened, she has 
been compelled to put on her armor, it has 
been most frequently in defence. And 
those who wish to know whether she has 
been able to repel the attacks of Roman- 
ists, Unitarians, Calvinists, and Church- 
men ; and give a reason for her faith ; 
are confidently referred to * Clowes's 
Letters to a Member of Parliament,' 1 to 
' Hindmarsh's Letters to Priestley,' 2 to 
* Noble's Appeal,' 3 to ' Clissold's Letter to 
Archbishop Whateley ,' 4 a nd to Prof. Bush's 
Reply to Dr. Woods. 5 Whatever else the 
reader might find in these works, in none 
of them would he be offended with the 
grossness or asperity which too frequently 
characterize such productions. We doubt 
not, instead, that he would be struck with 
the spirit of Christian gentleness and can- 
dor, which animates strength of argument, 
adorned with the graces of eloquence or 



of a vigorous and classical style. Besides 
the above, there has all along been waged 
a straggling war of pamphlets, in which 
charges have been regularly met, when- 
ever a respectable name stood sponsor to 
their truth. And we are perfectly will- 
ing, that the success of our cause should 
be periled on the extant labors of her 
champions. In a few instances, she has 
departed from her usual line of policy, 
and carried the war into hostile territory, 
without however losing sight of justice or 
good temper. ' Job Abbott,' 6 is a general 
review of all the systems recognized in 
England, and is equally applicable to this 
country. Clissold's « End of the Church' 7 
proves by citations from the highest au- 
thorities among the Orthodox their irre- 
concilable variations of opinion as to 
what is truth on every great question of 
doctrine. His ' Apocalyptical Interpre- 
tation' 8 shows the ill-success which has 
attended the numerous efforts to remove 
the obscurity from that book, and which 
he infers is impossible except on the prin- 
ciples of Swedenborg. Espy's c Con- 
trast' 9 draws a parallel between the lead- 
ing tenets of the New Church and those 
of the ' Westminster Confession.' Hind- 
marsh's 'Church of England Weighed' 10 
criticises 'the Thirty-nine Articles.'* 
And we cannot think that any intelligent 
reader could arise from a fair perusal of 
these works, and say that the existing 
Christian parties have nothing more to 
do in defence of their several systems. 

The first person who introduced the 
doctrines of the New Church into the 
United States, was a Mr. Glen — not per- 
haps the most suitable individual for such 
a mission — who delivered lectures on the 
subject in Philadelphia, and a few other 
places, in the year 1784. His efforts 
seem to have met with but partial success ; 
though some, who first received them from 
him, subsequently imparted them to others. 
A more prudent, and in all respects better 
qualified advocate was the Rev. William 
Hill, an English clergyman, who visited 



* The order of the appearance of the above 
works was as follows : 

l, (1799); 2, (1792); 3, (1826); 4,(1839); 
5,(1847); 6, (1841); 7, (1841); 8,(1841); 
9, (1835); 10,(1846.) 



HISTORY - OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 449 



this country at two different pe'riods from 
1794, to 1804. He preached with ac- 
ceptance in many towns of Massachusetts, 
I and in some of the Atlantic cities ; and, 
both by his character and address, aided 
in drawing the attention of others to the 
subject which lay nearest his own heart. 
The first American minister was ordained 
in 1798, since when, the number of those 
who favor these views, chiefly gathered 
out of other denominations, has gradually 
increased to something more than 6000 : 
not a very strong proof that they are 
suited to the taste of the credulous or en- 
thusiastic. In nearly every instance their 
reception is supposed to have been the 
result of comparative examination and 
against predilection. There are now 
societies in Boston, New York, Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and some 
minor towns in the eastern, western, and 
southern portions of the Union, to the 
number of fifty-two, besides isolated indi- 
viduals, or small numbers, in more than 
three hundred different places. When 
Washington, on his retirement from office, 
returned a civil answer to a congratula- 
tory address of his fellow-citizens of the 
New Church, it was probably thought a 
great stretch of condescension ; and per- 
haps an equal exertion of good nature, 
when, at the instance of a legal friend, 
Robert Morris and Benjamin Franklin 
subscribed for the chief doctrinal work of 
Swedenborg. When, however, in process 
of time, it was whispered that more than 
one member of royal and noble houses of 
Europe, and several individuals high in 
civil and military employment, were sup- 
posed to have secretly admired these 
views ; when it was farther told, that, at 
one period, fifty ministers of the established 
Church of England, and many in different 
parts of the continent, were inoculated 
with the same ; as also that certain philo- 
sophers and literati, who had heard of the 
I cor inscrutabile in a politic head,' knew 
more of them than they were willing to 
avow : it was kindly supposed to be ' not 
quite so clear a case that there was no- 
thing in it.' 

Its' ecclesiastical polity, at first very 
general and simple, has been successively 
enlarged and improved with the growth of 
the church, until the body is now perhaps 



as well organized as could be expected, 
while its members are so kw and dis- 
persed. The clergy — at present near forty 
in number — are divided into the three or- 
ders of Ministers, Pastors, and Ordaining 
Ministers. The second, in addition to the 
duties of the first, performs others usually 
indicated by his title, and also administers 
the holy supper. The peculiar duty of the 
third is to institute societies, ordain other 
ministers, and preside at the meetings of 
the representative bodies of the church.* 
Within a small district this is called an 
Association. Within a larger — a Con- 
vention. The corresponding body in Eng- 
land is termed a Conference. The clergy 
sit in the same body with lay-delegates 
from societies, or individuals, but matters 
purely ecclesiastical are referred to them 
alone. The ordaining ministers are not 
confined to a particular district in the ex- 
ercise of their functions, nor is the priest- 
hood regarded as indelible; as some who 
once officiated have resigned without other 
disqualification. A numerous clergy, 
though desirable, where they can be sus- 
tained in the discharge of their duty, is 
not so indispensable to the spread or con- 
firmation of a doctrine so intelligible and 
at first naturally addressed to the reading 
classes, and which, we think, commends 
itself to the sincere and diligent seeker of 
truth. For now that the press is more 
efficient and more used, it may be made 
to perform, and perhaps better, much of 
their otherwise appropriate duty. For 
twenty years or more, the church was 
annually represented in one Convention. 
In a territory so extended, this was found 
inconvenient to those at a distance, and 
there are now three such bodies, the East- 
ern, (which was the General,) the Middle, 
and Western, based on principles some- 
what modified by the state of the church. 
The first is a representation of societies. 
The other two are associations both of 
societies and individuals for the promotion 
of general objects. 



* When a society is without a Pastor, some 
fit individual is sought, who, under the desig- 
nation of ' Leader' shall stand as its general 
Representative — shall read the service — and 
aid otherwise in imparting instruction so far as 
this may be done without invading the pro- 
vince of the clergy. 



57 



450 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



It ought, however, to be stated, that the 
organization above mentioned, is espe- 
cially that of the Eastern or General Con- 
vention — the other two Conventions, which 
are in fact general also, without the name, 
not having as yet definitely settled the 
whole of their ecclesiastical order. It is 
hoped that in time there will be a body, 
meeting less frequently, delegated from 
the different territorial divisions of the 
Union.* 

Most of the societies, both in Europe 



* We believe that the writings of Sweden- 
borg contain the truth on all subjects of which 
they treat. But clear as they are on funda- 
j 1 mental doctrines, their full meaning is not im- 
mediately apparent to his readers, including 
I as they do the usual variety of minds, and 
I ; educated, as many of them have been, under 
diverse influences. A sensible progress has 
been hitherto made by the church in general 
as well as by individuals, in the knowledge 
both of what they teach and what they enjoin : 
— the natural fruit of experience and of the 
changes around her. There is room then for 
amicable discussion as to subordinate views 
and matters of form or expediency. Indivi- 
duals may perceive certain things as true or 
desirable for which the minds of their brethren 
are not yet prepared. But regarding them as 
rather conducive to the efficiency or symmetry 
of the body than as essential to its being, are 
content to await the maturity of public opinion 
before urging their adoption. A church which 
is struggling to acquire a position in the world, 
but which is based on the ' voluntary princi- 
ple,' not only for the support of its institutions, 
but for all its faith and practice, must appear 
somewhat variable in its progressive as- 
pects. 

From the above may be drawn a further in- 
ference. Precedent, however conducive to the 
harmonious development of a system and its 
stability afterwards, is not so sacred with us 
as with some others. We look rather before 
than behind. We endeavor to do what appears 
to be best for the present juncture, but if error 
or mistake should intrude itself into our pro- 
ceedings, we are not deterred by precedent 
from correcting it in future. A step not well 
considered may be taken, and that again lead 
to others. It may not be desirable or possible 
to retrace the whole. In that case, the maxim 
factum valet, fieri nan debet, prevails. We ac- 
cept indeed the principle of < development' of 
which so much has been said of late — to a 
certain extent. We admit a development, not 
of dangerous errors or of tyrannical assump- 
tions — but of forms and machinery which 
should proceed pari passu with the growth 
and wants of the church. 



and this country, use a form of worship, 
public and private. That first used in 
England, was a modification of the Na- 
tional Church service. They have now, 
after several changes, one that better ex- 
presses their doctrinal views. The pre- 
sent American service is simple, and con- 
sists entirely of selections from Scripture, 
with chants and glorifications ; but the 
New Church is not confined to any exter- 
nal form or ritual whatever. Its doctrines 
admit of every variety in this respect, and 
inculcate only that unity which is pro- 
duced by charity. Hence, almost every 
form has prevailed in this country, and 
even now, some societies use hymns and 
parts of the English Liturgy in their wor- 
ship. The New Jerusalem ' Te Deum' — 
once used in the public service both in 
England and America, afterwards discon- 
tinued and again, as we hope, to be re- 
vived — is perhaps the sublimest of invo- 
cations. 

Communication with the Church in 
England has been regularly kept up, and 
through this, with the Continent — of late 
years more directly. The translations 
and collateral works heretofore used by 
us, have been mainly of British product, 
and many of the former are still used by 
those who prefer the English to the Amer- 
ican. Next to those of the latter already 
mentioned, the best known are those of 
Mr. Clowes, who, besides his translations, 
during his long life published many vol- 
umes of sermons, and other works, chiefly 
expository, all characterized by the unc- 
tion and other spiritual graces of the man. 
The English Conference, besides its suc- 
cessive liturgies and other ritual forms, 
has compiled catechisms and collections 
of hymns. Manuals of devotion have been 
prepared by Mr. Hill, (published in 1828,) 
and by Mr. Mason, (2d edit., 1840.) 
Other popular treatises are Hindmarsh's 
' Seal,' (1815,) and ' Compendium,' (1816,) 
Arbouin's ' Regenerate Life,' ' Credibilitv 
of Swedenborg,' (1828,) T. Goyder's 
'Key to Knowledge,' (1839,) D. G. Goy- 
der's 'Book of Practical Piety,' (1840,) 
'N. C. Preacher,' (1837,) a collection of 
sermons by various ministers, Hudson's 
' Discourses on the Deliverance, &c. of 
the Israelites,' (1809,) Sibly's 'Exposi- 
tion of Daniel,' (1840,) Noble's 'Pie- 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 451 



nary Inspiration,' (1825,) and 'Lectures,' 
(1846.) 

The American contributions to our lit- 
erature in a separate form, have been 
principally volumes of sermons — as those 
of Brown, ( ,) T. Worcester, (1828,) 
H. A. Worcester, (1837,) De Charms, 
(1840,) and Lectures, (1841,) Barrett's 
Lectures, (1841.) Of works in other 
classes, Hobart's ' Life of Swedenborg,' 
(1831, 2d edit. 1840,) Barrett's ' Life of 
Swedenborg,' (1841,) Sampson Reed's 
■ Growth of the Mind,' (1826, and has 
also passed through several other edi- 
tions ;) Kinmont's ' Lectures on the Nat- 
ural History of Man,' (1839,) and Par- 
son's 'Essays,' (1845.)* The preparation 
of books suited to the religious instruction 
of the young, was for a long season too 
much neglected, but something has been 
done of late years, both here and in Eng- 
land, to supply the deficiency. 

From a very early date, (with a few 
intervals,) the New Church has enjoyed 
the advantage of a periodical as a means 
of communication among its members, 
and also for the explanation and defence 
of her doctrines. The London ' Intellec- 
tual Repository' — at first quarterly, then 
bi-monthly, and at present monthly — is 



* In the year 1844, Rev. Geo. Bush, Prof, of 
Hebrew in the University of N. York, — who 
had been previously known as an Oriental 
Scholar and a commentator on Scripture — 
published a book entitled ' Anastasis' in which 
he denied the common doctrine of a Resurrec- 
tion of the material body. On learning the 
coincidence between his conclusions — which 
he had reached by independent investigation — 
and those of Swedenborg, he was led to ex- 
amine the theological system of the latter. 
The result was an avowed acceptance of it 
entire, which he has since defended by a 
'Statement of Reasons.' Besides a small 
volume on ' the Soul' which grew out of the 
controversy occasioned by the first work, 
he put forth another, entitled 'Mesmer and 
Swedenborg', in which, while he insists on the 
marked difference between Swedenborg and 
any mere 'clairvoyant,' he shows how his 
Philosophy explains all the alleged marvels 
of 'Animal magnetism.' His 'Swedenborg 
Library,' though issued periodically, is in 
great part a reprint of the ' memorabilia, with 
reflections of his own. In it also appeared a 
part of the ' Spiritual Diary' of Swedenborg, 
translated by himself, and his ' Reply to Dr. 
Woods', already mentioned. 



now in its fourth series, and thirty-fifth 
year, and is the accredited organ of the 
Church in Britain. The ' N. C. Advo- 
cate,' after continuing as a Magazine for 
four years, is now (1847) merged in the 
'N. C. Quarterly Review.' 'La Nou- 
velle Jerusalem,' at first (1838) issued 
monthly, from St. Amand, Cher, France 
— but now quarterly from Paris. In 
America we have at present but one such 
journal — the 'New Jerusalem Magazine' 
— published at Boston, though several 
have appeared at different times at New 
York, Philadelphia, or Cincinnati.* 

* Many causes have concurred with the 
spirit of the age in inducing her writers to em- 
ploy periodicals as the most frequent media 
of communicating with the N. Church. Among 
them may be mentioned the dispersed state of 
her members — the consequent paucity of her 
clergy — the fact that most of her members be- 
long to the reading classes — the possession of 
a system of Theology, not the contribution of 
many minds or the growth of ages, but ready 
prepared to her hand — its comparative novelty 
and marked difference from any of the contem- 
poraneous systems — the consequent inutility 
to them of much the larger portion of what 
has been written by other theologians — the 
necessity of freely discussing the many ques- 
tions which naturally arise in the effort to 
carry out the new system into practice, — and 
the call for instruction on a variety of subjects 
too great to be readily met by independent 
works. Since more than the usual proportion 
of the talent of the Church has been expended 
on them, scarcely one of these publications 
has issued which does not contain sermons 
and other articles worthy of being embodied 
in a separate form. Constituting as they do so 
large a part of her literature and the sources 
of her current history, we may be excused for 
giving a chronological list of them with their 
places of issue. 
New Jerusalem Magazine, 
Magazine of Knowledge, 
New Jerusalem Journal, 
Aurora, 



Int. Repository, - 

Novitiates' Preceptor, 

N. C. Advocate, 

N. C. Quar. Review, 

Halcyon Luminary, - 

N. J. Ch. Repository, 

N. J. Missionary, 

Herald of Truth, - 

N. J. Magazine, 

Precursor, 

New Churchman, 

Retina, 

Mirror of Truth, 



1790, London. 

1790-1, " 

1792, « 

1799-1801, " 

1812, 

1827-9, " 

1842-6, 

1847, 

1812-3, 

1817-8, 

1823-4, 



N. Y. 

Phil. 

N. Y. 

Cin. 

Bos. 

Cin. 

Phil. 



1827, 
1836-42, 
1841-4, 
[and New York 
1843-4, Cin. 
1845, « 



1 1 

I 452 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



M. Edouard Richer, of Nantes, has 
left many works in illustration or defence 
of this system, which, though especially 
adapted to the meridian of France, dis- 
play profound learning, combined with 
great intellectual power. And he has 
been ably sustained since by less volum- 
inous writers — as Messieurs Tolienare, 
Blanchet, and Count Portal. M. Le 
Boys du Guays, editor of the Magazine 
above mentioned, published therein a se- 
ries of ' Letters to a Man of the World, 
disposed to believe,' which exhibit the 
happier traits of the French mind, clear- 
ness of conception and exactness of re- 
presentation, in a remarkable degree. 
They were translated for an American 
periodical, and afterwards collected in a 
separate volume, to which we refer the 
reader, as containing the best popular ex- 
position as yet extant, of our peculiar 
views on certain principal heads of 
Psychology, and the Philosophy of Na- 
ture. 

In Germany, Dr. John Frederick Eman- 
uel Tafel, Librarian of the University of 
Tubingen, has been for more than twenty 
years, and in various ways, as editor, 
translator, polemic, and correspondent, a 
zealous laborer in behalf of this cause. 
He has had reprinted from the Latin 
originals, the Arcana Coelestia, and some 
of the smaller treatises which are becom- 
ing scarce. To a considerable portion of 
the writings, as also to certain English 
tracts and volumes, he has given a Ger- 
man version. Of late years he has been 
principally engaged in editing, from the 
manuscripts of Swedenborg, his posthu- 
mous theological works ; and thus far has 
completed the ' Adversaria,' or notes on 
the historical books of Scripture, (2 vols. 
1840-2,) and the 'Spiritual Diary,' (8 
fasciculi, 1843-7.) Besides the usual 
various learning of a German Savant, he 
is deeply read in her several schools of 
philosophy, whose systems have colored 
all recent theological speculation in Ger- 
many. With such discipline and furni- 
ture he has proved his ability to repel 
successfully, in several Apologies, the 
attacks of many such writers on the new 
doctrine. In collecting and arranging 
materials for a more satisfactory life of 
Swedenborg, he has added several impor- 



tant papers to those previously known. 
This collection of ' Documents,' as also a 
volume of the Spiritual Diary, have been 
translated into English by the Rev. J. H. 
Smithson, editor of the Int. Repository, 
who is also an adept in the new German 
learning. The labor of the entire version 
will probably be divided between him and 
Prof. Bush. We learn also that many 
works have appeared in Sweden, written 
in the spirit of this system ; but are not 
aware that any of them have been trans- 
lated into English except the ' Morning 
Watches' of Miss Bremer, which, we 
think, could not have been written with- 
out some acquaintance with the religious 
views of her countryman. 

There are, both here and in England, 
societies for the circulation of tracts, 
chiefly doctrinal, in which the object has 
been to set forth our principles clearly, 
calmly, and strongly, in a moderate com- 
pass. And perhaps a selection from these 
would give a stranger a more correct idea 
of the system than some of the larger 
works ; as all the leading doctrines have 
thus been expounded in a manner adapted 
to popular perusal. But the most impor- 
tant institution of the church, is, the So- 
ciety for Printing and Publishing the 
Works of Swedenborg, instituted in Man- 
chester, England, in 1782 — and after- 
wards merged into a similar one com- 
menced in London, in 1810. This was 
the only source from which the English 
translations could be procured for a time 
— though American editions of most of 
the works may now be had by means of 
a similar society, or the enterprise of in- 
dividuals here. The two together have 
caused the circulation of very many thou- j 
sand volumes ; and their labors can never 
be dispensed with. 

Supplementary to these is the Sweden- j 
borg Association, instituted in London, in 
1845. Its immediate objects are to reprint j 
the Scientific and Philosophical works | 
published by Swedenborg himself, together | 
with those of the same classes yet remain- j 
ing in manuscript, and to secure the j 
proper editing and translation of the j 
whole into English. A part of this, as 
mentioned above, has been accomplished ; 
and the works brought, out in English, 
under its auspices, have already had the 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 453 



effect of removing much prejudice, and 
have won commendatory notices from 
critical authorities in their several depart- 
ments. And when completed, this will 
be but the initial step to the ultimate de- 
sign of the Association, which is far more 
comprehensive — no less indeed than ' the 
study, development and dissemination of 
Science upon the philosophical principles 
of Swedenborg :' and the christianization 
of the former, and the reconciliation of 
Philosophy with Religion, whose discord- 
ance is now so apparent, and the source of so 
much evil. In the cultivation of this im- 
portant field, it is hoped that the number 
of minds able to co-operate, will be in- 
creasing throughout the world, and during 
an indefinite future.*' After all, though 
much literary labor, in proportion to the 
means, has already been performed, in- 
calculably more remains to be done. 



A word or two before we conclude, 
principally on certain points of casuistry, 
as to which (strangely enough !) we have 
been misunderstood. Religious freedom 
is the inalienable right of every man, and 
for its use he is responsible to God alone. 
Civil liberty, though the means of the 
greatest blessings to those who are worthy 
of it, can only prove a. curse -to such as 
are not; and it is not desirable that it 
should be enlarged hastily or farther than 
the nations are qualified for its use : 
though we rejoice that the means of such 
preparation are increased in number and 
efficiency, and that the spirit of the age 
is, to avail itself of them more than in 
time past. Strictly as the Christian 
should refrain from avenging his private 
wrongs, and much as he should desire 
public peace ; till the world is regene- 
rated, the injustice of governments and 
nations, will give frequent occasions of 
war. In such cases, it is legitimate to 
employ means of defence ; and we accept 
the general sentiment * that the only way 
to avoid it is to be ever prepared for it.' 



* While we write, Mr. Wm. B. Hayden has, 
in his 'Review of Dr. Pond,' baffled with a 
vigorous ease the assault of the latter on the 
philosophical reputation of Swedenborg. 



The Newchurchman is taught to shun 
party spirit, where great principles are 
not really at stake ; to yield obedience to 
a protecting government, wherever con- 
science will permit ; not hastily to urge 
changes in organic law; and faithfully 
to discharge any public duties to which 
he may be called. In private life we 
avoid singularity in matters indifferent. 
We affect none in language, dress, or 
manners. We have no sumptuary laws : 
but leave each one to graduate his ex- 
penses by the scale of his ability and sta- 
tion in society, and to select his friends 
and associates among the virtuous and 
intelligent of every name. We have no 
respect for affected solemnity, needless 
austerity, or will-worship of any kind. 
We do not deem it necessary for Christ- 
ians of every age to refrain from public 
amusements and social recreations. The 
love of self and the world, against which 
Divine Wisdom has warned us, we take 
to be something more and other than any 
of these things. He who will shun the 
evils forbidden in the decalogue, as sins 
against God, and cultivate the opposite 
virtues, will find enough to occupy him 
without distracting his attention with un- 
commanded observances. Though, with 
our views, we cannot but have an abiding 
sense of the Divine Presence, and of the 
necessity of regeneration to future happi- 
ness : yet the calm and rational delight 
we take in contemplating religious truths, 
does not inflame us to enthusiasm in pub- 
lic Worship. We must own, too, that we 
take little pleasure in frequenting the 
temples of other Christians, where we are 
not certain that our prayers are directed 
to the same object; where we hear so 
much that grates on our sense of truth, 
and so little that accords with the su- 
premacy of Him we worship — though we 
willingly co-operate with them in the 
spread of the Bible, the promotion of any 
point of public morals, or measures of 
general utility. For a like reason we 
read but little of the current theology of 
the day, except as an index of the state 
of religious opinion. In our conferences 
with others on religious topics, we prefer 
to use other language than that of Scrip- 
ture, (except the plainest,) seeing our ap- 
prehensions of its meaning are generally 



454 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



so different. And while we seek the mol- 
lia temporafandi, we do not indiscrimi- 
nately press the matter of religion on the 
attention of all unbelievers, or at all times. 
Such of us as have leisure to devote to 
literary pursuits, or inquiry into truth, 
always seek to unite therewith some use- 
ful occupation. There is a good deal of 
technical phraseology in the works of our 
author, which sounds strange to a novice ; 
but its meaning is easily learnt, and it is 
used in a steadfast sense. We are some- 
times asked whether we ascribe ' Infalli- 
bility' to Swedenborg? — As a personal at- 
tribute — No. We believe him to have 
been sound in his memory and other fac- 
ulties : a competent and credible witness 
of ' things seen and heard :' that being en- 
lightened for the purpose as no other man 
was ever before, he could rationally per- 
ceive the truths contained in the Word of 
the Lord, and that the inferences drawn 
by him therefrom are logically correct : 
and that he has embodied these in his 
various writings with such simple perspi- 
cuity, that a candid reader, under the 
guidance of his general doctrine, need 
never mistake his meaning. And thus it 
was, as we believe, that ' he was Provi- 
dentially guarded from Error.' Lastly, 
i we do not look upon death as in itself so 
' terrible an event, and think that no 
Christian should. Neither do we indulge 
in passionate grief for our departed 
friends, — our natural feeling for their loss 
being generally mitigated by our concep- 
tions of divine truth and mercy, and of 
the nature of the other life. If any of 
these ' peculiarities' are thought so offen- 
sive as to be without precedent or pre- 
tence of reason, we must bear the impu- 
tation with what grace we may. 

In reviewing what we have written, we 
find we have treated with freedom, but we 
hope with fairness, the principles of other 
professed followers of our Lord ; sure we 
are without any feelings of hostility to in- 
dividuals who have held and still hold 
them — for many of whom we entertain 
high respect. It is with us a principle to 
recognise and honor goodness wherever 
we meet with it ; though we cannot but 
regret that, in this our age, it is so often 
allied to or accompanied by so much error. 
And this feeling we arc bound to cherish 



even though it be not reciprocated. From 
our own position we survey the state of 
the world, intellectual, political, and reli- 
gious, and think we see in all those depart- 
ments marked and strong tendencies* to- 
wards a better order of things. Magnus 
ab integro sec lorum nascitur or do. And 
though we Jive in a period of transition : 
the anxiety, of which all must partake at 
such a season, is alleviated in our case by 
the assurance that He who is at the helm, 
having eternal and glorious ends in view, 
orders or permits only such events as can 
be converted to their promotion. Now 
that other systems are breaking up around 
us, we would most respectfully invite our 
countrymen to give this a fair considera- 
tion, and not to condemn it unheard or 
from the representations of its enemies 
alone. Fraud, violence, menace, fashion, 
the favor of princes, diplomacy, have all 
tried in vain to reunite Protestants on 
some one basis ; wrangling polemics and 
verbal critics have succeeded as little. In 
our conscience we believe that in this con- 
fusion worse confounded, none birt the 
Author of our faith could tell us what it 
is ; and this we doubt not he has done 
through a qualified agent. He who re- 
ceives ' The True Christian Religion,' as 
here delineated, cannot but smile at the 
pretensions of Rome. For her expositions 
or superintendence he can have no possi- 
ble use ; and the ' brutum fulmen' of her 
anathema will fall harmless at his feet. 

Such is the bread which we have been 
invited to cast upon the waters. We dis- 
miss it to the care of Providence, and the 
justice of our readers. Should they de- 
sire a more full and formal sketch of doc- 
trine than the rapid outline of the text, we 
subjoin the Articles of Faith as set forth 
by the English Conference and adopted bv 
the Church in America. 



Swedenborg tells us in his Treatise on 
Divine Providence, (No. 259.) 'There 
are three essentials of the Church, the 
acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, 
the acknowledgment of the sanctity of the 
Word, and the life which is called charity ; 
according to the life, which is charity, 
every man has faith ; from the Word is 



HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 455 



the knowledge of what life must be ; and 
from the Lord is reformation and salva- 
tion. If these three had been as the essen- 

j tials of the Church, intellectual dissensions 
would not have divided, but only varied it, 
as the light varies the colors in beautiful 
objects, and as various diadems make the 
beauty in a king's crown.' 

He has also prefixed the following brief 
creed to his ' True Christian Religion.' 
* The Faith of the New Heaven and the 
New Church, in the particular Form, is 
this : That Jehovah God is Love itself and 
Wisdom itself, or that he is Good itself 
and Truth itself: and that He, as to Di- 
vine Truth, which is the Word, and which 
was God with God, descended and as- 
sumed the Human, to the end that He 
might reduce to order all things which 
were in heaven, and all things which were 
in hell, and all things which were in the 
Church ; since, at that time, the power of 
hell prevailed over the power of heaven, 
and, upon earth, the power of evil over 
the power of good, and thence a total 
damnation stood before the door and 

! threatened. This impending damnation 
Jehovah God removed by means of his 
Human, which was Divine Truth, and thus 
He redeemed angels and men ; and after- 
wards He united, in his Human, Divine 
Truth with Divine Good, or Divine Wis- 
dom with Divine Love, and thus, together 
with and in his glorified Human, returned 
into his Divine, in which He was from 
eternity. These things are meant by this 
passage in John, 4 The Word was with 
God, and the Word was God ; and the 
Word became flesh? i. 1, 14; and in the 
same, ' I proceeded from the Father, and 
came into the world : again, I leave the 
too rid, and go to the Father? xvi. 28 : 
and also by this, ' We knoiv that the Son 
of God hath come, and given us under- 
standing, that we might know the True ; 
and we are in the True, in his Son Jesus 
Christ : This is the true God and eternal 
Life? 1 John v. 20, 21. From these it is 
manifest that, without the coming of the 
Lord into the world, no one could have 
been saved. It is similar at this day : 
wherefore, unless the Lord should again 
come into the world, in Divine Truth, no 
one can be saved. 

' The particulars of the faith, on the 



part of man, are, 1. That God is One, in 
whom is a Divine Trinity, and that He is 
the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ. 

2. That saving faith is to believe in Him. 

3. That evils should not be done, because 
they are of the devil, and from the devil. 

4. That good should be done, because they 
are of God, and from God. 5. And that 
these should be done by man as from him- 
self; but that it should be believed, that 
they are from the Lord, with him and 
through him. The two first are of faith, 
the two next are of charity, and the fifth 
is of the conjunction of charity and faith, 
thus of the Lord and man.' 



THE ARTICLES THEMSELVES ARE AS 
FOLLOWS : 

1. l That Jehovah God, the Creator and 
Preserver of heaven and earth, is Love It- 
self, and Wisdom Itself, or Good Itself, 
and Truth Itself: That he is One both in 
Essence and in Person, in whom, never- 
theless, is the Divine Trinity of Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit, which are the essen- 
tial Divinity, the Divine Humanity, and 
the Divine Proceeding, answering to the 
soul, the body, and the operative energy 
in man : And that the Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ is that God. 

2. « That Jehovah God himself descend- 
ed from heaven, as Divine Truth, which 
is the Word, and took upon him Human 
Nature for the purpose of removing from 
man the powers of hell, and restoring to 
order all things in the Spiritual world, and 
all things in the Church : That he re- 
moved from man the powers of hell, by 
combats against and victories over them, 
in which consisted the great work of Re- 
demption : That by the same acts, which 
were his temptations, the last of which 
was the passion of the cross, he united, in 
his Humanity, Divine Truth to Divine 
Good, or Divine Wisdom to Divine Love, 
and so returned into his Divinity in which 
he was from eternity, together with, and 
in, his Glorified Humanity ; whence he 
for ever keeps the infernal powers in sub- 
jection to himself: And that all who be- 
lieve in him, with the understanding, from 
the heart, and live accordingly, will be 
saved. 

3. ' That the sacred Scripture, or Word 



456 HISTORY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



of God, is Divine Truth Itself; containing 
a Spiritual sense heretofore unknown, 
whence it is divinely inspired and holy in 
every syllable ; as well as a literal sense, 
which is the basis of its spiritual sense, 
and in which Divine Truth is in its ful- 
ness, its sanctity, and its power : thus that 
it is accommodated to the apprehension 
both of angels and men : That the spiri- 
tual and natural senses are united, by cor- 
respondences, like soul and body, every 
natural expression and image answering 
to, and including a spiritual and divine 
idea: And thus that the Word is the 
medium of communication with heaven, 
and of conjunction with the Lord. 

4. ' That the government of the Lord's 
Divine' Love and Wisdom is the Divine 
Providence ; which is universal, exercised 
according to certain fixed laws of Order, 
and extending to the minutest particulars 
of the life of all men, both of the good and 
of the evil : That in all its operations it 
has respect to what is infinite and eternal, 
and makes no account of things transitory 
but as they are subservient to eternal ends ; 
thus, that it mainly consists with man, in 
the connection of things temporal with 
things eternal ; for that the continual aim 
of the Lord, by his Divine Providence, is 
to join man to himself, and himself to man, 
that 'he may be able to give him the feli- 
cities of eternal life : And that the laAvs 
of permission are also laws of the Divine 
Providence ; since evil cannot be prevented 
without destroying the nature of man as 
an accountable agent ; and because, also, 
it cannot be removed unless it be known, 
and cannot be known unless it appear : 
Thus, that no evil is permitted but to pre- 
vent a greater ; and all is overruled by 
the Lord's Divine Providence, for the 
greatest possible good. 

5. ' That man is not life, but is only a 
recipient of life from the Lord, who, as he 
is Love Itself, and Wisdom Itself, is also 
Life Itself; which life is communicated by 
influx to all in the spiritual world, whether 
belonging to heaven or to hell, and to all 
in the natural world ; but is received dif- 
ferently by every one, according to his 
quality and consequent state of reception. 

6. ' That man, during his abode in the 
world, is, as to his spirit, in the midst be- 
tween heaven and hell, acted upon by in- 



fluences from both, and thus is kept in a 
state of spiritual equilibrium between good 
and evil ; in consequence of which he en- 
joys free-will, or freedom of choice, in 
spiritual things as well as in natural, and 
possesses the capacity of either turning 
himself to the Lord and his kingdom, or 
turning himself away from the Lord, and 
connecting himself with the kingdom of 
darkness : And that, unless man had such 
freedom of choice, the Word would be of 
no use, the Church would be a mere name, 
man would possess nothing by virtue of 
which he could be conjoined to the Lord, 
and the cause of evil would be chargeable 
on God himself. 

7. ' That man at this day is born into 
evil of all kinds, or with tendencies to- 
wards it : That, therefore, in order to his 
entering the kingdom of heaven, he must 
be regenerated or created anew ; which 
great work is effected in a progressive 
manner, by the Lord alone, by charity 
and faith as mediums, during man's co- 
operation : That as all men are redeemed* 
all are capable of being regenerated and 
consequently saved, every one according 
to his state : And that the regenerated man 
is in communion with the angels of hea- 
ven, and the unregenerate with the spirits 
of hell : But that no one is condemned for 
hereditary evil, any further than as he 
makes it his own by actual life ; whence 
all who die in infancy are saved, special 
means being provided by the Lord in the 
other life for that purpose. 

8. ' That. Repentance is the first begin- 
ning of the Church in man ; and that it 
consists in a man's examining himself, 
both in regard to his deeds and his inten- 
tions, in knowing and acknowledging his 
sins, confessing them before the Lord, 
supplicating him for aid, and beginning a 
new life : That to this end, all evils, 
whether of affection, of thought, or of life, 
are to be abhorred and shunned as sins 
against God, and because they proceed 
from infernal spirits, who in the aggre- 
gate are called the Devil and Satan ; and 
that good affections, good thoughts, and 
good actions, are to be cherished and per- 
formed, because they are of God and from 
God : That these things are to be done by 
man as of himself; nevertheless, under 
the acknowledgment and belief, that it is 



HISTORY OF THE OMISH OR AMISH CHURCH. 



457 



from the Lord, operating in him and by 
him : That so far as man shuns evils as 
sins, so far they are removed, remitted, or 
forgiven ; so far also he does good, not 
from himself, but from the Lord ; and in 
the same degree he loves truth, has faith, 
and is a spiritual man : And that the De- 
calogue teaches what evils are sins. 

9. 'That Charity, Faith, and Good 
Works are unitedly necessary to man's 
salvation ; since charity without faith, is 
not spiritual but natural ; and faith with- 
out charity, is not living but dead ; and 
both charity and faith without good works, 
are merely mental and perishable things, 
because without use or fixedness : And 
that nothing of faith, of charity, or of 
good works is of man ; but that all is of 
the Lord, and all the merit is his alone. 

10. 'That Baptism and the Holy Sup- 
per are sacraments of divine institution, 
and are to be permanently observed ; Bap- 
tism being an external medium of intro- 
duction into the Church, and a sign repre- 
sentative of man's purification and regen- 
eration ; and the Holy Supper being an 
external medium, to those who receive it 
worthily, of introduction, as to spirit into 
heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord, 
of which also it is a sign and seal. 



11. 'That immediately after death, 
which is only a putting off of the material 
body, never to be resumed, man rises again I 
in a spiritual or substantial body, in which ! 
he continues to live to eternity ; in heaven, j 
if his ruling affections, and thence his life, | 
have been good ; and in hell, if his ruling J 
affections, and thence his life, have been evil, j 

12. ' That now is the time of the Second 
Advent of the Lord, which is a coming, 
not in Person, but in the power and glory 
of his Holy Word : That it is attended, 
like his first coming, with the restoration 
to order of all things in the spiritual world, 
where the wonderful divine operation, com- 
monly expected under the name of the 
Last Judgment, has in consequence been 
performed ; and with the preparing of the 
way for a New Church on the earth, — the 
first Christian Church having spiritually 
come to its end or consummation, through 
evils of life and errors of doctrine, as fore- 
told by the Lord in the Gospels : And that 
this New or Second Christian Church, 
which will be the Crown of all Churches, 
and will stand forever, is what was repre- 
sentatively seen by John, when he beheld 
the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending 
from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
bride adorned for her husband.' 



HISTORY 



THE OMISH OR AMISH CHURCH, 



BY SHEM ZOOK, MIFFLIN COUNTY, PA. 



CbnsH or Amish, is a name which was, 

j in the United States, given to a society of 

; Mennonites, but who are not known by 

that name in Europe, the place from which 

they originally came. In many parts of 



Germany and Switzerland, where they 
are still considerably numerous, they are 
there sometimes, for the purpose of dis- 
tinction, called Hooker Mennonites, on ac- 
count of their wearing; hooks on their 



58 



458 



HISTORY OF THE OMISH OR AMISH CHURCH. 



clothes ; another party of Mennonites ' 
being, for similar reasons, termed Button 
Mennonites. The principal difference be- 
tween these societies consists in the former 
being more simple in their dress, and more 
strict in their discipline. In their religious 
forms of worship, the different denomina- 
tions of Mennonites vary but little from 
other Protestants. They consider the scrip- 
tures as the only rule of faith, and main- 
tain that the surest mark of the true church 
is the sanctity of its members. They 
have regular ministers and deacons, who 
are not allowed to receive fixed salaries ; 
in their religious assemblies, however, 
every one has the privilege to exhort and 
to expound the scriptures. Baptism is ad- 
ministered to adults only, infants not being 
considered proper subjects, and is admi- 
nistered by pouring water upon the head 
of the subject. The Lord's Supper is ad- 
ministered in commemoration of the death 
of our Saviour. It is considered unlawful 
to take an oath on any occasion, as well 
as to repel force by force ; and they con- 
sider war, in all its shapes, as unchristian 
and unjust. Charity is with them a reli- 
gious duty, and none of their members are 
permitted to become a public charge. 

Great injustice has been done the Men- 
nonites by Protestant as well as by Catholic 
writers, by imputing to them doctrines 
which they never held with regard to the 
incarnation of Christ and the Millenium, 
or personal reign of Christ upon earth. 
That Menno Simon was charged with en- 
tertaining peculiar and unwarranted opin- 
ions respecting these matters is true, (doc- 
trines which we deem improper to mention, 
but an account of which may be found by 
referring to article Anabaptists, in the En- 
cyclopaedia Americana ;) but it is well 
known to all who are acquainted with the 
writings or works of Menno Simon, that 
if his written declarations are to be re- 
ceived as an evidence of his opinions, then 
the said charges are entirely gratuitous 
and without foundation in fact. The Men- 



nonites have also been charged with having 
originated with the Anabaptist of Munster ; 
and have frequently been confounded with 
the followers of Bockhold, John of Ley- 
den, and David Joris. This charge is 
equally and totally incorrect. It is not 
denied that many of those who have been 
misled by these fanatics, ultimately joined 
the Mennonites ; but they were not ad- 
mitted into their society until they had 
wholly repudiated the wild and fanatical 
notions of the Munsterites. The many, 
and often bitter, controversies which took 
place during the time of the Reformation, 
not only between Catholic and Protestant 
writers, but often between the Protestants 
themselves, added to the fact that the 
history of the Mennonites has hitherto 
been written by writers of other sects, 
readily account for the mis-statements and 
incorrect accounts respecting the origin, 
history, and religious opinions of the Men- 
nonites. 

The name Amish or Ornish was derived 
from Jacob Amen, a native of Amenthal, 
in Switzerland, and a rigid Mennonite 
preacher of the seventeenth century ; but 
that he was not the founder of a sect will 
be evident from the fact, that the society 
who are in the United States wrongfully 
called Amish or Ornish, still rigidly adhere 
to the Confession of Faith which was 
adopted at Dortrecht, in Holland, A. D. 
1632, (before the time of Jacob Amen,) 
by a General Assembly of ministers of 
the religious denomination who were at 
that time and in that place called Mennon- 
ites, (after Menno Simon, an eminent 
preacher and native of Friesland, in Hol- 
land,) but who were, (as has been well 
established by writers of the seventeenth 
century,) prior to that time, at different 
periods, known by the names of Henri- 
cians, Petrobrusians, and Waldenses. The 
number of the milder Mennonites in the 
United States is computed at 120,000, 
while that of the rigid Mennonites is not 
supposed to exceed 5000. 




Rev. HENRY A. BOARDMAN, D.D. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



459 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 



BY JOHN M. KREBS, D.D. 



PASTOR OF THE RUTGERS STREET CHURCH, NEW YORE, AND PERMANENT CLERK OF THE GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY. 



I. DOCTRINE, WORSHIP, AND GOVERN- 
MENT. 

The published " Constitution of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States 
of America," sets forth at large the system 
of doctrine, mode of worship, and form 
of government, adopted by this church. 

The Doctrines are contained in the 
" Confession of Faith," and in the " Larger 
and Shorter Catechisms," and are those 
which are popularly denominated " Cal- 
vinistic." This distinctive title is appro- 
priated to this system, not because Calvin 
invented it, but because, among all the 
modern advocates of it, he was undoubt- 
edly the most profound and able, and be- 
cause it has suited the policy of some to- 
endeavor to convey the idea that this 
system was unknown until Calvin began 
to propagate and defend it. 

In the Confession of Faith there are 
many doctrines in which the Presbyterians 
agree with their brethren of other denomi- 
nations. In regard to all that is embraced 
in that formula concerning the being and 
perfections of God, the Trinity of persons 
in the Godhead, the divinity, incarnation 
and atoning sacrifice of the Son of God, 
&c, they may be said to hold substan- 
tially in common with all sects who de- 
serve the Christian name. But with re- 
spect to the true state of human nature 
before God, the doctrine of sovereign, un- 
conditional election to eternal life, the 



doctrine that Christ died in a special sense 
for his elect people, the doctrine of justifi- 
cation by the imputed righteousness of 
Christ alone, of sanctification by the spe- 
cial and invincible power of the Holy 
Spirit, and of the perseverance of the 
saints in holiness, they differ very mate- 
rially from many who bear the Christian 
name. In short, with regard to what are 
commonly called the " five points" dis- 
cussed and decided in the Synod of Dort, 
the Confession is opposed to Arminianism, 
and coincides with the Calvinistic system 
maintained by that body. 

These evangelical doctrines, as they are 
taught in the Word of God, were revived 
and held with singular unanimity by all 
the churches which arose out of the Re- 
formation, as appears very evidently from 
a comparison of the various creeds and 
confessions which were framed and pub- 
lished by them. Those who on the Con- 
tinent adhered to Martin Luther in his 
ritual views and observances, and the An- 
glican prelatists as well as the Reformed 
Churches of France, Germany, Switzer- 
land, Holland and Scotland, equally 
adopted the tenets since denominated Cal- 
vinistic, their differences having relation 
mainly to the administration of ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs, the parity of the Christian 
ministry, and their subordinate topics. 
And the history of the church and of the 
world, (as a constant development of this 



460 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



great principle, that truth is in order to 
goodness, its great touchstone, in its tenden- 
cy to produce holiness, and that there is an 
inseparable connection between faith and 
practice, truth and duty,) together with 
the admission of some of the most eminent 
scholars and divines, and eloquent writers 
of later days, even of those who by no 
means favored Calvinism, are an irrefra- 
gable testimony to the benign influence ex- 
erted by this much-abused system, on the 
illumination and salvation of those who 
cordially embrace it, and on the moral 
character and deportment, the knowledge 
and freedom, and the general prosperity 
and happiness of every community where 
it has prevailed.* 



* " By many ignorant and prejudiced per- 
sons, a very foul, but a very false allegation, 
both before the time of the Synod of Dort, and 
also down to the present day, has occasion- 
ally been advanced against the Calvinistic 
system. That system has been set forth as 
offering a premium for gross immorality, as 
inculcating in the case of the vainly pre- 
sumptuous, an unhallowed security, and as 
advocating, to the certain ruin of the constitu- 
tionally despondent, all the w r ild recklessness 
of utter and uncontrolled desperation. Hence, 
in the way of summary, we have been gravely 
assured that, according to the Calvinistic 
scheme of interpretation, the elect, no matter 
what may be the obstinate ungodliness of 
their lives, must be finally saved even in 
their impenitence, while the reprobate, no 
matter what may be the devoted holiness 
of their conversation, even in their godly pen- 
itence must be finally damned. Nothing can 
be more unfounded than this vulgar allega- 
tion. 

" Calvinism really teaches, that the elect, 
even though they may be humbly doubtful of 
their own individual election, after their 
effectual calling, how T ever speckled with the 
remains of human corruption, will alwa3 r s 
lead holy and devoted and godly lives ; while 
the reprobate, even though they may madly 
and contemptuously presume upon their own 
imagined security, will always show their 
true character, either by an indulgence in 
habitually unhallowed practice, or by an utter 
deadness to every sentiment of vitally influen- 
tial religion." — Judic. Synod. Dordrech. Con- 
clus. Cap. V. 

"This invariable association of holiness 
with election, and of unholiness with reproba- 
tion, is assuredly the special badge of Calvin- 
ism ; and for the abuse of the system by the 
profanely licentious, that scheme is no more 
responsible, than any other scheme can justly 



The forms of worship are simple and 
scriptural, consisting in praise, prayer, 
and the reading and preaching of the 



be made responsible for its own particular 
and disallowed perversion. 

" The dogma, if such a dogma be held even 
by the wildest Antinomian, that an individual 
fearlessly and securely may sin, because with- 
out evidence, or rather against evidence, he 
has fondly persuaded himself that he is one of 
the elect — that dogma is a mere perversion of 
the Genevan system. A pious Calvinist — and 
among doctrinal Calvinists have been num- 
bered some of the best and the wisest and the 
most holy men who have ever adorned the 
Catholic Church — a pious Calvinist would 
shrink from it with horror and disgust. So far 
from sanctioning the blasphemous absurdity, 
on the real principles of his own scheme, he 
w r ould be the first and the foremost to consider 
its maintainance, by any pretended Calvinist, 
as a black mark indicative of the wretched 
perverter's own reprobation. He would say — 
Whatever may be the secret purpose of God in 
regard to effectual calling, no man can claim 
to be of the number of the elect to glory, 
unless as a clear evidence of his election, he 
can show a life devoted to his Saviour and in- 
stinct with fruit-producing holiness. As hon- 
est men, we are bound, in the measure of our 
opportunity, faithfully to investigate doctrinal 
truth ; but then, we are equally bound to ab- 
stain from the offensive shamelessness of un- 
merited calumny." — Faber^s Primitive Doctrine 
of Election, B. I., chap. vi. sec. 2. 

As the most powerful body of European 
refugees from prelatical cruelty, who originally 
settled in the United States, were inflexible 
Calvinists ; and as they have impressed their 
character upon all the national attributes of 
our republic : it is indispensable accurately to 
comprehend the cardinal principles of Calvin- 
ism in its operation and results, among the en- 
tire body of its genuine disciples in this coun- 
try — the original Anglican Puritans, the Scot- 
tish and Irish Presbyterians, the Baptists, and 
the Reformed Dutch and Germans. In addition, 
therefore, to the previous testimony of Mr. 
Faber, three separate witnesses are adduced ; 
and as neither of them are Calvinists, the four 
combined historiographers must be admitted 
as proof equivalent to moral demonstration. 

Calvin. — The author of the biographical no- 
tice of " Calvin," in the Encyclopedia Brittan- 
nica, among other expressions laudatory of 
the exalted virtues, noble talents, and trans- 
cendant erudition of the French Reformer, 
thus characterizes him and his most illustrious 
compeer. Luther and Calvin are " twin stars, 
the brightest of that constellation of lights by 
whose effulgence were dispelled the long night 
of darkness, under the cloud of which the en- 
ergies of mankind suffered eclipse ; and having 
emerged, they shone forth with a brilliance 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



461 



word of God. They are regulated ac- 
cording to a prescribed " Directory," but 
are not minutely controlled by the stereo- 



and glory unparalleled in the history of the 
world." 

The same writer also mentions, among the 
chief points which distinguish the system of 
Calvin from that of the other Reformed 
Churches, — the independence of the church 
of the civil power, and the spiritual presence 
of Christ in the sacrament "of the Lord's 
Supper." — Encyclopaedia Britannica, article 
Calvin. 

The Puritans. — Mr. Bancroft, in his History 
of the United States, exactly coincides with 
Mr. Macaulay and other critics, who have illu- 
mined the world by their splendid lucubrations 
in the Edinburgh Review. The American 
narrator's evidence being so unexceptionable, 
a few sentences are extracted. It must be 
premised, 'however, that he uses the terms 
Calvinism and Puritanism, in the doctrinal 
view, as identical. 

" Puritanism was religion struggling for the 
people ; the shelter, said its enemy, for the 
noble principle of liberty. It was its office to 
engraft the new institutions of popular energy 
upon the old European system of feudal aris- 
tocracy and popular servitude. The good was 
permanent. The outward emblems were of 
transient duration. The effects of Puritanism 
display its true character. Ecclesiastical 
tyranny is of all kinds the worst. Its fruits 
are cowardice, idleness, and poverty. Puritan- 
ism was a life-giving spirit. Activity, thrift, 
and intelligence followed in its train." 

"The political character of Calvinism, 
which with one consent, and with instinctive 
judgment, the monarchs of that day feared as 
republicanism, and which Charles II. declared 
a ' religion unfit for a gentleman,' is expressed 
in a single word — Predestination. Did a proud 
aristocracy trace its lineage through genera- 
tions of a high-born ancestry, the republican 
Reformer brought down the record of the no- 
blest enfranchisement from « the book of life.' 
His converts defied the opposing world ; and 
standing serenely amid the crumbling fabrics 
of centuries of superstition, they had faith in 
one another ; and the martyrdoms of Cambray, 
the fires of Smithfield, and the surrender of 
benefices by two thousand nonconformist 
J Presbyterians, attest their perseverance. Such 
| was the system which for a century and a half 
I assumed the guardianship and liberty for the 
j English world. 

" To advance intellectual freedom, Calvin- 
| ism absolutely denied the * sacrament' of or- 
dination; thus breaking up the great monopoly 
of priestcraft, and scattering the ranks of su- 
perstition. To restrain absolute monarchy in 
France, in Scotland, and in England, it allied 
itself with the decaying feudal aristocracy 
which it was sure to outlive ; to protect itself 



typed forms of any authorized or com- 
manded liturgy. Not condemning either 
the principle or the use of a liturgy, the 
Presbyterian Church, nevertheless, from a 
conviction that the practice of confining 
ministers to set or fixed forms of prayer 
for public worship, derives no warrant 
from the spirit and examples of the word 
of God, nor from the practice of the 
primitive church, and that it is, moreover, 
unprofitable, burdensome to Christian 
liberty, and otherwise inexpedient, disap- 
proves of such restriction ; but she has, 



against the feudal aristocracy it infused itself 
into the mercantile class and the inferior gen- 
try ; and to secure a life in the public mind, in 
Geneva, and in Scotland, wherever it gained 
dominion, it invoked intelligence for the peo- 
ple, and in every parish planted the common 
school. 

" Calvinism overthrew priestcraft ; Calvin- 
ism saw in goodness infinite joy, in evil infi- 
nite wo ; and recognizing no other abiding 
distinctions, opposed secretly, but surely, 
hereditary monarchy, aristocracy, and bond- 
age. Massachusetts owned no king but the 
King of heaven ; no aristocracy but of the re- 
deemed ; and no bondage but the hopeless, in- 
finite, and eternal bondage of sin. Calvinism 
invoked intelligence against Satan, the great 
enemy of the human race; and the farmers 
and seamen of Massachusetts nourished its 
college with corn and strings of wampum, and 
in every village built the free school. Thus 
had the principle of freedom of mind first as- 
serted for the common people, under a reli- 
gious form, by Wiclif, been pursued ; until at 
last it reached a perfect development, coin- 
ciding with the highest attainment of European 
philosophy." — Bancroft's History of the United 
States, vol. i. pp. 279, 289, 290, 460, 469 ; vol. 
ii. pp. 459—463. 

One more testimony is appended. It is of 
the highest value ; because it is the conclusion 
of an essay, the design of which is this : ex- 
pressly to invalidate and disprove the Calvin- 
istic theory of the divine government both in 
providence and grace. 

Practical Tendency of Calvinism. — "From 
the earliest ages down to our own days, if we 
consider the character of the 'ancient Stoics, 
the Jewish Essenes, the modern Calvinists, 
and Jansenists ; when compared with that of 
the Epicureans, the Sadducees, Arminians, 
and the Jesuits; we shall find that they have 
ever excelled in no small degree in the practice 
of the most rigid' and respectable virtues ; and 
have been the highest honor of their own ages, 
and the best models for imitation to every age 
succeeding." — Encycloyoedia Britannica, arti- 
cle PHEDESTTUATIOIT. 



462 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



at the same time, made such provision in 
her " Directory" for the service, that it 
may be performed with dignity and pro- 
priety, as well as profit, to those who join 
in it, and that it may not be disgraced by 
mean, irregular, or extravagant effusions. 
The Presbyterian Church, moreover, 
prescribes no canonical vestments for her 
ministers ; possesses no altar, but only a 
communion table ; and instead of kneel- 
ing at the Lord's Supper, the communi- 
cants sit ; she rejects lay-baptism, and 
godfathers and godmothers, and the sign 
of the cross in baptism ; and she repudi- 
ates all saints' days, and observes the 
Lord's day as the sabbath and as the only 
season of holy time commanded to Chris- 
tians. 

In all these matters, it is believed that 
she is sanctioned by the scriptures, the 
practice of the primitive church, and the 
principles of the purest churches of the 
Reformation ; while her own history and 
experience furnish a confirmation of the 
value of her practice, which she fears not 
to compare with that of any other religious 
community, in its influence, (as well as the 
influence of her doctrines and discipline,) 
on the order and decorum of public wor- 
ship, on the purity in the faith of her 
ministers, on the edification of the wor- 
shippers, and on the sanctification of their 
hearts and lives. 

The plan of government rests on these 
avowed and cardinal principles : — That 
God alone is Lord of the conscience, and 
hath left it free from the doctrine and 
commandments of men, which are in any 
thing contrary to his word, or beside it in 
matters of faith or worship. That the 
rights of private judgment, in all matters 
that respect religion, are universal and 
unalienable. That it is not even desirable 
to see any religious constitution aided by 
the civil power, farther than may be ne- 
cessary for protection and security, and 
at the same time be equal and common to 
all others. That, in perfect consistency 
with the above principle of common right, 
every Christian church or union or asso- 
ciation of particular churches, is entitled 
to declare the terms of admission into its 

fl communion, and the qualifications of its 
ministers and members, as well as the 

;: whole system of its internal government 



which Christ hath appointed. That our 
blessed Saviour, for the edification of the 
visible church, hath appointed officers, 
not only to preach the gospel and admin- 
ister the sacraments, but also to exercise 
discipline, for the preservation both of 
truth and duty, by censuring or casting 
out the erroneous or scandalous, accord- 
ing to the rules contained in the word of 
God ; that, nevertheless, there are truths 
and forms with respect to which men of 
good characters may differ, and in all 
these it is the duty both of private Chris- 
tians and societies, to exercise mutual for- 
bearance towards each other. That the 
character, qualifications, and authority of 
church officers are laid down in the holy 
scriptures, as well as the proper method 
of their investiture and institution ; yet 
the election of the persons to the exercise 
of this authority in any particular society 
is in that society. That all church pow- 
er, whether exercised by the body in gen- 
eral, or in the way of representation by 
delegated authority, is only ministerial 
and declarative; that is, the holy scrip- 
tures are the only rule of faith and man- 
ners, — no church judicatory having the 
right to make laws to bind the conscience, 
by virtue of their own authority, but only 
to judge upon laws already made, and 
common to all who profess the gospel ; 
and all their decisions should be founded 
on the revealed will of God ; and that 
ecclesiastical discipline must be purely 
moral, or spiritual in its object, and not 
attended with any civil effects ; and it can 
derive no force whatever, but from its 
own justice, the approbation of an impar- 
tial public, and the countenance and bless- 
ing of the great Head of the Church uni- 
versal. 

It is farther held by Presbyterians, that 
Christ has appointed and established in 
the holy scriptures a certain definite form 
of government for his Church ; that, how- j 
ever many particular churches may be 
constituted, they are not independent so- 
cieties, but are connected parts of one 
body ; "that the actions and operations of 
the several parts should be in subordina- 
tion to the whole ; that this being an or- 
ganized body, it is furnished with officers 
for the purpose of communicating instruc- 
tion, and for the orderly government of 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



463 



the society ; that these officers were ex- 
pressly instituted by Christ, the only Head 
of the Church, before he left the world ; 
that some of them were, at first, endowed 
with extraordinary powers ; but the ordi- 
nary and permanent officers of the Church 
— as organized by the apostles, after the 
model of the Jewish Synagogue, which 
was undoubtedly Presbyterian, — are pas- 
tors or teachers, elders who rule, and dea- 
cons who have charge of the alms for the 
poor ; that as to bishops and presbyters, 
the holy scriptures make no difference be- 
tween them ; these, like other names there- 
in applied to the ministers of the gospel, 
being applied promiscuously and indiffer- 
ently to the same officers ; that the same 
character and powers being also, in the 
scriptures, ascribed interchangeably to 
bishops and presbyters, it is plain that 
they are identical both as to their order 
and their name; and therefore all the 
ministers of the gospel, although described 
by different names and titles which desig- 
nate their various functions, are of equal 
official rank. That the apostles indeed 
were invested with authority over all the 
churches and all the other ministers ; but 
as they have no successors in their inspi- 
ration and miraculous gifts, by which 
they were qualified to exercise such a 
power over their brethren, so they have 
no successors in that plenary authority, 
which Christ committed to them ; but, 
since their departure out of the world, all 
regular pastors and teachers in the Church 
of Christ are equal in authority, no one 
being invested with power to rule over his 
brethren in the ministry, although each is 
appointed a ruler as well as an instructor 
over the flock of which he has been regu- 
larly constituted a bishop ; and the pres- 
byterate being the highest permanent 
office in the Church, every faithful pastor 
of a flock is successor to the apostles in 
every thing in which they were to have 
any successors, and is scripturally or- 
dained with the " laying on of the hands 
of the presbytery ;" that the difference 
which, in after ages, sprung up, has no 
foundation or vestige in the sacred record ; 
that the gradual introduction of prelacy 
within the first four centuries, was not 
only practicable, but one of the most na- 
tural and probable of all events ; how it 



came to pass, it is not difficult to explain J 
and the most competent judges and pro- 
found inquirers into early history, have 
pronounced that it actually took place ; 
that all arguments which our Episcopal 
brethren profess to derive from scripture 
in favor of their system, are perfectly nu- 
gatory, and do not yield it the least solid 
support ; that while the advocates for pre- 
lacy, or diocesan episcopacy, have mainly 
relied on the fathers, the fathers of the 
first two centuries are so far from furnish- 
ing a single passage which gives even a 
semblance of aid to the episcopal cause, 
that, like the scriptures, they every where 
speak a language wholly inconsistent with 
it, and favorable only to the doctrine of 
ministerial parity ; that the great body of 
the reformers and other witnesses for the 
truth, of different ages and nations, with 
one voice, maintained the same doctrine, 
as taught in Scripture, aiid in the primi- 
tive church ; and that even the most con- 
spicuous English Reformers, while they 
assisted in organizing an episcopal estab- 
lishment in their own country, defended it 
on the ground of human expediency and 
the will of the magistrate, rather than that 
of divine right ; and they acknowledged 
the foreign churches, which were organ- 
ized presbyterially, to be true churches of 
Jesus Christ ; that the Church of England, 
and those churches which have imme- 
diately descended from her, stand abso- 
lutely alone in the whole Protestant world, 
in representing bishops as an order of 
clergy superior to presbyters ; all other 
Protestants, even those who adopt a sort 
of prelacy, having pronounced it to be a 
mere human invention ; that some of the 
most learned and pious bishops and other 
divines of the Church of England, have 
utterly disclaimed the divine right of dio- 
cesan episcopacy ; and have declared that 
they considered a great majority of the 
clergy of that church, in later as well as 
earlier times, as of the same opinion with 
themselves ; and, that such like various, 
abundant, and explicit testimony, not only 
establishes in the most perfect manner the 
validity of the Presbyterian ordinations 
and ministry, but it goes farther, and 
proves that they are superior to the Epis- 
copal, as being more scriptural, more con- 
formable to primitive usage, and possess- 



464 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



ing more of that whole character which is 
fitted to satisfy an humble, simple-hearted, 
Bible Christian. Therefore, although some 
zealous advocates for the divine right of 
diocesan episcopacy charge them with 
schism, for being out of the communion 
of their church, and denounce our minis- 
try and ordinances as invalid : Presby- 
terians may well receive such charges and 
denunciations with the same calm, un- 
moved, dispassionate, and conscious supe- 
riority, that they feel when a partisan of 
the Papacy denounces them for rejecting 
the supremacy of the Pope, and questions 
the possibility of their salvation out 'of the 
Church of Rome. 

And as the church is one body : so, for 
the wise and orderly government of the 
whole, it is expedient to have a gradation 
of courts or judicatories, from the autho- 
rities which pertain to a particular church, 
through as many gradations as may have 
been established, up to the highest judica- 
tory which can be assembled, with con- 
venience, for the decision of all matters, 
according to the word of God, which may 
relate to the welfare and increase of the 
church. And it is accordingly held to be 
agreeable to the scriptures that the church 
be governed by congregational, presbyte- 
rial, and synodical assemblies. 

These are severally composed, both of 
ministers, or those elders whose office it 
is to preach the gospel and administer the 
sacraments, as well as to bear rule ; and 
ruling elders, whose office has been un- 
derstood by a great part of the Protestant 
Reformed Churches, to be designated in 
the holy scriptures by the title of " go- 
vernments," and of those " elders who 
rule well," but do not labor in the word 
and doctrine. Hence is derived the name 
" Presbyterian," from the Greek words 
npscfivrspos and npeafivTEptov, which, as they 
occur in the New Testament, respectively 
signify an elder and a body of elders, or a 
■presbytery. 

The offices of a particular church, when 
it is fully organized, are a bishop, or pas- 
tor, — or more as the case may be — a 
bench of ruling elders, and a bench of 
deacons. The pastor, or pastors, and the 
ruling elders, compose the church session. 
To this body is confided the spiritual go- 
vernment of the congregation ; for which 



purpose, they have power to inquire into 
the knowledge and Christian conduct of 
the members of the church ; to call be- 
fore them offenders and witnesses ; to re- 
ceive members into the church ; to ad- 
monish, to rebuke, to suspend, or exclude 
from the sacraments those who are found 
to deserve censure ; to concert the best ' 
measures for promoting the spiritual in- 
terests of the congregation; and to appoint 
delegates to the presbytery and the synod. 
Appeals may be made from their decisions, 
to the presbytery, and carried up to the 
higher judicatories. The business of the 
deacons is to take care of the poor ; and 
to them may be properly committed the 
management of the temporal affairs of the 
church. The ruling elders and the dea- 
cons are ordained, or solemnly set apart, 
to their respective offices, by a bishop. 

All the ministers, (being not less than 
three in number,) and one ruling elder 
from each congregation, within a certain 
district, are formed into a presbytery. 
This body has power to receive and issue 
appeals from church sessions, and refer- 
ences brought before them in an orderly 
manner ; to examine and license candi- 
dates for the holy ministry ; to ordain, 
instal, remove and judge ministers ; to ex- 
amine and approve or censure the records 
of church sessions ; to resolve questions 
of doctrine or discipline seriously and rea- 
sonably proposed ; to condemn erroneous 
opinions which injure the purity or peace 
of the church ; to visit particular churches, 
for the purpose of inquiring into their state, 
and redressing the evils that may have 
arisen in them ; to unite or divide con- 
gregations at the request of the people, or 
to form or receive new congregations ; in 
general to order whatever pertains to the 
spiritual welfare of the churches under 
their care ; and to appoint delegates to 
the General Assembly. 

A synod is a convention of all the bish- 
ops, and one ruling elder from each con- 
gregation within a larger district than a 
presbytery ; and must include at least 
three presbyteries. The synod has power 
to receive and issue all appeals regularly 
brought up from the presbyteries ; to de- 
cide on all references made to them ; to 
review the records of presbyteries, and 
approve or censure them; to redress 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



465 



whatever has been done by presbyteries 
contrary to order ; to take effectual care 
that presbyteries observe the constitution 
of the church ; to erect new presbyteries, 
and unite or divide those which were be- 
fore erected j and generally to take such 
order with respect to the presbyteries, 
sessions, and people under their care, as 
may be in conformity with the word of 
God, and the established rules, and which 
tend to promote the edification of the 
church. 

The General Assembly is the highest 
judicatory of the Presbyterian Church. 
It represents in one body all the particular 
churches of this denomination, and consti- 
tutes the bond of union, peace, correspond- 
ence, and mutual confidence, among all 
our churches. It consists of an equal de- 
legation of bishops and elders from each 
presbytery in the following proportion, 
viz : each presbytery consisting of not 
more than twenty-four ministers, is en- 
titled to be represented by one minister 
and one ruling elder ; and each presbytery 
consisting of more than twenty-four min- 
isters, is entitled to be represented by 
two ministers and two elders ; and in the 
like proportion for every twenty-four 
ministers in any presbytery. These de- 
legates are styled commissioners to the 
General Assembly. 

This body is empowered to receive and 
issue all appeals and references which may 
be regularly brought before it from the 
inferior judicatories ; to review the records 
of every synod, and approve or censure 
them ; and to give their advice and in- 
struction in all cases submitted to them in 
conformity with the constitution of the 
church. To it also belongs the power of 
deciding in all controversies respecting 
doctrine and discipline ; of reproving, 
warning, or bearing testimony against 
error in doctrine, or immorality in prac- 
tice, in any church, presbytery or synod ; 
of erecting new synods when it may be 
judged necessary ; of superintending the 
concerns of the whole church ; of corres- 
ponding with foreign churches, on such 
terms as may be agreed upon by the as- 
sembly and the corresponding body ; of 
suppressing schismatical contentions and 
disputations ; and, in general, of recom. 
mending and attempting reformation of 



manners, and the promotion of charity, 
truth, and holiness, through all the churches 
under its care. 

The General Assembly is required to 
meet at least once in every year. And 
when the whole business that may have 
come before it, has been finished, and the 
time and place for the next meeting ap- 
pointed, it is dissolved ; and another Gene- 
ral Assembly,, chosen in like manner, is 
required to meet as its successor. 

For carrying out the objects of organi- 
zing these various judicatories, the consti- 
tution has prescribed a body of rules, ad- 
justed with great care to the various emer- 
gencies to which they are to be specifically 
applied, and constituting a very admirable 
code, under which the rights and freedom 
of every minister and member are intended 
to be guarded against injustice and oppres- 
sion, while it has an efficient tendency to 
require obedience to the laws of Christ, 
on the part of all persons in our commu- 
nion, and of restraining the disorderly, 
and excluding the contumacious and the 
impenitent. 

Before any overtures or regulations, 
proposed by the General Assembly, to be 
established as constitutional rules, can be 
obligatory on the churches, the assembly 
must transmit them to all the presbyte- 
ries, and receive the returns of at least a 
majority of them, in writing, approving 
thereof. 



II. HISTORY. 

For centuries before the Reformation, the 
whole territory of nominal Christendom, 
with the solitary exception of the Alpine 
wilderness between Gaul and Germany 
and Italy, was covered with gross dark- 
ness and superstition, and oppressed by 
spiritual, and civil and ecclesiastical des- 
potism. The occurrence of that splendid 
and benign event, was the occasion of re- 
viving the truths and institutions of primi- 
tive Christianity, and thus, of restoring 
civil and religious liberty. 

It is remarkable that wherever the Re- 
formation pervaded, and in whatever de- 
gree it made progress, both on the conti- 
nent of Europe and in the British Isles, 
there was an entire agreement among the 
Reformers, with respect to the truths of 



59 



466 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



the evangelical system. The great doc- 
trine of justification by faith, together with 
all those correlate truths which make up 
the harmonious system, subsequently- 
known by the name of Calvinism, every 
where prevailed ; and however different 
from each other the forms under which 
the Reformed Churches were organized, 
they acknowledged each other as true 
churches of Jesus Christ, and mutually 
cherished a beautiful sympathy and fra- 
ternal intercourse. 

But as the Reformation was commenced 
and carried on under different auspices 
and circumstances, this fact gave birth, 
especially in Great Britain, to a series of 
events, which had the most important in- 
fluence on the organization and character 
of the churches, both of England and of 
Scotland : on the condition of the people 
of both kingdoms ; and ultimately, on the 
settlement of this country, and the plant- 
ing of the Church of God on these shores. 

On the Continent, the Reformed Churches 
of Germany, Switzerland, France, and 
Holland, were organized on the platform 
of Presbyterianism ; that is, on the essen- 
tial principles of the parity of the ministry, 
the association with them of ruling elders 
for the government of the church, and the 
gradation of consistorial, classical and 
synodical assemblies. 

In England, the Reformation begun in 
royal caprice or passion. The sovereign 
seized upon the power formerly possessed 
by the Pope, and became head of the 
church as well as of the state. The con- 
sequences were soon apparent. The Re- 
formation was made subservient to the 
arbitrary will of a despotic monarch, 
through the pernicious element of his ec- 
clesiastical supremacy. Not only was 
episcopacy thus imposed upon the church, 
but the progress of reformation was ren- 
dered unsteady and fluctuating in the strug- 
gle which soon arose, between the courtly 
and prelatic rulers of the Church and the 
Puritans, as they were afterwards called, 
who wished to effect a farther advancement 
in purity and in truth, and bring about a 
complete reform, in doctrine, worship and 
order. The disputes commenced ostensi- 
] bly in respect to ecclesiastical vestments, 
but included, as various emergencies pro- 
duced them, controversies between all the 



points of a simple, scriptural worship, and 
the gorgeous rituals and superstitious ob- 
servances which had descended from Po- 
pery. Oppression was on the side of 
power. Persecution arose ; and the pro- 
gress of civil and religious despotism be- 
came rapid. These consequences advanced 
steadily through the reigns of Elizabeth, 
James I. and Charles I., and becoming 
unendurable, at length involved the nation 
in civil war ; and an outraged people, rising 
in their might against tyranny, overturned 
the government both in church and state. 
During the progress of these events, the 
principles of the Puritans were widely 
diffused, and finally prevailed in the Par- 
liament and in the nation ; they were em- 
bodied in the ecclesiastical formularies 
composed by the Westminster Assembly, 
which met in A. D. 1643; and being 
adopted by the Parliament, A. D. 1649, 
Presbyterianism became the established 
religion. Dissensions, however, arose be- 
tween the assembly and the Parliament, 
which ended in the overthrow of the new 
establishment, in the restoration both of 
monarchy and episcopacy, under Charles 
II., and in a bitter renewal of the perse- 
cutions against the Puritans. In the mean 
time a portion of the Puritans, (who were 
of that party which preferred Congrega- 
tionalism,) sought a refuge in the wilds of 
America ; and the Pilgrims of the May- 
flower laid on Plymouth Rock, the founda- 
tions of their institutions in the New 
World.* 



* At this period it would seem that Presby- 
terianism, both as to government and doctrine, 
included the far greater number of the Puri- 
tans of England ; and the form of government 
which was adopted by the early churches of 
New England, had at the least a much stronger 
resemblance to the Presbyterian polity than 
that which now exists in that part of our 
country. And these two facts may account for 
the ease with which the greater part of the 
Puritans who emigrated to America south of 
New England, and of those who emigrated 
from New England, to the same territory, co- 
alesced with the Presbyterians in the earlier 
times of our church, and became thoroughly 
identified with it. 

The infusion of Congregationalists emigrating 
from New England was comparatively small 
as to numbers, in the beginning of the Presby- 
terian Church ; and not only did those elements 
readily coalesce with Presbyterianism, so as 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 



467 



In England alone, of all countries 
where the Reformation gained any footing, 
was the Episcopal form of government 
found in the Reformed Church. 

In Scotland the Reformation was, from 
the beginning, a purely ecclesiastical and 
popular movement. " Patrick Hamilton, 
the noble and youthful friend of Luther 
and Melancthon, learned the doctrines of 
the Reformed faith, and taught them to 
his countrymen, till his testimony was 
sealed with the blood of martyrdom, A. D. 
1528. Wishart gave an additional im- 
pulse to*the sacred cause, equally by his 
teaching and his death. Several of the 
Popish priesthood were converted, and 
aided in converting others. John Knox 
caught up the same testimony ; and though, 
by the commanding power of his genius, 
and the unconquerable energy of his char- 
acter, he caused the voice of religious 
reformation to» be heard throughout the 
kingdom, equally by prince and peasant, 
in the palace and the cottage : still it was 
simply and essentially a religious reforma- 
tion, taking its form and impress directly 
from the word of God alone, encountering 
at every step the formidable opposition of 
civil powers and political intrigues, instead 
of receiving from them its bias and its ex- 
ternal aspect. Believing that God's word 
contained the only authoritative direction 
for doing God's work, the Scottish re- 
formers made their sole appeal, ' to the 
law and to the testimony ;' and though 
they respected the great continental Re- 
formers, they sought the principles of doc- 
trine, discipline, and government, from no 
foreign model, but from the holy scrip- 
tures alone. Thus it was that the Church 
of Scotland framed its Confession of Faith, 
and its First Book of Discipline, and met, 
in its first General Assembly, for its own 
government, in 1560, seven years before 
it had even received the sanction of the 



to lose their formal distinctive character alto- 
gether, but they were prepared beforehand to 
do so, from the fact that, at that early period 
the old leaven of Presbyterianism, which the 
Puritans of England so generally adopted, had 
not lost its vitality under those influences and 
circumstances which had given such a pre- 
ponderance to Congregationalism in New Eng- 
land, as Presbyterianism had had over it in Old 
England, about the times of the Westminster 
Assembly. 



legislature. From its origin it had to en- 
counter the world's opposition ; in its 
growth it received little or nothing of a 
worldly admixture; and when it reached 
somewhat of a matured form, it still stood 
opposed to the world's corrupting influ- 
ence." — Hetherington. 

James VI., in order to secure uniformity 
in religion throughout his dominions, and 
to obtain' for himself that supremacy in 
ecclesiastical affairs which he foresaw he 
could never obtain over a free General 
Assembly, bent all his resources of craft, ! 
treachery, and force, to subvert Presby- ! 
terianismand substitute Episcopacy. After 
his accession to the throne of England, 
(as James I.,) he partially succeeded, in 
utter disregard of the sentiments of the 
great majority of the Scotch, in procuring 
the appointment of bishops, the introduction 
of certain rites and ceremonies, and the 
partial suppression of General Assemblies. 
His unhappy son, Charles I., under the 
counsels of Laud, attempted to complete 
the work which his predecessor had be- 
gun. The Scots were thoroughly roused 
to resistance.. The Assembly of 1638, 
threw off the modified Episcopacy which 
had been foisted on the church ; and its 
act was confirmed by the Scotch Parlia- 
ment in the following year. A successful 
stand was made by the nation against the 
army raised by Charles to coerce them. 
The Westminster formularies were adopt- 
ed by the General Assembly, and ratified 
by Parliament. And Presbyterianism, 
which was indeed the religion of the whole 
nation, maintained its ground until 1660. 
Then, upon the accession of Charles II., 
renewed attempts were made by that profli- 
gate monarch and by the minions of Pre- 
lacy, to subvert Presbytery. These at- 
tempts brought on a violent struggle, which 
lasted for twenty-eight years, — the blackest 
period of Scottish history, — when the ma- 
licious bigotry that sought to dragoon the 
church into Episcopacy was checked. The 
principles which, half a century before, 
had contributed to bring on that " Great Re- 
bellion," as courtly and prelatical writers 
have called it, and which was crushed for 
a season, by the accession of Charles II., 
still lived; and being farther stimulated 
by the very persecutions of that insolent 
tyranny which in the flush of success be- 



468 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



came more resolute to quell them, they 
spread abroad more extensively and pow- 
erfully than ever, both in England and 
Scotland. The Revolution of 1688, was 
effected ; James II. was expelled from the 
throne, and William and Mary established 
thereon, by the almost unanimous suffrages 
of the British people ; and thus was a more 
secure basis laid for the enjoyment of civil 
and religious liberty. Then, the Presby- 
terians of Scotland had peace. 

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland was 
mainly the offspring of Presbyterian emi- 
gration from Scotland, and, as in the sis- 
ter kingdom, it grew up under severe per- 
secutions and sufferings. 

The Presbyterian Church in the United 
States, derives its lineage from the Pres- 
byterians both of Ireland and Scotland. 
It is true, as has been before stated, that 
Presbyterianism was the form, not only 
of the Church of Scotland, but also of the 
Reformed Churches on the continent of 
Europe, and indeed of the Puritans of 
England about the time of the Westmin- 
ster Assembly ; and contributions from 
all these sources have been made at va- 
rious times to the elements of the Ameri- 
can Presbyterian Churches. But still, it 
is unquestionable, that the early founders 
of this church were principally Scotch 
and Irish Presbyterians. In like manner, 
the Church of Scotland was more than 
any other their model, in the whole ar- 
rangement of their judicatories, and in 
their whole ecclesiastical nomenclature, 
with few exceptions. And on this ac- 
count, the Presbyterian Church in this 
country has always been popularly and 
appropriately regarded as the daughter 
more especially of the Church of Scot- 
land. 

The persecutions which drove so many 
of the early settlers to this country fell, in 
the first instance, heaviest on the Inde- 
pendents and Quakers ; and when it came 
upon the Presbyterians, (at least those of 
Scotland,) it did not drive them so gene- 
rally from their own country ; but led to 
a protracted struggle for liberty at home 
— a struggle which, as we have seen, was 
eventually crowned with success. The 
opportunities at that time to migrate were 
also few and far between, and a very small 
number only could take their flight ; and 



hence, until the revolution in 1688, but 
few Presbyterians had become residents 
of the then British provinces in America. 
And as they did not at first emigrate in 
large bodies, but came, as a general rule, 
as individuals, or in small companies, they 
did not occupy by themselves extensive 
districts of country, but settled in the 
midst of other denominations. Thus, 
scattered as they were, it was only gra- 
dually that they became sufficiently nu- 
merous in any one place to form congre- 
gations, or to associate in a presbyterial 
capacity. 

From the period of the accession of 
William and Mary to the British throne, 
the Presbyterians began to remove from 
Scotland and northern Ireland, to Ame- 
rica. The first Presbyterian Church 
in the colonies which now can be dis- 
tinctly traced, was organized at Philadel- 
phia, a short period before the commence- 
ment of the eighteenth century, and almost 
coeval with it was the formation of four 
or five churches on the eastern shore of 
the Chesapeake Bay. 

The primary ecclesiastical union of the 
American Presbyterians occurred in 1706, 
when the Presbytery of Philadelphia was 
formed. It consisted of seven ministers — 
Samuel Davis, John, Hampton, Francis 
McKemie,* and George McNish, all from 
Ireland, and residing in Maryland — Na- 
thaniel Taylor, settled at Upper Marl- 
borough, and John Wilson, officiating at 
Newcastle, both from Scotland — and Jede- 
diah Andrews, of Philadelphia, from New 
England. To whom was added John 
Boyd, stationed at Freehold, the first can- 



* Francis McKemie was the first Presby- 
terian minister on the western continent. He 
seems to have been one of the Christians who 
had experienced much opposition and perse- 
cution for the truth's sake, during the reigns 
of Charles II. and James II., in Ireland. His 
characteristics eminently qualified him for a 
pioneer in those colonies where the bigoted 
Prelatists had the sway. He possessed hand- 
some intellectual endowments, with dauntless 
fortitude, a commanding extemporaneous elo- 
quence, and a burning zeal for the gospel. 
In New York, in January, 1 707, he was ille- 
gally arrested and imprisoned by the colonial 
governor, for the heinous crime of preaching 
the gospel. The admirable defence which he 
made upon that occasion, resulted in his ac- 
quittal and deliverance. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



469 



didate who was ordained by that presby- 
tery, on October 29, 1706. 

According to the official statement of 
the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in their 
letter to the Presbytery of Dublin, dated 
September, 1710, the whole number of the 
ascertained Presbyterians at that time is 
thus given : " In Virginia, one small con- 
gregation at Elizabeth river, with some 
kw families in Rappahannoc and York, 
fn Maryland, four; in Pennsylvania, five ; 
and in the Jerseys, two ; with some places 
in New York." This enumeration may 
profitably be contrasted with the statistical 
view of our Presbyterian Church, accord- 
ing to the returns of 1843 ; which are ex- 
clusive of all the other correlative Pres- 
byterian communities. 

After the presbyterial organization of 
those ministers and churches, their num- 
bers and stability rapidly were augmented. 
They manifested much solicitude to col- 
lect the scattered people " favoring our 
way," who were opposed to the " Episco- 
pacy established by law." To secure an 
efficient ministry, they wrote to Sir Ed- 
mund Harrison, an influential noncon- 
formist of London ; to the Synod of Glas- 
gow ; to the Presbytery of Dublin ; to 
Cotton Mather ; and to Mr. Reynolds, a 
prominent Independent minister of Lon- 
don, desiring their co-operation and aid. 
That correspondence is an interesting re- 
lic of the early times of the Presbyterian 
Churches in the United States, and is also 
an honorable memorial of all the par- 
ties. 

The Presbytery of Philadelphia having 
become much enlarged ; and in conse- 
quence of the increasing migration of per- 
sons from Scotland and Ireland having 
also become widely scattered : it was de- 
cided, at their meeting in September, 1716, 
to subdivide their body into " four subor- 
dinate meetings or presbyteries ;" all of 
which were constituent members of the 
general body thenceforward denominated 
the " Synod of Philadelphia." By that divi- 
sion, the Presbytery of Philadelphia com- 
prised six ministers with their churches ; 
the Presbytery of Newcastle, six ministers 
and their churches; the Presbytery of Snow- 
hill, three ministers and their churches; 
and the Presbytery of Long Island, two 
ministers and their churches, with the an- 



ticipated immediate addition of other con- 
gregations. 

The first meeting of the Synod of Phil- 
adelphia was held in that city, September 
17, 1717, and embodied thirteen minis- 
ters, with six elders. 

At the meeting of the Synod of Phila- 
delphia, in 1718, a striking memorial of 
William Tennent is recorded. It con- 
tains the reasons which he offered con- 
cerning his withdrawment from the esta- 
blished church in Ireland. The synod 
ordered " that his reasons be inserted in 
the synod book, ad futuram rei memo- 
riam."* 

In the year 1718, the Synod of Phila- 
delphia renewed their solicitations to the 
Presbytery of Dublin, and the Independent 
ministry of London for additional preachers 
and other missionary assistance ; at which 
period they state their number to be twen- 
ty-three ministers and three probationers. 

At the meeting of the synod in 1721, 
there was made a declaration that the 
Presbyterians in America, had exercised 
the Presbyterian government and disci- 
pline, according to the practice of " the 
best Reformed Churches, as far as the 
nature and constitution of this country 
will allow." The circumstances which 
caused that resolution do not appear. Six 
ministers protested against it ; but. at the 



* "The reasons of William Tennent for his 
dissenting from the established church in Ire- 
land, delivered by him to the synod, held at 
Philadelphia, September 17, 1718: 1. Their 
government, by bishops, archbishops, deans, 
archdeacons, canons, chapters, chancellors, 
and vicars, is wholly unscriptural. 2. Their 
discipline by surrogates and chancellors in 
their courts ecclesiastic, is without a founda- 
tion in the word of God. 3. Their abuse of 
that supposed discipline by commutation. 4. 
A diocesan bishop cannot be founded, jure divino, 
upon Paul's epistles to Timothy or Titus, nor any 
where else in the word of God, and so is a mere 
human invention. 5. The usurped power of the 
bishops at their yearly visitations, acting all of 
themselves, without consent of the brethren. 
6. Pluralities of benefices. 7. The churches 
conniving at the practice of Arminian doc- 
trines inconsistent with the eternal purpose of 
God, and an encouragement to vice. Besides, 
I could not be satisfied with their ceremonial 
way of worship. Those, &c, have so affected 
my conscience, that I could no longer abide in 
a church where the same are practised. 

" William Tenktext." 



470 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 



meeting of the synod in 1722, the dispu- 
tants agreed upon four articles — " Pres- 
byteries, synods, and church-officers have 
executive power of church-government : 
they may decide upon the circumstantials 
of church-discipline. Synods may com- 
pose directories. Appeals may be made 
to the superior judicatories, who should 
determine them." There is, however, an 
equivocal clause, which says, " Provided, 
that those ' Acts' of the ecclesiastical judi- 
catories shall not be imposed upon such as 
conscientiously dissent from them." 

In the year 1728, an overture was pre- 
sented to the Synod of Philadelphia, res- 
pecting subscription to the " Confession 
of Faith, Catechisms, &c," which was 
referred to the next synod. Although the 
Westminster Assembly's Confession of 
Faith and Catechisms always had been the 
only standard of faith, rites, government, 
and discipline : yet the book itself had 
never been formally announced as the 
creed and the directory of the American 
Presbyterians. The overture of 1728, 
was designed to supply that alleged defi- 
ciency, which produced, in the following 
year, " The Adopting Act," which was a 
very important measure in its subsequent 
application to the authorized theological 
and practical system of the American 
Presbyterian Churches. The entire docu- 
ments are found in the volume of Records 
containing the proceedings of the Synod 
of Philadelphia. 

At the meeting of the synod in 1735, it 
was directed, " That each presbytery have 
the whole Adopting Act inserted in their 
presbytery book." Notwithstanding those 
apparently uniform avowals on the part 
of the synod of their undivided opinion, 
and of their obvious intention : yet there 
seems to have been a dissatisfaction among 
a portion of the churches respecting the 
true meaning of the synodical declaration. 
Therefore to silence all cavils, the Synod 
of Philadelphia, in 1736, reiterated their 
testimony in an emphatic announcement, 
which was " approved nemine contradi- 
cente" 

That avowal was perfectly explicit, and 
was the cardinal rule and test of a Pres- 
byterian's creed. 

Although the Presbyterians were di- 
vided into two bodies from the year 1745 



to 1758, yet upon the final agreement of 
the two synods at the latter period, in the 
terms of their union they adopted this 
clause, as the first article of their compact : 

" Both synods having always approved 
and received the Westminster Confession 
of Faith and Larger and Shorter Cate- 
chisms, as an orthodox and excellent sys- 
tem of Christian doctrine, founded on the 
word of God : we do still receive the same 
as the confession of our faith ; and also 
adhere to the plan of worship, government 
and discipline, contained in the Westmin- 
ster Directory ; strictly enjoining it on all 
our ministers and probationers for the min- 
istry, that they preach and teach accord- 
ing to the form of sound words in the said 
confession and catechisms, and avoid and 
oppose all errors contrary thereto." 

In 1737, the synod prohibited the mem- 
bers of one presbytery from preaching to 
the congregations within another presby- 
tery, " without a regular invitation." The 
object of this rule was to restrain minis- 
ters, who travelled about preaching during 
the " great revival," from holding meetings 
in those places where, as the itinerants 
declared, there was a " graceless minister 
and a lukewarm presbytery." Moreover, 
in 1738, the synod resolved, that every 
candidate for the ministry should have a 
diploma from a college in Europe or New 
England, or a certificate of competent 
scholarship from a committee of the synod. 

Protest. — In the following year, the 
opponents of those measures presented an 
" Apology for dissenting from those two 
new religious laws." In that paper they 
assert, that there is a parity or equality 
of power among ministers ; that a presby- 
tery, or the smallest association of minis- 
ters, has power to ordain; and that they 
have authority to judge of the qualifica- 
tions of candidates. 

The synod's claim to jurisdiction in the 
examination of candidates for the ministry 
was contested with great earnestness and 
some personal acrimony ; and the Pres- 
bytery of New Brunswick formally pro- 
tested against the power which the synod 
'asserted. In 1741, a counter protestation 
was presented to the synod, which in- 
cludes many historical illustrations of that 
period. It contains a denunciation of the 
" unwearied, unscriptural, anti-presby terial, 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



471 



uncharitable, and divisive practices of the 
protesting brethren and their adherents." 
The document is inserted entire in the Re- 
cords of the Synod of Philadelphia. 

The strife increased, until, in 1745, it 
was terminated by the organization of the 
Synod of New York. 

Dr. Hodge thus accurately decides on 
this topic : " The majority were influenced 
by a sincere desire to secure an adequate- 
ly educated ministry ; and the minority, 
by the belief that the operation of the rule 
would be inimical to the progress of reli- 
gion. The conduct of the New Bruns- 
wick Presbytery was precisely analogous 
to that of the Cumberland Presbytery, who 
refused to comply with the constitutional 
provisions as to the qualifications of can- 
didates. It was not diversity of opinion 
as to doctrine or discipline, but loss of 
confidence, and alienation of feeling re- 
specting the revival of religion*" 

During the separation of the two synods, 
nothing of peculiar interest occurred, ex- 
cept the gradual enlargement of the num- 
ber of ministers and churches, and the con- 
stant ineffectual attempts to promote an 
agreement between the dissidents. The 
differences of opinion upon the non-essen- 
tial topics which had separated them, at 
length having wisely been obliterated, both 
synods dissolved, and the members of 
each assembled and constituted but one 
body, under the title of the " Synod of 
New York and Philadelphia ;" which ap- 
pellation they retained until the year 1788, 
when they divided themselves into four 
synods, preparatory to the first meeting of 
the General Assembly in 1789. 

For the quarter of a century preceding 
the formation of the Synod of New York 
and Philadelphia, the Presbyterians grad- 
ually increased in that part of the She- 
nandoah Valley of Virginia, around and 
above the southern termination of the 
Peaked Mountain. During that period 
they were much harassed by the adhe- 
rents of the Church of England in the 
province. In 1738, the Synod of Phila- 
delphia applied to Mr. Gooch, then Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of Virginia, on behalf of 
their brethren, who returned a favorable 
answer, particularly respecting the scat- 
tered people who resided west of the Blue 
Ridge. The settlement of that district and 



the organization of those churches form an 
impressive and memorable portion of the 
early history of American Presbyterian - 
ism. Every obstacle was adopted to 
thwart the ministerial labors and success 
of the Presbyterian preachers, and to em- 
barrass and distress them and their iso- 
lated disciples.* These facts are virtually 
implied in the formal application of the 
Synod of Philadelphia to the colonial au- 
thorities on behalf of their suffering breth- 
ren. They also are matters of family re- 
cord among the members of the Presby- 
terian churches in those States ; as, since 
the commencement of the present century, 
some of the primitive settlers then sur- 
vived. Their immediate descendants now 
constitute the main body of the elder 
Presbyterian congregations in Western 
Virginia. 

The Synod of New York and Philadel- 

* Stith, in his history of Virginia, p. 148, re- 
cords that, in 1618, it was enacted by law, that 
" Every person should go to church on Sundays 
and holy days, or lie neck and heels that night, 
and be a slave to the colony the following week." 
For the second offence he was to be a " slave for 
a month ;" and for the third offence, he was to 
be in bondage "for a year and a day." By a 
law of the year 1642, the very time when the 
prelatical hierarchy was subverted in Britain, it 
was enacted, that " No minister shall be permit- 
ted to officiate in this country, but such as shall, 
produce to the governor a testimonial that he 
hath received his ordination from some bishop 
in England ; and shall then subscribe to be 
conformable to the orders and constitutions of 
the Church of England ; and if any other per- 
son, pretending himself to be a minister, con- 
trary to this act, shall presume to teach or 
preach, publicly or privately: the governor 
and council are hereby desired and empowered 
to suspend and silence the person so offend- 
ing ; and upon his obstinate persistance, to 
compel him to depart the country with the first 
convenience." 

Dr. Miller, in his Life of Rodgers, having 
recited the preceding anti-ohristian enact- 
ments, adds, " We are accustomed to smile at 
what are called the Blue laws of Connecticut ; 
but it would be difficult to find anything in 
them equal to the first act above mentioned." 
To Which may be subjoined, that the source 
of the Virginia laws was bigoted intolerance, 
and the result of them, infidelity and irreligion, 
which still exist after the lapse of a century ; 
while the laws of Connecticut originated in a 
devout solicitude for the glory of God and the 
spiritual welfare of men ; and that the general 
effects of them appeared in the benign "fruits 
of righteousness." 



472 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



phia, at their primary meeting in 1758, 
comprised ninety -two ministers ; who 
agreed that all their " differences and 
disputes should be laid aside and buried 
without future inquiry." The " Plan of 
Union" was unanimously approved ; and 
the principles included in that compact 
have constituted, from that time, the foun- 
dation upon which all the Presbyterian 
churches have been erected. 

At that period there must have been 
great additions, by migration, to the Pres- 
byterian denomination ; as eight ministers 
more are reported in 1759, than in the 
preceding year, and the progressive en- 
largement of the churches continued until 
the commencement of the Revolutionary 
war. Indeed, of the religious population 
south of New England, during the exist- 
ence of the Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia, the Presbyterians must have 
increased more than any other denomina- 
tion. The Episcopalians in New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, and Carolina, almost disappeared. 
The Methodists, also, in consequence of 
John Wesley's opposition to the American 
Revolution, and the flight of the preachers 
to England, scarcely retained their num- 
bers throughout the national contest. The 
Baptists did not develop their enterprise 
as they subsequently have done. The 
Presbyterians, however, maintained the 
meetings of their ecclesiastical bodies reff- 
ularly, although with fewer numbers, and 
amid the interruptions which unavoidably 
accompanied the public agitation ; but, 
during the thirty years prior to the forma- 
tion of the General Assembly, by the num- 
ber of emigrants from Scotland and the 
north of Ireland, the churches were both 
enlarged and multiplied. In 1789, there 
were one hundred and eighty-eight Pres- 
byterian preachers, and four hundred 
and nineteen churches ; of which two 
hundred and four were destitute of the 
stated ministry and ordinances. 

The historical circumstances worthy 
of distinct remembrance, in connexion 
with the Presbyterian churches, previous 
to the formation of the General Assembly, 
may thus be specified in alphabetical 
order. Almost all of them were of a per- 
manent character, in connection with the 
ecclesiastical polity of the denomination. 



Bibles and Religious Books. — As 
many of the Presbyterians were widely 
scattered, and it was impossible to answer 
the call for ministerial help : the synod, 
at several periods, distributed large quan- 
tities of the holy scriptures, and the works 
of Baxter, Doddridge, and others, among 
the hungry people famishinsr for " the 
bread of life." 

Domestic Missio?is. — In the year 1767, 
that interesting topic was discussed, and a 
plan was adopted to provide the instru- 
ments and means to execute the benevo- 
lent design ; but the noble project was 
impeded by the subsequent political con- 
vulsions, and continued partially in abey- 
ance until the formation of the " Standing 
Committee of Missions" in 1805. 

Fasts and Pastoral Letters, with re- 
ference to the Revolutionary War. — The 
members of the synod during the period 
that " tried men's souls," from the com- 
mencement of the collision with Britain 
respecting the Stamp Act, until the treaty 
of peace, in 1782, were decided adherents 
of religious and civil liberty. Indeed this 
was the case with all Presbyterians of all 
denominations in the country. They 
were the sons of sires who had suffered 
for freedom in the Old World ,* and upon 
the renewal of attempts to bring the colo- 
nies under that despotism in Church and 
State, from which they had fled, one heart 
seemed to animate all classes and bodies 
of these sturdy opponents of tyrannical 
bigotry. From the journal of a conven- 
tion held by delegates from the Presbyte- 
rian and Congregational Churches, for 
some years before the breaking out of 
hostilities, it appears that great apprehen- 
sions were entertained of an attempt to 
establish the Church of England in this 
country, with all the odious and oppres- 
sive powers exercised by the bishops in 
that country. No more devoted Whigs 
were found in America than the people 
and ministers of every name in this land, 
who, eminently unite the principles of that 
magnificent motto, " A Church without a 
bishop, and a State without a king." 
They went heartily into the cause of 
liberty. The pulpit and the press, the 
senate chamber and the battle-field, their 
murdered bodies, desecrated churches, and 
ravaged dwellings, bore witness to their 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



473 



own zeal, and the special hate of the ruth- 
less invaders. 

As a farther illustration of this part of 
the subject, the writer hopes to be par- 
doned, for quoting from himself: " In 
framing the constitutions of some of the 
old thirteen states, or in settling their po- 
lity as independent states, the separation 
of religious establishments from the state 
was, in some measure, the result of for- 
mal petitions to that effect, from large 
bodies of the clergy. Such was the fact, 
with respect to the Presbyterian ministers 
of Virginia. It was so in New York. 
Those men who have been stigmatized as 
the crafty intriguers for a union of Church 
and State, were men, — now speaking of 
nearly all the great evangelical denomina- 
tions of the time, and especially of the 
Congregationalists and Presbyterians, — 
were men foremost in the works and con- 
flicts of patriotism, in ' those days that 
tried men's souls.' It was Presbyterianism 
as to doctrine, and even a modification of 
it as to government, which settled New 
England, and made it the garden it is. 
And, without disparaging others, the Pres- 
byterian Church may claim a large share 
of that influence which has produced the 
order, happiness, and prosperity of the 
middle and western portions of this coun- 
try. Presbyterianism is eminently a sys- 
tem of public and private virtue. Pa- 
triotism owns it as her own ally and 
friend. To her, civil and religious liberty, 
under God, owe much of their present 
large extent. She sent these fountains of 
blessedness through England in despite of 
the Tudors and the Stuarts ; her own 
Scotland cherishes her as the guardian of 
the freedom which she purchased for that 
land with her blood, and for the I^ordship 
of Christ in his own heritage in that land, 
she has perilled every temporal immunity ; 
her principles and valor are indelibly in- 
terwoven with the self-denying and suc- 
cessful struggles with which Holland vin- 
dicated her liberties from the oppressions 
of ' kingly and of priestly tyranny ;' — 
and in the war of the American Revolu- 
tion, the daring and generous heroism of 
her sons, her members and her ministers, 
in this land, stands nobly emblazoned 
among the soldiers, the statesmen and the 
patriots of those times. When others 



proved traitors and fled, or fought the 
battles of tyranny, they stood faithful. 
" When the Declaration of Independence 
was under debate in the Continental Con- 
gress, doubts and forebodings were whis- 
pered through that hall. The House hesi- 
tated, wavered, and for a while, the liberty 
and slavery of the nation appeared to hang 
in even scale. It was then an aged patri- 
arch arose ; a venerable and stately form ; 
his head white with the frost of years. 
Every eye went to him with the quickness 
of thought, and remained with the fixed- 
ness of a polar star. He cast on the as- 
sembly a look of inexpressible interest and 
unconquerable determination ; while on 
his visage, the hue of age was lost in the 
flush of burning patriotism that fired his 
cheek. ' There is,' said he, when he saw 
the House wavering, * there is a tide in the 
affairs of men, — a nick of time. We per- 
ceive it now before us. To hesitate, is to 
consent to our own slavery. That noble 
instrument upon your table, which insures 
immortality to its author, should be sub- 
scribed this very morning by every pen in 
the House. He that will not respond to 
its accents and strain every nerve to carry 
into effect its provisions, is unworthy the 
name of a freeman. For my own part, 
of property I have some — of reputation 
more. That reputation is staked, that 
property is pledged on the issue of this 
contest. And although these gray hairs 
must soon descend into the sepulchre, I 
would infinitely rather they should descend 
thither by the hands of the public execu- 
tioner, than desert, at this crisis, the sacred 
cause of my country.' Who was it that 
uttered this memorable speech, potent in 
turning the scales of a nation's destiny, 
and worthy to be preserved in the same 
imperishable record in which is registered 
the not more eloquent speech ascribed to 
John Adams on the same sublime occa- 
sion 1 It was John Witherspoon, at that 
day the most distinguished Presbyterian 
minister west of the Atlantic Ocean, the 
father of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States. 

" Those men had suffered too much 
from the abuses of this adulterous union, 
and especially from the arrogance and 
bigotry of the prelatical establishments, 
even in the colonial state, to wish for the 



60 



474 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



continuance of the union of Church and 
State. They had faith in their holy reli- 
gion, and in the God who revealed it, to 
believe that he would prosper it without 
state patronage ; and all they claimed was 
protection." 

The pastoral letters of the synod at this 
time inculcate much well-timed admoni- 
tion, and urgently advise all the churches 
to betake themselves to the throne of 
grace, there to seek their God, who was 
their only refuge and strength, and their 
very present help in time of trouble. 

Literary Institutions. — Emulating the 
example of their Calvinistic brethren, the 
Puritans, the Presbyterians ever have man- 
ifested a quenchless solicitude for the ad- 
vancement of literature, and especially for 
the dissemination of the " light and the 
truth." The " Log College" at Neshami- 
ny, although Mr. Tennent's private insti- 
tution, was the incentive to more combined 
effort, and was the pioneer for the Newark 
Academy, and the Philadelphia and Nas- 
sau Hall Colleges. 

Union with other Denominations. — 
In the year 1766, a proposition was made 
in the Synod of New York and Philadel- 
phia, for a correspondence with " the Con- 
sociated Churches of Connecticut" — and 
the matter was continually under discus- 
sion until the Revolution commenced, — 
after which the subject was disregarded 
until the General Assembly resumed the 
consideration of it in 1790. 

In the year 1784, the Reformed Dutch 
Classis of New Brunswick, having com- 
plained of the conduct of some of the 
Presbyterian ministers, the Synod of New 
York and Philadelphia determined " to 
enter into an amicable correspondence 
upon subjects of general utility and friend- 
ship between the churches." 

A joint conference of delegates of the 
Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and Asso- 
ciate Reformed Synods, was held in Oc- 
tober, 1785 ; which resulted in the pro- 
motion of more confraternity between 
those three denominations. 

Universalism. — One of the latest mea- 
sures of the Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia was, to bear their testimony 
against the heresy propagated by them 

who deny the doctrine of future punish- any degree, in the literary qualifications 
ment. As the assertion of the boundless i required of intrants into the ministry? And 



malignity of sin, and the never-dying 
anguish of the impenitent, is a solemn 
part of the Presbyterian faith, and the 
knowledge of that fact should be reite- 
rated : the important declaration of the 
synod is here inserted. — " Whereas the 
doctrine of universal salvation, and of the 
finite duration of hell torments, has been 
propagated by sundry persons who live in 
the United States of America ; and the 
people under our care may possibly, from 
their occasional conversation with the pro- 
pagators of such a dangerous opinion, be 
infected by the doctrine : the synod lake 
•this opportunity to declare their utter ab- 
horrence of such doctrines as they appre- 
hend to be subversive of the fundamental 
principles of religion and morality ; and 
therefore earnestly recommend it to all 
their presbyteries and members to be 
watchful upon this subject, and to guard 
against the introduction of such tenets 
among our people." 

The above particulars refer more direct- 
ly to the external relations of the Presby- 
terian churches ; the others of a perma- 
nent character belong to their interior dis- 
cipline. 

Candidates for the Ministry. — The 
controversy among the members of the 
synod was prolonged during two meetings 
in 1761 and 1762. It was founded upon 
the "propriety" and the "right" and 
the " equity" of demanding of the candi- 
date an account of his personal religious 
exercises, and then making his statement 
the criterion of admitting or rejecting him. 
The whole subject was finally transferred 
to each presbytery, to act upon and decide 
as they considered most proper and evan- 
gelical. 

This question was also propounded for 
the decision of the synod in 1783 : — 
" Whether a person without a liberal edu- 
cation may be taken on trial, or be 
licensed to preach the gospel ? The ques- 
tion being put, it was carried in the nega- 
tive." A similar inquiry was made of the 
synod in 1785, in these words : " Whether 
in the present state of the church in Ame- 
rica, and the scarcity of ministers to fill 
our numerous congregations, the synods 
or presbyteries ought therefore to relax, in 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



475 



it was carried in the negative by a great 
majority." 

Education. — In 1771, a plan for the 
education of the poor and pious youth for 
the ministry of the gospel was submitted 
to the synod, and unanimously approved. 
The object, however, seems to have been 
forgotten during the turbulent times which 
followed ; but subsequently it was revived, 
and by its benign operation it has been the 
chief means, through which the increasing 
demands of the churches and the people 
in the western settlements have been sup- 
plied with the ministry of the word and 
evangelical ordinances. 

Foreign Ministers. — The admission of 
ministers from Britain and Ireland was a 
matter of peculiar difficulty, on account 
of the known and avowed Anti-Calvinistic 
principles of many of them. Great dis- 
crepancy of opinion existed, concerning 
the application of any precise regulation 
to the applicants. In 1773, the topic was 
formally introduced in a rule precluding 
the reception of any foreign ministers by 
the presbyteries, without the previous ap- 
probation of the synod. Many were dis- 
satisfied with this restriction ; and the fol- 
lowing year, the rule was mitigated. In 
1782, on the restoration of peace, the 
subject was resumed; and in 1784, a 
general monition was addressed to the pres- 
byteries and churches, warning them of 
their duty. Finally, the General Assem- 
bly adopted a plan which united caution 
with confraternity, and in accordance with 
it the presbyteries now decide. 

Marriage, — The matrimonial relation 
has been one of the most prolific subjects 
of polemical discussion and appellate 
scrutiny in the ecclesiastical bodies of the 
Presbyterian churches. At the very first 
meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia, the 
mamsge of a man with his brother's 
widow was the subject of a reference. 
From that day to this time, one hundred 
and twenty-jive years, the precise mean- 
ing of the fourth section of the twenty- 
fourth chapter of the Confession of Faith, 
has been disputed by the ecclesiastical 
bodies; for they have adjudicated one 
year ; rescinded on another occasion ; 
re-enacted on a third ; nullified on a 
fourth ; referred back on the fifth ; 
adopted an equivocal decision on a sixth ; 



and virtually expunged, after a seventh 
protracted discussion. 

From the proceedings of the elder syn- 
ods and the General Assembly it appears 
that their decision has been required on 
the following examples : marriage, after 
the proof of adultery ; the marriage of a 
brother's widow ; the marriage of a half 
brother's widow ; the marriage of a bro- 
ther's and sister's relicts ; the marriage 
of two sisters in succession, or of a de- 
ceased wife's sister ; the marriage of a 
wife's brother's daughter ; the marriage 
of a wife's half brother's daughter ; the 
marriage of a wife's sister's daughter; 
and the marriage of a man who had not 
been legally divorced from his wife, in a 
case of long protracted obstinate desertion. 

In the year 1761, the Synod of New 
York and Philadelphia decided that the 
marriage of a brother's or a sister's relict, 
and of a deceased " wife's sister" were un- 
lawful, and debarred all such delinquents 
from the communion of the church. But 
in 1772, concerning the marriage of a 
wife's brother's daughter, the synod ap- 
parently relaxed from their prior judg- 
ment. At the meeting of the synod in 
1779, the marriage of a deceased wife's 
sister was introduced, and in 1782, the 
applicants were formally pronounced " ca- 
pable of Christian privileges." The sen- 
tence of the synod produced so much 
dissatisfaction, that, in 1783, they adopted 
a long explanatory statement, which cer- 
tainly exhibits contradictions, against 
which a strong protest was entered on 
the sy nodical record. 

The marriage of a deceased wife's sis- 
ter has also been an inveterate theme of 
polemical strife during the whole half 
century, since the organization of the 
General Assembly ; and is still the sub- 
ject of "doubtful disputation." It has re- 
cently been revived, through the case of 
one of their ministers, who, having mar- 
ried the sister of his former wife, was 
condemned by the presbytery to which 
he belonged ; and the General Assembly, 
after a protracted debate, affirmed the de- 
cision. But the party who are in favor 
of such marriages resuscitated the subject 
in the year 1843 ; and the question is now 
litigating : Whether the fourth section in 
the twenty-fourth chapter of the Confes- 



476 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



sion of Faith shall be expunged, or ex- 
plained so as to authorize the marriage 
of two sisters in succession ? 

Slavery. — This topic also, like that of 
marriage, has been a prolific source of 
contention. The primary notice of it is 
found in the proceedings of the Synod of 
New York and Philadelphia, in 1786, 
under the form of two questions — 
" Whether the children of slaves held by 
church members should be baptized V 
and " Whether the children of Christian 
professors, enslaved by irreligious men, 
ought to be baptized ?" The synod re- 
plied in the affirmative. 

In the year 1787, the matter was in- 
troduced before the synod in a more 
direct manner, and the result of their de- 
liberation appeared in a testimony against 
it, and an urgent recommendation to " all 
their people, to procure the abolition of 
slavery in America." That " opinion" was 
reiterated in 1793; and in 1795, in reply 
to a petition, the same decision was con- 
firmed, with a specific condemnation of 
all the traffic in slaves. At that period 
the Confession of Faith, Catechisms, &c, 
were published by order of the General 
Assembly. To the one hundred and for- 
ty-second question of the " Larger Cate- 
chism" was appended a note containing a 
definition of " man-stealing," with scriptu- 
ral proofs. During the twenty years 
which followed, that note seems to have 
been overlooked; but in 1815, the subject 
of slavery was brought before the Gen- 
eral Assembly, by a reference from the 
Synod of Ohio, and a petition from Vir- 
ginia. The General Assembly then re- 
iterated their declarations of 1787, 1793, 
and 1795. But in the following year, 
1816, " the note connected with the scrip- 
ture proofs in answer to the question in 
the Larger Catechism, What is forbidden 
in the eighth commandment? in which 
the crime of man-stealing and slavery is 
dilated upon," was ordered to be omitted 
in all " future editions of the Confession 
of this church." The subject occupied 
several sessions of the General Assembly, 
in 1816, 1817, and 1818, at which last 
meeting, that body issued a long declara- 
tion, entitled " A full Expression of the 
Assembly's views of Slavery.'''' From 
that period, the disputatious theme has 



remained, in a great measure, sub sile?itio, 
among the Presbyterian ecclesiastical 
bodies. 

The closing paragraph of Dr. Hodge's 
History is so suitable as a peroration to 
the history of Presbyterianism, down to 
the dissolution of the Synod of New York 
and Philadelphia, that it is extracted as 
the termination of that part of this narra- 
tive. " The effects of the Revolutionary 
war on the state of our church were ex- 
tensively and variously disastrous. The 
young men were called from the seclusion 
of their homes to the demoralizing atmos- 
phere of a camp. Congregations were 
broken up. Churches were burned, and 
pastors were murdered. The usual min- 
isterial intercourse and efforts for the dis- 
semination of the gospel were, in a great 
measure, suspended, and public morals in 
various respects deteriorated. From these 
effects it took the church a considerable 
time to recover ; but she shared, through 
the blessing of God, in the returning pros- 
perity of the country, and has since grown 
with the growth, and strengthened with 
the strength, of our highly favored na- 
tion." 

The first General Assembly met in 
1789, and the subsequent history of Ame- 
rican Presbyterianism is chiefly a memo- 
rial of the more efficient and extensive 
development of the evangelical features 
and the " ecclesiastical polity," which 
already have been delineated. However, 
there are four influential topics connected 
with the latter periods of the Presbyterian 
Churches which must be recorded. 

The plan of correspondence and union 
eventually included the General Associa- 
tion of Connecticut, the General Conven- 
tion of Vermont, the Genera] Association 
of New Hampshire, the General Associa- 
tion of Massachusetts, and the Consocia- 
tion of Rhode Island, with the Reformed 
Dutch General Synod, and the Associate 
Reformed Synod. The great object of it 
was to combine these ecclesiastical bodies 
and the churches whom they represented 
in a closer fraternity, and to enlarge their 
Christian intercourse, both as ministers 
and for the entire denominations. From 
the period of the first agreement the sys- 
tem has been continued with little inter- 
ruption. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



477 



But a more distinct notice is requisite 
concerning the " Plan of Union between 
Presbyterians and Congregationalists in 
the New Settlements," which was adopted 
in 1801. This plan was designed to ex- 
tinguish any difficulties arising from a dis- 
agreement among Congregationalists and 
Presbyterians, so that they might all unite 
in the support of the ministry and sacred 
institutions ; as their faith, order of wor- 
ship, and principles of church government 
substantially were one — there being only 
a " difference of administrations." By 
that compact, a Presbyterian church might 
call a Congregational minister, and vice 
versa. If one body of Presbyterians and 
another of Congregationalists chose to 
unite as one church and settle a minister, 
each party was allowed to exercise disci- 
pline, and regulate its church affairs ac- 
cording to its own views, under the gene- 
ral management of a joint standing com- 
mittee; and one of that committee, if 
chosen for that purpose, had " the same 
right to sit and act in the presbytery, as a 
ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church." 
Under the operation of that " Plan of 
Union," hundreds of churches were formed 
in the States of New York and Ohio, 
during the period from 1801, to 1837. 

About the commencement of the nine- 
teenth century, a remarkable religious 
awakening was manifest through a wide 
extent of the then " Far West." New 
congregations were formed with exhilarat- 
ing rapidity. To supply the ministerial 
destitution, it was resolved to secure the 
aid of men of piety and talents, although 
without a classical education, and to or- 
dain them as missionary evangelists and 
pastors. Among the members of the 
Presbytery of Transylvania some opposed 
the measure ; but as that body soon after- 
wards was divided, that portion of the 
body denominated the " Cumberland Pres- 
bytery" proceeded to license and ordain 
preachers who had not acquired a know- 
ledge of the ancient languages, and of the 
! other subjects of a collegiate course of 
study. The synod finally took cognizance 
of their proceedings, and appointed a 
"commission" to visit them, who sum- 
moned the presbytery, with their licen- 
tiates, candidates, and exhorters, to ap- 
pear before them. When the commission 



met, they alleged a variety of charges 
against the presbytery, all of which were 
comprised within two general statements : 
— that they licensed " men to preach who 
had not been examined on the languages," 
and that their licentiates had been required 
to adopt the Presbyterian Confession of 
Faith partially, or " as far as they believed 
it to agree with God's word." 

The presbytery justified themselves 
upon the ground of the " extraordinary 
emergency," the example of other presby- 
teries, and of the New Testament, which 
neither by example nor precept condemns 
the calling into the Christian ministry 
those whom the synod's commission deno- 
minated " unlearned and ignorant men." 
They also maintained that their candidates 
did not deviate in doctrine from any essen- 
tial or important doctrine taught in the 
Confession of Faith. The synodical " com- 
mission" demanded, that the whole of the 
licentiates and candidates, under the care 
of the Cumberland Presbytery, should be 
transferred to them for re-examination. 
The presbytery spurned at the exaction, 
as destructive of their privileges and in- 
dependence ; and the young preachers and 
exhorters also denied the jurisdiction of 
the " commission," when summoned be- 
fore them. Thus the controversy re- 
mained during four years ; until, in Feb- 
ruary, 1810, three of the ministers, as 
they said, " protesting against the uncon- 
stitutional and unprecedented acts of the 
synod, and of the General Assembly who 
justified them," constituted a separate 
presbytery, " known by the name of the 
Cumberland Presbytery." 

They required of all candidates and 
licentiates, that they " receive and adopt 
the Confession and Discipline of the Pres- 
byterian Church," except any " fatality 
taught under predestination ;" and the re- 
quisition of an academical education. 

The " Cumberland Presbyterians" have 
prodigiously multiplied. They now form 
a very influential religious community in 
the western districts of Kentucky and 
Tennessee. 

In the year 1810, there was an increas- 
ing disposition for a closer union displayed 
by some of the most influential ministers 
and elders, and other members among the 
Associate Reformed body to combine with 



478 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



the Presbyterians. Eventually the mea- 
sure was proposed with ecclesiastical for- 
mality ; and after considerable negotiation, 
a large portion of the Associate Reformed 
Synod resolved upon that measure. That 
course produced a collision among them. 
The party who wished to unite with the 
other Presbyterians embodied themselves 
with the larger community in 1822 ; but 
their proceeding was attended by subse- 
quent embarrassment. It involved the two 
denominations in litigation, which was not 
compromised, until after a vexatious dis- 
pute that continued during several years, 
and which terminated their ecclesiastical 
" correspondence and union." 

In many aspects the disruption of the 
American Presbyterians which occurred 
in 1838, is one of the most interesting 
occurrences in the religious annals of the 
western continent. The narrative of the 
successive events which finally produced 
the separation of the conflicting parties, 
with their organization into two distinct 
communities, both bearing but one name, 
and both claiming to be the genuine inte- 
gral body which had been subdivided, 
would combine a very instructive chapter 
of ecclesiastical history. 

The collision ostensibly included two 
principal topics of controversy — didactic 
theology, and church government and dis- 
cipline. 

Prior to the year 1830, some laxity re- 
specting the admission of ministers had 
been displayed by some of the presbyte- 
ries, thereby opening a wide gate for po- 
lemical disputation. But at that period 
the First Presbyterian Church of Philadel- 
phia called Mr. Barnes, then minister of 
the church at Morristown, to be their pas- 
tor. The case was submitted to the Pres- 
bytery of Philadelphia, at their meeting in 
April, 1830. 

A long discussion ensued, which in- 
volved both theological doctrines and also 
points of discipline in reference to the cor- 
relate rights and duties of the presbyte- 
ries. The origin of the debate was a ser- 
mon previously published by Mr. Barnes, 
entitled " The Way of Salvation," to which 
objections were made, that it promulged 
opinions adverse to the Presbyterian " Con- 
fession of Faith and Catechisms." The 
call, however, finally was admitted, ac- 



companied by a protest signed by twelve 
members ; and the usual formalities with 
the Presbytery of Elizabethtown having 
been fulfilled, Mr. Barnes became the 
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
of Philadelphia. 

A " complaint" was made to the Synod 
of Philadelphia by the minority of the 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, based on their 
protest of the preceding April ; and after 
the consideration of the whole subject, the 
synod, by a decisive majority, referred 
the examination of the sermon by Mr. 
Barnes, entitled " The Way of Salvation," 
with the cognate topics, to the presbytery. 
That body, in November, 1830, complied 
with the synodical direction : announced 
their disapprobation of the doctrines pro- 
mulged in the sermon, and appointed a 
committee to visit and confer with Mr. 
Barnes, thereby to remove the difficulties 
which existed among them. 

Moreover, another subject of conten- 
tion had arisen, respecting the admission 
of persons into the Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia. A " complaint" against the rule 
of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, en- 
forcing an examination of all persons wno 
desired admission into that body was pre- 
sented to the synod, who referred that 
subject to the General Assembly of 1632, 
with a protest by twenty-two ministers. 

To accommodate Mr. Barnes, and those 
who sustained him, the Assembly consti- 
tuted the Second Presbytery of Philadel- 
phia ; which act the synod resisted as un- 
constitutional, and refused to enrol the 
members as part of the synod at their 
next meeting; which produced new "com- 
plaints, protests, and remonstrances," for 
review by the General Assembly of 1833. 

The General Assembly of the year 
1833, reversed the proceedings of the 
Synod of Philadelphia, by confirming the 
acts of the previous year ; which brought 
up the whole controversy before the synod 
at their annual meeting. In the interim, 
a new principle of presbyterial consocia- J 
tion had been announced and acted on, by \\ 
a departure from the usual geographical 
limits for presbyteries. It was denominated, 
in polemic technology, " elective affinity." 
The synod annulled the proceeding of the 
Assembly, and having dissolved the then 
Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, and 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



479 



combined the members with their old as- 
sociates, proceeded to sever the whole 
original presbytery by a geographical line, 
drawn from east to west through Market 
Street, in the city of Philadelphia. At the 
same meeting of the synod a " Protest and 
Complaint" against the rule respecting the 
examination of ministers or licentiates, de- 
siring admission into the Presbytery of 
Philadelphia, and the synodical virtual 
approbation of that rule, were recorded 
for transmission to the General Assembly 
of 1834. The synod, however, had in- 
troduced another subject of conflict, by the 
formation of their new presbytery : so 
that there existed the Second Presbytery 
of Philadelphia, organized by the General 
Assembly, and the Second Presbytery 
constituted by the synod. About the same 
time the Synods of Cincinnati and Pitts- 
burg formally interfered in the collision, 
by impugning the proceedings of the Gene- 
ral Assembly in reference to the Presby- 
tery of Philadelphia. 

The vacillating course of the General 
Assembly during some years, with the 
various attempts to compromise, as either 
of the parties seemed to acquire the pre- 
ponderance, — for the actual division 
among the ministers and churches was 
avowed — constantly augmented the strife 
in pungency and amplitude. To place the 
matter in a form which could not be 
evaded, Dr. Junkin, of the Presbytery of 
Newton, directly charged Mr. Barnes with 
holding erroneous opinions, as declared 
especially in his " Notes on the Romans." 
The case occupied the Second Presbytery 
of Philadelphia for some days, when that 
ecclesiastical body acquitted Mr. Barnes 
of " having taught any dangerous errors 
or heresies contrary to theWord of God," 
?nd the Confession of Faith and Cate- 
ciisms. From that decision Dr. Junkin 
appealed to the Synod of Philadelphia who 
met in 1835. Prior to that period, the 
Synod of Delaware, which had been 
erected by the Assembly to include the 
Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, was 
dissolved, and that presbytery was re-in- 
corporated with the Synod of Philadelphia. 

When Dr. Junkin's appeal came before 
the synod, according to the constitutional 
rUia, the record of the case made by the 
presbytery appealed from, was required. 



They refused to submit the original copy 
of the proceedings to the synod. The 
synod, however, proceeded with the in- 
vestigation upon the proofs that the detail 
of the charges, evidence, and proceedings 
laid before them, was an authentic copy 
of the presbyterial record. Mr. Barnes 
refused to appear in his own defence, upon 
the plea that as the presbytery to which 
he belonged, and who had acquitted him, 
would not produce their " attested record" 
of the proceedings in his case, the trial, 
" whatever might be the issue," must be 
unconstitutional. After nearly three days' 
discussion, the synod reversed the decision 
of the Second Presbytery in the case of 
Mr. Barnes, " as contrary to truth and 
righteousness," and declared, that the 
errors alleged were contrary to the doc- 
trines of the Presbyterian Church, and 
that they contravened the system of truth 
set forth in the word of God ; and they 
suspended Mr. Barnes from the functions 
of the gospel ministry. Against which 
decision, Mr. Barnes entered his complaint 
and appeal to the General Assembly of 
1836. 

The synod then dissolved the Second 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, Which had 
been organized by the General Assembly, 
and also the Presbytery of Wilmington. 

The General Assembly met in 1836, 
and those various " appeals," " com- 
plaints," and " protests," were discussed. 
That body rescinded all the acts of the 
Synod of Philadelphia — they absolved Mr. 
Barnes from the censure and suspension 
pronounced by the Synod of Philadelphia. 
They erected their former Second Presby- 
tery anew, as the Third Presbytery of 
Philadelphia — they restored the Presby- 
tery of Wilmington — and they virtually 
proclaimed, that the positions avowed by 
Mr. Barnes are evangelical, and consistent 
with the Presbyterian Confession of Faith 
and Catechisms. 

The alienation between the two parties 
had constantly been increasing ; but aftei 
the proceedings of the Synod of Philadel- 
phia in 1835, and the measures of the 
General Assembty of 1836, it was mani- 
fest, that a decisive struggle would be 
made at the meeting of the General As- 
sembly in 1837. The strict interpreters 
of the Confession of Faith had been in a 



480 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



minority of the Assembly in the years 
1831, 2, 3, 4, and 1836. They therefore 
invited a convention to meet in Philadel- 
phia, a week anterior to the opening of the 
General Assembly of 1837. The conven- 
tion included one hundred and twenty-four 
members, most of whom also were dele- 
gates to the Assembly, and they continued 
in session until the General Assembly was 
organized. To that body the convention 
transmitted the result of their deliberations 
in a document entitled their " Testimony 
and Memorial." They bear testimony — 

I. Against sixteen doctrinal errors. 

II. Against ten departures from Pres- 
byterian order. 

III. Against Jive declensions in Chris- 
tian discipline. 

They emphatically declared, in refer- 
ence to the distracted church, among 
ministers and people, that mutual confi- 
dence is gone, and is not to be restored 
by temporizing measures. 

IV. They then propose the " Method 
of Reform." 

1. The immediate abrogation of the 
" Plan of Union" with Congregationalists, 
adopted in 1801. 

2. The discontinuance of the American 
Home Missionary, and American Educa- 
tion Societies. 

3. The severance of all churches, pres- 
byteries, and synods, which are not 
strictly organized on Presbyterian prin- 
ciples. 

4. The examination of all licentiates 
and ministers on theology and church 
government ; and the requirement of an 
" explicit adoption of the Confession of 
Faith and form of Government." 

5. The separation from the Presbyte- 
rian Church of all presbyteries and 
synods, which are known to consist 
chiefly of unsound or disorderly mem- 
bers. 

6. A caveat to be sent to all the na- 
tional societies respecting their agents, 
that they should not interfere with the 
order and principles of the Presbyterian 
churches.* 



* Doctrinal Errors. — The minute specifica- 
tion of the disputed themes of theology was 
reserved for this point, because the "Testi- 
mony and Memorial" of 1837, constituted the 
formal basis of the proceedings in the Assem- 



The General Assembly of 1837, met, 
and, the adherents of the Convention 
having a decisive majority in that body, 
promptly acceded to the requests of the 
Memorial. They abrogated the " Plan 
of Union" between Presoyterians and 



bly of that year ; and also because the cata- 
logue comprises the objections included in 
the protest offered to the Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia, in April, 1 830 ; the " errors" enume- 
rated in the western memorial of 1834; and 
the charges of Dr. Junkin, in 1835. 

The Convention of 1837 thus announce — ■ 
We hereby set forth in order some of the 
doctrinal errors, against which we bear testi- 
mony. 

I. God would have been glad to prevent the 
existence of sin in our world, but was not 
able, without destroying the moral agency of 
man ; or, that for aught which appears in the 
Bible to the contrary, sin is incidental to any 
wise moral system. 

II. Election to eternal life is founded on a 
foresight of faith and obedience. 

III. We have no more to do with the first 
sin of Adam, than with the sins of any other 
parent. 

IV. Infants come into the world as free 
from moral defilement, as was Adam, when 
he was created. 

V. Infants sustain the same relation to the 
moral government of God in this world as 
brute animals, and their sufferings and death 
are to be accounted for, on the same princi- 
ple as those of brutes, and not by any means 
to be considered as penal. 

VI. There is no other original sin than the 
fact that all the posterity of Adam, though by 
nature innocent, or possessed of no moral 
character, will always begin to sin when they 
begin to exercise moral agency. Original 
sin does not include a sinful bias of the hu- 
man mind, and a just exposure to penal suf- 
fering. There is no evidence in scripture, 
that infants, in order to salvation, do need re- 
demption by the blocu of Christ, and regene- 
ration by the Holy Ghost. 

VII. The doctrine of imputation, whether 
of the guilt of Adam's sin, or of the righteous- 
ness of Christ, has no foundation in the word I 
of God, and is both unjust and absurd. 

VIII. The sufferings and death of Christ I 
were not truly vicarious and penal, but sym- { 
bolical, governmental, and instructive only. 

IX. The impenitent sinner by nature, and 
independently of the renewing influence or ; 
almighty energy of the Holy Spirit, is in full j 
possession of all the ability necessary to a ; 
full compliance with all the commands of God. 

X. Christ never intercedes for any but i 
those who are actually united to him by faith ; | 
or Christ does not intercede for the elect until | 
after their regeneration. 

XL Saving faith is the mere belief of the : 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



481 



Congregationa lists. They adjudged that 
the four synods of Genessee, Geneva, 
Utica, and the Western Reserve were 
not "constituent parts" of the Presbyte- 
rian Church. The operations of the 
American Home Missionary, and of the 
American Education Societies were ex- 
cluded from their churches, and the 
Third Presbytery of Philadelphia was 
dissolved. 

The succeeding twelve months were 
devoted by both parties to preparation for 
the Assembly of 1838. By custom it 
devolves upon the permanent and stated 
clerks to make up the list of the mem- 



word of God, and not a grace of the Holy 
Spirit 

XII. Regeneration is the act of the sinner 
himself, and it consists in a change of his 
governing purpose, which he himself must 
produce, and which is the result, not of any 
direct influence of the Holy Spirit on the heart, 
but chiefly of a persuasive exhibition of the 
truth, analogous to the influence which one 
man exerts over the mind of another ; or re- 
generation is not an instantaneous act, but a 
progressive work. 

XIII. God has done all that he can do for the 
J salvation of all men, and man himself must 
J do the rest. 

XIV. God cannot exert such influence on 
: the minds of men, as shall make it certain 

that they will choose and act in a particular 
manner, without impairing their moral agency. 

XV. The righteousness of Christ is not the 
sole ground of the sinner's acceptance with 
God; and in no sense does the righteousness 
of Christ become ours. 

XVI. The reason why some differ from 
others in regard to their reception of the gos- 
pel is, that they make themselves to differ. 

The Convention pronounced these "errors 
unscriptural, radical, and highly dangerous," 
which in " their ultimate tendency, subvert 
the foundation of Christian hope, and destroy 
the souls of men." 

The Convention, on church order and dis- 
cipline, particularly specified as practices of 
which they complained: The formation of 
presbyteries founded on doctrinal repulsions 
as affinities. The refusal of presbyteries to 
examine their ministers. The licensing and 
I ordination of men unfit for want of qualifica- 
tion, and who deny fundamental principles of 
truth. The needless ordination of evangelists 
without any pastoral relation. The want of 
discipline respecting gross acknowledged er- 
rors. The number of ministers abandoning 
their duties for secular employments, in vio- 
lation of their vows. The disorderly meet- 
ings of members and others, thereby exciting 
discord and contention among the churches. 



bers, who present their commissions for 
that purpose, anterior to the commence- 
ment of the sessions. These officers j 
omitted all reference to the delegates 
from the presbyteries comprised in the 
four synods which had been expunged 
from the ecclesiastical statistics by the 
previous Assembly. When the motion 
was made that the commissions from 
these presbyteries should be received, the 
moderator refused to recognize the mo- 
tion, or the parties on whose behalf it was 
made. After a short interval of disorder, 
the minority, (including both the advo- 
cates of the synods who were excluded 
by the Assembly of 1837, and the com- 
missioners from those synods,) united in 
disclaiming the authority of the modera- 
tor, and proceeded to organize by them- 
selves ; and having elected another mod- 
erator and clerks, the whole of the dis- 
sentients from the acts of the Assembly, 
in 1837, immediately withdrew, in a body, 
to the edifice occupied by the First Pres- 
byterian Church of Philadelphia. 

The majority retained their seats until 
the temporary confusion ceased, when they 
proceeded to their ecclesiastical business 
according to the prescribed ordinary forms. 
The trustees and other corporate bodies 
among the Presbyterians possess much 
valuable property, for their seminaries 
and missionary institutions. Some time 
after the separation in 1838, had been con- 
summated, the question, in whom that 
property was legally vested, was carried 
into the civil courts of Pennsylvania, in 
which state the trustees were incorporated. 
The Trustees of the General Assembly 
are elected by the General Assembly, who 
may change one-third of the number every 
year. The seceding Assembly elected 
one-third of the board as new members. 
When they claimed their seats at the 
board they were refused admission. A 
suit, therefore, was commenced, to obtain 
possession of the offices from which, as 
they contended, they v/ere illegally ex- 
cluded. The cause excited intense inter- 
est, and was primarily decided in favor of 
the claimants ; for the true question liti- 
gated was this : Was the body who refused 
to acknowledge the four several synods 
the true Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church? An appeal to the Supreme 



61 



482 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



Court was entered from the adjudication 
of the inferior tribunal. The superior 
court reversed the sentence of the lower 
court ; and granted a new trial, with a 
construction of the law which in effect 
precluded the plaintiffs from obtaining their 
object, and the suit was withdrawn. Thus, 
so far as the legal decision in Pennsylva- 
nia operates, the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States 
are recognised as that body, represented 
by their trustees who, in law, still hold 
that title, with its common property. 

The effervescence of the strife now has 
almost disappeared ; and the two bodies 
of American Presbyterians are actively 
pursuing their own course. According to 
their statistical returns, they have increased 
during the six years from their separation, 
nearly one-third in actual numbers. More- 
over, when we contrast the diversified ad- 
ditional instrumentalities to promote the 
Redeemer's kingdom, which have been 
put in operation by them, since their di- 
vision in 1838 ; it is manifest, that, in 
capacity for the Lord's work, they have- 
doubled their usefulness and enterprise. 

Thus, from the smallest beginnings, 
when the little companies of the " Pres- 
byterian Pilgrims" who first came to 
America, as it were, but with a " staff," 
here laid the foundations of this church, 
and reared it under manifold difficulties 
and annoyances, encountering obloquy and 
even persecutions : it has grown under the 
protection and favor of Providence, oft 
sharing the dews of the Holy Spirit, en- 
larging its borders in this genial land, and 
exerting a happy influence on the world, 
until now it has " become two bands." 

Although not of this distinct denomina- 
tion, the Reformed Dutch and German 
Reformed Churches in the United States, 
are Presbyterian and Calvinistic. Their 
standards of doctrine are the Articles of 
the Synod of Dort and the Heidelberg 
Catechism. The Reformed Presbyterian 
Church, or Covenanters, the Associate 
Church, and the Associate Reformed 
Church, and the body which separated 
from us in 1838, adopt the Westminster 
Standards as the symbols of their faith 
and order ; — the last specified body having 
the same constitution as the Presbyterian 
Church, with the exceptions of the restric- 



tion which they have since put to the 
powers of the General Assembly, and of 
the substitution of triennial for annual 
General Assemblies. 

And all these distinct denominations, in- 
cluding the Cumberland Presbyterians, 
and some smaller denominations, although 
for various causes they are arranged in 
separate bodies, compose a great Presby- 
terian family in the United States, which 
comprises upwards of four thousand min- I 
isters and nearly six thousand churches, I 
and comprehends a population of three or 
four millions who. either as communicants 
or worshippers, are associated with them. 

III.— STATISTICAL. 

According to the Statistical Tables (p. 
602) for 1858, presented to the General 
Assembly, the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States comprises 33 synods, or 
159 presbyteries, 2468 ministers, 258 
licentiates, 468 candidates for the minis- 
try, 3324 churches, and 259,335 members 
in communion. 

The existing institutions of the Presby- 
terian Church must be concisely described. 
They may generally be divided into those 
connected with education, or literature, or 
missions. 

Education. — This department corn* 
prises colleges, theological seminaries, ana 
the " Board of Education." 

Colleges. — The establishments of learn- 
ing at the following places, although not 
absolutely connected with, or directly con- 
trolled by Presbyterians exclusively, are 
generally considered as under their super- 
vision, or are chiefly sustained by them : 

New York. — Hamilton College ; Union 
College, at Schenectady ; New York Uni* 
versity. 

Neiv Jersey. — Nassau Hall, at Prince- 
ton. 

Pennsylvania. — Jefferson, at Cannons- 
burg ; Washington College ; La Fayette, 
at Easton. 

Virginia. — Hampden Sidney, in Prince 
Edward county ; Washington, at Lexing- 
ton. 

North Carolina. — University of North 
Carolina, at Chapel Hill; Davidson, at 
Mecklenburg. 

South Carolina. — South Carolina, at 
Columbia. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



483 



Tennessee. — University of Nashville. 

Kentucky. — Centre, at Danville. 
Ohio. — Miami University, at Oxford. 

Indiana. — South Hanover College. 

Theological Seminaries. — At Prince- 
ton, New Jersey ; Western, at Allegheny, 
Pennsylvania; Union, in Prince Edward 
county, Virginia ; Southern, at Columbia, 
South Carolina; Danville, at Danville, 
Kentucky. 

Board of Education. — The formal com- 
mencement of the work of education for 
the ministry, was the result of the pro- 
ceedings of the General Assembly in 1806, 
when that duty was assigned to each pres- 
bytery. The inefficiency of the system 
induced the General Assembly, in 1819, 
to form the " Board of Education •" but 
during the interval until 1829, there was 
not the adequate result which was neces- 
sary to supply the demands for ministers. 
A new organization was then made ; and 
the consequence has been manifested in a 
large augmentation of the funds, and a 
proportionate increase in the number of 
theological students maintained during 
their preparatory course. 

A very large number of young men 
have been assisted in their studies for the 
gospel ministry. Two-thirds of the for- 
eign missionaries, and nearly one-half of 
the domestic missionaries, with a large 
proportion of the pastors of the Presby- 
terian churches at this time, have been 
introduced to the ministry through the aid 
of the "Board of Education." 

Literature. — This department com- 
prises the miscellaneous publications, 
which are expressly devoted to promulge 
the doctrinal principles, and to defend the 
government and discipline- of the Presby- 
terian churches. 

There is a quarterly periodical, by 
Presbyterian writers, entitled the Biblical 
Repertory and Theological Review, which 
is devoted almost exclusively to disquisi- 
tions strictly religious, or to those which 
have a close affinity with them, either on 
Christian ethics or ecclesiastical history. 
Several weekly newspapers are issued by 
them, and very extensively dispersed. 
The Presbyterian, at Philadelphia; the 
Presbyterian Advocate, at Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania; the Presbyterian of the West, 
at Cincinnati, Ohio; the Presbyterian 
Herald, at Louisville, Kentucky ; the True 



Witness, at New Orleans, La.; the South- 
ern Presbyterian, at Charleston, South 
Carolina, and many others. 

Board of Publication. — In addition to 
these miscellanies, the Presbyterians have 
in operation a most important and efficient 
society, denominated the Presbyterian 
Board of Publication, which was instituted 
for the purpose of disseminating standard 
volumes of theology and ecclesiastical his- 
tory, and also tracts that elucidate and de- 
fend Presbyterianism. 

Form of a Devise or Bequest to the 
Board of Publication. — To the Trustees 
of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, 
and to their successors and assigns, I give 
and bequeath the sum of , or I de- 

vise a certain messuage, and tract of land, 
&c, to be held by the said Trustees, and 
their successors for ever, to and for the 
uses, and under the direction of the said 
Board of Publication, according to the 
provisions of their charter. 

Honorary Membership. — A donation of 
Thirty Dollars at any one time constitutes 
the donor, or any person whom he may 
designate, an Honorary Member of the 
Board of Publication. Honorary Mem- 
bers receive an elegantly engraved certifi- 
cate of membership, and are entitled to 
draw one dollar's worth of children's books 
or tracts annually, provided they are called 
for during the year in which they become 
due. 

Missions. — This portion of the philan- 
thropic labors of the Presbyterian churches 
is conducted by two distinct agencies and 
boards of managers. 

Domestic. — The primary arrangements 
for Home Missions, under the committee 
appointed by the General Assembly, were 
comparatively restricted in extent and lan- 
guid in their operations, until, in 1828, 
the present efficient system was adopted, 
through which " there has been a gradual 
but constant increase in the number of 
missionaries, the amount of funds col- 
lected, the interest excited, and the good 
accomplished." 

Among the Chippewas and Ottawas, 
Omahas, Otoes, Iowas, Kickapoos, Creeks, 
Seminoles, Chickasaws, and Choctaws, 
there are fifteen ministers, one of whom 
is an Indian; fifteen male, and forty-nine 
female assistant missionaries, and nine 
Indian assistants; 570 communicants; 



484 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



272 boys and 254 girls in boarding-schools, 
besides some scholars in day-schools. 

Foreign. — " The first mission to the 
heathen, established by the Presbyterian 
Church, was among the Indians on Long 
Island, in the year 1741. David Brainard 
was the second missionary. His ordina- 
tion took place in the year 1744, and the 
fields of his remarkable labors were at 
the forks of the Delaware, on the borders 
of the Susquehanna, and at Crosswicks 
in New Jersey. From that period, in- 
creasing attention was given to this great 
subject, and various missionary societies 
were formed in which Presbyterians 
largely participated. This was particu- 
larly the case in the United Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society, which after a brief career 
was eventually merged in the 'American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions/ " 

Notwithstanding, many Presbyterians 
were solicitous that their own churches 
should separately engage in the mission- 
ary work. In consequence of which, 
"in the year 1831, a determined and ac- 
tive effort was made by the Synod of 
Pittsburg, to awaken the church to a sense 
of her duty in this respect, by the organi- 
zation of the 'Western Foreign Missionary 
Society.' This society met with so much 
favor, that the General Assembly, in 1835, 
resolved to engage the whole church in an 
enterprise worthy of her character and 
resources. The 'Presbyterian Board of 
Foreign Missions' was organized in the 
year 1837, under favorable auspices, and 
to it was made an entire transfer of all 
that pertained to the Western Foreign 
Missionary Society." 

Africa. — At three places in Liberia, at 
Settra Kroo, and at three stations at Co- 
risco, there are nine ministers, eight male 
and eight female assistant missionaries, and 
three native assistants; 176 communi- 
cants ; 58 boys and 16 girls in boarding- 
schools, and 136 boys in day-schools. 

India. — Sixteen stations are under the 
care of the Board in the north-western 
part of this country; twenty-four minis- 
ters, two of whom are Hindus ; one male 
and eighteen female assistant missionaries. 
Owing to the calamitous events connected 
with the mutiny of the Sepoys, the statis- 
tics of native assistants, communicants, 
and scholars, cannot be reported with ac- 



curacy. The heavy loss of mission pro- 
perty, the trials of the native converts, 
and the martyrdom of two of their number, 
have made the year 1857-8 a memorable 
one in the history of these missions. 

Siam. — In connection with this mission 
there are four ministers, three assistant 
missionaries, and one native assistant. 

China. — At Macao, near Canton, Shang- 
hai, and Ningpo, there are fourteen min- 
isters; 58 communicants; 31 boys and 63 
girls in boarding-schools, besides some 
scholars in day-schools. 

S. America. — At Buenos Ayres there 
is 1 minister, and at Bogota 1 minister. 

Papal Europe.— The'sum of 16,466.67 
was (1858) remitted to Christian friends 
in Brussels, Paris, Geneva, &c, to be ex- 
pended in efforts for the spread of the 
gospel amongst Boman Catholic peoples. 

Jews. — One missionary is employed 
among the Jews in N. York and its vici- 
nity, who is also pastor of a German church ; 
and a call is made for enlarged labors for 
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Form of a Bequest. — I bequeath tfo my 
executors the sum of dollars in trust, 
to pay over the same in after my de- 

cease, to the person who, when the same 
shall be payable, shall act as Treasurer of 
the Board of Foreign Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States 
of America, to be applied to the uses and 
purposes of said Board, and under its di- 
rection, and the receipt of the said Trea- 
surer shall be a full and legal acquittance 
of my said executors for the same. 

The foregoing article claims to be but 
little more than an authentic compilation. 
The writer has freely copied and incorpo- 
rated with his own language, the language 
of such of his authorities as suited his 
purpose, without specific notice. He 
takes this place to acknowledge his obli- 
gations of this sort to the authorities on 
which he has thus drawn, viz : The Con- 
fession of Faith ; Edinburgh Encyclopae- 
dia; Miller's Christian Ministry, and 
Presbyterianism ; Histories of the West- 
minster Assembly, by Hetherington, and 
by the Presbyterian Board of Publication ; 
and Hodge's Constitutional History of the 
Presbyterian Church. He has also re- 
ceived very essential aid from the Bev. 
George Bourne, in the sedulous explora- 




ALBERT BARNES. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



485 



tions of the official documents and records 
of the Presbyterian Church, and other 
reliable authorities, and in the arrange- 
ment and principal composition of that 



part of the historical sketch which com- 
mences with the formation of the Presby- 
tery of Philadelphia, and in the prepara- 
tion of the statistical department. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

BY JOEL PARKER, D.D. 

PASTOR OF THE CLINTON STREET CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 



The character and peculiarities of the 
Presbyterian Church, may be learned from 
the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church 
in the United States of America: con- 
taining the Confession of Faith, the Cate- 
chisms, and the Directory for the worship 
of God ; together with the Plan of Govern- 
ment and Discipline as amended and rati- 
fied by the General Assembly at their 
session in the first Presbyterian Church, 
Philadelphia, in May, 1840, and the 
annals of the church found in the pub- 
lished reports of the proceedings of its 
ecclesiastical judicatories. This church 
does not differ very materially in doctrine 
and worship, or in ecclesiastical govern- 
ment and order, from any of the great 
family of anti-prelatical churches that 
sprung from the Reformation, and which 
are commonly termed Calvinistic. 

It acknowledges no authority in things 
pertaining to the doctrines and duties of 
the Christian Church, but the revealed 
will of God as found in the sacred Scrip- 
tures. It maintains — 

That God alone is Lord of the con- 
science, and hath left it free from the doc- 
trine and commandments of men, which 
are in any thing contrary to his word, or, 
beside it in matters of faith, or worship ; 



that the rights of private judgment in all 
matters, that respect religion, are univer- 
sal and inalienable, and that no religious 
constitution ought to be aided by the civil 
powers farther than may be necessary for 
protection and security, and at the same 
time be equal and common to all others. 

That in perfect consistency with the 
above principle of common right, every 
Christian church, or union, or association 
of particular churches, is entitled to de- 
clare the terms of admission into its com- 
munion, and the qualifications of its min- 
isters and members, as well as the whole 
system of its internal government which 
Christ hath appointed ; that in the exer- 
cise of this right, they may, notwithstand- 
ing, err in making the terms of communion 
either too lax or too narrow ; yet, even 
in this case, they do not infringe upon the 
liberty or the rights of others, but only 
make an improper use of their own. 

That our blessed Saviour, for the edi- 
fication of the visible church, which is his 
body, hath appointed officers, not only to 
preach the gospel and administer the sa- 
craments, but also to exercise discipline, 
for the preservation of truth and duty ; 
and, that it is incumbent upon these offi- 
cers, and upon the whole church, in whose 



486 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



name they act, to censure or cast out the 
erroneous and scandalous ; observing, in 
all cases, the rules contained in the word 
of God. 

That truth is in order to goodness ; and 
the great touchstone of truth is its ten- 
dency to promote holiness ; according to 
our Saviour's rule, " By their fruits ye 
shall know them." And that no opinion 
can be more pernicious or more absurd, 
than that which brings truth and falsehood 
upon a level, and represents as of no con- 
sequence what a man's opinions are. On 
the contrary, that there is an inseparable 
connection between faith and practice, truth 
and duty. Otherwise it would be of no 
consequence either to discovor truth or to 
embrace it. 

That while the above principle is highly 
important, yet it is necessary to make 
effectual provision that all who are ad- 
mitted as teachers be sound in the faith. 
Nevertheless there are truths and forms, 
with respect to which men of good cha- 
racters and principles may differ. And in 
all these cases it is the duty, both of pri- 
vate Christians and societies, to exercise 
mutual forbearance towards each other. 

That though the character, qualifica- 
tions, and authority of church officers are 
laid down in the holy scriptures, as well as 
the proper method of their investiture and 
institution ; yet the election of the persons 
to the exercise of this authority, in any 
particular society, is in that society. 

That all church power, whether exer- 
cised by the body in general, or in the 
way of representation by delegated autho- 
rity, is only ministerial and declarative ; 
that is to say, that the holy scriptures are 
the only rule of faith and manners ; that 
no church judicatory ought to pretend to 
make laws to bind the conscience in vir- 
tue of their own authority ; and that all 
their decisions should be founded upon the 
revealed will of God. Now though it will 
easily be admitted that all synods and 
councils may err, through the frailty that 
is inseparable from humanity : yet there 
is much greater danger from the usurped 
claim of making laws, than from the right 
of judging upon laws already made, and 
common to all who profess the gospel ; 
although this right, as necessity requires in 
the present state, be lodged with fallible men. 



That if the preceding scriptural and 
rational principles be steadfastly adhered 
to, the vigor and strictness of its discipline 
will contribute to the glory and happiness 
of any church. Since ecclesiastical dis- 
cipline must be purely moral or spiritual 
in its object, and not attended with any 
civil effects, it can derive no force what- 
ever but from its own justice, the approba- 
tion of an impartial public, and the coun- 
tenance and blessing of the great Head of 
the Church Universal. 

These catholic and liberal views, are 
the basis upon which the structure of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States 
of America, rests. It does not regard itself 
as the Church, but only as a particular 
branch of the Catholic or Universal 
Church of Christ, which consists of all 
those persons in every nation, together 
with their children, who make profession 
of the holy religion of Christ, and of sub- 
mission to his laws. It regards Papacy 
and Diocesan Episcopacy as great usurpa- 
tions of ecclesiastical power, and highly 
unfavorable to the dissemination of the 
pure gospel, and uncongenial with our re- 
publican institutions. Yet, while Presby- 
terians believe that the parity of the clergy, 
and a representation of the laity in the 
officers denominated ruling elders, are im- 
portant features of the Apostolic Church, 
clearly discernible in the New Testament, 
they do not deny the validity of ordinances, 
because mixed with the errors and usurpa- 
tions of prelacy. On the contrary they 
dare not disown any church which holds 
Christ the head, and which is by him made 
the instrument of edifying spiritual be- 
lievers, and extending substantial Chris- 
tianity. 

The officers of the Presbyterian Church 
are bishops or pastors, ruling elders, and 
deacons. " The pastoral office is the first 
in the church both for dignity and useful- 
ness." The person filling this office is de- 
signated by different names in the New Tes- 
tament, names expressive of various duties. 
As he feeds the flock of God, he is called 
their pastor or shepherd. As he has the 
oversight of a congregation, he is called 
their bishop or overseer. As he is expected 
to exhibit the gravity and wisdom of age, 
he is called a presbyter or elder. As he 
is sent a messenger to the church, he is 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



487 



termed an angel. As he is entrusted with 
means of reconciling sinners, he is spoken 
of as an ambassador. And as he dis- 
penses spiritual blessings, he is called a 
steward of the mysteries of God. 

Ruling elders are elected by the people 
as their representatives. In conjunction 
with the pastor they exercise discipline. 
They are designated in the scriptures un- 
der the title of governments, and of those 
who rule well, but who do not labor in the 
word and doctrine. 

Deacons are also regarded as distinct 
officers in the church. Their official duty 
is the care of the poor, and the reception 
and disbursement of the charities of the 
congregation. These duties are often per- 
formed by the elders, and it is not deemed 
indispensable that deacons should be ap- 
pointed, unless the interests of the congre- 
gation demand it. 

The session consists of the pastor or 
pastors, and the ruling elders of a congre- 
gation, and is the primary judicatory of 
the church. The pastor is its presiding 
officer, called the moderator. This court, 
thus constituted, has power to watch over 
the spiritual interests of the congregation, 
to inquire into the Christian deportment 
of the members of the church, to call be- 
fore them offenders, and also to investigate 
charges presented by others, to receive 
members into the church, to admonish, to 
rebuke, to suspend, or to exclude from the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper those, 
who are found to deserve censure, accord- 
ing to the different degrees of their crimi- 
nality. It is the business of the session 
also to appoint a delegate from its own 
body to attend with the pastor, the higher 
judicatories of the church. It is required 
to keep a fair record of all its proceedings, 
as also a register of marriages, baptisms, 
persons admitted to the Lord's table, deaths 
and other removals of church members, 
and to transmit these records to the pres- 
bytery for their inspection. 

A presbytery consists of all the minis- 
ters and one ruling elder from each church, 
within a certain district. Three ministers, 
and as many elders as may be present, 
are necessary to constitute a quorum. The 
presbytery has power to receive and issue 
appeals from church sessions, and refer- 
ences brought before them in an orderly 



manner ; to examine and license candi- 
dates for the holy ministry ; to ordain, in- 
stall, remove and judge ministers ; to ex- 
amine, and approve or censure, the records 
of church sessions ; to resolve questions of 
doctrine or discipline, seriously and rea- 
sonably proposed ; to condemn erroneous 
opinions, which injure the purity or peace 
of the church ; to visit particular churches, 
for the purpose of inquiring into their 
state, and redressing the evils that may 
have arisen in them; to unite or divide 
congregations, at the request of the peo- 
ple, or to form or receive new congrega- 
tions ; and in general to perform whatever 
pertains to the spiritual welfare of the 
churches under their care. The presby- 
tery also keeps a full record of its pro- 
ceedings ; and its doings are subject to the 
revision of the synod, which is a court of 
appeal standing in a similar relation to the 
presbytery with that of the presbytery to 
the church session. 

A synod is a convention of the bishops 
with one elder from each church in a 
larger district ; it must include at least 
three presbyteries. The synod is the court 
of the last resort in all cases of a judicial 
nature, so that the whole appellate juris- 
diction of the church is limited to its final 
decision as a Provincial Assembly ; 
having supreme control in its own appro- 
priate sphere, though subordinate to the 
General Assembly, as to the review and 
constitutional oversight of its acts. 

The synod reviews the records of pres- 
byteries, approving or censuring their pro- 
ceedings, erecting new presbyteries, unit- 
ing or dividing those which were before 
erected, and taking a general care of the 
churches within its bounds, and proposing 
such measures to the General Assembly, 
as may be for advantage to the whole 
church. The General Assembly is the high- 
est judicatory of the Presbyterian Church. 

It is not necessary to Presbyterian go- 
vernment, nor is any court higher than 
the presbytery ; but it has the advantage 
of representing all the congregations of 
this denomination in one body. It is con- 
stituted of an equal delegation of bishops 
and elders, in the proportion of one min- 
ister and one elder from each presbytery ; 
and these are styled, commissioners to the 
General Assembly. 



488 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



Since the session of 1840, the Assem- 
bly exercises no judicial power, as it had 
formerly done, the synod now being the 
highest court of appeal. 

In other respects the General Assembly 
possesses powers analogous to those of the 
inferior courts, in reviewing the records of 
synods, and approving or censuring them. 
It also gives advice on subjects brought up 
to it in an orderly and consistent manner ; 
and constitutes a bond of union among all 
the churches. To the General Assembly 
also, belongs the power of deciding in all 
controversies respecting doctrine and dis- 
cipline ; of reproving, warning, and bear- 
ing testimony against error in doctrine, or 
immorality in practice in any church, 
presbytery, or synod ; of erecting new 
synods when it may be judged necessary ; 
of superintending the concerns of the 
whole church ; of corresponding with for- 
eign churches, on such terms as may be 
agreed upon by the Assembly and the cor- 
responding body ; of suppressing schisma- 
tical contentions and disputations ; and, in 
general, of recommending and attempting 
reformation of manners, and the promo- 
tion of charity, truth, and holiness, through 
all the churches under their care : pro- 
vided, that all these powers and relations 
of the Assembly shall be construed as ex- 
clusive of all the proper appellate juris- 
dictions of the church, in cases of a judi- 
cial nature. No modification of the con- 
stitution, or of constitutional rules can be 
introduced by the General Assembly, till 
such modifications shall have been trans- 
mitted to the presbyteries, and written an- 
swers approving of the same shall have 
been returned by at least a majority of 
them. The sessions of the General As- 
sembly are held regularly once in three 
years. The synods meet annually, and 
the presbyteries once in six months. 

There are provisions also, in the form 
of government, for convening any one of 
these* judicatories for a special meeting, if 
any special exigencies shall demand such 
a step. 

The public worship of God in the Pres- 
byterian Church is not conducted by a 
prescribed liturgy. This church thinks it 
obvious that no forms of prayer, no pre- 
scribed liturgies were used in apostolic 
times, and she dares not introduce human 



inventions into the mode of her worship. 
It cannot be supposed that Paul kneeled 
down on the shore, when he parted with 
his friends at Tyre, and read a prayer 
from a book ; or that Paul and Silas used 
a prescribed form when they prayed at 
midnight in the prison at Philippi. The 
Lord's Prayer forms no objection to these 
views, because it is not given in the same 
words by any two of the Evangelists. 
Besides, it contains no clause asking for 
blessings in the name of Christ, which our 
Saviour himself solemnly enjoined upon 
his church, before he withdrew his per- 
sonal presence. In the subsequent in- 
spired history we find no allusion to this 
form of prayer, nor any reference to either 
saying or reading of prayers, both of 
which modes of expression are natural for 
those who employ precomposed forms. 
Socrates and Sozomen, respectable eccle- 
siastical writers of the fifth century, both 
declare, that in their day, " no two per- 
sons were found to use the same words in 
public worship." And Augustine, who 
was nearly their contemporary, declares 
in relation to this subject, " There is free- 
dom to use different words, provided the 
same things are mentioned in prayer." 

In forming her " Directory for the Pub- 
lic Worship of God," the Presbyterian 
Church regards the holy scriptures as the 
only safe guide ; therefore she does no 
more than to recommend a judicious ar- 
rangement of the several parts of the public 
service, throwing upon the pastor the re- 
sponsibility of preparing himself for a pro- 
per and edifying performance of those acts 
of worship, which shall be suited to the 
ever-changing wants of the congregation. 

The sacraments of the church are re- 
garded as being two only : baptism and 
the Lord's Supper. The former is ordi- 
narily performed by Presbyterians by ap- 
plying the water to the subject, though 
they do not deny the validity of immersion. 
Baptism is administered to adult believers 
and their infant offspring ; but none are 
admitted to participate in the Lord's Sup- 
per who have not given evidence of per- 
sonal piety, and of understanding the signi- 
ficance of the ordinance. 

No rite is looked upon as possessing 
any intrinsic influence. Presbyterians do i 
not believe that an influence of a myste- | 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



489 



rious kind passes from the hands of the 
presbytery into the spiritual nature of one 
set apart by them to the sacred office. On 
the contrary they regard the call to the 
ministry as proceeding from God. The 
candidate professes to have been moved 
by the Holy Spirit to desire the sacred 
office. He declares that he does, as far 
as he knows his own heart, seek the office 
of the holy ministry from love to God, 
and a sincere desire to promote his glory 
in the gospel of his Son. When the pres- 
bytery is satisfied that these professions 
have been made sincerely, and understand- 
ing^, they impose hands upon the candi- 
date as a solemn recognition of one, whom 
they believe God has by his providence 
and grace " put into the ministry." 

They deny also that any mysterious 
grace accompanies the water in baptism, 
or that the bread and wine in the Lord's 
Supper possess any new qualities after a 
blessing has been invoked by the offi- 
ciating clergyman. They look for no 
other influence from religious rites than 
that, which results from a wise adaptation 
for enforcing truth, by striking symbols, 
and creating hallowed associations. They 
deprecate the doctrine of the transmission 
of a power to human hands to create min- 
isters at will, or to convey certainly any 
grace to sinners, as tending to inflate the 
ministry with pride, to impart to them an 
influence which God never intended, and 
to sink the people into a degrading super- 
stition. 

From the same apprehension of the evils 
of superstition, and from the want of a 
warrant in the word of God, they reject 
Godfathers and Godmothers, and the sign 
of the cross in baptism, and holy days, 
and kneeling in the Lord's Supper and 
bowing at the name of Jesus, and the rite 
of confirmation, and the efficacy of con- 
secrated grounds in the burial of the dead. 

The doctrines of the Presbyterian 
Church are Calvinistic. They are so 
called, not because Calvin invented them. 
They were the doctrines of all the leading 
Reformers ; of the Waldenses, for five or 
six hundred years before the Reformation ; 
of Augustin and the primitive Church, and 
especially are they distinctly exhibited in 
the word of God. This system of doc- 
trine is clearly set forth in the Westmin- 



ster Confession of Faith, and the Larger 
and Shorter Catechisms. 

Without pretending to expound fully the 
great principles, more amply unfolded in 
the standards of the church, we may say, 
briefly, that the Presbyterian Church 
maintains that, since the fall of Adam, 
and in consequence of his lapse, all men 
are naturally destitute of holiness, alien- 
ated entirely from God, and justly subject J 
to his eternal displeasure. The plan of I 
man's recovery from this state is, from > 
first to last, a system of unmerited grace. 
The mediation of Jesus Christ, including 
his instructions, his example, his sacrifice 
on the cross, his resurrection, ascension, 
and intercession, are the means of bring- 
ing men back to God. Yet these means 
would be without efficacy, if there were 
not revealed to man a gratuitous justifi- 
cation through the merit of our Saviour's 
sacrifice, and if the Holy Spirit did not by 
his own invisible agency cause sinners to j 
accept a free pardon and salvation. Hence 
the provisions of mercy are gratuitous, not 
only depending on the sovereign grace of 
God, but the disposition to accept these 
provisions is produced by a sovereign in- 
terposition of the divine Spirit. It is evi- 
dent, from scripture, and from daily ob- 
servation, that all are not saved ; and, 
consequently, that it was not the original 
purpose of Him who never changes his 
plans of operation, to bring all to repent- 
ance and faith in the Redeemer. " Known 
unto God are all his works from the be- 
ginning of the world. All the dispensa- 
tions of his grace, as well as of his provi- 
dence, and among the rest the effectual 
calling and salvation of every believer, 
entered into his plan from all eternity." 
" Yet so as that thereby neither is God the 
author of sin, nor is violence offered to 
the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty 
or contingency of second causes taken 
away, but rather established." 

It is undeniable that these views may 
be perverted and misrepresented, and ren- 
dered odious by drawing inferences from 
them which Presbyterians do not allow. 
For such perversions those of no creed 
are responsible. If we might refer to a 
single argument in which the distinguish- 
ing peculiarities of the doctrines of the 
Presbyterian Church are most triumphantly 



02 



490 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



maintained, it should be that masterly 
homily of the Apostle Paul, or rather of 
the Holy Spirit, dictated to the apostle as 
his amanuensis, comprised in his Epistle 
to the Romans. 

Whatever odium has been cast upon 
the Presbyterian Church for holding Cal- 
vinistic doctrines, it ought to be remem- 
bered that the honor of bearing it does not 
belong to them. It belongs to all the Re- 
formers, to the symbols of the Synod of 
Dort, the Heidelberg Confession and Cate- 
chism, and the Thirty-nine Articles of the 
Established Church of England, and of 
the Episcopal Church in this country. If 
the English Church has fallen into such a 
spiritual state that the Earl of Chatham 
was justified in saying, " We have a 
Popish liturgy, a Calvinistic creed, and an 
Arminian clergy ;" and if the churches on 
the continent of Europe have sunk to a 
lower condition, because a vigorous dis- 
sent has not infused a little spiritual life 
into the establishments : surely the Pres- 
byterians of Scotland and America are 
not worthy of very severe censure for 
keeping alive, at the same time, the doc- 
trines of Calvanism and the spirit of piety. 

The genius and character of the Pres- 
byterian Church, in the United States of 
America, has been modified by a union 
of churches possessing some varieties of 
feature, while agreeing in the great lead- 
ing principles of Presbyterian government 
and Calvinistic doctrine. In 1689, the 
Presbyterian and Congregational denomi- 
nations in Great Britain consummated a 
union of the two denominations, adopting 
what they call the Heads of Agreement, 
embracing a few cardinal principles which 
were to govern them in their fraternal in- 
tercourse. This Presbyterian and Con- 
gregational union, sent over one of their 
number, the Rev. Francis McKemie, as a 
missionary to the new settlements in Ame- 
rica. This devoted missionary, who had 
previously labored here with apostolic zeal, 
and who has been properly styled the fa- 
ther of Presbyterianism in America, in con- 
nection with six others, viz., Messrs. 
McNish, Andrews, Hampton, Taylor, 
Wilson, and Davis, In 1704, or 1705, 
formed the first presbytery in this coun- 
try, the Presbytery of Philadelphia. This 
presbytery was formed upon the princi- 



ples that governed the London association, 
and was composed partly of Presbyterian 
and partly of Congregational churches. 
The Presbyterianism was that of the 
Church of Ireland, and was more flexible 
in its character than that of the Scottish 
Kirk. It more easily coalesced with the 
Congregationalism of the English Puritans. 
The Rev. Mr. Andrews, the first pastor 
of the first Presbyterian Church of Phila- 
delphia, was a Congregational Presbyte- 
rian. That church was under the care 
of the presbytery sixty-four years before 
they elected ruling elders. Presbyterian- 
ism gradually extended itself till, in 1716, 
the Synod of Philadelphia was formed out 
of the Presbyteries of Philadelphia, New 
Castle, Snow Hill, and Long Island. The 
Church of Scotland, instead of imbibing 
these principles which resulted in the 
Union of 1689, and in the establishment 
of a modified Presbyterianism in America, 
solemnly bore their testimony against re- 
ligious toleration. In 1724, those min- 
isters from Scotland who, in the language 
of Dr. Miller, " were desirous to carry 
into effect the system to which they had 
been accustomed, in all its extent and 
strictness," began to insist that the entire 
system of the Scottish Church be received 
in this country. The collisions thus oc- 
casioned at length subsided in the Adopt- 
ing Act of 1729, the liberal principles of 
which were embodied in the following 
language : " Although the synod do not 
claim or pretend to any authority of im- 
posing our faith on other men's consciences, 
but do profess our just dissatisfaction with, 
and abhorrence of such impositions, and 
do not only disclaim all legislative power 
and authority in the church, being willing 
to receive one another as Christ has re- 
ceived us to the glory of God, and admit 
to fellowship, in church ordinances, all 
such as we have ground to believe that 
Christ will at last admit to the kingdom 
of heaven ; yet, we are undoubtedly 
obliged to take care that the faith once 
delivered to the saints be kept pure, and 
uncorrupt among us, and do therefore 
agree, that all the ministers of this synod, 
shall declare their agreement in, and ap- 
probation of the Confession of Faith, with 
the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the 
Assembly of Divines at Westminster, as 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



491 



being in all essential and necessary arti- 
cles, good forms, and sound words and 
systems of Christian doctrine, &c. And 
we do, also, agree that the presbyteries 
shall take care not to admit any candidate, 
but what declares his agreement in opin- 
ion with all the essential and necessary 
articles of said Confession. And in case 
any minister or any candidate shall have 
any scruples with regard to any article 
of said Confession or Catechisms, he shall 
declare his sentiments to the presbytery 
or synod, who shall, notwithstanding, 
admit him to the exercise of the ministry 
within our bounds, if they shall judge his 
scruples or mistakes to be only about 
articles not essential and necessary in 
doctrine, worship, and government. And 
the synod do solemnly agree, that none 
of us will traduce or use any opprobrious 
terms towards those who differ from us 
in those extra-essential and not necessary 
points of doctrine, but treat them with the 
same friendship, kindness, and brotherly 
love, as if nothing had happened." 

After some years this spirit of concilia- 
tion and charity gave place to a determina- 
tion on the part of some, to enforce the more 
rigid forms of the Scottish Church. This 
led to the first great schism of the Pres- 
byterian Church in 1741, and to the for- 
mation of the Synod of New York, in 1745. 

In 1758, which was fifteen years after 
the separation, the Synods of New York 
and Philadelphia were united. No cause 
of disunion had been removed, except 
that greatest cause of division : ambitious 
men and evil tempers ; for when the re- 
union took place, they agreed to adopt the 
Confession of faith, Catechisms, and Di- 
rectory, as they had been adopted in 
1729. In 1766, eight years after the 
union of the synod under the name of the 
Synod of New York and Philadelphia, 
that body proposed a convention of dele- 
gates of the pastors of the Congregational, 
Consociated, and Presbyterian Churches 
in North America, which was held an- 
nually for ten years, when it was inter- 
rupted by the American Revolution. In 
1788, the General Assembly was organ- 
ized, and in 1790, the Assembly " being 
peculiarly desirous to renew and strength- 
en every bond of union between brethren 
so nearly agreed in doctrine and forms of 



worship, as the Presbyterian and Congre- 
gational Churches evidently are, do re- 
solve that the Congregational Churches 
of New England, be invited to renew their 
annual convention with the clergy of the 
Presbyterian Church." This resolution 
led to the adoption of the plan of corres- 
pondence with the Congregational bodies 
of New England, which is still in exist- 
ence, and according to which " every 
preacher travelling from one body to the 
other, and properly recommended, shall 
be received as an authorized preacher of 
the gospel, and cheerfully taken under the 
patronage of the presbytery or associa- 
tion, within whose limits he shall find 
employment as a preacher." 

These conciliatory proceedings led to 
unexampled success in extending the 
Presbyterian Church, and in 1801, the 
General Assembly devised some new 
" regulations to promote harmony in the 
new settlements." 

These regulations were proposed to the 
General Association of Connecticut, and 
met with their cordial concurrence. They 
may be found under the title of " A Plan 
of Union," &c, in the Assembly's Di- 
gest, p. 297, as follows, viz. : 

" Sec. 5. A plan of Union between 
Presbyterians and Congregationalists in 
the new settlements, adopted in 1801. 

" The report of the committee appointed 
to consider and digest a plan of govern- 
ment for the churches in the new settle- 
ments was taken up and considered ; and 
after mature deliberation on the same, 
approved as follows : 

" Regulations adopted by the General 
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
America, and by the General Associa- 
tion of the State of Connecticut, (provided 
said Association agree to them,) with a 
view to prevent alienation, and promote 
union and harmony, in those new settle- 
ments which are composed of inhabitants 
from these bodies. 

"1. It is strictly enjoined on all their 
missionaries to the new settlements, to 
endeavor, by all proper means, to promote 
mutual forbearance and accommodation, 
between those inhabitants of the new set- 
tlements, who hold the Presbyterian, and 
those who hold the Congregational form 
of church government. 



492 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



"2. If in the new settlements, any 
church of the Congregational order shall 
settle a minister of the Presbyterian order, 
that church may, if they choose, still con- 
duct their discipline according to Congre- 
gational principles, settling their difficul- 
ties among themselves, or by a council 
mutually agreed on for that purpose : but 
if any difficulty shall exist between the 
minister and the church, or any member 
of it, it shall be referred to the presbytery 
to which the minister shall belong, pro- 
vided both parties agree to it ; if not, to 
a council consisting of equal numbers 
of Presbyterians and Congregationalists, 
agreed upon by both parties. 

" 3. If a Presbyterian church shall 
settle a minister of Congregational prin- 
ciples, that church may still conduct their 
discipline according to Presbyterian prin- 
ciples ; excepting that if a difficulty arise 
between him and his church, or any 
member of it, the cause shall be tried by 
the association to which the said minister 
shall belong, provided both parties agree 
to it; otherwise by a council, one -half 
Congregationalists and the other half 
Presbyterians, mutually agreed on by 
the parties. 

" 4. If any congregation consists partly 
of those who hold the Congregational 
form of discipline, and partly of those 
who hold the Presbyterian form', we re- 
commend to both parties that this be no 
obstruction to their uniting in one church, 
and settling a minister : and that, in this 
case, the church choose a standing com- 
mittee from the communicants of said 
church, whose business it shall be to call 
to account every member of the church 
who shall conduct himself inconsistently 
with the laws of Christianity, and give 
judgment on such conduct ; and if the 
person condemned by their jndgment be a 
Presbyterian, he shall have liberty to ap- 
peal to the presbytery ; if a Congrega- 
tionalist, he shall have liberty to appeal 
to the body of the male communicants of 
the church : in the former case the deter- 
mination of the presbytery shall be final, 
unless the church consent to a further ap- 
peal to the synod, or to the General As- 
sembly ; and, in the latter case, if the 
party condemned shall wish for a trial 
by a mutual council, the case shall be 



referred to such council. And provided 
that the said standing committee, of such 
church, shall depute one of themselves to 
attend the presbytery, he may have the 
same right to sit and act in the presbytery 
as a ruling elder of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

" On motion, resolved, that an attested 
copy of the above plan be made by the 
stated clerk, and put into the hands of 
the delegates of this Assembly to the 
General Association, to be by them laid 
before that body for their consideration ; 
and that if it should be approved by them, 
it may go into immediate operation." 

This plan was acceded to by the Gen- 
eral Association of Connecticut, and its 
practical working was remarkably har- 
monious for more than thirty years. Du- 
ring this period, the Presbyterian Church 
was extended with unexampled rapidity. 
" The Plan of Union" operated in form- 
ing churches of the mixed character con- 
templated by this scheme. But the clergy 
were generally favorable to Presbyterian 
government ; and as its representative 
feature agreed so well with the nature of 
our civil institutions, and secured all the 
substantial advantages of Congregational- 
ism, the churches almost uniformly be- 
came Presbyterian in full, at no distant 
period from the date of their formation. 
In 1803, the Synod of Albany was con- 
stituted from the Presbyteries of Albany, 
Oneida, and Columbia. Through this 
synod the Plan of Union extended its 
united forces with the rolling flood of 
population over the beautiful regions of 
western New York. Within a few years 
the Presbyteries of Onondaga, Cayuga, 
and Geneva, were successively organized, 
constituting an extended western limb of 
the Synod of Albany. 

The last named three presbyteries were 
then, by a division of the Synod of Albany 
constituted into the Synod of Geneva. 

This body extended itself to the shores 
of Lake Erie and the Niagara river. In 
1805, this extensive synod was divided by 
the General Assembly, and the Synod of 
Genesee was erected from the western 
portion. Thus the Synod of Albany, 
where the Plan of Union first begun to 
operate, became three large synods, in- 
cluding thirty-four presbyteries before 



J 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



493 



1837. Congregationalism was rapidly de- 
clining over all that region, and some 
j whole presbyteries scarcely contained one 
church on the principles contemplated by 
the Plan of Union. This scheme for pro- 
moting harmony had accomplished the 
work for which it was designed ; it had 
moulded the mixed mass into a compara- 
tively homogeneous Presbyterian commu- 
nity. It was perhaps well that the Plan 
of Union should be abrogated. Presby- 
terianism was so thoroughly established, 
that no other consequences could well re- 
sult from the change, except perhaps, the 
falling back of a few churches to pure 
Congregationalism. 

Yet the very success of this plan be- 
came the occasion of separating the Pres- 
byterian Church into two great bodies of 
nearly equal numerical force. But while 
the Plan of Union became the occasion of 
this rent, it was by no means the cause 
of it. 

There were two parties in the cnurch. 
There always had been from the time that 
McKemie and his associates formed the 
Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1705. The 
English Puritan and the Scotch elements 
that were commingled in the association 
formed in England between the Presbyte- 
rian and the Congregational denomina- 
tions, were transplanted into America. 

In this compound the Puritan influence 
was at first predominant. But a large 
share of the English immigration fell na- 
turally into the Congregational Churches 
of New England, while nearly all the 
Scotch as naturally dropped into the Pres- 
byterian Church. Hence the Scotch ele- 
ment became more and more influential, 
as it came to bear a greater proportion to 
the whole body. Hence too the " old 
side" and the " new side," and the divi- 
sion of 1741. These parties possessed in 
their common symbols of faith, and in 
their common attachment to free non-pre- 
latical principles, affinities of sufficient 
force to draw them together in some sys- 
tem of Christian co-operation. Yet there 
were differences, which like the repulsion 
existing between the particles of matter, 
when brought near to one another, resisted 
| any thing like a complete coalescence. 

The appellations " old side" and " new 
side," and "old school" and "new school,'' 



have been justly complained of as an ar- 
rogant claim for themselves on the part of 
those terming themselves " old school," 
and as evincing an attempt to cast odium 
upon their brethren as having less reve- 
rence for scriptural teaching, and the an- 
cient paths of Christianity. 

The terms Scotch party, and Puritan 
party, cannot be reasonably objected to, 
because each party glories in its own an- 
cestry in this respect. 

The differences of these two parties in 
their native characteristics, are pretty well 
understood. The Puritan is satisfied with 
maintaining the great leading truths of the 
Calvinistic faith, and is ready to waive 
minor differences, and to co-operate with 
all Christian people in diffusing evangelical 
piety. Hence, though the mass of our 
Puritan people preferred Congregational 
government, they looked calmly on, while 
hundreds of their ministers, and thousands 
of their church members were becoming 
thorough Presbyterians. The Scotch, on 
the contrary, were of a more inflexible 
character. They too loved Calvinistic 
doctrines, and if they had less zeal than 
the Puritans in diffusing our religion, and 
in acting for the regeneration of our coun- 
try and the world, they were second to no 
other people on earth in these respects. 

The differences in doctrine between the 
two had respect mainly to three points of 
explanation of great facts in the Calvinis- 
tic system. They both agreed that the 
whole race of Adam were sinners by na- 
ture. Many of the Scotch school main- 
tained that sin was literally infused into 
the human soul prior to any moral agency 
of the subject. 

Many of the Puritan party alleged that 
this was not the mode by which all men 
became sinners, but that it was enough to 
say that there were certain native propen- 
sities in every descendant of Adam, which 
naturally and certainly induced sinful ac- 
tion with the commencement of moral 
agency. 

Many of the Scotch party maintained 
that the atonement of Christ is intended as 
a provision for the elect alone. The Puri- 
tan party asserted that the atonement is 
made for the race as a whole, so that it 
may be truly said to every lost sinner, 
after he shall be shut up in the eternal 



494 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



prison, « You might have had salvation ; 
Christ purchased it for you, and proffered 
it to you in all sincerity." 

The Scotch party maintained, that un- 
converted sinners were perfectly unable, 
in every sense, to comply with the re- 
quirements of the gospel. The other 
party alleged, that " God hath endued the 
will of man with that natural liberty, that 
it is neither forced, nor by any absolute 
necessity of nature, determined to good 
or evil." Many individuals were found, 
on both sides, that pushed these views to 
an extreme ; but far the greater proportion 
of the clergy, in each party, were content 
to preach the gospel faithfully to their 
respective flocks, with so little of the con- 
troversial spirit, that the greater part of 
their intelligent hearers, did not understand 
that there was any perceptible difference 
in the theology of the two schools. In- 
deed, the division cannot be said to have 
taken place on theological principles. 

Nor did the difference of measures for 
promoting religion exert any influence di- 
rectly in producing the separation. The 
people of western New York were a staid 
New England population. When some 
irregularities sprung up among them, 
strong remonstrances were called into 
exercise in their own community, by this 
infringement of the uniform and long es- 
tablished order to which they had been 
accustomed. But, the same irregularities 
that produced unhappy excitements there, 
are, at this day, exceeded, by far, in many 
portions of the Presbyterian Church, that 
have been wholly moulded by the Scotch 
party. We have known a church, in a 
village of western New York, thrown into 
great excitement, because a member was 
admitted to the communion of the church, 
with only one week's probation, after his 
first expressing a hope in Christ. This, 
too, when the man was a respectable citi- 
zen, a regular attendant upon the sanctu- 
ary, and of most blameless morals. Such 
were the habits of the Christian commu- 
nity, that great anxiety was created by 
what was there deemed so hasty a step in 
the reception of a convert to the ordi- 
nances of the church. Yet the writer of 
this article has witnessed in the state of 
Kentucky, under the Scotch system, an 
instance of a woman's coming to what 



was, untastefully enough, called an " anx- 
ious seat," on Saturday evening, indicating 
there and by that act, for the first time, 
that she was impressed with the great 
truths of the gospel ; and yet she was re- 
ceived to the church the next day, without 
creating even surprise among the people. 

This was not a new measure at the 
West, because the people were accus- 
tomed to it. It would probably be looked 
on as an act of hurried fanaticism in the 
most extravagant Presbyterian church in 
western New York, at the present 
day. 

The causes of the division lay back of 
any serious differences in doctrines or mea- 
sures. The Domestic Missionary Society, 
in New York, was a voluntary associa- 
tion, sending its missionaries to the new 
settlements of our western frontiers. The 
General Assembly also employed mission- 
aries to labor upon the same field. Some 
friends of domestic missions in New Eng- 
land and New York, conceived of a noble 
project for increasing the efficiency of the 
domestic missionary movement. 

It had been satisfactorily proved by the 
munificence of an individual, that the sum 
of one hundred dollars, given to a feeble 
congregation, would operate as an encour- 
agement to the people, to secure a continu- 
ous dispensation of the gospel among 
them. 

After some communications from one 
to another, among distinguished Christian 
philanthropists, the Domestic Missionary 
Society was merged in the American 
Home Missionary Society, formed in New 
York, in 1826. This society enjoyed a 
success which the missions of the General 
Assembly had never possessed. 

The reasons were obvious. According 
to its plan of operations, every one hun- 
dred and sixty-two dollars, secured the 
planting of a missionary for one year, 
over a feeble church. Its funds were col- 
lected by soliciting from the benevolent 
considerable annual donations to its trea- 
sury. Many wealthy Christians contri- 
buted a sum sufficient to support one, two, 
three, or more missionaries. On the plan 
of the Assembly, every missionary cost 
its mission four hundred and sixty-six 
dollars. Its collections, too, were mainly 
sought for in small sums. " The fifty 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



495 



cent plan," as it was termed, was greatly- 
relied on. 

This plan of soliciting from every 
member of the church, a penny a week, 
failed to secure any great amount of funds. 
The wealthy were pleased with a plan so 
agreeable to a parsimonious spirit ; the 
solicitation was not universal, and great 
numbers failed to comply with a request 
so reasonable. Here was the germ of the 
difficulty. The Home Missionary Society 
extended its influence rapidly. The plan 
was popular. The results gave it in- 
creased eclat, and those who were con- 
nected" with it, acquired a vast moral in- 
fluence in the church. This influence 
was wielded mainly by those who were 
of the Puritan party. In Philadelphia, 
there was another kind of influence. It 
was ecclesiastical, and arose from that 
city's being the birthplace of American 
Presbyterianism, and the place where the 
General Assembly held its annual ses- 
sions. In that Jerusalem of our beloved 
church, resided men venerated for their 
years, and respected for their learning, 
piety, and usefulness. They were of the 
Scotch party. " They were desirous," 
as Dr. Miller said of the ministers from 
Scotland, at another period, "to carry 
into effect the system to which they had 
been accustomed in all its extent and 
strictness." The Home Missionary So- 
ciety, and the Plan of Union, promoted a 
rapid growth of the Puritan element in the 
Presbyterian Church. That portion of 
the church which had received its cast and 
tone from New England, possessed an 
efficiency in impressing its own character 
upon our growing population, which the 
Scotch party did not possess. It gave 
funds for the missionary work with far 
greater liberality ; it educated men for the 
sacred office in greater numbers, it co- 
operated with other denominations more 
freely. It w r as the more popular and 
growing portion of the church, and it was 
evident that the day was not very distant, 
when it would have a strongly ascendant 
influence in the Presbyterian Church, un- 
less something were done to check its 
power. 

This naturally created anxiety in those 
who had been accustomed to a strong con- 
trol in the ecclesiastical judicatories. They 



felt that the church would be unsafe, if 
the power should pass into other hands. 
Hence arose accusations for heresy against 
ministers whose reputation for orthodoxy 
never could be brought into question with 
any intelligent, uncommitted hearers of 
their preaching. Three distinguished pro- 
secutions for heresy were instituted as a 
means of carrying out the designs of the 
Scotch party. These were the cases of 
the Rev. George Duffield, of Carlisle ; the 
Rev. Albert Barnes, of Philadelphia ; and 
the Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D., of Cin- 
cinnati. These prosecutions were carried 
on with great zeal for several years ; that 
of Mr. Barnes lasted six years ; but all 
proved signal failures. There was a tone 
of moderation and piety in the church, 
which would not allow such men to be 
deposed as heretics. 

These efforts were accompanied by a 
warm resistance of voluntary associations 
in the work of missions, and in educating 
young men for the sacred office ; and also 
by a complaint of extravagance and new 
measures in the region where " the Plan 
of Union" had exerted its influence. It 
cannot be denied, indeed, that extrava- 
gances existed in western New York ; but 
they were extravagances of which the 
other party had no right to complain, and 
of which they would probably never have 
heard, if the Puritan party had been as 
much accustomed to camp meetings, and 
anxious seats, and hasty admissions, as 
extensive regions of the church under the 
control of the Scotch party had been. 

The Scotch party was doubtless sincere 
in magnifying every cause for apprehen- 
sion in regard to the doctrines, and the 
order of the other portion of the church. 
Good men accustomed to great influence 
very easily believe, that if power passes 
from their own hands, it will be exercised 
with less discretion. 

The moderate party had the advantage 
in point of numbers ; but they had less of 
esprit clu corps, less of organization as a 
party, and less disposition to contend. The 
Scotch party organized themselves by 
conventions and appeals through the press, 
representing the church as being in ex- 
treme danger from heresy in doctrine, and 
innovations upon established order. The 
feelings to which they appealed were a 



496 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



warm regard for Presbyterian order and 
doctrine. The Puritan party really be- 
lieved that it was unjustifiable to attempt 
to meet these war-like preparations by de- 
monstrations of the same character. They 
thought, if they still devoted their energies 
to the cause of missions, and the progress 
of piety in our own church, and in the 
country at large, God would protect their 
cause. 

The General Assembly of 1837, con- 
vened in Philadelphia. It was distinctly 
understood, previously to the meeting, 
through a convention of that party, that if 
they could secure a majority, some mea- 
sures would be adopted which would dis- 
able, ever thereafter, the moderate party 
in the church. The desired majority was 
obtained. They first abrogated the Plan 
of Union, and then declared four synods, 
viz : those of Ulica, Geneva, Genesee, 
and the Western Reserve, out of the Pres- 
byterian Church. The " Plan of Union" 
did not make these four synods, it only- 
made the people Presbyterians, and the 
General xAssembly constituted the synods. 
When " The Plan of Union" was abrogat- 
ed, it became obvious that those churches, 
which were partly or wholly Congrega- 
tional, must lose their connection with the 
presbyteries ; but how synods and pres- 
byteries lost their Presbyterian character 
by the removal of what little remnants of 
Congregationalism had remained in them 
till that time, it is difficult to conceive. In- 
deed it is qune manifest that the whole 
movement was made, as was admitted by 
a principal leader of the party at the time, 
for the simple purpose of preventing a 
future majority of the other party. These 
four synods, comprising about five hun- 
dred ministers, and six hundred churches, 
and sixty thousand communicants, were 
attempted to be cut off from the Presbyte- 
rian Church, because, if the opposing party 
was not thoroughly broken by such an 
excision, the Scotch party would never 
have a majority on that floor again. 

After passing these resolutions, the ma- 
jority took effective measures to retain 
the records, and the funds of the church, 
by passing an order requiring the clerks 
to pledge themselves not to receive the 
commissioners from the exscinded synods, 
in the formation of the next Assembly. 



The Puritan party learning that if the l! 
moderator and clerks should assume to 
carry out the unconstitutional acts of 

1837, in the organizing of the Assembly 
of 1838, it would be clearly a conspiracy 
to deprive them of their rights, appeared 
by their commissioners and organized the 
Assembly, at the appointed time and place, 
in a legal and constitutional manner. The 
Scotch party also organized, and each 
body proclaimed itself the regular consti- 
tutional " General Assembly of the Pres- 
byterian Church of the United States of 
America." The party that had exscinded 
the four synods to secure to themselves a 
future majority, retained all the funds and 
property of the church, amounting to more 
than three hundred thousand dollars. 

The General Assembly in its session in 

1838, appointed six new trustees, in ac- 
cordance with the act of Corporation, 
passed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 
in 1799. The new trustees thus appoint- 
ed, instituted a process in law, requiring 
of the trustees who had been superseded 
" To answer to the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, by what warrant they 
claimed to have, use, and enjoy the fran- 
chises and privileges of Trustees of the 
General Assembly." 

After a full and impartial trial before a 
jury, a verdict was rendered in favor of 
the plaintiffs — the Puritan party : " that 
is," as explained by the presiding judge, 
" the Assembly which held its sittings in 
the First Presbyterian Church, (a portion 
of which had been cut off in 1837, with- 
out trial,) was the true General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Church, in the United 
States of America, under the charter." 

The counsel for the defendants applied 
to " the Supreme Court in Banc " for a 
new trial. After hearing the cause, Chief 
Justice Gibson ordered a new trial. Va- 
rious delays occurred. The General As- 
sembly is satisfied with the moral effect 
of the decision rendered by a jury of their 
countrymen, and has withdrawn the suit. 

The reasons for this withdrawment are 
various. First, the General Assembly is i 
willing to sacrifice something, and even 
much, for peace. But the great object of 
the trial has been secured. The Consti- 
tutional party definitely offered to feave | 
all the funds in the hands of the exscind- i 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



497 



ing party, if they would allow the separa- 
tion to be a division of the church rather 
than an expulsion of nearly one third part 
of the whole, so that its church property 
should not be at the mercy of the exscind- 
ers, whenever even a small minority might 
see fit to rise up and claim it from those 
who had produced it to secure to them- 
selves and their children the ordinances 
of the gospel. This they utterly refused. 
The Assembly preferred to secure the right 
to the churches which they had built, by 
testing their bright to be considered the 
law successors, according to the charter. 
The result is known. An enlightened court 
and jury, before whom the merits of the 
cause on both sides were fully and ably 
manifested — the only tribunal where 

THE CAUSE EVER WAS TRIED UPON ITS 

merits — were prompt and unanimous in 
our favor. After the new trial was or- 
dered, several suits were commenced, by 
small minorities attempting to take, by 
course of law, the sanctuaries which our 
people had erected before the division. 
Every one of these cases that came to an 
issue was decided in our favor. 

The award of the Court in Banc, Chief 
Justice Gibson presiding and pronouncing 
the opinion of the court, in the case of the 
Presbyterian Church of York, Pennsylva- 
nia, while it has for ever settled the occu- 
pancy of church property in that State on 
the proper basis, has so clearly treated of 
the main question at issue, between the 
parties in the action we have withdrawn, 
and so correctly in the main has it eclair- 
cised and settled them, that we are com- 
paratively content with the award, inas- 
much as IT explains, qualifies, and in 
effect morally overrules, the posi- 
tions eefore advanced, by the same 
court, on the motion previously " affirmed 
absolute," for a new trial. 

In that award, allusion is distinctly had 
to those positions, as leading to the abso- 
lute affirmance of the motion ; and this 
result is explained as follows : " It was 
not because the minority were thought to 
be any thing else than Presbyterians, but 
because a popular body is known only by 
its government or head. * * * Indeed, the 
measure [the exscinding violence] would 
seem to have been as decisively revolution- 
ary, as would be an exclusion of particular 



States from the Federal Union, for the 
adoption of an anti-republican form of 
government. ****** That the Old 
School party acceded to the privileges and 
property of the Assembly, was not be- 
cause it was more Presbyterian than the 
other, but* because it was stronger ; for 
had it been the weaker, it would have 
been the party excluded." 

The Scotch party retain the funds and 
property. Individuals of the party have 
intimated a willingness to restore as much 
of these funds as was contributed by the 
Puritan party. There is no doubt they 
would be more happy if it were done ; but 
how to perform that which they desire, 
they find not. The funds are of little 
consequence. The period of deep excite- 
ment has passed away. Some great ad- 
vantages have accrued from this unhappy 
division of brethren. The accusations of 
heresy have ceased, and events have 
shown that either party would gladly 
strengthen itself with receiving to its arms 
any clergyman of good standing in his 
present position. An interchange of pub- 
lic service in one another's churches has 
already commenced, and there is every 
reason to hope that the time is not distant, 
when the kindest and most fraternal inter- 
course will prevail universally between 
these two branches of the Presbyterian 
family. 

Names are of minor consequence ; yet 
they exert an influence ; and the present 
relations of these two bodies demand the 
exercise of Christian courtesy and kind- 
ness in the appellations by which they 
shall distinguish one another. The Gen 
era! Assembly of the Puritan party has 
been termed the Constitutional General 
Assembly, to distinguish it from those of 
the exscinding body, and this has been 
justified on the ground that the jury so 
decided. But it is to be remembered that 
a final decision has not been had, and it 
is adapted to wound the feelings of some 
to fix such appellations upon the two par- 
ties. They are now two churches. The 
division may be advantageously contem- 
plated as one of the events ordered by an 
all-wise Providence. 

The Assembly of the Scotch party 
holds its sessions annually. That of the 
Puritan party meets only once in three 



63 



498 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



years. There can be no offence in call- 
ing one the Annual Assembly, and the 
other the Triennial Assembly. 

The numerical strength of the two 
churches is not greatly unequal. The 
Triennial Assembly carries forward its 
charitable operations wholly by means of 
voluntary associations, in which it co-op- 
erates with other denominations. Its 
contributions to foreign missions are made 
chiefly to the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions ; those 
for our own country are through the 
American Home Missionary Society. It 
has no denominational tract society, pre- 
ferring to act with its Christian brethren 
of other churches in the American Tract 
Society. The church has raised up, and 
has now under its care, four theological 
seminaries, viz. : those of Auburn, New 
York, and Lane Seminary, at Cincinnati, 
and the Theological Seminary of Mary- 
ville, East Tennessee, together with a 
theological department in the Western 
Reserve College, — and all in a highly 
flourishing condition. In respect to col- 
leges and institutions of secular learning 
generally, the Presbyterian Church pre- 
fers to act with all its countrymen, with- 
out respect to denominations, any further 
than to secure in such institutions a 
proper regard for sound morals and true 
religion. Associated naturally with the 
population of New England, the difference 
of forms of ecclesiastical polity cannot 
prevent a natural co-operation with the 
sons of the Pilgrims, in disseminating 
Christianity with less of exclusiveness 
and sectarian character than belongs to 
any other body of Christians. 

It remains to be seen whether there is 
sufficient of liberality and charity in the 
age to justify such a procedure, or whether 
this generosity of the Presbyterian Church 
shall be met with such an amount of ex- 
clusiveness, as to receive an impulse 
while imparting one, and thus to become 
assimilated in this respect to the sects by 
which it is surrounded. 

The General Assembly has under its 
care 26 synods, 101 presbyteries, and 
1612 ministers. 

In concluding this statement it may 
not be improper to remark, that when 
other denominations have been alluded to, 



it has been done for the sake of setting 
forth distinctly the character and position 
of the Presbyterian Church. Not a wish 
has been indulged to wound the feelings 
of other communions. The prelatical 
churches, from which we differ so widely 
on the great principles of ecclesiastical lib- 
erty, we nevertheless regard as churches 
of Christ, and would as cordially invite 
them to our pulpits and our communion, 
if they would reciprocate our kindness, as 
we do the clergy and communicants of 
other denominations, and we feel even an 
unaffected grief that they should be pre- 
vented by their system from meeting us 
as the ministers of Christ, and members 
of the Church Universal. We would 
gladly have passed over all allusion to 
the divisions of our own church in 1838 ; 
but it seemed otherwise impossible to 
make a fair statement of the characteris- 
tics and condition of the Presbyterian 
Church. We have aimed to avoid all of- 
fence in speaking of the parties as lean- 
ing respectively towards the strictness of 
the Scotch Church, and the readier ten- 
dency to yield and to assimilate with 
others manifested by the descendants of 
the English Puritans. It cannot be de- 
nied, that many Presbyterians originally 
of the Scotch school, both clergy and 
laity, as the Synod of Virginia and others, 
are among our most liberal constitutional 
Presbyterians, nor that some of the clergy 
and people born and educated among the 
Pilgrim sons of New England, are among 
the straitest class of those connected with 
the church of the Annual Assembly. We 
only mean a general characteristic of the 
parties as such, when we give them these 
appellations. With that church the wri- 
ter, as an individual — and he is confident 
the same may be said of most of his 
brethren — has no personal difficulties. 
He has been for a term of five years to- 
gether connected with a presbytery, in 
which nearly every member sympathised 
with that party. The kindly intercourse 
enjoyed with his brethren of Louisiana 
will not be easily forgotten. If we have 
spoken of our own church as the true 
constitutional Presbyterian Church, it was 
not to question the rights of others. It 
was only because we really think it such. 
Undoubtedly others think differently with 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



499 



equal sincerity. Our prayer is that both 
may prosper, and only provoke one 
another to love and good works, and that 
all those churches who hold Christ the 
head may unite their energies against all 
those forms of sin that resist the progress 
of our common Christianity. 

In preparing the above article, thoughts 
and language have been taken from such 
sources of information as were accessible 
to us. In doing this it was less trouble 
and more favorable to typographical beau- 
ty, and to rendering the whole readable, 
to avoid frequent quotation marks and 



notes in the margin. Acknowledgments 
are due to the Confession of Faith, Cate- 
chisms, and Directory of the Presbyterian 
Church ; The Assembly's Digest ; Dr. 
Hill's and Dr. Hodge's Histories of the 
Presbyterian Church ; Dr. Miller's Tract 
on Presbyterianism, and his article on the 
same subject in the Religious Encyclopae- 
dia ; Judge Rogers' Charge to the Jury on 
the trial of the Church case ; Letter of the 
Committee ad interim of the General As- 
sembly, and the Decision of Chief Justice 
Gibson in the case of the Church of York, 
Pennsylvania. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CEURCH, 

BY REV. HERSCHEL S. PORTER, A. M. 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 



In presenting a concise view of the ori- 
gin, the doctrines, the practice, and the pre- 
sent extent of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, it will be the object, to make an 
impartial statement of such general facts 
as may be deemed important to the reader. 
Minutiae and detail could not be expected 
in a history of this character. It is the 
wish of the writer, to divest himself of 
every thing like prejudice, and to present 
the facts in such a manner as to wrong 
no one, and to do entire justice to all con- 
cerned. Ecclesiastical history, taken as 
a whole, or in its several parts and divi- 
sions, should be regarded as Christianity 
teaching by example. It is to be hoped, 
therefore, that none will look upon the 
subject as unprofitable and barren. 

The light of ecclesiastical and profane 
history enables us to determine accurately, 



the origin of all the religious denomina- 
tions of Christendom, — such as the Catho- 
lics, the Episcopalians, the Lutherans, the 
Baptists, the Quakers, the Presbyterians, 
the Methodists, and many others that might 
be mentioned. Some of these are of greater, 
others of less antiquity. None of them 
can trace their origin farther back than 
the fifth century; some of them, not more 
than one or two hundred years ago. 

The following was the occasion of the 
origin of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 

In the close of the last century, and in 
the beginning of the present, the moral 
and religious condition of Kentucky and 
Tennessee presented a melancholy aspect. 
As early as 1770, or thereabouts, Daniel 
Boone, the great western pioneer, at the 
head of some daring adventurers, explored 



500 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



this portion of the United States, then a 
vast forest, filled with frightful savages. 
At the close of the war of Independence, 
a tide of emigration poured into this fron- 
tier country. This emigration was chiefly 
from Virginia and the Carolinas. Such 
was the rapidity of it, that, in 1792, Ken- 
tucky was admitted into the union as one 
of the states of the confederacy ; and 
Tennessee in 1796. Of course, there 
could be but few schools or churches, in 
either of these young states, at this period. 
There were but few ministers of the gospel 
in proportion to the population. Under 
such circumstances there could, of course, 
be but little moral restraint, or religious 
influence. In addition to this, vital piety 
was at a low ebb in the Presbyterian 
churches in this part of the United States. 

On the restoration of Charles II. in 
England, spiritual and Bible religion suf- 
fered a great shock in that country. The 
baleful influence extended to the colonies. 
The Wesleys and Whitefield were raised 
up, in England, to reform this state of 
things. Those pious men visited this 
country. But their visits were confined, 
for the most part, to the atlantic coast and 
cities. 

Catching some of the spirit and zeal of 
these noted reformers, the Tenants, con- 
nected with " Log College," Pa., effected 
a complete reformation, in the Presbyte- 
rian churches, in the Middle and New 
England states. This reformation, violent, 
and for a time causing serious divisions, 
did not extend to the churches of the Pres- 
byterian persuasion, to any great extent, 
in the southern states. This view of 
the subject, bearing in mind the quarter 
whence the people of Tennessee and 
Kentucky emigrated, in connection with 
other existing circumstances, will lead 
us to the conclusion that vital Godliness 
was at a low ebb in those new states. 
The history of the times, as well as the 
recollections of the old settlers, confirms 
this. The great doctrine of the New 
Birth was but little understood by the mass 
of the church members, and but seldom 
heard preached from the pulpit.* 



* Rev. James M-Gready, a talented clergy- 
man of the Presbyterian church, had preached 
a length of time before he knew any thing, ex- 



Immorality marked the conduct of 
church members. Both the clergy and the 
laity were in the habit of drinking intoxi- 
cating liquors to excess. Whilst this state 
of things existed in the church, of course 
we could look for nothing but the most 
daring impiety in those who were out of 
its pale. The Sabbath was violated. The 
lowest and most disgusting forms of gaming 
were carried to the greatest excess. Pro- 
fanity, that American sin, prevailed in all 
circles of life. The writings of Paine and 
Voltaire had reached those distant and 
then frontier parts of the New World, cor- 
rupting many a heart, and blinding many 
an eye. Infidelity has long been the plague 
and curse of our vast western frontier. 
In those wilds, this poisonous Upas tree 
shoots up with a noxious growth. Would 
the churches, instead of spending their 
time in wrangling about Apostolic succes- 
sion, and their antiquity, spend their 
energies in distributing, in those destitute 
regions, such books as are among the 
Bridgewater Treatises, or among those 
published by the Tract Society, or as the 
works of Paley and Brougham on Natural 
Theology, what amount of good might be 
effected ! 

Where such a state of things as this 
prevails, it will require neither common 
men nor common measures to effect a 
reformation. It required Luther, and Lu- 
ther's measures, to effect the Reformation. 
It required John, and John's preaching, to 
lead the Jewish nation to repentance. The 
warrior accommodates his mode of war- 
fare to the enemy and the country. The 
church should profit by the example. 
Nothing is more common than to hear 
clergymen, who have never travelled ten 
miles beyond the boundary of their own 
flock, and their thoughts not half so far, 



perimentally, of the New Birth, After preach- 
ing, on one occasion, he overheard a pious 
elder, in a conversation, regretting that he 
should be preaching to others, when he was 
himself a stranger to the first principles of re- 
ligion. This led him to reflection. He ex- 
amined his situation ; he felt that he was an 
unconverted man. Not long elapsed before he 
experienced a change of heart. After this, he 
became a very efficient preacher. He often 
preached the necessity of the New Birth to 
members of the church. Something similar 
to this is related of Mr. Wesley. 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



501 



condemning, by the wholesale, all reli- 
gious measures which they have not been 
in the habit of practising. Paul made 
himself all things to all men, that he 
might win souls to Christ. At Athens, he 
quoted from heathen poets ; at Jerusalem, 
from the prophets. 

Rev. James M'Gready and other pious 
individuals of the Presbyterian Church, 
were the instruments under God, of break- 
ing up the fatal slumbers of the church, 
and thereby working a complete moral 
reformation in that portion of the vineyard 
of God in question. They mourned in 
secret ; they wept in public ; they prayed ; 
they preached ; they expostulated. They 
came together in religious conferences. 
They entered into solemn covenants to 
observe certain hours in concert at a throne 
of Grace. Like Elijah on the mount, they 
were not discouraged when they had 
prayed once, and no answer came. Again 
they prayed. Still they repeated their 
prayers. More than to the seventh time 
they prayed. The successful minister has 
always been a man of prayer. Such were 
Baxter, Whitefield, and the Tenants. 

At length favorable symptoms of the 
presence of God's grace and spirit, were 
seen in several congregations. The in- 
terest increased. It soon spread to other 
congregations and neighborhoods. One 
general concern about the subject of reli- 
gion, pervaded every breast. That there 
were excesses in this revival of religion, 
none would deny. So there have been 
in almost all works of grace, in all ages 
and all countries. 

There is no human blessing which is 
not capable of perversion. Usually, the 
greater the blessing, the greater the ca- 
pability of perversion. We must, at pre- 
sent, be content to take things as we 
find them. But, the abuse of a prac- 
tice in some cases, is no good reason to 
neglect it.* 



* Much has been said concerning the physi- 
cal results of excessive and immoderate ex- 
citement in some instances, connected with 
this revival. I allude to bodily contortions and 
convulsions. In some cases these were ex- 
cessive. But they were never looked upon as 
a part of religion. They were rather regarded 
as a curse. Like most excitements, they were 
regarded as somewhat contagious. The whole 



This religious influence not only extended 
to surrounding counties, but to surround- 
ing states. The demand for ministerial 
aid every day increased. The cry was, 
" come over and help us." There was no 
possibility of those few ministers supply- 
ing the demand. They labored with Apos- 
tolic industry and fidelity : yet the de- 
mand seemed to increase. 

The life of the frontier minister has 
always been one of the greatest toil. He, 
literally, takes his life in his hand and 
goes forth over the wilderness to seek 
the lost sheep. He endures hunger, fa- 
tigue, thirst, and cold. He passes moun- 
tains and streams without roads or bridges. 
Under such circumstances were these men 
laboring. Often were their hearts grieved 
when they could not comply with the re- 
quest of some distant family, or destitute 
neighborhood or church, to go and break 
to them the bread of life. To the pious 
soul, it is truly an affecting sight to see 
people deprived of the means of grace, 
who have a disposition to improve them. 
Our Saviour is said to have been moved 
with compassion, when he saw the multi- 
tude scattered as sheep, without a shep- 
herd. What was to be done under these 
circumstances ? This was the inquiry of 
many an anxious heart. 

After much deliberation and even hesi- 
tation, it was agreed, that, in view of the 



of this occurred not in the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church, but in the Presbyterian 
Church. These exercises of tumbling, and 
falling down, were common during the last 
century, in the Presbyterian Churches, in the 
Middle and New England States. In Scotland, 
the same has occurred. Once, in the General 
Assembly, whilst in session in Edinburgh. For 
information on this subject, see President Ed- 
wards' excellent treatise on Revivals of Reli- 
gion ; and also a small volume published by 
Rev. Dr. Miller, of Princeton, New Jersey, en- 
titled, " Log College." This " Log College" 
contains materials for one or more volumes of 
great interest. Rev. James Smith, has pub- 
lished the most extended history of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, yet extant. This 
history of Mr. Smith, otherwise possessing 
some merit, gives an undue prominence to 
these bodily exercises. In view of this, and 
other representations of a similar character, 
this note has been added. The subject, in it- 
self, is of no importance at this day. And, 
but for what has been published to the world, 
no notice would have been taken of it. 



502 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



great ministerial destitution, it would be 
right and proper to set young men apart 
to the ministry, who did not enjoy a clas- 
sical education. Some three or four, 
whose piety and talents seemed to justify 
the step, were encouraged to prepare writ- 
ten discourses and present them to Tran- 
sylvania Presbytery, in the limits of which 
the revival occurred. 

Previous to being licensed, they were 
examined on literature and Theology, and 
adopted the Confession of Faith of the 
Presbyterian Church, with the exception 
of what they believed to be fatality, taught 
under the name of predestination and elec- 
tion. Here we see a departure from the 
book of discipline in two things. First, 
individuals inducted into the ministry with- 
out a classical education. This has been 
a matter of frequent occurrence in the 
Presbyterian Church, both before and 
since that period. Individual cases could 
be mentioned, if it were necessary. Some 
of the most popular preachers of that 
church have not enjoyed a classical edu- 
cation. So of all the churches. Many 
of our most distinguished statesmen have 
had only an English education. A know- 
ledge of the dead languages is, doubtless, 
of great advantage to the clergyman, pro- 
viding it be thorough. But, the way in 
which the languages are often studied by 
Theological students, is not only a waste 
of time, but a waste of time at the ex- 
pense of a knowledge of the mother 
tongue, without which, hone can profitably 
preach the Gospel. 

The second departure was the adoption 
of the Confession of Faith, excepting one 
of its leading articles. Mental reserva- 
tions in the adoption of the Confession, 
have long been practised in the Presbyte- 
rian Church. It is known that the New 
and Old School divisions of the Presbyte- 
rian Church assert, that they hold to 
widely different doctrines ; yet they both 
adopt the same Confession of Faith. Here 
then, if the Confession be understood, are 
mental reservations on the part of one, or 
perhaps of both of these divisions. 

It has sometimes been affirmed that the 
original grounds of dispute between the 
Cumberland Presbyterian and the Mother 
Church, were the subject of education. 
This is not true. The subject of a classi- 



cal education was one part of the dispute ; 
a great and important doctrine the other. 

It was in October, 1802, that the can- 
didates in question, after warm opposition 
from some of the members, were licensed 
by Transylvania Presbytery. These youn op 
men should not be looked upon as illiterate 
novices. They passed a favorable exam- 
ination on Literature and Theology, by a 
scrupulous and jealous Presbytery. They 
were men of capacity and liberal acquire- 
ments. They had already proved their 
aptness to teach in their pious labors, in 
various destitute neighborhoods. They 
boldly confront the Presbytery, and say 
they cannot believe one of the articles of 
the Confession, because they think it at 
variance with the word of God. Such 
was the character of these men who have 
too often been called ignorant and illiterate. 
Tacitus, the Roman historian, in pouring 
contempt and scorn on the early Chris- 
tians, has proved to posterity one thing : 
that is, though he possessed a great mind, 
yet it was swayed by the worst prejudices. 
If Tacitus regarded the early Christians 
with no other feelings than contempt, pos- 
terity, on that subject, has no other feel- 
ing than pity for the great historian. In 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
the Puritans were a common mark of ridi- 
cule for every popular writer. . . The 
Puritans have lived to see their enemies, 
through their own arts and policy, become 
highly contemptible. 

Of all language, satire and ridicule are 
the most dangerous. It is, as though one 
were to shoot arrows perpendicularly into 
the air, which would be in danger of fall- 
ing on his own head. 

The individuals who were licensed by 
the presbytery, just referred to, in due 
process of time, were regularly ordained 
to the whole work of the ministry. It was 
in October, 1802, that Kentucky Synod 
divided Transylvania Presbytery, and 
created a new one, called, Cumberland 
Presbytery. It will be borne in mind by 
the reader, that the body of Christians 
afterwards driven to secession, and now 
known as Cumberland Presbyterians, took 
their name from this new Presbytery. 
Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland 
River, names borrowed from England, 
and of high historical renown in that 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



503 



country, will readily enough suggest the 
origin of this title, Cumberland Presby- 
tery. The names Presbyterian, Episco- 
palian, and Congregationalist, have re- 
ference to certain modes of church govern- 
ment. Roman Catholic, Arminian, and 
Greek Church, to the localities of their 
origin. Baptist, to a certain mode of Bap- 
tism. Methodist, to a certain regularity 
in practice. The Lutherans, borrowed 
their name from Luther. 

The term Quaker, was originally, one 
of contempt. A name, in itself, is nothing. 
It is the spirit, doctrine, and practices of a 
church which should be an object of re- 
gard. 

At the fourth meeting of the Cumber- 
land Presbytery, in 1804, a small minor- 
ity, consisting of three, transmitted a re- 
monstrance to Kentucky Synod, complain- 
ing of what they termed irregularities in 
licensing and ordaining the individuals 
above referred to, which solemn acts, it 
will be borne in mind, had been officially 
done by the Presbyterian Church. Two 
of the three remonstrants, afterwards left 
the Presbyterian Church. The one be- 
came a New Light ; the other was sus- 
pended and deposed for becoming a Pela- 
gian. This is mentioned, to show the 
origin of that persecution, that at first was 
gotten up against Cumberland Presbytery : 
and since has been kept up, from certain 
quarters against the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. If there be heresy in all 
this matter, it is among the opposers, not 
the opposed. In this world, the few origi- 
nate, whether it be good or evil ; the mass 
merely follow in the train, without ques- 
tioning the justice or injustice of their 
pursuit. When a current is once set in a 
certain direction, it is strange what a 
length of time it takes to turn its course. 
Such is the imperfection of human 
nature. 

But little was said on the subject of the 
remonstrance, until the succeeding meet- 
ing of the Synod, when a commission 
was appointed to examine the matter of 
variance. 

The Commission proceeded to execute 
its task. Cumberland Presbytery, with 
all its candidates and licentiates, was cited 
to appear before the commission. A little 
moderation and charity now, would have 



been of the utmost value. It is a danger- 
ous matter to attempt to coerce men, either 
politically or ecclesiastically. In the 
struggle between this country and Great 
Britain, for independence, we have a veri- 
fication of this. Whatever may be said 
of man's selfishness and love of this world, 
nothing is so dear to him, at last, as opin- 
ions. He will forego all things for naked 
opinions ; things that can neither be seen, 
nor felt, nor weighed. The Puritans for- 
sook home, country and all for their reli- 
gious opinions. So did the early Chris- 
tians. No force, no connexion, can cause 
the good man to abandon his principles. 
The Commission should have had a better 
knowledge of human nature, than, with 
hope of success, to have pursued the 
course they did. The Presbytery was 
called upon to surrender all the men whom 
it had licensed and ordained, for re-exam- 
ination. 

Both the Presbytery and the persons 
demanded, refused compliance, upon the 
solemn conviction that it was wrong. 
This refusal was not dictated by a stubborn, 
unyielding, perverse disposition of heart, 
but was the result of conscientious con- 
victions. Some of them had flocks. These 
they dearly loved. Others were preach- 
ing on the itinerant plan, in totally desti- 
tute regions. Those churches and regions 
without their laborers would be entirely 
destitute. Their labors had been blessed. 
This, the remonstrants, the Synod, and 
the Commission knew. But they were 
useful, in what some termed, an irregular 
way. The disciples stopped one from 
casting out devils, because he did not 
follow them. The Scribes and Pharisees 
murmured because Christ cured diseases 
on the Sabbath day. In both cases irreg- 
ularity was complained of. The regret 
of the old Austrian General was, not so 
much that Napoleon defeated him in every 
engagement, but that it was done in an 
irregular way, and in opposition to the 
established tactics of the day. 

It cannot be supposed, that those who 
opposed the proceedings of Cumberland 
Presbytery, except such as afterwards be- 
came New Lights and Pelagians, were in 
heart, opposed to the conversion of souls, 
and the extension of the glory of Christ. 
This would not be intimated. Such an 



504 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



intimation would be highly uncharitable. 
Their opposition was, to what they termed, 
and no doubt thought too, irregular pro- 
ceedings. They were wedded to modes 
and forms. With such persons there is no 
want of proper feelings, but of large and 
liberal views of things. The reformer in 
religion, and the man who makes dis- 
coveries in improvements, in science, 
never fail to be branded with every odious 
epithet. Power never fails to intoxicate. 
Man never is placed in greater temptation 
than when in a position of unlimited 
power. There is the place where human 
nature is seen in its nakedness and worst 
forms of depravity. Unlimited power has 
always been too much for the church ; 
when this has been in its possession, the 
fires of persecution have been lighted up. 
It must be evident to the reader, that 
the authority given to this Commission, 
was misplaced. All the men, whom Cum- 
berland Presbytery had licensed and or- 
dained, were silenced with as much au- 
thority, as if though a Nuncio had come 
from the Vatican. This is not all ; the 
Presbytery was peremptorily ordered to 
appear before the Synod at its next meeting. 
This whole proceeding is unprecedented. 
Men, who had been regularly licensed and 
ordained, against whom no allegation, 
either of immorality Or heresy, was made, 
were silenced, and that by a commission 
from a synod. 

The situation of the interdicted Presby- 
tery was extreme. One part of the preach- 
ers silenced : the other under a formal 
citation to appear before the Synod. Those 
i who were silenced knew not what to do. 
; The others were filled with uncertainty 
| and inquietude. One general gloom cov- 
ered the face of all. Every breast heaved 
| with sorrow. All was despondency and 
| uncertainty. When the minister beheld 
the people without a pastor, his grief rose 
higher. When the people looked upon the 
minister, their gloom and despair grew 
darker. All, old and young, parents and 
children, partook in the common grief. 
Even the irreligious felt the influence. 

Cumberland Presbytery, at this period, 
embraced a large extent of territory. There 
were numerous churches, preaching and 
missionary stations in its limits. The 
churches seemed to spring up with the 



rapidity of the growth of the country. 
Some of these ministers, who were si- 
lenced, according to the customs of the 
times, had charge of several churches 
located in different neighborhoods. Those 
Licentiates travelled over extensive dis- 
tricts of country, preaching and exhorting 
every day. When the Commission is- 
sued its prohibition, their appointments 
were days and weeks before them. There 
were engagements for baptism, the ad- 
ministration of the Lord's Supper, for so- 
lemnizing marriages, organizing churches, 
instituting new preaching stations, meet- 
ing with serious persons, and receiving 
individuals into the communion of the 
church. All was frustrated. With sad 
and mournful hearts and weeping eyes, 
would these pious men go and relate to 
assembled congregations what had taken 
place. It is impossible for us, at this 
distance of time, to realize the melan- 
choly state of things which really existed. 
It would savor of extravagance to relate 
the whole. 

There is no greater curse, than to de- 
prive a pious people of the means of 
grace. There could be no sorer evil, 
than to prohibit the godly minister from 
preaching the gospel to anxious, listening, 
famishing, starving souls. After several 
months of painful suspense and anxiety, 
the members of the proscribed presbytery 
came together in the capacity of a coun- 
cil. It was agreed to petition the Gen- 
eral Assembly, hoping to find a redress 
of grievances from that venerable body. 
It was also agreed that they should act, 
not as a Presbytery, but as a council, 
until an answer could be obtained from 
the Assembly. In this there is nothing 
violent or hasty. There is a moderation 
highly commendable. The great object 
in thus associating themselves together in 
the capacity of a council, was, to keep 
themselves and their congregations to- 
gether. 

They held occasional meetings for con- 
ference. Most, or all of them, now re- 
sumed their labors. The ordinances were 
again administered, and their labors were 
abundently blessed. Amid all their dis- 
couragements and embarrassments, they 
had the gratification of seems the plea- 
sure of the Lord prosper in their hands. 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



505 



In the mean time, the petition of the 
Council was laid before the Assembly, in 
session in Philadelphia. That body al- 
leged that it could not act in the case, 
because it had not been regularly appealed 
to. 

It is singular that such an allegation 
should have come from that reverend 
body. How could they be appealed to in 
any other way 1 A part of the presby- 
tery silenced ; the other part summoned 
by an illegal Commission, to appear be- 
fore the synod to answer certain allegata. 
The Council appeared before the Assem- 
bly in the only way that it could. There 
was no other channel of appeal. 

Kentucky Synod was advised by the 
Assembly to review its proceedings. This 
amounted to a tacit admission on the part 
of the Assembly, that the proscribed 
Presbytery was right in its proceedings ; 
else why this revision of proceedings 
recommended. Private intimations were 
given to the aggrieved party, that in pro- 
cess of time ample amends should be 
made them. This was confidently relied 
upon. It gave every encouragement. 
Whatever may have been the nature and 
original intention of these private intima- 
tions, it is certain they proved fallacious 
in the end. It cannot be doubted but that 
there was sincerity in this unofficial in- 
formation. But why it was not made 
good, at this distance of time, probably, 
cannot be determined. Whether there 
was a change of members in that high 
judicature of the church, or whether there 
was a sacrifice made to what was es- 
teemed policy, is equally difficult to de- 
cide. 

The Synod, in compliance with the re- 
quest of the Assembly, reviewed its for- 
mer proceedings. The result was, a con- 
firmation of what had previously been 
done. This took place in 1807. It will 
be borne in mind, that Cumberland Pres- 
bytery was, in fact, dissolved by the 
Commission. At this time it was offi- 
cially dissolved by the Synod. 

After this dissolution, Transylvania 
Presbytery was ordered to settle the 
matter in dispute, with the Council. The 
natural tendency of this was to inflame 
and irritate. In this, though, we see the 
Council recognized as a responsible body. 



It is not treated in this case with the dis- 
dain due a publican or heathen, but with 
the decorum of an orderly, talented, pious 
body. Unfortunately, this kind of treat- 
ment was far from uniform. 

In 1808, the Council sent another pe- 
tition to the General Assembly, but were 
again informed that that body could take 
no action on the case, because an appeal 
had not been brought to them from Ken- 
tucky Synod. Singular information this ! 
Had matters remained to this hour, in an 
unsettled state, it is not probable that any 
appeal would have gone up from the 
synod. It would not have been their 
policy. In justice, it should be remarked, 
that some of the most distinguished cler- 
gymen of the Presbyterian Church, both 
sympathised with the council, and be- 
lieved that their conduct was altogether 
justifiable under the circumstances. Had 
they promptly and decidedly justified and 
defended in a public manner, the proceed- 
ings of the interdicted presbytery, final 
division might have been prevented. Of- 
ten it is the case, that an unwillingness 
to assume responsibility, or espouse mea- 
sures of temporary unpopularity, works 
almost infinite evil. To this hour there 
are many of both schools of the Presby- 
terian Church who candidly affirm that 
the proceedings against this presbytery 
w r ere violent, ill-judged, and out of place. 
It must be borne in mind by the candid 
reader, that in all churches there are 
many bad and designing men. The 
good possess many imperfections. Hence, 
it behooves us to exercise the charity 
of the gospel. 

In 1809, a letter from Kentucky Synod, 
was laid before the General Assembly, in 
session in Philadelphia, in reference to the 
action the synod had taken against Cum- 
berland Presbytery. The Assembly took 
judicial action on the contents of this let- 
ter, and justified the proceedings of the 
synod in the case. Though the Assem- 
blies of 1807 and 1809, had decided that 
they could not act on the case, because it 
had come up by letter, and not by appeal 
from synod; yet, in 1809, when the mat- 
ter came before the Assembly, by letter, 
and not by appeal, the excision of Cum- 
berland Presbytery from the Presbyterian 
Church, took place. 



64 



506 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



At a recent period, in another portion 
of the United States, we have witnessed 
the same venerable body cutting off a 
larger number of churches and ministers, 
than in this case. And this body, in turn, 
for a time, was deprived of all its church 
property, by a body of people which it 
was disposed to look upon as a schismati- 
cal fragment. Things in the moral, like 
fluids in the physical world, have a ten- 
dency to seek their level. It is not unfre- 
quently the case, that a man's own sins 
punish him. The evil example he sets 
infects others ; they, in following it, injure 
! the author of it. 

The news of the Assembly's action was 
received with astonishment, by the mem- 
bers of Cumberland Presbytery. They 
had anticipated, altogether, a different 
result. To this, they had been led by 
previous intimations from the Assembly. 
Of course, in feelings, they were totally 
unprepared for such a decision. It was a 
stroke of the heaviest disappointment. 

After the first feelings had subsided, 
they began to think of future action. 
Those faithful men could not think of 
abandoning their churches, their preaching 
stations, and their sacred callings. What 
should be done? This was the anxious 
inquiry of many a heart. They could 
not think of going to other churches ; 
they were Presbyterians. They felt that 
they could be nothing else. Classical 
education, and what they believed to be 
the doctrine of fatality, taught under the 
names of election* and reprobation, could 
not be essential to Presbyterianism. Pres- 
bytery was something distinct from both ; 
or, it could adopt both in a modified form. 
It was agreed to meet in the capacity 



* The doctrince of unconditional election 
and predestination was not taught in the Chris- 
tian church, till the fourth century. Augus- 
tine, bishop of Hippo, in Africa, was the 
author of it. He was partly educated at Car- 
thage, partly at Rome. He was thoroughly 
versed in Greek literature and philosophy. At 
Milan, he was. a teacher of rhetoric. Fatality 
was an ingredient of nearly all the ancient 
systems of philosophy. Did he not derive 
from the Porch and the Academy, those doc- 
trines of fatality, which he engrafted on the 
Christian system, and called Predestination 1 
May this not be the origin of all Predestina- 
tion, which is identical with fatality 1 



of a council. It was in August, 1809, 
they met. All agreed that they should 
hold together. There was a difference 
of opinion as to the mode of future opera- 
tion. Part were in favor of constituting, 
immediately, an independent Presbytery. 
Some hesitated and entertained scruples. 
The final conclusion, unanimously agreed 
to, was, to appoint two commissioners, to 
propose terms to Transylvania Presbytery 
and the Synod. Notwithstanding so many 
failures, still they hoped to effect an 
amicable adjustment of their difficulties. 
Their object was peace. They were wil- 
ling to pursue any course to achieve this. 
Ambition was the least of all their char- 
acter. Establishing a new denomination 
had not entered into their thoughts. To 
do good, was, what they were laboring 
for. They wished to keep their churches 
together, to see souls converted, and the 
cause of Christ progress. 

The two commissioners proceeded, and 
presented the terms of the council to the 
presbytery and the synod. They were 
heard with indifference. Totally failing, 
they returned with the unwelcome tidings 
to their brethren. Again, the inquiry 
was, what shall we do? Each looked 
upon the other in anxious suspense. All 
felt that it was a crisis. Every one felt a 
weight of responsibility. They fasted and 
prayed. They sought wisdom from above. 
They were not the men to waver and 
shrink from duty, when they knew what 
it was. To abandon all — they could not 
think of it. To go forward was a great 
undertaking. But, they were ready for 
this, as soon as they were convinced that 
it was duty. It seemed that they were 
shut up to the course. There was but one 
way. The Red Sea must be crossed ! 

In the fear of God, three members of 
the Council, Rev. Messrs. Finis Ewing, 
Samuel King, and Samuel M'Adam, pro- 
ceeded solemnly, under a firm conviction 
of duty, to constitute a new presbytery. 
The presbytery thus constituted, called 
itself Cumberland Presbytery, from which 
has grown the present Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church. 

Subjoined is the record of their consti- 
tution : 

" In Dickson County, State of Tennes- 
see, at the Rev. Samuel M'Adam's, this 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



507 



4th day of Feburary, 1810. We, Samuel 
M'Adam, Finis Ewing, and Samuel King, 
regularly ordained ministers of the Pres- 
byterian Church, against whom no charge 
either of immorality or heresy has ever 
been exhibited before any judicature of 
the church, having waited in vain for more 
than four years, in the meantime petition- 
ing the General Assembly, for a redress 
of grievances, and a restoration of our 
violated rights, have, and do hereby agree, 
and determine, to constitute ourselves into 
a Presbytery, known by the name of 
Cumberland Presbytery, on the fol- 
lowing conditions : 

" All candidates for the ministry, who 
may hereafter be licensed by this Presby- 
tery, and all the licentiates or probation- 
ers who may hereafter be ordained by 
this Presbytery, shall be required, before 
being licensed and ordained, to receive and 
accept the Confession of Faith and Disci- 
pline of the Presbyterian Church, except 
the idea of Fatality that seems to be taught 
under the mysterious doctrine of Predes- 
tination. 

" It is to be understood, however, that 
such as can clearly receive the Confession 
of Faith without an exception, will not be 
j required to make any. Moreover, all 
licentiates, before they are set apart to the 
whole work of the ministry, or ordain- 
ed, shall be required to undergo an exami- 
nation in English Grammar, Geography, 
Astronomy, Natural and Moral Philoso- 
phy, and Church History. It will not be 
understood that examinations in experi- 
mental religion and theology will be 
omitted. The Presbytery may also require 
an examination on any part, or all, of the 
above branches of knowledge before grant- 
ing license, if they deem it expedient." 

Though there were only three ordained 
ministers, Messrs. Ewing,* King, and 



* Rev. Finis Ewing, one of the founders of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, whose 
likeness accompanies this work, was born in 
the state of Virginia. His parentage was 
highly respectable. At an early period of life 
he emigrated to the then new state, Kentucky. 
In that portion of this state, originally em- 
braced in the limits of Cumberland Presbytery, 
is a large family connexion of his, many of 
them distinguished for their talents and re- 
putable standing in society. Mr. Ewing be- 
came pious, and entered the ministry in early 



M'Adam, in this original constitution, yet 
there were a number of candidates and 
licentiates, who placed themselves under 
the care of the Presbytery. Other or- 
dained ministers afterward came into the 
new organization. It was not the original 
design of these men to form a new de- 
nomination, but they were forced to it, 
after waiting and petitioning for a redress 
of grievances, in vain, for many years. 
The hand of Providence was evidently 
manifest in the formation of this infant 
denomination. Reconciliation could only 
be effected by adopting the Westminster 
Confession, to do which, the seceding party 
must have abandoned principles dearer to 
them than life. The subsequent progress 
of this Presbytery, evinced that the hand 
of heaven approved the steps taken in its 
organization. The ultimate result of mea- 
sures of this nature, must be regarded as 
an index pointing to the approbation, or 
disapprobation of Providence. The advice 



life. Probably he was not more than thirty, or 
thirty-five, at the constitution of the first Pres- 
bytery. But owing to the nature of the times 
in which he lived, his experience was greater 
than his years. After remaining a number of 
years in Logan county, and preaching with 
great success, he emigrated to the state of Mis- 
souri. Probably, had he consulted his own 
feelings, this step would not have been taken. 
But, as subsequent facts have proved, this was 
for the good of the infant denomination, so 
dear to his heart. The same success accom- 
panied his ministry in Missouri. He exerted 
a very extensive influence in that young and 
growing state. His death occurred in 1842. 
It took place after a very short illness. He 
died as he lived, in the faith of the gospel. 

The accompanying print is a very correct 
likeness, and indicates a man of intellect, ori- 
ginality, and independence of thought. He 
was no less distinguished as a preacher than 
a writer. A volume published by him, a 
number of years ago, entitled, " Ewing's Lec- 
tures," possess more than ordinary merit. 
These lectures treat of a number of doctrinal, 
and practical subjects of religion, in a very 
clear, scriptural, and concise manner. A num- 
ber of manuscripts were left by him at his 
death. Rev. F. R. Cossitt, D. D., editor of the 
"Banner of Peace," Lebanon, Tennessee, as I 
learn, is about to publish a complete edition of 
Mr. Ewing's works, together with a life of him. 
This is much to be desired. Mr. Ewing's cor- 
respondence with Rev. Dr. Miller, Princeton, 
New Jersey, is said to be valuable, as throwing 
light on the origin of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. 



"1 



508 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



of Gamaliel was correct. He said, let the 
Apostles alone, if their counsel, or work 
were of men, it would come to naught ; 
but if of God, it could not be overthrown. 

By reference to the record of constitu- 
tion, it will be seen that these men were 
not despisers of human learning. They 
examine their candidates, and licentiates, 
on the various branches of English litera- 
ture. They were desirous of sending out 
men of sense, learning, and piety, to 
preach the Gospel. 

It is known to all, that when a term of 
reproach is attached to a person, or body 
of people, however innocent, it often ad- 
heres an incredible length of time. Though 
the term of reproach be as light as a 
feather, yet it adheres with all the tenacity 
of a feather to tar or glutinous substances. 
The politician often has the tact to turn 
such things to his own favor. It is not so 
in religion. The only course is patient en- 
durance, following the example of Christ, 
when reviled, not reviling again. No 
man can, in sincerity, who is acquainted 
with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
say that it is now, or ever has been, op- 
posed to education. We shall presently 
see the reverse of this. 

Objections, with apparent sincerity, 
have been urged against the origin of this 
denomination. These objections call in 
question the genuineness of its ecclesiasti- 
cal existence. The men, it is said, who 
founded it, were under synodical censure, 
sanctioned by the action of the General 
Assembly. Peter and the Apostles who 
set up the Christian church, on the day of 
Pentecost, were under the censures of the 
Jewish church. Luther was excommu- 
nicated and anathematized by the reputed 
successor of St. Peter at Rome. The same 
censures and curses, it is presumed, rest 
with their full energy, to this hour, on the 
whole Lutheran church. When Henry 
VIII. revolted from the See of Rome, and 
established what is now termed the Episco- 
pal church, censures were thundered forth 
from the Vatican. Wesley, censured and 
excommunicated, established the Method- 
ist church. In the recent unfortunate di- 
vision of the Presbyterian church, each 
party claims to be the true Presbyterian 
church, and, of course, looks upon the 
other as a schismatic body. In this way 



all Protestant denominations are of doubt- 
ful and spurious origin. So is the Catholic 
church. For the Greek and Latin churches 
for a long time contended, each, that it 
was the true church, and that the other 
was a heretical fragment. The Pope and 
the Patriarch, from Rome and Constanti- 
nople, pronounced their censures, and ex- 
communications, one against the other. 
The best church, and the most apostolic, is 
the one whose doctrines and practices are 
the purest. Faith, without works, is dead. 
Without charity, churches, as individuals, 
are but as a sounding brass, or tinkling 
cymbal. 

Now, that the new Presbytery, or pro- 
perly speaking, the new denomination, had 
assumed an independent existence, was to 
come the hour of trial. No period in the 
history of the Independence of the United 
States, from the declaration of rights, in 
1776, to the present time, formed such a 
crisis, as from the conclusion of peace in 
'83, to the adoption of the Federal Con- 
stitution in '89. A sense of danger, Bri- 
tish wrongs and outrages, and the excite- 
ments of the times, had, during the strug- 
gle for Freedom, held the colonies together. 
But, during the period referred to, they 
were as a rope of sand, or as the coopers 
vessel without hoops. There seemed scarce 
a cementing principle to exist, save the 
prudence of the people. When the parent 
is bereft, by the hand of death, of a child 
of affection and promise, at first, the very 
excess of grief, produces a kind of excite- 
ment, that enables him the better to bear 
the loss of his child. But, when the first 
deluge of grief begins to subside, there is 
a painful depression that threatens to crush 
all the energies of the soul. 

Now, that all the circumstances accom- 
panying the unfortunate rupture had passed 
away, and the body of men who had so 
long and so painfully been oppressed in 
their ecclesiastical connection, stood alone 
as a distinct denomination, it might natur- 
ally be expected that a day of trial was 
at hand. Some predicted their speedy 
dissolution; others, that they would run 
into the wildest heresies and excesses. 
Their best friends feared the worst conse- 
quences. They, themselves, under the 
pressure of great responsibilities, gave 
wav, as would be natural enough, to occa- 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



509 



sional despondency and painful forebod- 
ings. The glory of Christ, and the suc- 
cess of the Gospel, were dear to them. 
Any movement of theirs that might prove 
detrimental to the kingdom of Christ, 
would be a subject of sincere sorrow. 

But they felt that they had acted con- 
scientiously, and after long deliberation 
and earnest prayer for direction and guid- 
ance ; they thought that the hand of pro- 
vidence was seen in the whole movement. 
And above all, they were driven without 
their own consent into the present position. 
Their pious labors in their new position 
commenced. Trust and dependence in 
the power of God, were felt by all. There 
was a reality connected with this trust, 
that imparted a support under every cir- 
cumstance, and that gave a vigor and life 
to every movement. There is no human 
feeling of half the efficacy, as an un- 
shaken confidence in an over-ruling Pro- 
vidence. 

The first sermons preached were at- 
tended by the happiest results. Souls 
were converted and brought into the com- 
munion of the church. The congrega- 
tions increased daily. New churches were 
formed. Preaching stations were esta- 
blished, with every prospect of usefulness. 
Other ministers, who at first had halted 
and wavered as to what was duty, now 
came into their connection. Young men 
of talent, piety, and promise, signified their 
desire of entering the ministerial office 
under their auspices. 

In view of the great wants, the New 
Presbytery felt it a duty to obey the in- 
junction of the Saviour, and pray the Lord 
of the harvest to send forth more laborers 
into the vineyard. A belief in the answer 
of prayer, was one of their doctrines. A 
large number of candidates* presented 



* Among these was Rev. Alexander Chap- 
man, who became a very effective and influen- 
tial minister of the Gospel. He was born, I 
believe, in Virginia. Emigrating to Tennes- 
see, he became pious, and entered the minis- 
try. Afterward, he settled in Butler county, 
Kentucky. He was a man of good English 
education, extensive reading, and an accurate 
knowledge of the world, and human nature. 
Accomplished in manners — he possessed great 
influence and standing in society. His piety 
was of an apostolic and primitive cast. The 
labors of Mr. Chapman, before his melancholy 



themselves for the holy office of the min- 
istry. These soon became very useful in 
preaching the gospel. Not meddling with 
the subtleties and metaphysics of the gospel, 
or those things of this character which 
have been appended to it ; they were con- 
tent to preach the great and vital truths of 
the Bible. When the Moravian Mission- 
aries delivered their subtleties and abstrac- 
tions, about the existence of God, to the 
heathen, they were heard with cold indif- 
ference. But, when they preached of the 
death of Jesus, they were listened to with 
streaming eyes. 

Originating in the schools of the dark 
ages, a metaphysical spirit found its way 
into the sacred desk, palsying the living 
energies of the gospel. Occasionally, a 
Whitefield, a Tenant, or a Summerneld, 
has been raised up in the church, whose 
fervid, glowing eloquence, warmed the 
church into life. Such men have only 
occasionally appeared. 

It must be confessed, that pulpit Elo- 
quence in this country, is under par. In 
point of talent, the clergy of this country 
are equal to the Legal Profession. In 
learning they are superior. But, in effec- 
tive oratory, the lawyer can greatly ex- 
cel the preacher. The lawyer opens the 
springs of action, unfolds motives, and 
fathoms all the recesses of the human 
heart. In this way he can sway and 
move the judge, the jury, and the multi- 
tude. Here, unfortunately, the preacher 
fails. Often the sermon will suit a con- 
gregation that has no heart, or springs of 
action, as well as one that has. The ser- 
mon is a skeleton. The speech of the 
lawyer, a living, moving, organic being. 
The clergy are not deficient by nature,* in 
feeling. But their mode of life almost 
makes them so. Of all men, taken as a 
body, they have the least knowledge of 
the world, and of human nature, without 
which, no man can successfully persuade 
others. This is owing to their mode of 
life. They are almost, according to esta- 
blished usages, banished from the world, 



decease, were very successful in Western 
Pennsylvania. Indeed, his whole life was one 
of unparalleled usefulness. Mildness, amia- 
bility, and love, were his characteristics. He 
spoke with the persuasion of Nestor. His 
death occurred about 1 835, or '36. 



510 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



and real life. It is to be devoutly wished 
that matters would change in this respect. 

Owing to the nature of circumstances, 
the individuals in question acquired a 
thorough knowledge of men and things. 
Thrown among the people, travelling from 
neighborhood to neighborhood, they saw 
real life in every variety of circumstances. 
Industriously studying men, (the proper 
study of mankind,) and books, they came 
before their congregations, calculated to 
please, to instruct, to move, and to persuade. 
Their sermons were of a matter-of-fact, 
substantial character. Occasionally there 
would be thrilling and soul-stirring bursts 
of eloquence. The praise of the physician, 
as the proverb runs, lies in the cure of his 
patients. The praise of these pious preach- 
ers was seen in the tears of their audience. 
Nay, it was heard in heaven, in the echo- 
ing songs of angels, over repenting sinners. 

The bounds of the New Presbytery 
rapidly increased. With its swelling limits 
glowed the gratitude of many a heart. 
There is no joy on this side of the grave, 
equal to that felt by the godly minister, 
when he sees the pleasure of the Lord 
prospering in his hand. When this suc- 
cess comes in the dark hour of adversity, 
it seems purified from all earthly alloy. 
It is like the stream that runs over sands 
and pebbles, and seems too bright and 
pure for this world. 

The limits of the Presbytery were now 
too great. All the circumstances seemed 
to call for a division. In 1813, a synod, 
comprising three Presbyteries, was formed 
out of Cumberland Presbytery. Such was 
the growth of this infant denomination, in 
three years from its original constitution. 
The division of the Presbytery and the 
meeting of the Synod, may be regarded 
as the birth-period of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. It will be borne in 
mind, that three years had intervened be- 
tween the original constitution of the first 
Presbytery and the meeting of this Synod. 
This may be regarded as the time in 
which it was assuming a distinct existence. 
Our Federal Government was, from 1776 
to 1789 passing into permanent existence. 
It is presumed there is no one particular 
day from which the Reformation dates its 
complete existence. The Episcopal Church 
did not assume an independent existence, 



as a distinct branch of the church, or par- 
ticular denomination, at any one precise 
time. No one act of Henry VIII. could 
be regarded, separately considered, as 
giving a complete and independent exist- 
ence to this church. It was a process of 
many years, which informed the world, 
that there was an Episcopalian Church, or 
Church of England in existence. The 
transition from Judaism to Christianity 
was not violent and abrupt, but slow and 
gradual. 

If we refuse to admit that this is among 
the true branches of the church of Christ, 
because of its recent origin, what shall 
we say of a large division of the Baptist 
church, or of the Methodist Protestant 
church, or the New School Presbyterians, 
or of the recent German Reformation, or 
of the Free Church of Scotland. Surely, 
out of the churches of Rome and England, 
there is no belief in Apostolic successions, 
and it is to be hoped, for the honor of 
Religion, amid the light and intelligence 
of the Nineteenth century, it will there be 
abandoned. If such dogmas as these, the 
useless lumber of Theology, were ex- 
changed for a Catholic spirit of Charity, 
that would bind in one general brother- 
hood, all names of Christians, what a 
blessing would it be to the true cause of 
Religion. 

There are two great and opposite prin- 
ciples that prevail, and have prevailed, in 
the religious world. The one a love of 
antiquity : the other a love of novelty. 
The one is the mother of superstition ; the 
other runs to the wildest excesses of heresy. 
It is the excess of these two principles that 
produces evil. Probably, kept in due 
bounds, properly restricted and chastened 
by the spirit of the gospel, they would both 
subserve good ends. There is no depart- 
ment of life that requires a more constant 
exercise of good sense, and a greater 
amount of prudence, than in the practice 
of Religion. The Saviour's injunction to 
the disciples, " be ye as wise as serpents 
and as harmless as doves," is of much 
importance. 

By some, it has been contended, with 
apparent sincerity, that the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church was no part of the 
Presbyterian Church. We shall presently 
see that its government and practices are 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



511 



strictly Presbyterian. What has been 
urged, has reference to the circumstances 
of its origin. There are at present in the 
United States a number of different 
branches of the Presbyterian Church. 
Such as the following, Old School, New 
School, Associate Reformed, German Re- 
formed, Dutch Reformed, Cumberland 
Presbyterian, and others, that might be 
mentioned. It is not supposable, that any 
one of these would have the vanity or 
presumption to say, that it was the Pres- 
byterian Church, to the exclusion of all 
others. There are several families of this 
one church. Why should they waste 
their energies in mutual and petty recrim- 
inations ? The whole, in union, would 
make the largest and most influential de- 
nomination in the United States. The 
Presbyterian Church, taken in all its 
branches, is deficient in policy. The 
Methodists, the Baptists, and the Episco- 
palians, have far more tact and manage- 
ment than they. The time has been, when 
the Presbyterian Church had the greatest 
religious influence in this country. It 
might be so again with proper management. 
In Scotland, there are no fewer, perhaps, 
than some ten or dozen different branches, 
distinct branches, of the Presbyterian 
church. No one of them, the Free Church, 
nor any of the others, would think of say- 
ing it was the Presbyterian Church of 
Scotland, to the exclusion of all others. 
All the different denominations of Presby- 
terians are regarded as constituting, when 
taken together, the Presbyterian Church 
of Scotland. The Presbyterian Church 
of Scotland does not consider itself the 
Presbyterian Church to the exclusion of 
branches in America, or other portions of 
the world. 

The Cumberland Presbyterians claim 
to be a part of the Presbyterian Church 
of the United States. 

At this time, (the constitution of the 
first synod, in 1813,) the Westminster 
Confession of Faith, beinor modified, and 
] such parts as were deemed unscriptural 
| being expunged, was adopted as the Con- 
fession of Faith of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church.* 



This should be regarded as a new Con- 
fession. For it was so modified and al- 
tered as to make it essentially different 
from the Westminster Confession. And 
yet these alterations did not destroy any 
Presbyterian feature in it. Presbyterian- 
ism existed before the Westminster Con- 
fession had any existence ; and it existed 
in as much purity, and perhaps more, be- 
fore that period, than it has since. The 
annihilation of that book would, surely, 
not be the destruction of the church of 
Knox, Calvin, and Baxter. Those vene- 
rable names differed as to some of the 
doctrines contained in the book of disci- 
pline. The different Presbyterian denom- 
inations of Scotland, as it is known to all, 
differ on some points contained in this 
book. The Bible is the only rule of faith 
and practice with Protestant denomina- 
tions. 

The supremacy of the Holy Scriptures, 
and the right of private judgment, have 
long been the great governing principle of 
all evangelical Christians. These aban- 
doned, and there is no excess, extrava- 
gance, or superstition too monstrous for 
adoption. The Bible must be the su- 
preme rule of faith and practice, or else 
it will be converted into fables and ge- 
nealogies. Unless we grant to the many 
the privilege of thinking for themselves, 
we must grant to the few, or one, the 
power of infallibility. This right of pri- 
vate judgment presupposes the fallibility 
of the human mind. Confessions of Faith 
being of a fallible origin, they are never 
to usurp the place of the Word of God. 
Doves and cattle may both be used in 
sacrificing to God, but are not to be sold 
in the temple. 

Hence, it is hoped it will not be out of 
place to make a brief statement of some 



* It has been asked, wherein do the Cum- 
berland Presbyterians differ from the New 
School Presbyterians? If the New School 



denominations adopt the Westminster Con- 
fession, the difference is considerable. If we 
are to judge of them by the sermons heard 
from their pulpits, then the difference, in a 
majority of cases, is slight. There have been 
some incipient steps taken to effect a union 
of correspondence between the two denomina- 
tions. Every step towards a lasting union 
with Protestants should be encouraged. Had 
the New School Church published to the 
world a Confession of Faith, at the separation, 
they might have taken the lead among the 
Presbyterian denominations of this country. 



512 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



of the leading doctrines of (he Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. This, of 
course, can only be a general outline. 
For particulars, the reader vz referred to 
the Confession of Faith, and other wri- 
tings of the church. 

1. They believe in what is called the 
doctrine of the Trinity ; that there are in 
the Godhead three persons, coequal and 
eternal, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. 

2. That the Lord Jesus Christ is very 
God, and very man, possessing two dis- 
tinct natures, human and divine, in one 
person. 

3. That man was made upright, pure, 
and free, sufficient to have stood, yet free 
to fall, his will not being determined by 
any absolute necessity, either to good or 
evil, but in all cases left to the exercise of 
a free choice. 

4. That all Adam's family are totally 
depraved, and that all come into the 
world under the curse of the law. 

5. That the Lord Jesus Christ, by the 
atonement, has elected all the human 
family to a day of trial — to a state of 
probation ; that as Adam, in the first 
state of probation, represented all the hu- 
man family, so Christ, the second Adam, 
represented all in the second probation. 

6. That Divine influence is necessary 
— that a measure of the spirit is given to 
every one to profit withal — that no man 
can obey the gospel without the aid of 
the Holy Spirit. 

7. That justification is by faith as the 
instrumental, by Christ as the meritori- 
ous, and by the operation of the Spirit as 
the efficient cause. 

8. That those who are elected, or cho- 
sen heirs of glory in consequence of their 
voluntary obedience and faith in Christ, 
will persevere to eternal life — those who 
believe, are ordained to eternal life in 
consequence of that belief. 

9. That the Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testament are the only rule of faith 
and practice in all matters of religion. 

10. That the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
King of Zion, has instituted a visible 
church — and that Christ is the great 
Head and' Bishop of this church — and 
that it is composed of many different 
branches, having different names. 



11. That Water Baptism, and the 
Lord's Supper, are the divinely instituted 
ordinances of the Church. 

12. That works of mercy, charity, and 
obedience to Christ, are not meritorious 
to purchase salvation, but are imperiously 
necessary as tests and expressions of our 
obedience, without which none are counted 
worthy to receive the gift of eternal life. 

13. That baptism in the Christian 
Church, has taken the place of circum- 
cisionjn the Jewish Church ; and hence 
the propriety of Christian parents ob- 
serving this duty in respect to their off- 
spring. 

14. That there is a divine and internal 
call to the sacred office of the holy min- 
istry, and that an ample literary qualifi- 
cation is necessary to the discharge of its 
important functions. 

15. That Christ, the Judge of quick 
and dead, will, at the last day, reward 
the righteous, and punish the finally im- 
penitent. 

16. That there will be a resurrection 
of the bodies, both of the just and unjust. 

17. That the Lord Jesus Christ will, 
after the restitution of all things, and the 
completion of the Judgment scene, sur- 
render the mediatorial government into 
the hands of the Father, and then God 
will be all in all. 

As they dissent from the Westminster 
Confession of Faith, it will be necessary, 
in order fully to understand some of their 
doctrines, to contrast them with that Con- 
fession. 

1. They understand the Westminster 
Confession as teaching absolute and un- 
conditional election, and, consequently, 
eternal reprobation — that a part, only, of 
mankind, are embraced in the atonement, 
and the other part are unprovided for. 

2. That Christ only died for those 
whom God intended, from remotest eter- 
nity, to justify and glorify. 

3. As not teaching the salvation of 
those dying in infancy. 

4. That the Holy Spirit operates in a 
sufficient degree, only on the elect, on 
those whom God, from all eternity, de- 
signed to save. 

On these points, the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Confession of Faith teaches ; 1. 
That neither election nor reprobation is 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



513 



absolute, irrespective of faith and unbe- 
lief, but that Christians are elected and 
chosen, in consideration of their voluntary 
obedience, and that the wicked are repro- 
bated, in consideration of their voluntary 
rejection of Christ. 2. That Christ tasted 
death for every man. 3. That all infants, 
dying in infancy, are saved through 
Christ, and the sanctifying agency of the 
Holy Spirit. 4. That the Holy Spirit 
operates on all men, in such a manner, 
that they might be saved — that the reason 
why the influence of the Spirit is effectual 
in one case, and not in another, depends 
not on the mode or extent of operation, 
but on the disposition and conduct of the 
individual moved upon. 

They are not satisfied with the applica- 
tions that are made in the doctrines of 
election either by rigid Calvinists, or Ar- 
minians ; but believe the Bible views of 
this doctrine lie between the two extremes. 
They hold to election, without fatality ; 
and human agency harmonizing with the 
doctrines of grace. 

The motto adopted by this denomina- 
tion, from one of the Christian fathers, is 
" in essentials, unity ; in non essentials, 
liberty; in all things, CHARITY." 
Candid and pious reader, are these not 
Presbyterian doctrines? Are not these 
(a higher consideration) the doctrines of 
the word of God ? 

The new denomination, having grown 
from one Presbytery into a Synod, it re- 
mitted not its former zeal, energy, and 
activity. With its growing limits, grew 
its moral and religious enterprize. Every 
successful step, every soul converted, 
every new church organized, was re- 
garded as an intimation of Divine appro- 
bation. This feeling served as a power- 
fid moral incentive to renewed and greater 
exertion. After all, there is nothing which 
imparts such energy and encouragement, 
as a felt persuasion that we are right. If 
we feel that justice and heaven be on our 
side, we can do almost anything. The 
general always tries to persuade his army 
that their cause is a just one. The oppo- 
site of this rests on the human heart, in 
any department of life, with palsying 
effect. 

It will be borne in mind, that at this 
time, an unfortunate war existed between 



Great Britain and this country. The 
country was in that feverish excitement, 
usually resulting from wars, when the 
scene was near at home. The English 
armies were, at different points, within 
our borders. Battles were of frequent 
occurrence. The anxiety, of course, after 
these, to hear the fate of friends and re- 
lations, would produce solicitude and ex- 
citement. The Indians were swarming 
on the southern and western frontiers, 
with destructive violence. Women and 
children were massacred. Houses were 
fired over the heads of the sleeping inhab- 
itants. Desolation and ruin were spread 
over many a new settlement. Riot and 
murder, in those vast forests, seemed to 
revel and dance to the savage yell and 
horrid war songs of the Indians. Some 
of the preachers, infant churches, and 
preaching stations, were in the neighbor- 
hood of these frightful excesses. All high 
and immoderate excitements are unfriendly 
to religion. The horror and confusion 
of a plague, such as the cholera, a few 
years ago, seems to have a dissipating 
religious effect. The labors of these men 
were very much retarded from these 
causes. Yet they continued, so far as 
they could, extending the borders of 
Zion. Under these disadvantages they 
preached, with much success, in various 
parts of the new States. 

Another difficulty they encountered. 
It was the want of preaching houses. 
The denomination, wherever it would go, 
would have no church edifice to enter and 
preach. This difficulty Whitefield and 
the Wesleys had to encounter. We 
have heard much of their field preaching. 
When the son of man, a greater than 
any human preacher, was ejected from 
the synagogue, he stood on the mountain, 
and the sea shore, and preached. We 
have lately seen the Free Church of Scot- 
land ejected from its houses of worship. 
In some new settlement they would find 
no houses of worship, belonging to any 
denomination. Hence, the origin and 
necessity of grove and out-door preaching 
in connection with the history of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. If 
there be a place in this world favorable to 
religious feeling and thoughts, it is the 
vast, the dense, the silent forest. The 



65 



514 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



dim aisles, the gorgeous light from stained 
windows, the ancient pile, and the deep 
tones of the organ inspire not half the 
religious solemnity that the silent forest 
does. In these forests, on a rudely con- 
structed pulpit, the preacher would deliver 
sermons, in apostolic zeal, to listening 
hundreds, and in many cases, not to ex- 
agerate, to listening thousands. While 
the holy man spoke the truths of eternity, 
with the greatest solemnity, and the peo- 
ple heard with feelings of profoundest in- 
terest, often would the Holy Spirit move 
on the hearts of the people, as the wind, 
the emblem of the spirit, caused the 
branches and leaves of the trees to move, 
under which they sat. A night scene 
here was peculiarly impressive. Inured 
to hardships, the worshipers thought it no 
exposure thus to worship the great God 
of the universe. The parks and squares 
in some of our Atlantic cities, illuminated 
with gas, during the summer season, pre- 
sent scenes justly to be admired. A ver- 
dant forest, filled with trees of the growth 
of centuries, shooting forth their branches 
into heaven, brilliantly illuminated, re- 
sounding with songs of pious worshipers, 
presented a scene that would make an im- 
pression on any one who had a heart to 
feel. There was an awful and solemn 
grandeur in such scenes as these. The 
result of things, in many cases, justified 
the measures. Houses of worship, con- 
gregations, and the established means of 
grace, would soon be seen as the fruit of 
such proceedings. 

The Synod constituted in 1813, remain- 
ed the highest judicature of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, for a period of 
some fifteen or sixteen years. During 
this period, converts, churches, ministers, 
and presbyteries multiplied with amazing 
rapidity. There were eighteen Presby- 
teries extending over the states of Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, 
Illinois, and Missouri. In 1829, the 
bounds of the Synod had become so ex- 
tensive, that it was thought advisable to 
form a General Assembly. This step was 
nearly unanimous. Though there were 
some who had scruples, doubts, and even 
objections to it. Since that, those diffi- 
culties have been cleared from the minds 
of those persons* 



If we examine the history of the Pres- 
byterian Church in this country, we will 
find that it has many points of resem- 
blance to the denomination whose pro- 
gress we are now tracing. Seven minis- 
ters, in 1706, met and formed themselves 
into a Presbytery, called Philadelphia 
Presbytery. This is like the constitution 
of Cumberland Presbytery, when viewed 
in all of its circumstances. In 1716, this 
Presbytery met and subdivided itself into 
four Presbyteries, and of these constituted 
a synod, known as Philadelphia Synod. 
In 1721, six ministers of this synod enter- 
ed a protest against former illegal proceed 
ings, as they termed them. 

It was not till 1728, by what was term- 
ed "The Adopting Act/' that the West- 
minster Confession of Faith was, by the 
Synod of Philadelphia, declared to be the 
Creed and Directory of the American 
Presbyterians. A longer delay this, than 
we see in the similar proceedings of the 
Cumberland Presbyterians. 

The proscription of New Brunswick 
Presbytery, and the subsequent organiza- 
tion of New York Synod, are precisely 
analogous to the proceedings against Cum- 
berland Presbytery. The grounds of 
difference between New Brunswick Pres- 
bytery and the Synod, were the Educa- 
tion of the ministry, revival measures and 
church government. The Synod had de- 
cided that no man, in their connection, 
should be ordained without a diploma from 
some college of Europe or New England. 
To this, and the other matters in dispute, 
the Presbytery objected. After the union 
of New York and Philadelphia Synods, 
the Evangelical party, that is, the pro- 
scribed Presbytery and Synod, prevailed 
in their practices, doctrines, and senti- 
ments, until at present they almost entirely 
prevail. Log College was the hot bed -of 
New Brunswick Presbytery, and the re- 
vival measures. From this Log College 
grew Princeton College, the present stand- 
ard of Old School Presbyterian orthodoxy 
in the United States.* 



* See Dr. Hodge's Constitutional Histoiy of 
the Presbyterian Church ; also " Log College," 
by Dr. Miller. This is the language of Dr. 
Miller, page 56 : « We, of the Presbyterian 
Church, are more indebted to the men of Log 
College for our evangelical views, and for our 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 515 



The Synod of New York and Phila- 
delphia constituted a General Assembly, 
which met the first time in 1789. This is 
the reverse proceeding of Presbyterianism 
in Scotland. The General Assembly first 
existed, then Synods and Presbyteries. 

The General Assembly of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, met in Prince- 
ton, Ky., in May, 1829. It will be seen 
from this, that this church retains entire, 
the Presbyterian form of government ; 
Pastor, Session, Presbytery, Synod and 
General Assembly. Their practices are 
equally Presbyterian. About this time the 
first college under the care of this denom- 
ination, was established in Princeton, Ky. 
The Rev. F. R. Cossitt was the first 
President, but on his leaving, t few years 
since, and accepting the Presidency of 
Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Ten- 
nessee, Rev. Richard Beard, D. D., ac- 
cepted the presidency, which position he 
now fills. The college at Lebanon, Ten- 
nessee, has been in existence only some 
four or five years, and has, probably, as 
encouraging prospects as any institution 
of learning west of the mountains. Rev. 
T. C. Anderson is now the President, Dr. 
Cossitt having a year, or two since re- 
tired, to devote his whole time to other 
duties. These two are the most flourish- 
ing institutions of learning under the con- 
trol of this church. They are both in a 
course of endowment, which in a short 
time will be completed. Cumberland 
University has connected with it a Law 
department. At the head of this is the 
Hon. A. Caruthers, known as a gentleman 
of legal abilities and literary attainments. 
Steps are taking to add a Medical depart- 
ment. It is anticipated, that at no distant 
day, a Theological chair will be added. 
The number of students is very large, and 
is increasing every year. In addition to 
these, there are some twelve or thirteen 
other institutions of learning, some of 
greater, others of less note. No doubt, a 
number of these will grow into permanent 

revivals of religion, than we are aware of. 
By their exertions, and the blessing of God on 
their preaching, a new spirit was infused into 
the Presbyterian body ; and their views and 
sentiments respecting experimental religion, 
have prevailed more and more; until at last 

(j opposition to genuine revivals of religion, is 

I almost unknown in our church." 



and flourishing colleges. Probably no 
denomination in the country has more 
prospective literary influence. The day 
is not far distant, Providence favoring, 
when this church will possess an influence 
of a religious, moral, and literary charac- 
ter of no common order, on the Western 
Continent. The churches of this country 
have kept themselves aloof, too much, 
from literature and the literary institutions. 
We see the political parties, both of this 
country and Great Britain pursuing a dif- 
ferent course. Tne great masses are now 
to be moved, not by the mandates of 
tyrants and standing armies, but by books 
and periodicals. If these are of a good 
character, the masses will be actuated to 
virtue ; if evil, to vice and crime. If the 
church expects to evangelize the world, it 
must have control of the literature of the 
world. This should be looked upon as 
an engine to promote the Gospel. 

In this connection, it is hoped, it will 
not be irrelevant to notice the religious pe- 
riodicals published under the patronage 
of this denomination. Newspapers are of 
recent origin ,* religious newspapers still 
more recent. What will be the ultimate 
results of this species of literature is yet 
problematical. Religious papers are now 
published by all religious persuasions. The 
Cumberland Presbyterian, at Uniontown, 
Pa. ; the Banner of Peace, at Lebanon, 
Tenn. ; the Ark, at Memphis, Tenn. ; and 
the Texas Presbyterian, in Texas, are 
the periodicals published by the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. These are 
ably edited, and have a liberal circulation, 
and certainly exert a considerable religious 
influence. There are also two monthly 
journals, the Theological Medium, and the 
Palladium, devoted to the higher interests 
of the church. This denomination does 
not regard literature as religion, but looks 
upon it as a powerful auxiliary. 

In the year 1831, two years after the 
constitution of the Assembly, the first 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church was 
planted in Western Pennsylvania. The 
occasion of this movement was the fol- 
lowing, viz : — The name and doctrines of 
this denomination had been heard of in 
this part. of Pennsylvania. A number of 
gentlemen addressed a letter to the presi- 
dent of Cumberland College, (then F. R. 



516 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



Cossitt, D. D.,) at Princeton, Kentucky, 
requesting ministers of the new -denomina- 
tion to be sent there. The request was 
laid before the General Assembly, and 
granted. Several pious and talented min- 
isters of the gospel proceeded to that coun- 
try and labored with unusual success. It 
was but a short time till a presbytery was 
formed, which held its first meeting in the 
town of Washington. This presbytery 
has since so enlarged, that a synod, known 
as Pennsylvania Synod, has grown out of 
it, consisting of 4 presbyteries, 65 congre- 
gations, and about 7000 communicants.* 
These statistics extend to the year 1844. 
Since that time, this synod has increased 
in churches, ministers, and probably one 
presbytery. A part of its limits now ex- 
tends into Ohio. During this period, the 
church was, in other states, enjoying re- 
vivals of religion, and was in a growing, 
flourishing condition. Sometimes, it is 
true, it would have dark, discouraging, and 
trying hours ; yet, amid all, its limits in- 
creased. At the General Assembly of 
1834, on the authority of the synods, 
10,680 conversions were reported during 
the then past year. The number of synods, 
from the report of that assembly, was 9 ; 
of presbyteries, 35 ; of ordained preachers, 
300; of licensed preachers, 100; of can- 
didates for the ministry, 75,* and of com- 
municants, 50,000. 

The church is always, more or less, 
affected by the spirit of the age and sur- 
rounding circumstances. The greatest of 



* Among the preachers who labored with 
great fidelity and success in this part of the 
vineyard of God, was Rev. John Morgan. He 
was born in Alabama, of highly respectable 
parentage, and after preaching with much suc- 
cess in that state and Tennessee, he proceeded 
to Western Pennsylvania. In Uniontown he 
reared up a large and flourishing church. In 
that town, a few years ago, he died, much la- 
mented. His memory is cherished with reli- 
gious veneration all over Western Pennsylva- 
nia. Mr. Morgan, though he died in middle 
life, yet his success had been astonishing. His 
talents as a pulpit orator were of no common 
order. His life and labors would furnish ma- 
terials for an interesting book. 

Rev. William Harris, an aged, venerable, and 
pious minister, was among those who success- 
fully labored about this time in this part of the 
vineyard of God. He since has died at a very 
advanced age. He died in the triumphs of faith. 



wisdom is to make these subservient to 
the interests of religion. The persecution 
of the Jewish nation, and polity, did much 
to extend the gospel. That hardy, active, 
enterprising, and even restless spirit, in 
portions* of this country, did much to ex- 
tend the limits of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church, and doubtless, of the gene- 
ral principles of religion and morality. 
Soon after the colonization of Texas by 
Austin, there were Cumberland Presbyte- 
rian preaching stations, and small churches 
planted there.* 

It is known to the reader that this por- 
tion of North America was a Mexican 
colony, from its settlement up to the Texan 
revolution. During this time the existing 
laws, the language, and the religion, were 
serious impediments in the way of preach- 
ing and planting the Protestant faith. 
Among those who spoke the English lan- 
guage, the prevailing license and reckless- 
ness were equal impediments. But perse- 
verance overcomes all things. Like faith, 
it can remove mountains. These pioneers 
labored on, not looking at outward circum- 
stances, but resting with a firm trust in 
the promises of Jesus Christ, who said he 
would be with his ministers to the end of 
the world. They saw the wilderness 
blossom before them as the rose, and the 



* Rev. Sumner Bacon, a native of Massa- 
chusetts, was the first of this church, and pro- 
bably of any Protestant church, who preached 
in Texas. He commenced his labors as an 
evangelist, and prosecuted them with com- 
mendable vigor and zeal. He was just the man 
for such a time and country. He was hardy, 
patient of labor, and fearless of danger. Danger 
he had often to encounter of a very serious na- 
ture. In his labors he was much blessed. It 
is not known to the writer whether he yet be 
alive or no. His name is remembered with 
delight by many in that country. A narrative 
of his life and arduous labors, would consti- 
tute a volume of thrilling interest. 

Another pious and distinguished minister 
of the gospel who labored there was Rev. Mr. 
Frazer. Born, and inducted into the ministry 
in Tennessee, he at an early period emigrated 
to Texas. The good of religion, and the 
church, was the object of his emigration. 
Blessed in his labor, exemplary in his life, and 
possessed of talent and education, he wielded 
a powerful influence in the whole country. At 
his untimely death he was chaplain in the 
Texan Congress. His death was much re- 
gretted over the whole country. 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



517 



garden of 



the 



desert converted into a 
Lord. 

The influence of the struggle for inde- 
pendence was felt by them. The cause pro- 
gressed, but not so prosperously. Some 
of the preachers served in the- Texan 
army. This should not be wondered at, 
if it were borne in mind that Jeremy Tay- 
lor, and John Bunyan, both were soldiers 
daring the civil wars in England. After 
the establishment of the republican govern- 
ment there was something of a border 
warfare kept up, as well as frequent irrup- 
tions of the savages from various quar- 
ters. Since the " Annexation" of that 
Republic to this government, the unfortu- 
nate Mexican war has existed. And at 
this hour such exciting news comes from 
the city of Mexico, as throws the whole 
country into consternation. Texas, being 
adjacent to this, of course is affected by 
it, in proportion to its contiguity to the 
bloody scene. All wars are averse to the 
spirit of religion. The best can only be 
looked upon as necessary evils. They are, 
as the observation of many will doubtless 
confirm, averse to morality. The recital 
of deeds of horror, blood and carnage, 
have a demoralizing and brutalizing effect 
on the human heart. And when these are 
presented under the specious guise of pa- 
triotism and military glory, they are doubly 
dangerous. Under such circumstances 
was the gospel introduced into this part of 
the vineyard of God. Under such circum- 
stances were the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Churches here planted and reared up. 

They increased in size and numbers. 
In the process of time a Presbytery was 
organized. Now a flourishing synod, 
composed of several Presbyteries exists. 
In it, there is a religious periodical, (alrea- 
dy referred to,) well conducted, and pro- 
mises to exert a considerable religious and 
moral influence. 

Texas embraces a region of country, 
extending from the Sabine river, to the 
Rio Grande, and stretching with an ample 
sweep, from the Gulf of Mexico toward 
the sources of the Mississippi, the Rocky 
Mountains, and the Californias. This ter- 
ritory now the source of an unhappy rup- 
ture between two Republics, will one day, 
doubtless, be an independent nation, and 
the rival, of both, in all that is good. 



This synod, under the blessing of God, 
like the synods of Philadelphia, may grow 
into numerous Presbyteries and Synods, 
with colleges, institutions, and associa- 
tions for the spread of the Gospel. The 
man, who, in religion regards only the 
present, is blind, and cannot see afar off. 
The enlightened soul, on an eminence of 
contemplation, looks far into the future, and 
weeps, or rejoices, according to what is seen. 

Oregon, the Californias, Texas, and the 
valley of the Rio Grande, the scene pro- 
bably of future nations, will all, no doubt, 
be inhabited by the Anglo-Saxon race. 
Any efforts in any of those quarters to 
permanently establish the true principles 
of the Gospel, should be hailed by all with 
triumph. Probably, these reflections have 
been extended farther than will prove of 
interest to the reader. 

It is now time to turn attention to the 
great benevolent institutions of the day. 
These, have been very justly regarded as 
so many tests of the evangelical and or- 
thodox spirit of the different denomina- 
tions. The Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, from its first existence, has taken 
a decided stand in support and favor of 
these. The General Assembly has re- 
commended the churches under its care, 
to co-operate with the American Bible, 
Tract, Missionary, Sunday School, and 
Temperance Societies. These recom- 
mendations have been observed. Of the 
truth of this, numerous agents can attest. 
The Assembly of May last, that met in 
Lebanon, Ohio, as the minutes will con- 
firm, were addressed by agents of the 
American Sunday School Union, and the 
Board of Foreign Missions. A meeting 
was held during the session of that body, 
in behalf of the Tract cause. There is 
but one opinion throughout the whole de- 
nomination, concerning these and similar 
moral institutions, which have for their 
object, the amelioration of the condition 
of the human family, and the extension 
of the glory of God. 

Recently, a Board of Foreign and Do- 
mestic Missions has been formed in con- 
nection with this denomination. It is the 
general wish to act on this subject in fu- 
ture, more efficiently and systematically. 
No foreign field has, as yet, ever been 
occupied by the Cumberland Presbyterians. 



it 8 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



They have with success, in some cases, 
labored among the different Indian tribes.* 
On the head of ministerial education, it 
will perhaps be proper to make a few 
general statements. This will be the 
more necessary, as some have seriously 
believed, or at least have affected to be- 
lieve, that ministerial education with this 
denomination, was under par. Whenever 
this belief has been gratuitous, it has been 
malicious. When sincere, it has been 
with those of limited information. The 
clergy of the denomination show for them- 
selves to those capable of judging. There 
are some who have educations of the first 
order ; some a medium, and others an in- 
ferior education. So it is in all churches. 
So it is in all professions. The workman 
employs such tools as will effect his ob- 
ject. He does not use the axe in break- 
ing stones, nor the hammer, or crow-bar, 
in felling trees. Practicing on this prin- 
ciple of common sense, the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church has sent forth some 
laymen and evangelists, of inferior educa- 
tion on some points. These, in their field, 
have been useful. In many cases, more 
so than the pedant of no native intellect, 
retailing his second or third hand scraps 
and shreds of learning, without connec- 
tion or application. But, some of these 
evangelists who have gone with a limited 
share of education, to some new or sparselv 
settled neighborhood, as knowledge would 



* Rev. David Lowry, has for a number of 
years, operated with success among the Win- 
nebago Indians, on the west side of the Mis- 
sissippi. Mr. Lowry has, a part of the time, 
held an agency under the United States Go- 
vernment. He was removed by President 
Tyler. He still prosecutes his labors with ac- 
tivity and zeal. As a preacher, Mr. Lowry 
possesses talents of the first order, and has 
I been useful in different states. As a writer, 
j there are perhaps few or none in this country, 
I of a Theological character, who excel him. 
His style is marked by vi^or, perspicuity, and 
felicity of expression. His matter is every 
way equal to his diction. Tt is to he hoped, 
being freed from the time-killing practices of 
civilized life, he will have leisure to write 
some works of general and lasting interest. It 
was, whilst President Edwards was among the 
Indians, that he wrote some of his most val- 
uable works. His work on the Will, among 
others, was produced at this time. And strange 
to tell, he was so poor he could not buy paper, 
but used old letters to write on ! 



increase among the people, they would 
purchase books, read for practical pur- 
poses, and in process of time, would be- 
come really men of learning. Dr. Clark, 
the Commentator, acquired his extensive 
education in a manner analogous to this. 
The learned blacksmith, studied at his 
anvil. The ancient Greeks and Romans, 
knew nothing of what we call colleges, in 
modern times. Their children were edu- 
cated under private tutors, or by them- 
selves. A good education can be acquired 
either at a college, or away from one. 
The man who has the greatest fund of 
available knowledge, is the best scholar, 
the world over, no matter how, or where 
attained. Literary institutions are good, 
when a good use is made of them. It is 
to be devoutly wished that there were 
more of them in our land, and that those 
already in existence were made a better 
use of than they are. The number of in- 
stitutions of learning under the auspices 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
sufficiently shows the literary character of 
both the clergy, and the great mass of the 
people. 

Reference to the Confession of Faith 
will show the literary qualifications re- 
quired of every one who enters the min- 
isterial office. That book suffers no can- 
didate to be ordained without a thorough 
English education. Before the hands of 
the Presbytery are laid on the head of 
any one in ordination, he is examined on 
experimental religion — on his internal 
call to the ministry — on natural and re- | 
vealed Theology — on Astronomy — Ge- 
ography — English Grammar — Moral and | 
Natural Philosophy, &c, &c. This is 
called for in all cases, as indispensable to 
exercising the ministerial functions. 

But the book of discipline prefers, in 
all cases, a classical education where it is j 
possible. The framers of that book 
thought that there were some men who 
could not get a classical education, who i 
should not be prevented from preaching, i 
They thought there would be others who 
would be so far advanced in life, that, if 
they had the opportunities, it would not : 
be wise to take the time. 

There are, at this time, a number of [j 
young men at the different institutions of 
learning, who are pursuing their studies j! 

I 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



519 



with a view of obtaining a thorough clas- 
sical education. Of these, the greatest 
number, probably, is at Cumberland Uni- 
versity. Some twenty or thirty are at 
this time pursuing their studies there with 
reference to the ministry. 

A book agency has recently been 
established at Louisville, Ky. This has 
for its object not only general circulation 
of valuable books and publications, but 
also to hold out facilities to writing, in 
this denomination, for the publication of 
any works produced.* Facilities of this 
kind, it is hoped, will draw forth from 
obscurity some valuable writers. Proper 
circumstances never fail to call forth a 
multitude of authors. Under the auspices 
of Mecenas, Virgil, Horace, and many 
others, flourished. During the reigns of 
James and Elizabeth, when the Court 
was an academy, England produced some 
of her mightiest authors. 

It must be confessed that the denom- 
ination in question has produced compar- 
atively few authors. With churches it is 
as with individuals and nations : they 
have a youth, a manhood, and an old 
age. Youth, in all, is the time for ac- 
tion. Greece had its heroic age, in which 
Hercules and Theseus flourished. Then 
followed a more sober, reflecting period, 
in which Sophocles, Eschylus, Euripides, 
Herodotus, Xenophon, and Thucidides 
flourished. The same is true with re- 
spect to Rome. It was not till near the 
close of the Republic that writers of emi- 
nence began to make their appearance. 
The first two hundred years of the Chris- 
tian era scarce produced any valuable 
writers in the church. After this, a short 
time, a swarm of them appeared. It 
had been good for the cause of religion 
if many of them had never appeared, or 
that they were used with more judgment 



* Rev. Reuben Burrows has written a book 
on Baptism, that is in considerable demand. 
Rev. Milton Bird has recently written an 
able work on the doctrine of election. Rev. 
Robert Donnell has produced more than one 
work of merit. All from him is replete with 
sound sense. His "Miscellaneous Thoughts" 
contain lucid and comprehensive expositions 
of many points in theology. It is to be hoped 
that Mr. Donnelfs life will be spared, and that 
his pen will be active. 



and discretion in the present day. Our 
country has produced very few writers of 
merit and distinction. The reason is ob- 
vious. The enlightened reader will, 
doubtless, not take it amiss if it be af- 
firmed that education in general, in this 
country, is superficial. In England, Ger- 
many^ and other European countries, it is 
much more thorough. Properly consid- 
ered, this is no disparagement to this 
country. Its age considered, probably 
no country on the globe excels it in 
point of education, and superior writers. 
The youth of sixteen, who writes like a 
sage of fifty, will, probably, at fifty, write 
like a dotard. The same remark applied 
to a nation, is equally true. It is not to 
be wondered at that the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church has not, as yet, pro- 
duced many writers. The period, in the 
ordinary course of things, has not yet 
arrived for writing. It has been the pe- 
riod for action. 

Among the clergy of this denomination 
there have not been any instances of 
heresy. A remarkable harmony in doc- 
trinal beliefs has existed. This has been 
the case, whilst in other churches, many 
of the clergy have shot madly into the 
wildest and most extravagant heresies. 
We have witnessed, within the last few 
years, some of these ministers arraigned 
before their several spiritual courts, pass- 
ing through the most perplexing trials, 
under allegata of the wildest heresies. It 
cannot be doubted but the propensity of 
writing books has been the cause of much 
of this. In no science, save medicine, is 
there such an endless disposition to theo- 
rize, as in theology. There are no 
grounds for theory in either. For the 
former is based on actual observation and 
experience ; the latter, on plain revelation 
from God. But what has here been 
stated, is not intended as an opinion in 
opposition to theological works, or theo- 
logical writers. It is a mere reference to 
the abuse of them. It would be good for 
the cause of religion if it had many such 
advocates as Chalmers and D'Aubigne. 

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
is mainly confined to the Southern and 
Western portions of the United States. 
From the Lakes on the North, and the 
Gulf of Mexico on the South, it is nu- 



520 



HISTORY OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



merous. A few churches and ministers 
at different points, are to be found east of 
the Alleghany Mountains. 

It is not to be expected, in a church 
like this, extended over so large a terri- 
tory, and many portions of it sparsely 
settled, that the number of communi- 
cants can be accurately ascertained. In 
some of the new states the means of 
communication are very imperfect. 

On the authority of the Assembly, 
which met in May, 1856, at Lexington, 
Missouri, there were connected with the 
Church over one hundred thousand mem- 
bers, and more than one thousand minis- 
ters, many of whom are men of learning 
and ability, and zealous laborers in their 
Holy Master's vineyard. The number 
of communicants in some estimates has 
been placed considerably higher than this. 
The lowest estimate has here been stated. 
Estimating four children, and other adhe- 
rents, to each communicant, which, it will 
be acknowledged, is a very low estimate, 
there will be found 500,000 persons con- 
nected with this branch of the Redeemer's 
Kingdom. 

Allowing three persons to each commu- 



nicant, which is a still lower estimate, 
there are 400,000 persons in its connec- 
tion. In a growing country, and a pro- 
gressive age, a sufficient number of per- 
sons this, to wield a powerful moral, 
intellectual and religious influence. 

With due dependence on the God of 
providence and grace, energetic efforts 
and wise counsels, future prospects are 
highly encouraging. 

Such is an account submitted to the 
reader, of the origin, progress, doctrines, 
and present extent of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. It is as minute 
and extended as a work of this nature 
would admit. The facts can be relied on 
as true, having been taken from authentic 
sources. It has been composed amid a 
press of pastoral duties, at snatches and 
intervals. It is presented, such as it is, 
to an enlightened and charitable Christian 
public. If allusion has been made to the 
doctrines and practices of other denomi- 
nations, it has been done out of no ill 
design. Every church has a right to 
present to the world its own doctrines and 
practices, and show wherein these differ 
from others. 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 50 1 



HISTORY 



THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, 



COMMONLY STYLED 



COVENANTEES. 



BY THE REV. R. HUTCHESON, 
pastor of the reformed presbyterian congregation, at brush creek, adams county, ohio, 

july, 1847. 



All who give attention to the history 
of the church, know something of the 
sufferings of the martyrs in Scotland, 
under the tyranny of the house of Stuart : 
and all who love the truth in its purity, 
admire the men who so earnestly con- 
tended for it, — who " loved not their lives 
unto death." The principles for which 
they contended, as these are set forth 
in the formularies of the Church of Scot- 
land, and illustrated by the history of 
their times, are worthy of the most care- 
ful study, not only of the private Christian, 
but of the divine, and the civilian : for 
while they contended most strenuously for 
the honor of God, they sought, as a part 
of that honor, the full establishment of 
the rights of man. They had in common 
with many others, bound themselves to 
God and one another in covenant : first, 
in the National Covenant of Scotland ; 
and again in the Solemn League and 
Covenant of the three kingdoms, Scot- 
land, England, and Ireland, framed in 
1643, and renewed, 1648. The church 
and the nation, the rulers and the people, 
had mutually and voluntarily entered into 
these solemn vows , but the majority soon 
violated them, disowned them, and joined 



together in persecuting those who ad- 
hered to these sacred engagements, who 
were, on account of that adherence, 
called Covenanters. For a very inter- 
esting account of these people, see the 
History of tJie Covenantors in Scotland, 
published by the Presbyterian Board, in 
two volumes, Nos. 76 and 77. See, also, 
Traditions of the Covenanters, in three 
series, and Annals of the Persecution in 
Scotland from the Restoration to the 
Revolution ; ail published by the same 
Board. For the principles they contended 
for, see the Cloud of Witnesses. 

Reformed Presbyterians claim to 
be the lineal descendants of those Cove- 
nanters, adhering to the same principles, 
however far they may come short in 
faithfully carrying out their application. 
They have a Synod in Scotland, one in 
Ireland, and one in the United States, 
besides a number of congregations and 
scattered societies in the British provinces 
in North America. 

The Reformed Presbytery was consti- 
tuted in America, for the first time, in the 
year 1774, by three ministers, the Rev. 
Messrs. John Cuthbertson, William Linn, 
and Alexander Dobbin, with ruling elders. 



522 



HISTOKY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 



These ministers had been sent over from 
Europe, in order to organize the Church 
in America. 

During the persecution, several mem- 
bers of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, 
left their native country, to seek an asylum 
in the western world. These, and their 
descendants were found collecting into 
praying societies, as they were wont to do 
in their own land, upon the footing of the 
Reformation principles in the beginning 
of the 18th century. They kept them- 
selves distinct from the other worshipping 
societies which they found formed, or form- 
ing in the land, judging them no way dis- 
posed to enter into the full spirit of the 
covenanted reformation. Mr. Cuthbert- 
son arrived in America, from the Re- 
formed Presbytery of Scotland, in the year 
1752. Twenty years did Mr. Cuthbert- 
son serve alone, the Church in America. 
He visited the different societies which were 
farmed throughout the colonies, on reform- 
ation principles, and animated them to 
perseverance. Exposed to" danger almost 
constantly from the servants of the British 
crown, who were then endeavoring to con- 
firm over the American colonies, the doubly 
grievous yoke of tyranny and Episcopacy ; 
he endeavored to inspire his friends with 
confidence in the justness of their cause, 
and with hopes that God in his providence 
would, in his own time, deliver them. In 
the year 1774, Messrs. Linn and Dobbin, 
were sent to the country by the Reformed 
Presbytery of Ireland: upon their arrival 
a judicatory was constituted, and the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church put on a re- 
gular appearance, as an organized visible 
society in the colonies of America. 

This regular organization was soon lost 
by a union of the Reformed Presbytery 
and the Associate Presbyteries ; by which, 
instead of combining two denominations 
into one, a third was formed of some parts 
of the other two, known by the name of 
the Associate Reformed Church. This 
new church has adopted the names of both 
the bodies from which it was formed. 

The union was completed in 1782, after 
having been five years in agitation. A 
great part of the church joined their min- 
isters in the schism from their former con- 
nexion, and united in this new body with 
seceders, who had also irregularly departed 



from their former ecclesiastical brethren. 
Those who did not join, turned their at- 
tention again toward Europe, and called 
for ministerial assistance, which could not 
be immediately obtained. They were again 
reduced to their private fellowship meet- 
ings ; but they did not however, despair, 
even at their lowest state. They expected 
help ; and, they received it. Rev. James 
Reid was sent as a missionary, by the Re- 
formed Presbytery of Scotland, to exa- 
mine the affairs of the church in the Uni- 
ted States ; and after having travelled 
from Carolina to New York, and remained 
several months in America, he returned 
to Europe in the summer of 1790. Mr. 
McGarragh was ordained by the Reformed 
Presbytery of Ireland, for the Church in 
America, and arrived in South Carolina 
about the year 1791. The Rev. William 
King was commissioned with instructions 
to join Mr. McGarragh, and arrived in the 
United States, in 1792. Rev. James 
McKinney from the Reformed Presbytery 
in Ireland, arrived in 1793. Mr. McKin- 
ney possessed talents admirably adapted 
to the situation of the church at that time. 
He possessed an intrepidity of character, 
which could neither be seduced by friend- 
ship, nor overawed by opposition. His 
powers of mind, his extensive knowledge, 
and capability of enduring fatigue, emi- 
nently qualified him for his Master's work. 
Through his instrumentality, the church 
rapidly increased in the States of Penn- 
sylvania and New York. Rev. William 
Gibson arrived from Ireland, in 1797, ac- 
companied by Messrs. Black and Wylie, 
who had completed a collegiate education 
in the University of Glasgow, and were 
preparing for the work of the ministry. 

The church was again by the goodness 
of her exalted King, favored with a regu- 
lar organization. The Reformed Presby- 
tery of the United States of North Ame- 
rica, was constituted in the city of Phila- 
delphia, in the spring of 1798. Mr. King 
died before the meeting of this court ; but 
the Presbytery was soon increased. Messrs, 
Donelly, Black, Wylie, and McLeod, were 
licensed to preach the gospel in 1799. In 
the course of two years, they were all or- 
dained to the ministry, and had the care 
of fixed pastoral charges. 

The constitution of the Reformed Pres- 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 



523 



! byterian Church in the United States, was 
! fully recognized by the ecclesiastical judi- 
! catories of the same church in Scotland, 
and in Ireland ; a friendly correspondence 
was established between the three Presby- 
teries ; and some encouragement afforded 
of receiving ministerial help at a future 
period. 

In the year 1800 a committee was ap- 
pointed by the Presbytery to visit the 
Southern States of the Confederation, and 
clothed with full powers to regulate the 
concerns of the church in that quarter. 
They attended to the duties assigned them, 
and made several stringent regulations, 
which have since been strictly observed. 

In May, 1806, the Presbytery issued 
the Testimony of the Reformed Presbyte- 
rian Church in the United States of 
America. This work consists of two 
parfe ; the first, historical, exhibiting the 
church as a visible society, in covenant 
with God ; and pointing out precisely the 
situation which they themselves occupy as 
a distinct part of the church universal. 
The second part is a Declaration of the 
doctrines held by them, and an enumera- 
tion of the errors which they reject. It 
has ever since been contemplated, and is 
now in progress of preparation to publish 
a third part, containing arguments in de- 
fence of the doctrines, and making a par- 
ticular application of the principles of the 
testimony. All who would understand the 
doctrines of the church, must become ac- 
quainted with the Testimony. 

At the same session, (May, 1806,) two 
acts were passed by the Presbytery, which 
are important, as containing practical di- 
rections for the conduct of individual mem- 
bers of the church — an act respecting 
giving oath, when summoned before the 
constituted authorities of the nation — and 
an act respecting serving as jurors in 
courts of justice. These acts and the 
reasons for them, and corresponding prac- 
tice, present some of the distinctive fea- 
tures of the Reformed Presbyterians, and 
called forth all their exertions, in preach- 
ing, writing, and conversation, in their 
own defence. 

In consequence of the extended field 
over which the ministers and the people 
were scattered, the Presbytery was divided 
into three committees for transacting busi- 



ness, and the Presbytery met biennially. 
At a meeting held in Philadelphia, that 
judicatory was dissolved, and the minis- 
ters with the delegated elders, being as- 
sembled, agreed to constitute a synod. 
The senior minister, Rev. William Gib- 
son, being called upon for that purpose, 
did constitute with prayer in the name of 
the Lord Jesus, the only King and Head 
of the Church, the Synod of the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church in America, on the 
24th of May, 1809. The deeds of the 
Presbytery were all recognized by the 
synod ; and the former committees were 
erected into Presbyteries. Thus the church 
was lengthening her cords, strengthening 
her stakes, and stretching forth the cur- 
tains of her habitation. 

A brief sketch like the present, will not 
admit of a full development of her pro- 
gress, and the changes through which she 
has passed. To the general reader it will 
be more interesting to know something of 
her distinctive features ; wherein she dif- 
fers from other members of the great 
Presbyterian family — children of the same 
Father, between whom there should be no 
strife ; but, alas ! they have grievously 
fallen out by the way. 

A prominent, distinctive feature of this 
church, is, that her members will not own 
allegiance to the government of any nation 
which refuses allegiance to the Lord Jesus 
Christ, — the Prince of the Kings of the 
earth. And as they do not find any na- 
tion rendering allegiance to Him, they re- 
main in the character of aliens, neither 
voting for officers, holding offices, sitting 
on juries, nor taking the oath of naturali- 
zation ; whether in the United States, 
Great Britain, or any other nation yet 
known. 

This practice is based on the following 
doctrines : 

1. That the Lord Jesus Christ as Me- 
diator, has committed to him all power in 
heaven and in earth, as the vicegerent of 
the Father ; and governs all creatures and 
all their actions for his own glory and our 
salvation, as Head over all things to the 
Church, which is his body. Mat. xxviii. 
18; Eph. i. 20, &c. ; Phil. ii. 8, &c. ; 
Heb. ii. 8. 

2. That submission is due to the media- 
tory authority, from all the intelligent 



524 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 



creatures of God ; men, not only as saints 
and church members, but also in every 
possible relation and condition, are under 
obligation to subserve his gracious pur- 
poses according to his law. The holy 
angels minister under his directions to the 
heirs of salvation. Ps. ii. 10, &c. ; Phil, 
ii. 10; Heb. i. 6, 14. Nations in their 
national capacity are not excepted. 

3. Divine revelation is given to direct 
men in all their situations and relations, 
in civil as well as in religious things. Isa. 
viii. 20 ; 2 Tim. hi. 16 ; 1 Cor. x. 31. 

4. It is the duty of all men voluntarily 
to form civil societies, establishing such 
authority as may best tend to preserve 
order, liberty and religion among them ; 
and it is lawful for them to model their 
constitutions of government in such a 
manner as may appear most suitable to 
them ; provided, such constitutions in their 
principles and distribution of power, be in 
nothing contrary to the divine law. Ex. 
xviii. 21, &c; Deut. i. 13 ; xvi. 18 ; xvii. 
14, &c; Prov. xxi. 3; Jer. xxx. 21; 
Ezek. xlv. 9 ; 1 Tim. ii. 2. 

5. God, the supreme governor, is the 
fountain of all power and authority, and 
civil magistrates are his deputies. In the 
administration of government, obedience 
is due to their lawful commands for con- 
science sake : but no power, which de- 
prives the subject of civil liberty — which 
wantonly squanders his property and 
sports with his life — or which authorizes 
false religion, (however it may exist ac- 
cording to divine Providence,) is approved 
of, or sanctioned by God, or ought to bo 
esteemed or supported by man as a moral 
institution. Rom. xiii. 1-5 ; Prov. xxix. 
2, & xxviii. 15; Ps. ii. 2, & xciv. 20; 
Hos. viii. 3, 4 ; Rev. xiii. 1, & xii. 9, & 
xvii. 12, &c. 

6. Civil society being a voluntary asso- 
ciation, the nation is not bound to admit 
to all its peculiar privileges, every person 
who may reside within the reach of its 
powers ; nor is every person dwelling 
within the limits of a nation, under obli- 

| gation to incorporate with the national 
| society. Every government has the right 
j of making laws of naturalization, and 
I every individual possesses the right of ex- 
I pat nation, and both these rights are to be 
exercised in conformity to the law of God, 



the supreme ruler and judge. Gen. xlvii. 
4; Num. x. 29, & xv. 15; Deut. xxiv. 
17, & xxiii. 8 ; Acts xxi. 39, & xxii. 27, 
&c; Jas. iv. 12. 

7. It is the duty of Christians, for the 
sake of peace and order, and in humble 
resignation to God's good providence, to 
conform to the common regulations of so- 
ciety in things lawful ; but to profess alle- 
giance to no constitution of government 
which is in hostility to the kingdom of 
Christ, the Head of the Church, and the 
prince of the kings of the earth. Jer. 
xxix. 4-7 ; Ps. cxxxvii. 1-9 ; Acts iv. 
19 ; Mat. vi. 10 ; Heb. xii. 26 ; Micah iv. 
8, 13. 

According to these principles, Reformed 
Presbyterians consider themselves bound 
to bring civil institutions to the test of 
God's holy word, and reject whatever is 
in opposition to that rule. They approve 
of some of the leading features of the 
constitution of government in the United 
States. It is happily calculated to pre- 
serve the civil liberty of the inhabitants, 
and to protect their persons and property. 
A definite constitution on the representa- 
tive system, reduced to writing, is a right- 
eous measure, which ought to be adopted 
by every nation under heaven. Such 
constitution must 1 , however, be founded on 
the principles of morality ; and must in 
every article be moral, before it can be re- 
cognized by the conscientious Christian as 
an ordinance of God. When immorality 
and impiety are rendered essential to any 
system, the whole system must be rejected. 
Presbyterian Covenanters perceiving im- 
morality interwoven with the General and 
the States' constitutions of government in 
America, have uniformly dissented from 
the civil establishments. Much as they 
loved liberty, they loved religion more. 
Anxious as they were for the good of the 
country, they sought that good, where 
alone it can be found, in the prosperity of 
Zion ; for " righteousness exalteth a na- 
tion, but sin is a reproach to any people." 
Their opposition to the civil institutions 
has been the opposition of reason and of 
piety ; the weapons of their warfare are 
arguments and prayers. There are moral 
evils essential to the constitution of the 
United States, which render it necessary 
to refuse allegiance to the whole system. 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 



525 



In this remarkable instrument, there is 
contained no acknowledgment of the being 
or authority of God — there is no acknow- 
ledgment of the Christian religion, nor 
professed submission to the kingdom of 
Messiah. It gives support to the enemies 
of the Redeemer, and admits to its honors 
and emoluments, Jews, Mahommedans, 
Deists, and Atheists. This constitution 
is, notwithstanding: its numerous excel- 



lencies, in 



many 



instances inconsistent, 



oppressive, and impious. Since its adop- 
tion in 1789, the members of the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church have main- 
tained a constant testimony against these 
evils. They have refused to serve in any 
office which implies an approbation of the 
constitution, or which is placed under the 
direction of an immoral law. They have 
abstained from giving their votes at elec- 
tions for legislators, or officers who must 
be qualified to act by an oath of allegiance 
to this immoral system. 

In brief, the above are some of the ob- 
jections which the members of the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church find to the 
Constitution of the United States, but 
those who wish to know the clauses of the 
constitution to which they make objection, 
and their reasons for objecting to them, 
must become acquainted with the publi- 
cations of their ministers, many of whom 
hold the pen of the writer. To those 
who may not have access to their writings, 
and who may desire to study the matter 
in all its details, the following references 
may serve some purpose, as furnishing 
material for future reflection. 

1. The preamble is objected to, because 
it pays no regard to the glory of God, as 
the end of establishing the government, 
and because it does not propose to secure 
liberty to all the inhabitants, in which 
things it is at variance with the following 
scriptures, among many others : 1 Cor. x. 
31 ; Col. iii. 17 ; Lev. x. 25, and Hos. 
viii. 4. 

2. The ratio of representation, article 
1, section 2, clause 3, is objected to, be- 
cause it makes an invidious distinction 
between certain persons styled " free," 
and " all other persons ;" contrary to the 
following scriptures : Lev. xxiv. 22 ; 
Num. x\ 16; Deut. xvi. 20; Ps. cxv. 



16; Isa. lviii. 6; Ezek. xlvii. 22; Acts 
xvii. 26. 

3. Objection is made to section 9, 
clause 1, of the same article, because it 
legalized the slave trade, contrary to Exo- 
dus xxi. 16; Ezek. xxvii. 13, &c; Rev. 
xviii. 10-13. 

4. Exception is taken against the quali- 
fications of officers, as being grossly de- 
fective, having no moral or religious fea- 
tures, befitting a Christian people. Art. 
1, sec. 2, clause 2, and sec. 3, clause 3 ; 
art. 2, sec. 1, clause 4 ; art. 6, clause 3. 
This last item positively forbids Chris- 
tian qualifications ever being required ; 
and all of them are at variance with Ex. 
xviii. 21, & xx. 3; Deut. i. 13; Job 
xxxiv. 17; Ps. ii. 10, & xiv. 1; Prov. 
xxviii. 15, 16 ; Eccles. iv. 13 ; Isa. lxv. 
20 ; Rom. xiii. 4. 

5. The mode of inducting into office is 
objected to as not calcutated to give glory 
to God. Art. 2, sec. 1, clause 7, and art. 
6, clause 3. Swearing or affirming with- 
out the name of God, and without any 
allusion to his authority or law, is at va- 
riance with scripture practice and scrip- 
ture principles. Deut. vi. 13, & xxxi. 7, 
8 ; 2 Sam. v. 3 ; 2 Kings xi. 12, 17 ; 
Hos. viii. 4. 

6. The pardoning power, so far as it 
relates to murder, is contrary to Num. 
xxxv. 31, 33. 

7. Article 4, sec. 1. is calculated to in- 
volve us in partaking of other mens' sins, 
or at least in encouraging or favoring 
them, contrary to Isa. viii. 12 ; Ps. 1. 19, 
& 1 Tim. v. 22. 

8. The restoring of fugitive laborers, 
art. 4, sec. 2, clause 3, is at variance with 
Deut. xxiii. 15; Isa. xvi. 3, and Ps. 
lxxxii. 3, 4. 

9. Making any other law than the will 
of the Creator, to be the " Supreme law 
of the land," is impious ; yet this is done 
by art. 6, clause 2, contrary to Deut. xvii. 
18 ; Josh. i. 8 ; Isa. viii. 20. 

10. Article 1 of the amendments to tl*e 
constitution is objected to, as being at va- 
riance with Deut. vi. 15, 16, & vii. 5, & 
xii. 30, 31 ; I Kings xviii. 21 ; Ps. Ixxii. 
11 ; Prov. xiv. 34 ; Micah iv. 2 ; Rev. 
xi. 15 ; Jer. ix. 9, & x. 10. 

Reformed Presbyterians consider that 
such blemishes in the moral features of 



526 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 



the constitution, are calculated to bring 
the wrath of God on the nation, and they 
cannot expect to escape the punishment, 
if they partake in the sins. Nor does 
the administering of the constitution pre- 
sent any relieving consideration, so long 
as haters of God are chosen to office, and 
the land defiled with Sabbath violation, 
murder, drunkenness, swearing, and nu- 
merous other sins which ought not to 
be so much as named among those who 
enjoy the light of the gospel. This pecu- 
liarity of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church has prevented many from entering 
her communion, who are otherwise well 
affected towards her doctrine and order ; 
nay, it has been the occasion of offence 
to some who had been long in the enjoy- 
ment of her privileges. Like all other 
churches around her, she has suffered a 
division. This indeed is not a matter of 
wonder, when the moral heavens and 
earth are shaking, as they have been for 
a few years past, but it is rather a remark- 
able fact, that many who had been in the 
very first rank in defending her distinctive 
principles and order, and in gathering her 
people, should be leaders in the schism. 

The year 1833, is one of painful in- 
terest to the members of this church. 
When her ministers and members were 
under the blessing of her glorious Head, 
rising in numbers and respectability 
among the churches ; many, like " Jeshu- 
rutn, waxed fat and kicked," forsook her 
testimony, opposed, and defamed their 
] brethren, and set up a new establishment, 
claiming the old name. 

The subject of the rejection of the 
Bible, as the standard of legislation, by 
the civil authorities of the land, was dis- 
cussed at large in the synod, in 1830. 
Dr. Wylie and some who followed him, 
although they acknowledged the govern- 
ments of this land to be infidel, and there- 
fore not entitled to the honor due to the 
ordinance of God ; were not zealous as 
they had been, in bearing testimony 
against the evils that exist in the corrupt 
constitutions of Church and State, in this 
nation. They did not, however, at that 
time, venture to avow their relinquishment 
of the testimony, to which all were bound 
by many and solemn vows. The spirit 
of declension became more manifest at 



the next sessions of Synod, in 1831 ; 
though still without a direct avowal of 
opinions adverse to the standards and 
known usages of the church. Without 
attacking these directly, they discoursed 
of the necessity of caution in our own tes- 
timony — of the importance of liberal 
views — and of the great and rapid im- | 
provements of the age. In a subordinate 
synod, constituted in 1832, they brought 
forward, in a draft of a pastoral address, 
doctrines utterly subversive of the whole 
testimony of the church, relative to civil 
government, for more than one hundred 
and eighty years. After the synod had I 
expunged these articles from the address, j 
the minority, consisting of Drs. Wylie 
and McMaster, Rev. Messrs. Crawford 
Stuart, J. N. McLcod, W. Wilson, J. Mc- 
Master, and five ruling elders, published 
the original draft, on their own responsi- 
bility. For this and other offences con- 
nected with it, they were, in April, 1833, 
after much deliberation and prayer, sus- 
pended from the exercise of the ministry, 
and the privileges of the church, by the 
Eastern Subordinate Synod, to which they 
belonged. 

The General Synod met at Philadel- 
phia, in August the same year, and as the 
former moderator was one of those who 
had been suspended, the Synod was open- i 
ed with a sermon and constituted by Rev. | 
M. Roney, who at the last meeting had I 
been appointed the moderator's substitute. 
In the report of the Eastern Subordinate 
Synod, an ample detail of its proceedings | 
in the cases of discipline, was given to 
General Synod, and the whole transactions 
were unanimously approved. The sus- I 
pcnded ministers and some others with 
them, met at the same time with General I 
Synod, and constituted what they call the | 
General Synod of the Reformed Presby- | 
terian Church. These still remain a dis- | 
tinct body ; maintaining principles and 
practices at variance with the standard I 
and usages of covenanters ; and in oppo- 
sition to their own preaching and writing 
in former times. Old things have with B 
them, in a great measure passed away. \ 
and their present course is characterised jj 
by "New Light. 

A second distinctive feature of the Re- j 
formed Prcsbvterian Church is their views j 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c. CHURCH. 



527 



of Covenanting, and their attachment to the 
covenants of their ancestors. Preparation 
has been making for some years, to renew 
their covenants with God in this land. 

Finding the business of covenanting 
occupying so conspicuous a part in Scrip- 
ture, and considering it a moral duty, they 
t maintain its right to a place among di- 
vinely instituted ordinances, and testify 
against those who deny that religious co- 
venanting in the Christian church is a 
moral duty. They hold that it is compe- 
tent to the individual Christian, and it is 
his duty, to dedicate himself to God, by 
solemn vow or oath. In this case a vow 
or oath assumes a spiritual character, and 
is not merely civil or moral. It is the 
taking hold of the everlasting covenant of 
God, and engaging in the strength of grace, 
to perform all the duties which it requires. 
No Christian can bind himself to do any 
thing which is forbidden in the word of 
God, which would hinder any commanded 
duty, which is not in his power, or for the 
performance of which there is no promise 
of ability. Num. xxx. 2; Ps. Ixxvi. 11 ; 
Is. xliv. 5 ; Zech. xiii. 9 ; Is. lvi. 6. 

It is the duty of the Christian Church 
in fier social capacity, occasionally to vow 
to the Lord ; embracing the covenant of 
grace, for the maintainance of truth, the 
observance of the ordinances of religion, 
and performances of all commanded du- 
ties, to confirm her unity, and maintain 
her stability in the Christian cause. Ex. 
xix. 8 ; Is. xix. 21 ; Jer. 1. 5 ; 2 Cor. viii. 
5; Heb. viii. 10. 

Nations, being necessarily under the 
moral law, and having received and em- 
braced the Christian religion, ought, in 
their social capacity, to enter into cove- 
nant with God for the preservation of their 
| liberties, and for maintaining the interests 
, of the kingdom of Christ, as the surest 
' basis of public peace and prosperity. Dan. 
vii. 14; Is. lxii. 4; Ps. Lxviii. 31 ; Zech, 
ii. 11 ; Rev. xi. 15. 

The oaths for covenants of a church or 
nation, when lawful in their matter, and 
founded on the word of God, continue 
binding, until the design of them has been 
fully accomplished ; and their obligation 
descends upon the posterity of those who 
have entered into them. Deut. v. 2, 3 ; 
xxix. 1, 14 ; xxiii. 21 : Eccles. v. 4 : Jer. 



xi. 10. Compare also Joshua ix. 15, with 
2 Sam. xxi. 1. 

This duty of covenanting was well ex- 
emplified in the British Isles in the first 
and second reformations. The National 
Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn 
League of Scotland, England and Ireland, 
held a conspicuous place in the reforma- 
tions by which these lands were distin- 
guished. 

The National Covenant of Scotland is 
a masterly exposure and condemnation of 
Popery, by which it was driven out of 
Scotland. It ought to be studied by all 
Protestants, even in these days of increas- 
ed knowledge. " The Solemn League" 
exhibits a basis of union for several 
churches, which modern unionists would 
do well to copy. True there are some 
things in these documents peculiar to the 
time and place where they were framed, 
but these peculiarities no way hinder the 
application of their principles in any land 
at any time. 

This last document we give entire : re- 
proaches have been heaped upon it ; let it 
speak for itself. 

The Solemn League and Covenant 

for reformation and defence of religion, 
the honor and happiness of the King, 
and the peace and safety of the three 
kingdoms of Scotland, England^ and 
Ireland. (Jer. 1. 5 ; Prov. xxv. 5 ; 2 
Chron. xv. 15 ; Gal. iii. 15.) 

We, Noblemen, Barons, Knights, Gen- 
tlemen, Citizens, Burgesses, Ministers of 
the Gospel, and commons of all sorts, in 
the kingdoms of Scotland, England, and 
Ireland ; by the providence of God, living 
under one king, and being of one Reform- 
ed religion, having before our eyes the 
glory of God, and the advancement of the 
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ, the honor and happiness of the 
king's majesty, and his posterity, and the 
true public liberty, safety, and peace of 
the kingdoms, wherein every one's private 
condition is included : And calling to mind 
the treacherous and bloody plots, conspi- 
racies, attempts and practices of the ene- 
mies of God, against the true religion and 
professors thereof in all places, especially 
in these three kingdoms, ever since the 
reformation of religion; and how much 



528 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 



their rage, power, and presumption, are 
of late, and at this time increased and ex- 
ercised, whereof the deplorable state of 
the church and kingdom of Ireland, the 
distressed state of the church »«'! kingdom 
of England, and the dangerous si. tie of the 
church and kingdom of Scotland, are pre- 
sent and public testimonies, we have now 
at last, (after other means of supplication 
and remonstrance, protestation, and suffer- 
ings,) for the preservation of ourselves 
and our religion from utter ruin and de- 
struction, according to the commendable 
practice of these kingdoms in former 
times, and the example of God's people in 
other nations, after mature deliberation, 
resolved and determined, to enter into a 
mutual and Solemn League and Covenant, 
wherein we all subscribe, and each one 
of us for himself, with our hands lifted up 
to the Most High God, do swear, 

I. That we shall sincerely, really and 
constantly, through the grace of God, 
endeavor, in our several places and call- 
ings, the preservation of the Reformed 
Religion in the Church of Scotland, in 
doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern- 
ment, against our common enemies : the 
reformation of religion in the kingdoms 
of England and Ireland, in doctrine, wor- 
ship, discipline, and government, accord- 
ing to the word of God, and the example 
of the best reformed churches, and shall 
endeavor to bring the churches of God in 
the three kingdoms to the nearest con- 
junction and uniformity in religion, con- 
fession of faith, form of church govern- 
ment, directory for worship, and cate- 
chising, that we and our posterity after 
us, may, as brethren, live in faith and 
love, and the Lord may delight to dwell 
in the midst of us. 

II. That we shall, in like manner, 
without respect of persons, endeavor the 
extirpations of popery, prelacy, (that is, 
church government, archbishops, bishops, 
their chancellors and commissaries, deans, 
deans and chapters, archdeacons, and all 
other ecclesiastical officers depending on 
that hierarchy,) superstition, heresy, 
schism, profaneness, and whatsoever shall 
be found contrary to sound doctrine and 
the power of godliness, lest we partake in 
other men's sins, and thereby be in dan- 
ger to receive of their plagues ; and that 



the Lord may be one, and his name one, 
in the three kingdoms. 
v III. We shall with the same sincerity, 
reality, and constancy, in our several vo- 
cations, endeavor, with our estates and 
lives, mutually to preserve the rights and 
privileges of the parliaments, and the lib- 
erties of the kingdoms ; and to preserve 
and defend the king's majestic person 
and authority, in the preservation and 
defence of the 'true religion, and liberties 
of the kingdoms ; that the world may 
bear witness with our consciences of our 
loyalty, and that we have no thoughts or 
intentions to diminish his majesty's just 
power and greatness. 

IV. We shall, also, with all faithful- 
ness, endeavor the discovery of all such 
as have been, or shall be, incendiaries, 
malignants or evil instruments, by hin- 
dering the reformation of religion, divi- 
ding the king from his people, or one of 
the kingdoms from another, or making 
any faction or parties amongst the people, 
contrary to this League and Covenant ; 
that they may be brought to public trial 
and receive condign punishment, as the 
degree of their offences shall require or 
deserve, or the supreme judicatories of both 
kingdoms respectively, or others having 
power from them for that effect, shall 
judge convenient. 

V. And whereas the happiness of a 
blessed peace between these kingdoms, 
denied in former times to our progenitors, 
is, by the good providence of God, granted 
to us, and hath been lately concluded and 
settled by both parliaments; we shall, 
each one of us, according to our place 
and interest, endeavor that they may re- 
main conjoined in a firm peace and union 
to all posterity ; and that justice may be 
done upon the wilful opposers thereof, in 
manner expressed in the preceding article. 

VI. We shall, also, according to our 
places and callings, in this common cause 
of religion, liberty, and peace of the king- 
doms, assist and defend all those that en- 
ter into this League and Covenant, in the 
maintaining and pursuing thereof; and 
shall not suffer ourselves, directly or in- 
directly, by whatsoever combination, per- 
suasion, or terror, to be divided and with- 
drawn from this blessed union and con- 
junction, whether to make defection to 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c. CHURCH. 



529 



the contrary part, or to give ourselves to 
a detestable indifference and neutrality, in 
this cause, which so much concerneth the 
glory of God, the good of the kingdom, 
and honor of the king ; but shall, all the 
days of our lives, zealously and constantly 
continue therein against all opposition, 
and promote the same according to our 
power, against all acts and impediments 
whatsoever; and what we are not able 
ourselves to suppress or 'overcome, we 
shall reveal and make known, that it may 
be timely prevented or removed. All 
which we shall do as in the sight of God. 
And because these kingdoms are guilty 
of many sins and provocations against 
God, and his Son, Jesus Christ, as is too 
manifest by our present distresses and 
dangers, the fruits thereof; we profess and 
declare before God and the world, our un- 
feigned desire to be humbled for our own 
sins, and for the sins of these kingdoms : 
especially, that w r e have not, as we ought, 
valued the inestimable benefit of the Gos- 
pel ; that we have not labored for the pu- 
rity and power thereof; and that we have 
not endeavored to receive Christ in our 
hearts, nor to walk worthy of him in our 
lives, which are the causes of other sins and 
transgressions so much abounding amongst 
us : and our true and unfeigned purpose, 
desire and endeavor, for ourselves and all 
others under our power and charge, both in 
public and in private, in all duties we owe 
to God and man, to amend our lives, and 
each one to go before another in the ex- 
ample of a real reformation, that the Lord 
may turn away his wrath and heavy in- 
dignation, and establish these churches 
and kingdoms in truth and peace. And 
this Covenant we make in the presence 
of ALMIGHTY GOD, the searcher of 
all hearts, with a true intention to perform 
the same, as we shall answer at that 
great day, when the secrets of all hearts 
shall be disclosed ; most humbly beseech- 
ing the Lord to strengthen us by his Ho- 
ly Spirit, for this end, and to bless our 
desires and proceedings with such suc- 
cess as may be deliverance and safety to 
his people, and encouragement to other 
j Christian churches groaning under, or in 
J danger of, the yoke of anti-christian ty- 
I ranny, to join in the same or like associa- 
I tion and covenant, to the glorv of GOD, 



the enlargement of the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ, and the peace and tranquility of 
Christian kingdoms and commonwealths. 

A third distinctive feature of Covenant- 
ers, is that every member is required to 
attend a social fellowship meeting, for 
prayer and christian conference. Many 
Christians of other denominations consider 
this both a duty and a privilege, yet but 
few attend to it. Covenanters view it in 
the light of a divine ordinance not to be 
neglected : for which they have a warrant 
in the following scriptures: Mai. iii. 16; 
Matt, xviii. 20 ; John xx. 19 ; Col. iii. 16 ; 
Heb. x. 25, and Song viii. 13. 

A fourth distinctive feature of Cove- 
nanters is, that while they recognize the 
validity of ordinances administered by 
other denominations of Christians, and 
acknowledge those denoninations as breth- 
ren, yet they cannot join, either statedly 
or occasionally, in the communion of any 
other Church, by waiting on its ministry, 
either in word or sacraments, while they 
continue opposed to their declared senti- 
ments. 

The strictness of their discipline is con- 
sidered by some as amounting to a dis- 
tinctive feature : and they are most stren- 
uous advocates of the Book of Psalms of 
divine inspiration, to the exclusion of all 
other compositions, in the worship of God. 

In the cause of foreign missions, little 
has been done till now, that a mission is 
preparing to set out for Hayti. This 
island was explored last winter by Rev. J. 
B. Johnston, of Logan County, Ohio ; 
and Port au Prince has been selected as 
the point on which to establish a mission. 
In home missions much has been done 
and is doing. 

They have a Theological Seminary in 
Cincinnati, under the care of Dr. J. R. 
Wilson. Thirteen students were in at- 
tendance last session. 

Two Periodicals are engaged in advo- 
cating and disseminating the principles of 
the Church. One in Newburgh, estab- 
lished in 1837, Rev. M. Roney editor, is 
entitled " The Reformed Presbyte- 
rian." The other in Philadelphia, com- 
menced in 1845, Rev. J. M. Wilson editor, 
is entitled " The Covenanter." 

Although the number of ministers and 
congregations is increasing every year, all 



6? 



530 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, &c, CHURCH. 



meet in one Synod; the subordinate 
synods were abolished in 1840. There 
are five Presbyteries, designated as fol- 
lows, New York presbytery, Rochester, 
presbytery, Pittsburg presbytery, Lakes 
presbytery and Illinois presbytery. In 
1845, the Synod consisted of 58 members 
— ministers and elders. Had all the min- 
isters been present and a full delegation 
of elders, the number would have been 74. 
The following is- the statistical table of 
three Presbyteries in 1845. The largest 
Presbytery and the smallest having made 
no returns : 

NEW YORK PRESBYTERY. 



Congregations. 


Ministers. 


Fami- 
lies. 


Commu- 
nicants. 


Craftsburg, Vt. 


S. M. Wilson, 


27 


PO 


Byegate and Barnet. 


Jas. M. Beattie, 


59 


139 


Coldenham. 


Jas. W. Shaw, 


42 


96 


Newburgh, 


M. Roney, 


55 


103 


1st. Cong. N. York, 


Jas. Chrystie, 


70 


180 


2nd. Cong. N. York, 


A. Stevenson. 


1C5 


319 


Cherry St., Philada. 


J.M. Wilson, 


90 


301 


2nd. Cong. Philada. 


S. 0. Wylie, 


35 


I 94 



Vacant congregations, some of which 

have since obtained pastors : — Topsham, 

Argyle, Albany, Kortwright, Bovina, 

Baltimore, White Lake, Conococheague. 

LAKES PRESBYTERY. 



Congregations. 



Miami, 
Utica, 
Brushcreek, 
Southfield, 



Ministers. 



J. B. Johnson, 
A. McFarland, 

, R. Hutcheson, 

| Jas. Niell, 



Families. 



Communi 
cants. 



123 
116 
95 

38 



Vacant congregations, some of which 
have since obtained pastors : — Beech - 
woods and Garrison, Cincinnati, Jona- 
than's Creek, Sandusky, Cedar Lake. 
ILLINOIS PRESBYTERY. 



Congregations. 



Elkhorn, 
Old Bethel, 
Bethel, 
Bloomington 
Princeton, 
Walnut Ridge 



.} 



Ministers. 

W. Sloane, 
Jas. Wallace, 
H. Stevenson, 
Jas. Faris, 

J. J.McClurkin. 



Families. 



Communi 
cants. 



109 
113 

120 
76 
25 
35 



Vacant congregation : — St. Louis. 

Missionary Stations : — Edwardsville, 
Staunton, Springfield, Hennipen, Chili, 
Jacksonville, Virginia Grove, Iowa City, 
Prairieville. 

The following are the Terms of Com- 
munion in the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church, in North America. 

x. An acknowledgment of the scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testaments to 



be the word of God, and the only rule of 
faith and manners. 

2. An acknowledgment that the whole 
doctrine of the Westminster Confession of 
Faith and the Catechisms, larger and 
shorter, are agreeable to, and founded on 
the Scriptures. 

3. An acknowledgment of the divine 
right of one unalterable form of Church 
government and manner of worship — and 
that these are for substance justly exhi- 
bited in that form of Church government 
and the Directory for worship, agreed on 
by the assembly of Divines at Westmin- 
ster, as they were received by the Church 
of Scotland. 

4. An acknowledgment that public 
Covenanting is an ordinance of God, to be 
observed by churches and nations, under 
the New Testament dispensation ; — and 
that those vows, namely, that which was 
entered into by the church and kingdom 
of Scotland, called the National Cove- 
nant, and that which was afterwards en- 
tered into by the three kingdoms of Scot- 
land, England and Ireland, and by the 
Reformed Churches in those kingdoms, 
usually called the Solemn League and 
Covenant, were entered into in the true 
spirit of that institution — and that the ob- 
ligation of these covenants extends to 
those who were represented in the taking 
of them, although removed to this or any 
other part of the world, in so far as they 
bind to duties not peculiar to the British 
isles, but applicable in all lands. 

5. An approbation of the faithful con- 
tendings of the martyrs of Jesus, and of 
the present Reformed Covenanted churches 
in Britain and Ireland, against Paganism, 
Popery and Prelacy, and against immoral 
constitutions of civil government, together 
with all Erastian* tolerations and perse- 
cutions which flow therefrom ; as contain- 
ing a noble example for us and our pos- 
terity to follow, in contending for all di- 
vine truth, and in testifying against all 



*Erastlan : from Thomas Erastus, a German 
divine, born 1523, died professor at Basil, 1583, 
who denied the authority of the church to ab- 
solve and discipline its members. The pas- 
toral office, according to him, was only per- 
suasion, like a professor of science over his 
students, without any power of the kevs an- 
nexed. I. D. R. Editor. 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



531 



contrary evils which may exist in the cor- 
rupt constitutions of either church or state. 
6. An approbation of the doctrines con- 
tained in the Testimony of the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church in North America, 
in defence of truth and opposition to error. 



These, together with due subordination 
in the Lord to the authority of the Synod 
of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in 
North America, and a regular life and 
conversation, form the bonds of our eccle- 
siastical union. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 



BY THE REV. JOHN N. M'LEOD, D. D., NEW YORK. 



The Reformed Presbyterian Church in 
the United States of America, derives her 
origin from the old Reformation Church 
of Scotland. Her history, therefore, down 
to the period of her organization in this 
country, is necessarily involved in that of 
the parent church herself. It deserves re- 
membrance to her honor, that Scotland 
was among the last of the nations to sub- 
mit to the usurpation of the Church of 
Rome, Until the beginning of the eleventh 
century, she possessed a Christian church 
which maintained her spiritual independ- 
ence, and refused to bow to the Papal su- 
premacy. But Antichrist at length pre- 
vailed, and substituted his ruinous formal- 
ism for the ancient Christianity. From 
the beginning of the eleventh to that of 
the sixteenth century, " darkness covered 
the earth, and gross darkness the people" 
of insular as well as continental Europe. 
With the sixteenth century, however, 
commenced that glorious revival of evan- 
gelical religion, the Protestant Reforma- 
tion. Scotland felt its influence, and awoke 
from her slumber. John Knox of famous 
memory, had lighted his torch at the can- 
dle of God's word, which had just been 
rescued from under the bushel where Anti- 
ii christ had hidden it for ages. He carried 



it through his native land, and her nobles, 
her people, and many even of the priests 
of Rome, were enlightened in the truths 
of the gospel. In the year 1560, Popery 
was abolished ; the Bible was declared free 
to all ; a Confession of Faith, containing 
an admirable summary of divine truth, 
was prepared ; a book of discipline, de- 
claring the government of the church to 
be presbyterial, was adopted ; and all ranks 
of men in the nation bound themselves 
to each other and to God, in a solemn co- 
venant engagement, to maintain and per- 
petuate the Reformation which had been 
established. This is what is usually de- 
nominated in Scottish history the " first 
reformation," or reformation from Popery. 
And thus arose the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church. For more than thirty years after 
this period, the church enjoyed great tem- 
poral and spiritual prosperity. But from 
the year 1592 to 1688, her "history, with 
the exception of a twelve years' interval 
of rest and triumph, is one of warfare and 
suffering. Her most powerful enemies 
were unprincipled civilians. They sought 
to make her a mere engine of state policy, 
an instrument of their own despotism ; and 
when she would not submit, they attempt- 
ed to coerce her by the sword. During 



532 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



the greater part of the reigns of James 
VI., and his son and grandson, the first 
and second Charles, the Reformed Presby- 
terian Church was struggling for existence 
against the power of the state, which as- 
sumed an antichristian supremacy over 
her, and proceeded to dictate to her the 
doctrine, worship, and order she should 
receive and observe under pain of impri- 
sonment, banishment, and death. 

Adversity tests the character of systems 
as well as of men ; and never was the 
worth of the Reformed Presbyterian sys- 
tem more signally manifested, than during 
the period the church was in the furnace 
of affliction. Thousands maintained her 
principles in the face of the persecutor. 
The life and power of godliness was most 
remarkably displayed, and multitudes of 
holy martyrs sealed with their blood the 
testimony which they held. 

0£ the interval of relief to which re- 
ference has already been had, it is suffi- 
cient to say, that it was the period between 
1638, and 1650 : the era of the Solemn 
League and Covenant ; of the Westminster 
Assembly of divines ; of the revolution 
which dethroned the first Charles, and as- 
serted those principles of civil and reli- 
gious liberty, which all enlightened Chris- 
tians and statesmen now regard as axiom- 
atic and undeniable. This is the period 
of what is usually styled the " second re- 
formation," and it was for a strict adher- 
ence to its principles that Cameron and 
Renwick, and their valiant coadjutors, 
were called to pour out their blood on the 
high places of the field. To these princi- 
ples, as of universal importance and ap- 
plicability, Reformed Presbyterians still 
avow their attachment. 

In the year 1688, William of Nassau 
was called to the throne of the three king- 
doms. He proceeded, among the first acts 
of his reign, to give a civil establishment 
to religion in his dominions. Episcopacy 
was established in England and Ireland, 
and Presbytery in Scotland, by the sole 
authority of the king and parliament, even 
before the assembly of the church was 
permitted to meet. And thus the old prin- 
ciple of the royal supremacy over the 
| church was retained, and incorporated 
| with the very vitals of the revolution 
i settlement. The object of the civil rulers 



was, as usual, to make the church a tool 
of the State. Into an establishment of this 
description the old consistent Covenanters 
could not go. They stood aloof and dis- 
sented from it as imperfect, Erastian, and 
immoral. The principal objections which 
they urged against incorporation with the 
revolution settlement, were : 1st. That the 
Solemn League and Covenant, which they 
considered the constitution of the empire, 
was entirely disregarded in its arrange- 
ments, — and 2d. That the civil rulers 
usurped an authority over the church, 
which virtually destroyed her spiritual in- 
dependence, and was at variance with the 
sole headship of the Redeemer himself. 
The world has just witnessed the spectacle 
of the large majority of the Scottish es- 
tablishment becoming " dissenters" on this 
very ground : a testimony that the old 
Reformed Presbyterians were right. For 
more than sixteen years they remained 
without a ministry ; but they were not 
discouraged. Though a small minority, 
they organized themselves into praying 
societies, in which they statedly met for 
religious worship. They exercised a watch- 
ful care over the moral and religious de- 
portment of each other. They fostered 
the spirit of attachment to Reformation 
principles, and waited until God would 
send them pastors. And at length they 
were gratified. In the year 1706, the 
Rev. John McMillan acceded to them 
from the established church. In 1743, he 
was joined by the Rev. Mr. Nairne, from 
the Secession Church, which had been 
recently organized, and they with ruling 
elders constituted the " Reformed Presby- 
tery." Through this, as the line of their 
connection with the ancient church, the 
Reformed Presbyterians in this country 
received their present ministry. They 
had, however, a ministry as well as a 
people in the North American colonies, 
before the Reformed Presbytery in Scot- 
land was organized by the Rev. Mr. 
McMillan and his coadjutors. 

In the same series of persecutions which 
drove the Huguenots of France and the 
Puritans of England to these shores, many 
of the Scottish and Irish Reformed Pres- 
byterians, were banished from their native 
lands, and scattered among the American 
colonies. In crossing the ocean and chang- 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



533 



ing their habitation, they had not changed 
their religious attachments. And when 
first visited by the ministers who came to 
their aid, they were found with their chil- 
dren collected into praying societies, and 
fostering with care the principles of civil 
and religious freedom, for which they and 
their ancestors had suffered. Though the 
aame Covenanter, like that of Puritan, 
was given them by way of reproach, they 
did not refuse it. Esteeming it their 
honor to be in covenant with God and with 
one another, to do their whole duty, they 
accepted the designation, and even at- 
tempted in a public manner, to practise 
the thing which it indicates. In the year 
1743, aided by the Rev. Mr. Craighead, 
who had acceded to them from a synod of 
Presbyterians organized a few years be- 
fore, the Covenanters in the colony of 
Pennsylvania, proceeded to enter into a 
solemn public engagement to abide by and 
maintain their principles. This transac- 
tion served to promote union among them- 
selves, and to keep them distinct from the 
other religious societies which were form- 
ing around them. 

The Reformed Presbyterian has ever 
been a missionary church. The presby- 
teries of that name in Scotland and Ire- 
land saw the promising field beyond the 
ocean, and hearkening to the Macedonian 
cry that came from their brethren there, 
they sent them the aid they desired. In 
1752, the Rev. Mr. Cuthbertson arrived 
in America from the Reformed Presbytery 
of Scotland. He served the church alone 
for nearly twenty years, and was greatly 
instrumental both in promoting the piety 
of those among whom he labored, and 
fostering the spirit of opposition to British 
tyranny, which ultimately demanded and 
secured the independence of these United 
States. Being joined by Messrs. Linn and 
Dobbin, from the Reformed Presbytery of 
Ireland, in 1774, a presbytery was con- 
stituted, and the church took her stand as 
a distinct visible community in the North 
American colonies. 

In the year 1776, the declaration of 
American independence took place. It 
was hailed with joy by Reformed Presby- 
terians. They were opponents of the Bri- 
tish government from both principle and 
feeling, and in proportion to their numbers 



1 they contributed largely to the success of 
the Revolution. They took an active part 
in the war. Some of them were members 
of the conventions which established the 
States' constitutions, and subsequently of 
their legislatures ; and although they saw 
defects in the new government, they cor- 
dially recognised it as legitimate, and de- 
serving of their conscientious support. 

The visible unity of the Church of God 
is a fundamental principle of the Presby- 
terian system. The revolutionary and 
transition state of society for some time 
before the establishment of American in- 
dependence, occasioned a neglect of this 
principle, and kept the church in a divided 
and inefficient condition. But on the set- 
tlement of a stable civil government by 
the American people, the minds of many 
in the different churches were turned to 
the subject of union. A union of the 
whole Presbyterian family on a basis of 
truth and order adapted to the age, coun- 
try, and circumstances of the church in 
the American republic, was very exten- 
sively desired, and various attempts were 
made to secure it. The time, however, 
for this did not seem to have arrived. The 
results of the overtures for union in some 
instances were plans of correspondence 
and co-operation more or less extensive, 
and the nearest approach to the great ob- 
ject sought, was that union of formerly 
distinct bodies which gave origin to the 
Associate Reformed Church. This took 
place in the year 1782, between the pres- 
byteries of the Associate and Reformed 
Churches. The united body took the 
names of its two constituent parts, and 
hence arose the " Associate Reformed 
Church in the United States." 

A portion of the Associate Church, how- 
ever, and one minister, with a large num- 
ber of the people of the Reformed Presby- 
terian Church, did not approve of the 
union, or enter into it when consummated. 
And thus both these bodies, though dimin- 
ished in numbers, retained their distinctive 
standings. , 

Within ten years after this event, four 
ministers emigrated from Europe, to aid 
in maintaining the Reformed Presbyterian 
cause. They were the Rev. James Reid, 
from Scotland, who returned to his own 
country when his missionary tour was 



534 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



accomplished, and Messrs. McGarragh, 
King, and McKinney, the latter of whom 
arrived in the year 1793. 

The Rev. Messrs. Martin, King, and 
McGarragh, regulated the affairs of the 
church as a committee of the Reformed 
Presbytery in Scotland. But this was a 
mere temporary expedient, and its object 
having been answered, Messrs. McKinney, 
King, and Gibson, who had recently emi- 
grated from Ireland, proceeded to consti- 
tute a Presbyterial judicatory independent 
of all foreign control. Mr. King did not 
I live to meet his brethren at the time ap- 
pointed, and in 1798, the Rev. Messrs. 
McKinney and Gibson, with ruling elders, 
proceeded to constitute the " Reformed 
Presbytery of the United States of North 
America.'''' Thus the church took her 
stand on American ground. Her relations 
to the Reformed Presbyterians of' the Old 
World, as then defined and since existing, 
are those of an independent sister church. 
And in proceeding to arrange her terms 
of communion, she at once declared that 
she adopted the Reformed Presbyterian 
system, only in so far as it presents com- 
mon truth, and " binds to duties not pecu- 
liar to the church in the British Isles, but 
common in all lands." It was thus her 
determination to rear, not an exotic of for- 
eign growth and culture, but a plant 
which would be at home on American 
soil, and furnish abundant fruit unto eter- 
nal life. 

Soon after the organization of the pres- 
bytery, Rev. Drs. Wylie, Black, the late 
Dr. Alexander McLeod, and Rev. Mr. 
Donnely, were licensed to preach the gos- 
pel. They became efficient missionaries 
through the United States ; the cause pros- 
pered in their hands; and in the year 
1808, a synod composed of three presby- 
teries, was constituted, under the name of 
the " Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in the United States of North 
America." In the year 1825, the supreme 
judicatory received the form of a repre- 
sentative assembly, composed of delegates 
from presbyteries, and styled the " Gene- 
ral Synod :" under this organization the 
church now exists. 

0[ the pri?iciples of the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church, it may be sufficient 
to say generally, that as to doctrine they 



are strictly Calvinistic ; and as to church 
government and order of worship, Pres- 
byterian. Her ecclesiastical standards 
subordinate to the word of God, are the 
Westminster Confession of Faith and Cat- 
echisms, and her Declaration and Testi- 
mony, third edition, 1843. In declaring 
her approbation of the Westminster Con- 
fession of Faith, she makes the following 
disclaimer : " To prevent all misunder- 
standing of the matter of the second arti- 
cle of this formula, which embraces the 
Confession of Faith and Catechisms, it is 
declared in reference to the power of the 
civil magistrate in ecclesiastical things, 
that it is not now, and never was, any 
part of the faith of the Reformed Presby- 
terian Church, that the civil magistrate is 
authorized to interfere with the Church 
of God, in the assertion, settlement, or 
administration of her doctrine, worship, 
and order ; or to assume any dominion 
over the rights of conscience. All that 
appertains to the magistratical power in 
reference to the church, is the protection 
of her members in the full possession, 
exercise and enjoyment of their rights. 
The magistratical office is civil and po- 
litical, and consequently altogether exte- 
rior to the church." 

Reformed Presbyterians have been re- 
garded as entertaining certain peculiar 
opinions on the subjects of slavery, psalm- 
ody, communion, civil government, and 
covenanting. It is proper that these 
should be understood. With regard to 
slavery, the principle which they hold is, 
that the purchase, sale, or retention of 
unoffending men of any part of the human 
family as slaves, is a moral evil against 
which the Church of God should bear a 
pointed and active testimony. And in 
carrying this principle into practice, it 
was enacted by the highest judicatory of 
the church in the year 1800, and when a 
large proportion of her members resided 
in the South, that no slaveholder should 
be retained in the communion of the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church. Upon this 
principle she still continues to act. 

On the subject of psalmody, the senti- 
ments of the church are thus expressed in 
the eighth article of her Testimony, under 
the head of " Christian Worship :" — 
" Singing God's praise is a part of public 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



53o 



social worship, in which the whole con- 
gregation should join; the book of Psalms, 

i which are of divine inspiration, is well 
adapted to the state of the church, and of 
every member : in all ages and circum- 
stances ; and these Psalms, to the exclu- 
sion of all imitations and uninspired com- 
positions, are to be used in social wor- 
ship." 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church 
has never insisted on the use of any par- 
ticular version of the book of Psalms, any 
further than that such version was pre- 
ferable to all others. Her principle is, 
that the matter ©f the church's praise 
should be exclusively songs of inspiration, 
in the best attainable translation. 

On the subject of sacramental commu- 
nion the principles of the church are, that 
such communion is the most solemn, inti- 
mate and perfect fellowship that Chris- 
tians can enjoy with God and one another; 
that when Christians are associated to- 
gether in a church state under a definite 
creed, communion in the sacraments in- 
volves an approbation of the principles of 
that creed ; and that as the church is in- 

| vested with authority, which she is bound 
to exercise, to keep the ordinances of 
God pure and entire : sacramental com- 
munion is not to be extended to those who 
do not approve the principles of the par- 
ticular church or submit themselves to 
her authority. In maintaining these prin- 
ciples the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
does not design to unchurch any other 
religious denomination, or deny the Chris- 
tianity of its members. She recognizes 
the validity of the ordinances of all Chris- 
tian communities who hold the divine 
Head, and the plenary inspiration of his 
word. She rejoices to know that these 
contain many of the saints of God, who 
have fellowship with him and with one 
another at the table of the Lord, and she 
is willing to co-operate with them to the 
extent of her ability, in promoting the 
common Christianity. But she does not 
feel at liberty to allow every man to be 
the judge of his* own qualification for 
sealing ordinances, to dispense these or- 
dinances to such as do not assent to her 
religious principles, or whom she could 
not submit to her discipline were they 
found violating their Christian obligations. 



On the subject of civil government, the 
Reformed Presbyterian Church expressly 
testifies against a sentiment that has 
sometimes been attributed to her, "that 
civil government is founded in grace." 
But she affirms, " that civil society, to- 
gether with its order, has its foundation 
in the natural constitution of man, and 
his external relationships in life ; that it 
was instituted by the Creator and Ruler 
of the world immediately for the good of 
man, and ultimately for the divine glory ; 
and that the principles of God's moral 
law are the supreme standard according 
to which human society is obliged to 
regulate and conduct its affairs. " 

And again, " that though civil society 
and its governmental institutions are not 
founded in grace, yet it is the duty of 
Christians to endeavor to bring over civil 
states the influence of the grace of the 
gospel, and to persuade such states to put 
themselves in subordination to Immanuel, 
for the protection and furtherance of the 
interests of religion and liberty." 

And again, in applying these principles 
to the constitution and government of the 
United States, she further declares, " that 
in a land where peculiar religious charac- 
teristics have never been extensively in- 
troduced into civil deeds of constitution ; 
where there is no apostacy from estab- 
lished and sworn to reformation ; where 
the constitutional evils complained of are 
simply omissions, not fundamental to the 
existence and essential operations of civil 
society ; where no immoral engagement 
is required, and no pledge either demanded 
or given to approve of or perpetuate de- 
fects ; where fundamental principles of 
the social state, moral in their nature, are 
adopted; where a testimony against de- 
fects is admitted, and the way left open, 
constitutionally, to employ all moral means 
to obtain a remedying of defects : the 
same obstacles stand not in the way of a 
Christian's entrance into civil communion, 
as do in a land where, such religious char- 
acteristics having been adopted, covenant- 
ed, and sworn to, but, having been de- 
parted from, upon the ruins of a reformed 
system, one of an opposite character has 
been introduced. And further, that under 
a testimony against defects, circumstanced 
as above stated, the Christian may con- 



536 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



sistently enter into the civil fellowship of 
the country where he resides, using his 
liberty on a moral basis to seek the im- 
provement of the social state." 

And again, the church has declared, 
"that the acts and legislation of this 
church have at all times authorized all 
connection with the civil society and insti- 
tutions of the United States, which does 
not involve immorality." 

The position, then, which the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church in theUnited States 
is understood to occupy towards the go- 
vernment of the country, is simply this, 
believing that a representative democracy 
is the ordinance of God, she approves of 
its republican form and character. She 
perceives no moral evil in its constitution. 
She finds it promoting the best interests 
of the citizen, and throwing the shield of 
its protection over the Church of Jesus 
Christ ; and therefore she leaves her mem- 
bers at liberty to incorporate with it by 
becoming its citizens and assuming its 
offices, if they can do so in consistency 
with their own conscientious convictions. 
But she insists that no immoral man should 
be invested with office ; that the Bible is 
the rule of official administration as well 
as private conduct ; and that civil rulers, 
in common with all other characters, are 
responsible to Jesus Christ as the " Prince 
of the kings of the earth, and Governor 
among the nations." 

Some Reformed Presbyterians have, 
from time to time, entertained the opinion 
that the constitution and government of 
the United States is essentially infidel and 
immoral, and that therefore they should 
be dissenters from both. And, principally 
on the ground of maintaining this opinion, 
in the year 1833, a number of ministers 
with adherents seceded from the General 
Synod or the church, and formed a sepa- 
rate organization. But the position of the 
church is as above stated. (See " Testi- 
mony," second and third editions, and 
" Proceedings of Synod," Pittsburg, Au- 
gust, 1835.) 

On the subject of covenanting, from the 
prominence given to which in their sys- 
tems, Reformed Presbyterians have often 
been called " Covenanters," the following 
requisition is made in the fourth article 
of their Terms of Communion: — -"An 



acknowledgment that public social cove- 
nanting, upon proper occasions,, is an ordi- 
nance of God ; and that such moral deeds 
as respects^he future, whether ecclesiasti- 
cal or civil, are of continued obligation, as 
well upon those who are represented in 
the taking of them, as upon those who ac- 
tually covenant, until the ends of them be 
effected." 

In common with other Christians, Re- 
formed Presbyterians believe that every 
individual believer is in covenant with God 
for himself personally, and that the Church 
of God is a covenant society, whose mem- 
bers are solemnly engaged to God, and 
one another, to do their whole duty. But 
in addition to this, it is their sentiment 
that, on special occasions of commanding 
importance — such as a time of great and 
threatened danger to the interests of church 
and state, or of attempted extensive re- 
formation in the church — men may and 
ought, both as individuals and by com- 
munities, to combine together, and mu- 
tually pledge themselves, under the solem- 
nity of an oath to God and one another, 
to sustain the' right and oppose the wrong, 
in both civil and religious things. When 
such solemn pledge respects the future, it 
is binding on the individual or community 
which gives it, until its whole object be 
accomplished. Passing by the many in- 
stances of public social covenanting which 
occur in the history of the Hebrews under 
the Old Testament, an exemplification of 
the principle is presented in the famous 
League of Smalkalde, formed by the Lu- 
therans in 1530, when they pledged them- 
selves to one another and to God to main- 
tain and defend the Reformed religion 
against all its enemies. And there is 
another still more perfect and remarkable, 
in the Solemn League and Covenant, in 
which the friends of civil and religious 
liberty combined their energies to protect 
and secure the dearest interests of human- 
ity against the civil despot and religious 
persecutor. Society, at the time it was 
formed, was in a revolutionary condition. 
In the state, absolute anarchy seemed about 
to take the place of the civil despotism, 
which had for some time prevailed; and ; 
the very existence of the Protestant reli- ! 
gion in the British empire was threatened. 
In this emergency the friends of liberty ! 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



537 



arid truth had recourse to God's ordi- 
nance of public social covenanting, for 
relief and encouragement. They com- 
mitted themselves to God, and to one 
another by the will of God. Under the 
shield of the Solemn League and Cove- 
nant, the Assembly of Divines at West- 
minster sat, and prepared the Confession 
of Faith and Catechisms for the world. It 
furnished the rallying point for the best 
friends of religion and liberty while Eng- 
land was in anarchy, and Scotland in the 
grasp of the persecutor ; and in its spirit 
many of the English Puritans and Scottish 
and Irish Reformed Presbyterians emi- 
grated to America, and gave their aid in 
making our country what it is. American 
Reformed Presbyterians approve of the 
great principle of combination for good 
under the oath of Goal, which this transac- 
tion illustrates, and hold themselves in 
readiness, when the exigencies of the time 
may demand, to exemplify it themselves 
as the age, country, and special circum- 
stances of their condition require. 

Reformed Presbyterians are scattered 
over the middle and Western States, and 
have a few congregations in the South. 
Their ministers possess much of the mis- 
sionary spirit, and spend a considerable 
portion of their time in preaching the gos- 
pel to the destitute of all descriptions, be- 
yond the bounds of their own immediate 
congregations. The practice of exposi- 
tory preaching prevails universally among 
them; they will be found " lecturing," as 
it is styled, over entire books of the Bible, 
as a stated part of the service of the Sab- 
bath ; and as errors and delusions arise, 
and are propagated in society, they are 
among the first to enter into an examina- 



tion of them, and utter the warning against 
them. The ministry of the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church has always had 
among its members men eminent for 
talent, learning, and public spirit, who in 
proportion to their number, have had a 
large share of the literary labors, and 
honors of the country. Among the peo- 
ple, meetings for prayer and Christian 
conference, weekly and monthly, are 
statedly observed. Family worship, and 
attention to the moral and religious in- 
struction of the youth, as well as a per- 
sonal deportment becoming the gospel, are 
required of them as qualifications for sa- 
cramental privileges. They have but few 
endowments for religious or benevolent 
purposes, but are liberal in the support of 
the gospel, both at home and abroad. It 
is left to others to speak of the religious 
character, of both ministers and people. 
But it may be said in gratitude to the God 
of all grace, that he has not left them 
without a witness of his presence and, ap- 
probation ; but that from year to year he 
has given them the assurance, that he is 
employing their instrumentality as a dis- 
tinct religious community, for the main- 
tenance of his truth, the conversion of 
sinners to Jesus Christ, and the prepara- 
tion of many saints for the celestial glory. 
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in 
the United States, is under the direction 
of a General Synod composed of six 
presbyteries, one of which is established 
among the heathen in Northern India. 
And she numbers at present, thirty or- 
dained ministers, eight licentiates, ten stu- 
dents of theology, fifty-one organized con- 
gregations, and about five thousand com- 
municants. 



68 



538 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE RESTORATIONISTS 



BY THE HON. CHAS. HUDSON, M. C. 



Restorationists believe that all men 
will ultimately become holy and happy. 
They maintain that God created only to 
bless ; and that, in pursuance of this pur- 
pose, he sent his Son to " be for salvation 
to the ends of the earth ;" that Christ's 
kingdom is moral in its nature, and ex- 
tends to moral beings in every state or 
mode of existence ; that the probation of 
man is not confined to the present life, but 
extends through the mediatorial reign ; 
and that, as Christ died for all, so, before 
he shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
the Father, all shall be brought to a parti- 
cipation of the knowledge and enjoyment 
of that truth, which maketh free from the 
bondage of sin and death. They believe 
in a general resurrection and judgment, 
when those who have improved their pro- 
bation in this life will be raised to more 
perfect felicity, and those who have mis- 
improved their opportunities on earth will 
come forward to shame and condemnation, 
which will continue till they become truly 
penitent ; that punishment itself is a me- 
diatorial work, a discipline, perfectly con- 
sistent with mercy; that it is a means 
employed by Christ to humble and subdue 
the stubborn will, and prepare the mind to 
receive a manifestation of the goodness of 
God, which leadeth the sinner to true re- 
pentance.* 

That God was the rightful sovereign of 
the universe is a tiuth which no one will 



Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge. 



deny ; and that he had a moral as well as 
a natural government, will be conceded by 
every believer in divine revelation. But 
man, the subject of this moral govern- 
ment, rebelled against Heaven, and set the 
laws of his Maker at defiance. In this 
defection, which was moral in its charac- 
ter, the whole world was involved. They 
had all gone out of the way ; there was 
none good, no not one. Now, it was to 
heal this moral defection, to subdue this 
rebel universe, and to bring all to true 
allegiance, that the kingdom of Christ was 
instituted. This lets us at once into the 
nature and extent of the Redeemer's king- 
dom, and shows most clearly the object of 
his reign. 

The defection was universal. It reached 
back to the commencement of time, and 
onward to the consummation of all things. 
It consisted in an alienation of heart and 
a perverseness of mind. It was, in a 
word, a moral epidemic, affecting every 
individual of our race. Such was the na- 
ture and extent of the disease ; and the 
cure must be correspondent. Christ's 
kingdom, then, is moral in its nature, and 
universal in its extent. It is not an empire 
over matter, but over mind. He was 
placed at the head of this kingdom, not to 
exercise mere physical power, and thus 
subdue sinners by brute force ; not to 
operate upon men mechanically, and by 
the application of natural laws to restrain 
their outward actions. No ; he was in- 
vested with regal authority, that ne might 



HISTORY OF THE RRSTORATIONISTS. 



539 



by the employment of moral means sub- ( 
due the evil propensities, and implant vir- j 
tuous affections in the heart — that he rnight 
induce men to return to their allegiance, 
become reconciled to God, and own him 
as their lawful sovereign. His kingdom 
is purely moral — the rod of his empire is 
persuasion, and the sword he wields is the 
sword of the Spirit. By an exhibition of 
his Father's love, by a display of the joys 
of heaven, by kind entreaty and stern re- 
buke, by promises and threatenings — by 
these, and means such as these, he assails 
a rebel universe. With such weapons he 
will subdue our unregenerate hearts, and 
re-establish the reign of righteousness 
throughout the vast empire of the King 
Eternal. 

The nature, design, and extent of Christ's 
kingdom involve each other. His king- 
dom being moral, must apply to every 
moral being. Being clothed with autho- 
rity to put down rebellion, it must extend 
to as many as have rebelled. Being sent 
to heal the leprosy of sin, the healing 
medicine must be applied to as many as 
are diseased. No reason can be assigned 
for the establishment of this reign, which 
will not apply equally to every individual 
of our race. Did it flow from the love of 
God ? That love is universal, and em- 
braces the whole intelligent creation. Was 
it to bring men to their rightful Sovereign ? 
All were estranged from God by wicked 
works, and needed alike this reconciliation. 
Was it to subdue rebellion, so that the 
laws of God might be obeyed, and his 
character respected? Our whole species 
had revolted from heaven, and were alike 
in opposition to the reign of God. Every 
reason therefore, which can be assigned 
for the establishment of the mediatorial 
kingdom, shows that that kingdom includes 
the whole offspring of Adam. 

There is another consideration which 
proves beyond a doubt the universality of 
the Redeemer's kingdom. The very idea 
of a kingdom supposes laws, and these 
laws are binding upon all the subjects. No 
sovereign, how great soever may be his 
power, or extensive his dominion, has a 
right to command the obedience of a sin- 
gle individual who is not a subject of his 
kingdom. The Czar of Russia, potent as 
he is, and absolute as his power may be, 



has no right to extend his laws a single 
inch beyond his dominion. Wherever 
you limit his kingdom, you limit his right 
to command obedience. And the same 
principle applies to the divine government. 
Jehovah himself in the plenitude of his 
power, has no moral right to extend his 
authority beyond his own kingdom. His 
right to command obedience is unlimited, 
simply because his kingdom has no bounds. 
If you could limit the one you would at 
the same time limit the other. To whom 
then does Christ address his laws '( Who 
are under obligation to obey those moral 
precepts which flowed from the lips of the 
dear Redeemer 1 The true answer to this 
question determines the extent of his king- 
dom. And surely there can be no dis- 
pute on this subject. Every enlightened 
Christian will allow that his precepts are 
universally binding ; that every human 
being, from our first progenitor down to 
his latest descendants, is under obligation 
to obey all known gospel requisitions, and 
ascribe glory to God and the Lamb. This 
settles the question in the most satisfac- 
tory manner, and proves beyond contro- 
versy that the kingdom of Christ is uni- 
versal. 

From this view of the subject it appears 
that the kingdom of Christ is moral or 
spiritual in its nature, unlimited in its ex- 
tent, and benevolent in its design ; that it 
was instituted by God to put down rebel- 
lion, and to bring all his creatures to the 
worship and enjoyment of himself. Do 
you ask from what scriptures we prove 
these positions ? we answer, from the 
whole Bible. They are the fundamental 
principles of divine revelation. That all 
have sinned, and that Christ came to save 
sinners, is the summary of the Old Testa- 
ment and the compendium of the New. 
The very existence of the Christian scrip- 
tures show that Christ came to save sin- 
ners, and reconcile to God a world 
lying in wickedness. The Gospels prove 
it without the Epistles, and the Epistles 
without the Gospels. You may expunge 
from the New Testament any verse you 
please, any chapter you please, or any 
book you please, and the residue will 
clearly sustain these positions. Nay, you 
may expunge from the New Testament 
any five books you please, and you leave 



540 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



the positions we have stated untouched. 
They are deeply interwoven with the whole 
New Testament. They constitute the 
bones and sinews, the letter and spirit, the 
life and soul of the Christian scriptures. 
Take from the New Testament the im- 
portant facts that Christ came to save 
sinners, that his kingdom is moral in its 
nature, and extends over all, and you sap 
the foundation of the gospel — you extract 
the life-blood of the living oracles of God. 

We do not rely upon particular texts, 
so much, as upon the pervading spirit of 
the Bible. We draw our conclusions from 
the whole rather than from a part. One 
argument of this character will outweigh 
a hundred arguments founded on particular 
passages or isolated expressions. When 
we reason from particular texts, the argu- 
ment frequently turns upon the meaning 
of a single term ; and as words have dif- 
ferent significations, we are somewhat 
liable to mistake the import of a term, 
and hence all arguments of this sort are 
imore or less uncertain. But where we 
draw our argument from the fundamental 
principles of the word of God — where the 
conclusion results from the very being of 
scriptures, and any other conclusion would 
oppose the whole design of revelation, we 
arrive at the highest degree of moral cer- 
tainty. 

But if there is any charm in particular 
passages, any thing like ocular demonstra- 
tion in the precise phraseology of the 
scriptures, we can produce a multitude of 
passages in support of our views. We are 
told that Christ came " to save sinners," 
" to be for salvation to the ends of the 
earth," " to be the Saviour of the world;" 
that he " died for our sins," " for the sins 
of the whole world ;" that there was given 
to him a " kingdom, that all people, na- 
tions, and languages should serve him ;" 
that he " will reconcile the world to him- 
self," " swallow up death in victory," and 
bring " every creature in heaven and on 
earth to confess him to be Lord to the 
glory of God the Father." This phraseo- 
logy, with which the Bible is filled, con- 
curs with all the great principles of divine 
revelation, in sustaining the views we have 
expressed concerning the nature, design, 
and extent of the Redeemer's kingdom. 

There is one passage to which we will 



call especial attention. Christ says to 
Pilate, " My kingdom is not of this world." 
This passage, taken in connection with 
the circumstances which called it forth, 
shows most conclusively the nature of his 
empire. Judea at that time was subject 
to the Emperor of Rome, and was ruled 
by a Roman governor. Before Pilate, this 
Roman governor, the Jews accused the 
Saviour. Knowing that the Romans sus- 
pected them of conspiring against their 
authority, and of intending to raise up a 
prince of their own who should deliver 
them from the Roman yoke, they brought 
Jesus before Pilate, and accused him of 
being, or pretending to be, a temporal 
prince, and of course an enemy to the 
Romans. Pilate interrogated him on this 
subject — " Art thou the king of the Jews ?" 
In answer to this Jesus replies, " My king- 
dom is not temporal, but spiritual — not 
secular, but moral." Our Saviour did not 
mean to say that his kingdom did not exist 
in this world, but that it was not worldly 
in its character. He meant to inform Pi- 
late that his government was of such a 
nature as would not in the least interfere 
with his ; that his business was not to lead 
armies to battle and to victory, but to 
teach men to subdue their evil passions ; 
that he came not to deliver his people from 
the Roman yoke, but to redeem them from 
the bondage of sin and Satan. 

The view we have taken of this sub- 
ject shows that the kingdom of Christ 
has no reference to climates, states, or 
worlds, but is the same at all periods of 
time, and in all modes of existence. His 
kingdom does not apply to one world to 
the exclusion of the other. It commences 
in this state of being, but it is not bounded 
by our temporal existence. The reign 
of Christ has no reference to our tempo- 
ral existence, he takes no cognizance of 
our earthly being as such. We are his 
subjects, not temporally and corporally, 
but morally and intellectually. The 
death of the body does not in the least 
affect our allegiance to him, or alter the 
relation he sustains to us. In all states 
and worlds, where we are moral and in- 
tellectual beings, we are the citizens of 
his realm, and the subjects of his king- 
dom. 

If we look at the origin or design, na- 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



541 



ture or extent of Christ's kingdom, we 
shall be led irresistibly to the conclusion 
that it extends into a future life. 

In what then did this kingdom origi- 
nate ? What gave rise to the reign of 
the Redeemer? It resulted from the 
goodness of God. The divine Teacher 
himself, says that " God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son." The mission of Christ then origi- 
nated in divine benevolence. And this 
unpurchased benevolence existed from 
eternity, fills all space, extends to all 
worlds and all beings. It was moreover 
manifested to the world, when they were 
" dead in trespasses and sins." And un- 
less we limit the goodness of God to the 
brief period of human existence, we must 
allow that the kingdom of grace extends 
into a future life. 

The nature of Christ's kingdom con- 
firms this opinion. We have already 
seen that his kingdom is a moral king- 
dom ; that he sways his empire not over 
our bodies, but our minds. If his empire 
were temporal, its operations would cease 
with ou r temporal existence ; if his sway 
were to be exerted over our bodies merely, 
it would cease with our natural lives. 
But his kingdom relates to our moral and 
intellectual existence. And do these cease 
at temporal death ? Does man cease to be 
an intelligent being, when he changes the 
mode of his existence ? Does he cease to 
be accountable to his God, when he 
throws off this frail body ? Certainly not. 
Man is a moral and an intelligent being 
in the future world, and' as such is a sub- 
ject of Christ's kingdom. 

The design of the gospel kingdom ab- 
solutely requires that it should extend to 
all worlds, where sinful beings are found, 
and that it should continue till its end be 
accomplished. Every consideration which 
could have prompted the divine Being to 
constitute this kingdom, or his Son to ac- 
cept the trust committed to him, applies 
to a future life as much as to the present. 
And besides, if we look at the great object 
which the gospel has in view, we must 
allow that it is not limited to our present 
mode of existence. The gospel is de- 
i signed to destroy sin and to reconcile all 
men to God ; but this is not accomplished 
in this world. Does sin put off its sin- 



fulness by passing the vale of death? 
Surely not. Then the gospel must ex- 
tend into a future life, or its object is not 
attained. Is the enormity of sin increased 
by temporal death? Not in the least. 
Why then is not man the subject of 
mercy as much after death as before? 
We cannot for the honor of Christ allow 
that death bounds his empire. It would 
be a total defeat on the part of the Cap- 
tain of our salvation, to permit every rebel 
subject who happens to pass the defile of 
death, to remain in rebellion to eternity. 

And further; the multitudes who died 
before the advent of Christ, and those in 
heathen lands who have never heard of 
him, and infants and idiots in countries 
where the gospel is known, are all the 
subjects of Christ's kingdom. But they 
die without even knowing that they have 
such a Prince. How can they in any 
rational sense of the term be said to be 
Christ's subjects, unless his kingdom ex- 
tend beyond death? How can they be 
accountable to him of whom they know 
nothing ? or " how can they believe on 
him of whom they have not heard ?" We 
have already seen that the kingdom of 
Christ is universal, that all men are given 
him of the Father, and that he extends 
his laws over the whole human family. 
But practically this cannot be true in this 
life. His reign can effect none but those 
who hear of him, are made acquainted 
with his laws, and are subdued by their 
converting influence. In what practical 
sense are the heathen the subjects of 
Christ's kingdom in this state ? They do 
not obey his laws, for they do not know 
them ; they have no faith in his name, 
for they have never heard of him. This 
is true of a vast majority of the human 
family. From the creation to the present 
time, not one in ten thousand while on 
earth, has ever heard of the name of 
Christ. Now with what propriety can 
the scriptures teach that all men are 
given to Christ, and that his kingdom in- 
cludes every human being, if his reign is 
confined to this world ? These scriptures 
can have no tolerable sense, if the reign 
of Christ be limited to our temporal exist- 
ence. 

Thus we see that every view, which 
we can take of the subject, leads us to re- 



542 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



ject the popular notion that the mediato- 
rial kingdom begins and ends here in 
time. We must give up all our notions 
of the nature, extent, and design of Christ's 
kingdom, supported as they are by the 
living oracles of God, or reject that opin- 
ion which limits the grace of the Holy 
one of Israel to our earthly existence. 

We are told on the authority of an in- 
spired apostle, that this world does not 
bound the reign of the Redeemer. St. 
Paul says, " Whether we live, we live 
unto the Lord ; or whether we die, we die 
unto the Lord. Whether we live there- 
fore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to 
this end Christ both died and rose and re- 
vived that he might be Lord both of the 
dead and of the living." Here we are 
expressly told that the living and the 
dead are the Lord's, and that Christ died 
and rose that he might possess them. 
But how can Christ be Lord of the dead, 
if the means of grace are confined to this 
world ? We allow that he may be Lord 
of the dead, inasmuch as he will raise 
them from the grave, .and bring them to 
the bar of his judgment-seat. But this 
cannot be the only sense in which he is 
their Lord or Ruler. We have already 
shown that his kingdom is moral, and 
that its object is to change the character, 
and renovate the heart. But the resur- 
rection, self-considered, is a mere physi- 
cal process, and can accomplish no end 
in the kingdom of grace. As it does not 
of itself renovate the heart, so of itself, it 
can never bring about that subjection 
which is the ultimate object of the Sa- 
viour's mission. The same may be said 
of the judgment, if it inflicts an endless 
punishment. It can do nothing towards 
improving the mind, subduing the unholy 
affections, or regenerating the heart — the 
grand object for which the Messiah's 
kingdom was ordained. If Christ is Lord 
of the dead only, as he will raise them P 
to life, and adjudge them to an endless 
punishment, he is not the Lord of them 
in any sense, that will subserve the great 
object of his mission. We must then 
allow that Christ is Lord of the dead in 
some benevolent sense — in some sense 
which will improve them in virtue and 
happiness ; or else allow that he died on 
the cross and arose from the dead to 



attain an object which has nothing to do 
with the design of his mission. 

That Christ did continue his labors in 
a future life, is evident from the testimony 
of St. Peter. He informs us that the gos- 
pel was preached to the dead ; that Christ 
after his crucifixion went and preached to 
the inhabitants of the old world, who 
were disobedient in the days of Noah. 
This passage appears to me to be decisive 
on this subject. I am aware of the dif- 
ferent expositions which have been given 
of this passage, and I am equally aware 
that they contradict the apostle in almost 
every particular ; and that, if such lati- 
tude is taken in expounding the word of 
God, we can make the sacred volume 
teach what we please. 

In the popular theology of the day, 
death is made to occupy a very com- 
manding position. One class of Chris- 
tians contends that death destroys all 
sinfulness, and introduces all men into 
heaven in a moment ; the other that it 
cuts off the means of grace, and fixes the 
character for eternity. 

Both of these representations make 
death more powerful than the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The one supersedes the gospel, 
the other defeats it. The former makes 
death the saviour, the latter the destroyer 
of a great part of mankind. But the ad- 
vocates of both these systems seem to mis- 
take the nature of Christ's kingdom. 
They seem to forget that man is a moral 
being, and that his character is affected 
by moral and not by physical causes. 
They appear to regard our holy religion 
as a mere physical engine, and man as a 
piece of passive machinery. They de- 
grade the gospel by confounding it with 
the laws of nature, and thus detract from 
the honor of Christ. They both ascribe 
to death, a mere physical operation, the 
power of affecting character. The for- 
mer supposes that death will convert the 
most abandoned in an instant into the 
confirmed saint, so that he will be for 
ever beyond the reach of all punishment, 
and be in the enjoyment of the most per- 
fect bliss ; the latter supposes that death 
so corrupts the sinner as to place him in 
an instant beyond the reach of mercy, 
and to consign him to infinite, intermi- 
nable anguish. But it is strange, passing 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



543 



strange, that men with the scriptures in 
their hands can so mistake the nature of 
the gospel, as to degrade this spiritual, 
divine, life-giving system, below the frigid 
laws which govern senseless matter ! It 
is surprising that death should be thought 
so potent as to supersede or defeat the 
mission of Christ, when the scriptures 
declare that he came to destroy death, 
and him that hath the power of death ! 

The position that death places us be- 
yond the reach of mercy, is in direct op- 
position to the system of those who ad- 
vance it. On this position all who die in 
infancy must be cast off forever. But 
will any sect of Christians at this day so 
far outrage every principle of common 
sense and every feeling of humanity, as 
to contend that all who die in infancy 
will be lost? We think they will not. 
All then who allow that infants will be 
saved, must allow that there will be a 
change after death. I would gladly in- 
quire of those who believe that infants 
who die in infancy will be saved, by what 
means they are to be qualified for the 
joys of heaven ? The scriptures are clear 
upon this point. They assert that all 
who are saved, must be saved by the 
Lord Jesus. He is our only hope for 
eternal life — the only name given under 
heaven whereby we can be saved. But 
as his kingdom is moral, he saves only 
by moral means. 

But infants never enjoyed these means. 
Being called away in a few days or months 
from its birth, the infant in this state had 
no knowledge of Christ, of his mediation, 
doctrines, or salvation. Without a know- 
ledge of Christ and a faith in his mediation, 
the infant can never be saved. But this 
knowledge was not possessed, nor this 
faith exercised in this world. Now, unless 
a knowledge of the gospel is imparted, and 
the child is instructed after death, it must 
come short of salvation. Those, then, 
with whom we contend, must either allow 
that innocent infants will be cast off for 
ever, or that the mercy of God and the 
means of grace will extend beyond death. 
But to meet this argument we shall per- 
haps be presented with the cold, deistical 
notion, that we do not know how men will 
be saved, that we ought to leave infants to 
the mercy of God. We allow that infants 



and all others should be left to the mercy 
of God ; — but how will he manifest his 
mercy ? Only in the manner pointed out in 
the gospel — through the agency of Christ, 
by the use of those means which he has 
ordained. The insinuation that God will 
save infants and those who do not hear of 
Christ in this world, without the usual 
means of the gospel, is an infidel insinua- 
tion, and, as far as it has any bearing 
upon the subject, goes to support the posi- 
tion that the mediation of Christ is useless, 
and that men may be saved without the 
Redeemer as well as with. Nor is it pro- 
per to attempt to resolve it all into dark- 
ness and doubt. To say that we do not 
know how God performs his works, and 
that we have no right to inquire how in- 
fants will be saved, is to confess that the 
guspel is an imperfect guide, and 'that we 
ought not to improve our powers, nor 
attempt to understand the way of salva- 
tion. Such insinuations might be expected 
from the enemies of revealed religion, but 
they come with an ill grace from professed 
Christians. 

The remarks we have made upon in- 
fants will apply to idiots and the whole 
heathen world. They must all come short 
of salvation, unless the means of grace 
are extended beyond the grave. But per- 
haps it will be asked, whether the scrip- 
tures do not teach the sentiment, that there 
will be no work of grace in eternity. We 
answer no, not to our understanding. We 
have, we think, clearly shown that the 
gospel as a means of salvation applies to 
all states where sinners exist ; and if the 
scriptures teach the opposite they contra- 
dict themselves. We know that there are 
a few passages which are thought by some 
to favor the latter sentiment, but we be- 
lieve that they yield no support to that 
sentiment into whose services they are 
frequently pressed. 

But we are sometimes asked with as- 
tonishment, can a dead man repent ? We 
will ask in our turn, can a dead man 
praise God ? Every Christian will allow 
that men after death are intellectually able 
to exercise gratitude, and that the saints 
will praise God and the Lamb. And if 
men have the intellectual ability to exer- 
cise gratitude, they must have intellectual 
ability to exercise contrition. To deny i 



544 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



this is to deny a future life altogether. If 
men, intellectually considered, cannot ex- 
ercise penitence, they cannot exercise any 
other affection, and hence must be incapa- 
ble of either pleasure or pain. 

Perhaps it may be asked, why the senti- 
ment here opposed, should become so 
general, if it is not taught in the scrip- 
tures ? It is no easy matter to trace every 
error to its source. The Jews in the days 
of Christ expected a temporal Messiah ; 
but it would be difficult perhaps to account 
for this perversion of their scriptures. But 
the case before us is somewhat plain. The 
primitive Church generally believed in a 
future probation. Among the advocates 
of this sentiment may be mentioned Cle- 
ment of Alexandria, Origen, Didymus the 
Blind, Gregory Nyssen, John of Jerusa- 
lem, and many others. This doctrine was 
popular at the time the Romish Church 
was growing into power. On this scrip- 
ture doctrine they found their absurd no- 
tions of purgatory and indulgences. These 
abuses were carried to such excess as to 
produce the Reformation in the sixteenth 
century. We all know the feelings which 
the early Reformers exercised towards the 
Papal Church ; they were disposed to put 
down indulgences at all events. Believing 
that indulgences grew in some degree out 
of the doctrine of a future probation, they 
did not distinguish between the true doc- 
trine and its abuse, but rejected them to- 
gether. And this enmity to the Catholic 
Church has prevented, in a good degree, a 
faithful and impartial examination of the 
subject. The taunt that this is the Catholic 
Purgatory, has prevented thousands from 
examining the subject, and has silenced 
many who have believed that the grace of 
God extended beyond the confines of this 
world. 

But the faithful inquirer after truth will 
follow demonstration, wherever it may lead 
him. And what if this doctrine has been 
embraced and abused by the Catholics 1 
In the days of the apostles, there were 
those who turned the grace of God into 
lasciviousness. But must we as Christians 
reject every thing which has been abused ? 
Must we yield every thing which the Pa- 
pists have perverted ? Must we give up 
: divine existence, because the Papists en- 
tertained false notions of God ? Must we 



give up the Eucharist, because they be- 
lieved in transubstantiation ? or the doc- 
trine of forgiveness, because they believed 
in the absolution of the Pope? 

Every lover of the gospel, every friend 
of the Lord Jesus, will abide by the teach- 
ings of the scriptures, whether the doc- 
trine be popular or unpopular, whether it 
has been perverted or not. The gospel 
itself has been unpopular, and is often 
abused ; but we do not feel disposed to 
reject it on that account. So of the views 
we have here maintained. They may be 
unpopular ; but we believe that they are 
the truth, and we are confident that they 
must and will prevail. They are inter- 
woven with the very nature of the gospel, 
and we think that they must stand or fall 
with it. They grow out of the character 
of God, and are as immutable as the di- 
vine nature. They result from the mis- 
sion of Christ, and must be adopted to 
give success to his reign. We do not 
then despair of the triumph of these 
views ; but we rather rejoice that they are 
fast gaining ground, and trust in the pro- 
mises of God for their final accomplish- 
ment. Let us then confide in the sovereign 
mercy of God, and yield cheerfully to him 
who has emphatically said, that his king- 
dom is not of this world. 

Restorationistscontend that this doctrine 
is not only sustained by popular texts, but 
grows necessarily out of some of the first 
principles of divine revelation. They 
maintain that it is immediately connected 
with the perfections of the Deity ; that 
God, being infinitely benevolent, must 
have desired the happiness of all his off- 
spring; that his infinite wisdom would 
enable him to form a perfect plan, and his 
almighty power will secure its accomplish- 
ment. They contend that the mission of 
Christ is abortive on any other plan, and 
that nothing short of the " restitution of 
all things" can satisfy the ardent desires 
of every pious soul. On this system 
alone can they reconcile the attributes of 
justice and mercy, and secure to the 
Almighty a character worthy of our imi- 
tation. 

They insist that the words rendered, 
everlasting, eternal, and forever, which 
are in a few instances applied to the mis- 
ery of the wicked, do not prove that 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



545 



| misery to be endless ; because these terms 

| are loose in their signification, and are 

i frequently used in a limited sense ; that 

! the original terms being often used in the 

i plural number, clearly demonstrates that 

j the period, though indefinite, is limited in 

its very nature. They maintain that the 

meaning of the term must always be 

sought in the subject to which it is applied ; 

j and that there is nothing in the nature of 

punishment which will justify an endless 

sense.* 

It is hardly necessary to enter into an 
elaborate argument to sustain the positions 
here laid down. It has been shown again 
and again by some of the brightest orna- 
ments of the church, that the terms ren- 
dered everlasting and for ever are indefi- 
nite in their signification, and are used 
with great latitude. Instances have been 
produced in which the Hebrew word olam 
occurs in the Old Testament, in connexion 
with terms and phrases, the literal render- 
ing of which would be, " for ever, and 
farther" " for ever and ever, and far- 
ther," " for ever, and beyond it ;" — a cir- 
cumstance which plainly shows that the 
word is used in a limited sense. In 
many places olam is rendered ancient 
and old, and applied to landmarks, people, 
paths, places, times, nations, &c. (See 
Prov. xxii. 28 ; Isa. xliv. 7 ; Jer. xviii. 
15 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 2 ; Ps. lxxvii. 5 ; Deut. 
xxii. 7 ; Isa. Ixiii. 9 ; Job xxii. 15 ; Prov. 
xxiii. 10.) This term is also rendered, 
any, long, any time, long time, long 
home, long dead, &c. All of which 
clearly proves that an absolute eternity 
cannot be the signification of the term in 
these passages. 

The term in the New Testament which 
corresponds with olam in the old, is aion, 
and is variously rendered. Paul speaks 
of walking according to the course of this 
world, of the ages to come, and of the 
mystery hid from ages and generations. 
In these passages aion is translated course 
and ages, and consequently is used in a 
limited sense. The same term is rendered 
world in nearly thirty passages of scrip- 
ture. The apostle speaks of " the god 
of this world" " the ruler of this world," 
" the princes of this world," and the 



• Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge. 



" disputes of this world;" of being " de- 
livered from the present evil world" and 
of being " conformed to this ivorld." We 
also read of the end of the world, of 
events which occurred before the world 
was, and before the foundation of the 
world ; also, from the beginning of the 
ivorld, and since the ivorld began. We 
also read of the worlds in the plural, and 
even of the ends of the worlds. (See 2 
Cor. iv. 4; Eph. v. 12 ; 1 Cor. i. 20: 
Gal. i. 4 ; Rom. xii. 2 ; 1 Cor. ii. 6, and 
many other texts.) In these and many 
other texts, aion is rendered world, and 
hence must have a limited signification ; 
for it would be absurd to speak of this 
eternity, of the end of the eternity, &c. 

We would pursue this subject farther, 
but it is thought unnecessary. Every 
intelligent believer in the doctrine of end- 
less misery will readily allow, that these 
terms are very frequently, if not general- 
ly, used in a limited sense. These terms 
are allowed to have a great latitude of 
signification — sometimes they are used in 
an endless sense, and sometimes in a 
limited sense. It is manifest then that 
they can prove nothing in this controversy. 
We admit that these terms are in a few 
instances applied to the misery of the 
wicked ; but they do not and cannot of 
themselves prove this misery to be endless. 
The word is of doubtful signification, and 
its meaning must be sought in the context, 
or determined by the subject, or from 
other passages. The advocates of inter- 
minable punishment show the weakness 
of their cause, by resting it upon terms 
which they themselves allow to be of 
doubtful signification. 

In fact, the argument founded upon the L 
words, for ever, everlasting, &c, if it were 
sound, would overthrow the whole gospel 
dispensation. The Jew can employ it 
against Christianity with as much force, 
as the believers in endless misery can 
employ it against the restoration. The 
gospel itself professes to supersede the 
legal dispensation, and rests its claims 
upon the fact, that the priesthood of Aaron, 
and the rites of the law were never de- 
signed to be perpetual. But the Jew will 
tell you that the terms everlasting, eternal, 
and^or ever, are applied in rTearly a hun- 
dred instances to the rites and ceremo- 



69 



546 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



nies, or something connected with the dis- 
pensation of their great lawgiver ; that 
these words imply an endless duration, 
and consequently prove the perpetuity of 
the law,, and hence the falsity of the gos- 
pel. And how is it possible to meet this 
argument, unless we allege the fact, that 
these words are used in a limited sense ? 
Let the believers in endless punishment 
refute this argument of the Jew ; and when 
they have done that, they will see, that 
we can reply to them in their own lan- 
guage, and show that they cannot prove 
misery to be endless from the strength of 
these words, without proving at the same 
time that Judaism is perpetual and the 
gospel false. 

But we are told that these terms are 
applied to happiness as well as misery, 
and that if we limit the duration of misery, 
we limit the duration of happiness. A few 
remarks will show the futility of this ar- 
gument. We do not prove that happiness 
will be endless, by the strength of these 
words, but by terms, and phrases much 
stronger than the words everlasting and 
for ever, — by terms and phrases which 
have no exception in their meaning. It is 
said of the righteous, " neither can they 
die any more, for they are equal to the 
angels;' 11 they are said to be happy, 
" ivorld without end? and to have an in- 
heritance and a crown " incorruptible, 
undefiled, that fadeth not away.'''' It is 
said of them that " they shall not be hurt 
of the second death? — that " there shall 
be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
crying? They are likewise said to 
possess " an enduring substance," and " a 
kingdom which cannot be moved." St. 
Paul assures us, " that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
powers, nor things present, nor things to 
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from 
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

While these terms and phrases, which 
have no exception in their signification, 
are applied to the happiness of the right- 
eous : the punishment of the wicked is 
expressed by terms and phrases which 
naturally denote a limited period. Thev 
are compared to wood, hay, and stubble, 
to chaff, and a withered branch. There 
is also this remarkable difference between 



happiness and misery ; the former is an 
end, — the grand object for which man 
was created, and the mediatorial kingdom 
established. But no one will say that 
misery is the end at which the Deity 
aimed in creation and redemption. Misery 
is a means and not an end. As a means, 
punishment is perfectly consistent with the 
divine character, and the design of his 
administration ; but as an end, it would 
be repugnant to both. Endless happiness 
then is immediately connected with the 
character and purposes of God, and is as 
certain as his immutable designs ; while 
endless misery is at war with the perfec- 
tions of the Almighty, and subversive of 
his gracious designs. 

But we are told that the happiness of 
the righteous, and the misery of the 
wicked are contrasted ; and that in this 
contrast the same terms, everlasting, and 
eternal, are applied to denote the duration 
of both ; and that, if the one be endless, 
the same must be true of the other. This 
is the most plausible argument which can 
be urged in support of ceaseless torment. 
We will, however, state the reasons which 
satisfy us, that the argument is unsound. 
If there is any strength in this argument, 
it must rest either upon the meaning of 
the word " everlasting," or upon the al- 
leged fact that happiness and misery are 
contrasted. As to the meaning of the word, 
we have already shown that it is used in 
a great variety of senses ; sometimes it 
denotes endless, and sometimes limited 
duration. But its signification must al- 
ways depend upon the nature of the sub- 
ject to which it is applied. When it is 
joined to the happiness of the saints, it 
takes an endless sense ; not from the na- 
tural import of the term, but from the na- 
ture of the subject to which it is applied. 
Endless happiness is established beyond 
a doubt, independently of the use of this 
ambiguous term ; and having established 
that point, the word " everlasting" takes 
an endless sense, from the character of 
the subject to which it is applied. To 
make the cases parallel, the absolute 
eternity of punishment must be proved 
independently of this term. But the be- 
lievers of ceaseless punishment always 
press this doubtful term into the contro- 
versy ; and in this way they admit that 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



547 



they cannot prove their position without 
the passages in which this term occurs. 
But what sort of reasoning is this 1 Why, 
they attempt to prove a doubtful point by 
the use of a word equally doubtful. Let 
them prove the endless duration of pun- 
ishment independently of the use of this 
term ; and then, but not till then, will it 
follow with any degree of certainty, that 
everlasting is used in an endless sense, 
when applied to this subject of punish- 
ment. 

Nor is it true, that the antithesis re- 
quires that the same term should have the 
same signification in both members of the 
sentence. Take the famous passage in 
the 25th chapter of Matthew, — " These 
shall go away into everlasting punishment, 
but the righteous into life eternal." Sup- 
pose the meaning to be that, the one goes 
into endless happiness, but the other into 
a long and severe punishment. The con- 
trast here is just as perfect, as though the 
one continued as long as the other. The 
object of the Saviour was, to contrast the 
condition of the two classes, rather than 
the duration of the life on the one side, 
and the punishment on the other. 

Besides there is evidence in this very 
passage that the punishment here spoken 
of, is not endless. The Greek word ren- 
dered punishment is kolasis, which critics 
define to signify chastisement, or that 
punishment which is inflicted for the good 
of the sufferer. Dr. Smith, in his Trea- 
tise on Divine Government, published a 
few years since in England, says that 
kolasis invariably denotes a corrective 
punishment. Hedericus gives chastise- 
ment as the prominent meaning of kolasis. 
Grotius says expressly, " that kind of 
punishment which tends to improve the 
criminal is what the philosophers called 
kolasis, or chastisement." See also "Im- 
proved Version of New Testament." 
Here it will be seen, that the very passage 
which is relied upon in proof of endless 
misery, contains evidence of the limited 
nature of punishment. Chastisement of 
itself implies a limitation, and as the word 
everlasting is applied to chastisement, or 
a word of that import, it must be used in 
a limited sense. 

, But as great reliance is placed upon the 
fact that in the 25th chapter of Matthew, 



the word rendered everlasting occurs 
twice ; and as it is inferred from this, that 
it must have the same meaning in both 
cases : we will refer to several other pass- 
ages, where the same word occurs twice, 
and where all will admit that the sense is 
not the same in each case. In Romans 
xvi. 25, 26, Paul speaks of the "mystery 
which was kept secret since the 'world be- 
gan, but is now made manifest, according 
to the commandment of the everlasting 
God." In this passage the word in ques- 
tion occurs twice ; in one case it is ren- 
dered world, and in the other everlasting. 
In the latter case the term has an endless 
sense, because it is applied to the Deity ; 
in the former case it is used in a limited 
sense, because the passage speaks of the 
beginning of the world. In Titus i. 2, 
the apostle speaks of eternal life which 
God promised before the world began. 
Here again the same word occurs twice. 
Once it is rendered eternal and applied to 
life, and consequently is used in an end- 
less sense ; and once it is rendered world, 
and must be used in a limited sense, for it 
would be an absurdity to speak of the 
beginning and end of eternity. In Habak. 
iii. 6, the word " everlasting" is twice em- 
ployed ; once it is applied to the moun- 
tains, which the passage declares, " were 
scattered," and once to the ways of God, 
which we know are unchangeable. 

We have here three several instances 
in which the terms rendered everlasting 
and for ever are twice employed in the 
same passage, by way of antithesis ; and 
yet every person will admit that the word 
has one meaning in one part of the sen- 
tence, and another meaning in the other. 
Why then may not the same term in the 
same construction be employed to denote 
an endless duration in the one case, and a 
limited duration in the other, in the 25th 
of Matthew, as well as in the 16th of Ro- 
mans, the 1st of Titus, or the 3d of Ha- 
bakkuk ? 

From what we have offered upon this 
subject, I think it follows most conclu- 
sively that the words rendered eternal and 
for ever, are loose and indefinite in their 
meaning; and that we must look at the 
subject to which they are applied, in order 
to determine their sense in any given case. 
It has also been shown that there is noth- 



548 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



ing in the nature of punishment which 
would give an endless sense to the term, 
when applied to that subject ; but on the 
contrary, chastisement, the only punish- 
ment worthy of a merciful God, necessa- 
rily implies a limitation. 

But in contending for the final subjuga- 
tion of the world, we do not overlook the 
agency of man. It is no part of our 
creed that man is to be passive in the 
great work of salvation. We believe that 
all men will ultimately be made happy ; 
because we believe that all men will of 
their own accord bow submissively and 
become the willing subjects of the Prince 
of Peace. The free agency instead of 
constituting any objection to our views, is 
the medium through which the Spirit of 
God operates in bringing men to holiness 
and happiness. On any system of reli- 
gion, those who are saved, are saved will- 
ingly ; and if one free agent can be brought 
to penitence without impairing his free- 
dom, the same may be true of all. 

Restorationists believe that the doctrine 
of the Restoration is the most consonant 
to the perfections of the Deity, the most 
worthy of the character of Christ, and 
the only doctrine which will accord with 
pious and devout feelings, or harmonize 
with the scriptures. They teach their fol- 
lowers, that ardent love to God, active 
benevolence to man, and personal meek- 
ness and purity, are the natural results of 
those views. 

Though the Restorationists, as a sepa- 
rate sect, have arisen within a few years, 
their sentiments are by no means new. 
Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Didymus 
of Alexandria, Gregory Nyssen, and se- 
veral others, among the Christian fathers 
of the first four centuries, it is said, be- 
lieved and advocated the restoration of all 
fallen intelligences. A branch of the Ger- 
man Baptists, before the Reformation, held 
this doctrine, and propagated it in that 
country. Since the Reformation this doc- 
trine has had numerous advocates ; and 
some of them have been among the bright- 
est ornaments of the Church. Among the 
Europeans, we may mention the names of 
Jeremy White of Trinity College, Dr. 
Burnet, Dr. Cheyne, Chevalier Ramsay, 
Doctor Hartley, Bishop Newton, Mr. Stone- 
house, Mr. Petitpierre, Dr. Cogan, Mr. 



Lindsey, Dr. Priestly, Dr. Jebb, Mr. Relly, 
Mr.Kenrick, Mr. Belsham,Dr. Southworth 
Smith, and many others. In fact the Res- 
toration is the commonly received doctrine 
among the English Unitarians at the pre- 
sent day. In Germany, a country which, 
for several centuries, has taken the lead 
in all theological reforms, the orthodox 
have espoused this doctrine. 

The Restoration was introduced into 
America about the middle of the eighteenth 
century ; though it was not propagated 
much till about 1775 or 1780, when John 
Murray and Elhanan Winchester became 
public advocates of this doctrine, and by 
their untiring labors extended it in every 
direction. From that time to the present, 
many men have been found in all parts of 
our country, who have rejoiced in this be- 
lief. This doctrine found an able advo- 
cate in the learned Dr. Chauncey, of Bos- 
ton. Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, Dr. Smith, 
of New York, Mr. Foster, of New Hamp- 
shire, may also be mentioned as advocates 
of the Restoration. 

Most of the writers, whose names are 
given above, did not belong to a sect which 
took the distinctive name of Restorationists. 
They were found in the ranks of the va- 
rious sects into which the Christian world 
has been divided. And those who formed 
a distinct sect were more frequently de- 
nominated Universalists than Restoration- 
ists. In 1785, a convention was organized 
at Oxford, Massachusetts, under the aus- 
pices of Messrs. Winchester and Murray. 
And as all who had embraced universal 
salvation believed, that the effects of sin 
and the means of grace extended into a 
future life : the terms Restorationist and 
Universalist were then used as synony- 
mous ; and those who formed that conven- 
tion adopted the latter as their distinctive 
name. 

During the first twenty-five years, the 
members of the Universalist Convention 
were believers in a future retribution. But 
about the year 1818, Hosea Ballou, now 
of Boston, advanced the doctrine that all 
retribution is confined to this world. 

That sentiment at first was founded upon 
the old Gnostic notion, that all sin origi- 
nates in the flesh, and that death frees the 
soul from all impurity. Subsequently 
some of the advocates for the no-future- 



HISTORY OF THE RESTORATIONISTS. 



549 



punishment scheme, adopted the doctrine 
of materialism, and hence maintained that 
the soul was mortal ; that the whole man 
died a temporal death, and that the resur- 
rection was the grand event which would 
introduce all men into heavenly felicity. 

Those who have since taken to them- 
selves the name of Restorationists, viewed 
these innovations as corruptions of the 
gospel, and raised their voices against 
them. But a majority of the convention 
having espoused these sentiments, no re- 
formation could be effected. 

The Restorationists, believing these er- 
rors to be increasing, and finding in the 
connexion what appeared to them to be a 
want of engagedness in the cause of true 
piety, and in some instances an open op- 
position to the organization of churches ; 
and finding that a spirit of levity and bit- 
terness characterized the public labors of 
their brethren, and that practices were 
springing up totally repugnant to the prin- 
ciples of Congregationalism, resolved to 
obey the apostolic injunction, by coming 
out from among them, and forming an in- 
dependent association. Accordingly, a con- 
vention, consisting of Rev. Paul Dean, 
Rev. David Pickering, Rev. Charles Hud- 
son, Rev. Adin Ballou, Rev. Lyman May- 
nard, Rev. Nathaniel Wright, Rev. Phile- 
mon R. Russell, and Rev. Seth Chandler, 
and several laymen, met at Mendon, 
Massachusetts, August 17, 1831, and 
formed themselves into a distinct sect, and 
took the name of Universal Restorationists. 

Since the organization of this associa- 
tion, they have had accessions of six or 
seven clergymen, so that their whole num- 
ber of dergymen in 1834, was estimated 
at fourteen, and the number of their so- 
cieties at ten or twelve. With all or nearly 
all these societies an organized church is 
associated. These societies are principally 
in Massachusetts, though there is a large 
society in Providence, Rhode Island, and 
one in New York city. The largest socie- 
ties are those of Boston and Providence. 

The Independent Messenger, a paper 
published weekly at Mendon, Massachu- 
setts, by Rev. Adin Ballou, is devoted to 
the cause of Restorationism. 

It ought also to be slated in connection 
with this, that there are several clergy- 
men who agree with the Restorationists in 



sentiment, who still adhere to the Univer- 
salis! connexion. And if we were to pre- 
sent a complete list of those who believe 
that all men will ultimately be restored, 
we might enumerate many of the Unitarian 
and Christian clergymen. This senti- 
ment prevails more or less among the 
laity of every sect. The Restorationists 
are Congregationalists on the subject of 
church government. 

In relation to the trinity, atonement, 
and free will, the Restorationists' views 
harmonize with those of the Unitarians. 

In relation to water baptism, they 
maintain that it may be administered by 
immersion, suffusion, or sprinkling, either 
to adults or infants. They do not regard 
baptism as a saving ordinance ; and they 
are rather disposed to continue this rite 
from the example of Christ and his apos- 
tles, than from any positive command 
contained in the New Testament. They 
maintain that the sacrament of the Supper 
is expressly commanded by Christ, and 
should be open to all believers of every 
name and sect ; and while they admit that 
every organized church should have the 
power to manage its own private and local 
affairs, they recognise no power in any 
church to exclude believers of other de- 
nominations from the table of our common 
Master. 

The difference between the Restoration- 
ists and Universa lists relates principally to 
the subject of a future retribution. The 
Universalists believe that a full and perfect 
retribution takes place in this world, that 
our conduct here cannot affect our future 
condition, and that the moment man exists 
after death, he will be as pure and as 
happy as the angels. From these views 
the Restorationists dissent. They main- 
tain that a just retribution does not take 
place in time ; that the conscience of the 
sinner becomes callous, and does not in- 
crease in the severity of its reprovings 
with the increase of guilt ; that men are 
invited to act with reference to a future 
life ; that if all are made perfectly happy 
at the commencement of the next state of 
existence, they are not rewarded accord- 
ing to their deeds ; that if death intro- 
duces them into heaven, they are saved by 
death, and not by Christ ; and if f hey are 
made happy by being raised from the 



550 



HISTORY OF THE RIVER BRETHREN. 



dead, they are saved by physical, and not 
by moral means, and made happy without 
their agency or consent ; that such a 



sentiment weakens the motives to virtue, I ture. 



and gives force to the temptations of 
vice ; that it is unreasonable in itself, 
and opposed to many passages of scrip- 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE RIVER BRETHREN, 



BY A FAMILIAR FrtlEND. 



The unsettled state of affairs in Europe 
during the greater part of the seventeenth, 
and former half of the eighteenth century, 
subjected many German, French, Swiss 
and others, not only to the devastations 
consequent in the train of war, but also to 
sore persecutions, because they could not 
conscientiously change their religious 
opinions, so as to coincide invariably with 
those of the reigning Prince. The reli- 
gious complexion was not unfrequently 
influenced by the character of the rulers — 
as they changed, revolutions in religion 
took place. Of this, we have striking 
cases in Frederick II., Frederick III. and 
others. Frederick II., Elector Palatine, 
embraced the Lutheran faith : Frederick 
III. became a Catholic ; Lodovic V. re- 
stored the Lutheran church : his son, and 
successor was a Calvinist. These, in 
their turn, protected some, others they did 
not. — Besides these unpropitious changes, 
of being subjects of persecution, the Ger- 
mans occupied the unenviable position of 
living between two powerful belligerent 
rivals, whose element seems to have been 
war. 

During the period of the latter half of 
the seventeenth, and early part of the 
eighteenth century, Germans, as well as 
Swiss of several Protestant denominations, 



emigrated to the English colonies in Amer- 
ica — principally, however, to New York, 
and Pennsylvania, where every species of 
religion was protected. The latter pro- 
vince had, from its commencement, been 
an asylum of many persons whose pecu- 
liar opinions rendered them impatient of, 
or obnoxious to, their native governments : 
hence motives, not to be condemned, in- 
fluenced many to bid a long farewell to 
their Vaterland — the enjoyment of reli- 
gious tolerance, and the certain prospect 
of bettering their temporal condition.* 

The principal Protestant denomination 
that emigrated from Germany were Men- 
nonites, some of whom settled at Ger- 
mantown as early as 1683; Lutherans, 
German Reformed, Taufer (German 
Baptists, or Brethren) Schwenkfelders, 
and Moravians, all of whom had regularly 
organized congregations in Pennsylvania, 
prior to 1742. 

About the middle of the seventeenth 
century, 1651, Jeremiah Felbinger, of 
Berlin, Prussia, wrote and published a 
book, entitled "Des Chbistlichen Hand- 
BUECHLEiNs,"f setting forth and ably 



* Prov. Rec, III. 341. 

f The preface to this book is dated, Berlin, 
August 20, A. D. 1651. 






HISTORY OF THE RIVER BRETHREN. 



o51 



vindicating doctrines and sentiments which 
were subsequently embraced, and promul- 
gated by many of the Taeujer, or German 
Baptists.* 

About the year 1705,f Alexander Mack, 
a native of Shriesheim, between Heidel- 
berg and Manheim, having been brought 
under the influence of that spirit which 
moved the so called Pietists of Germany, 
commenced carefully and prayfully to ex- 
amine the New Testament, to learn its 
requirements. — Soon others, alike influ- 
enced, united with him and formed an 
association for mutual edification. They 
resolved to lay aside all preconceived 
opinions and traditional observances, and 
to be governed by the undisputed precepts 
of Christ. 

The first consociates with Alexander 
Mack, were George Grebi, of Hesse-Cas- 
sel ; Luke Fetter, of Hessia ; Andrew 
Boney, of Basil, Switzerland ; John Kip- 
ping of Wirtemberg; Anna Margaretta 
Mack, Johanna Kipping, Johanna Noe- 
thiger or Mrs. Boney. 

On a close and diligent search of the 
scriptures, and a careful examination of 
authentic history of the primitive christian 
church, they arrived at the inevitable con- 
clusion, as they hopefully believed, that 
the apostles and primitive christians ad- 
ministered the ordinance of baptism to 
believing adults only, by trine-immersion.:}: 
And in conformity with this custom, they 
now resolved to be immersed as obedient 
followers of their Lord and Master, Matt, 
iii. 16. 

The question now arose : Who is first to 
administer this sacred ordinance ? None 
of them, as yet, had been immersed. To 
this end, one of their number visited, in 
various parts of Germany, Mennonite con- 



L 



* Felbinger's book comprises seven chap- 
ters : — 

I. Of the creation of man, his fall and resto- 
ration. 

II. Of receiving infants into the visible 
church of the Lord. 

III. Of holy baptism. 

IV. Of church discipline. 

V. Of feet-washing. 

VI. Of the holy supper. 

VII. Of the prohibition of oaths, 
f Proud's His. Pa. II. 346. 

i Rechte aind Ordnungen des Hauses Goths, 
by A. Mack, 1774. 



gregations, to confer with their ministers, 
touching the ordinance of baptism. Many 
of the Mennonites admitted that this ordi- 
nance, performed by immersion, if done 
from pure motives — love to the Saviour, 
was proper ; but still maintained that if 
administered by pouring or aspersion, it 
was equally valid ; as no particular mode 
has been prescribed. 

Mack and his consociates did not concur 
with the views of the Mennonites on this 
subject : they had determined to yield to 
their convictions, as to the result of inves- 
tigating the Scriptures and historical testi- 
mony. It was by common consent agreed, 
that Mack should assume the responsibility 
of baptising the small number of believers. 
However, as he conceived himself still 
unbaptized, he declined to comply, in 
this instance, with their ardent wishes. 
They now resolved to fast, and in prayer 
and supplication to a throne of grace, to 
ask God for directions. As did the Eleven, 
Acts i. 26, they now cast lots as to which 
of the brethren should be the first baptizer. 
Lots were accordingly cast ; and he upon 
whom it fell, baptized one of the brethren. 
The baptized one, now baptized him by 
whom he had been baptized ; and the 
first baptizer then baptized the others. 
But upon whom the lot fell to baptize first, 
has been studiously concealed to this day. 
For it had been previously agreed among 
themselves, never to disclose the name 
upon whom the lot should fall. " Sie 
gaben" says Mack, " aber unter einand- 
er ihr Wort von sick, dass es niemand 
verrathen sollte, ivelcher der erste Taevfer 
unter ihnen gewesen damit niemand 
Ursache nehmen moechte, sie irgend mach 
einem Menschen zunennen, widen sie 
solche Thorheit schon von Paulo an den 
Corinthern bestrafet funden." 

They were baptized early in the morn- 
ing, in the river Eder, in Schwartzenau.* 
They now formally organized a church, 
consisting of believing adults only. Alex- 
ander Mack was chosen as their teacher. 



* On account of persecution at home, they 
resorted to Schwartzenau, in the country of 
Witgensteen and Creyfelt, in th? Dutchy of 
Cleves, belonging to the King of Prussia, 
where they had liberty of meeting without 
being disturbed. Proud's His. Pa., ii. 346. 



JJ 



552 



HISTORY OF THE RIVER BRETHREN. 



Their number soon increased, and grew 
to some importance, in the course of the 
first seven years. In 1715, besides a nu- 
merous congregation in Schwartzenau ; 
in the Palatinate, and other places, co- 
workers were raised to labor in the har- 
vest, in the persons of John Henry Kalk- 
loeser, of Frankenthal, a town in the Pala- 
tinate of the Rhine ; Christian Libe and 
Abraham Duboy, of Epstein, in Hesse- 
Darmstadt ; John Nass, Peter Becker, of 
Dilsheim. With these were associated 
John Henry Trout, and his brother, Henry 
Holtzappel and Stephen Koch ; the greater 
part of them went in the first seven years, 
to Creyfelt. John Henry Kalkloeser and 
Abraham Duboy, came to Schwartzenau, 
so did also George Balser Ganss, of Um- 
stadt, a town in the district of Hesse ; and 
Michael Eckerlin, of Strasburg. The 
mother church left Schwartzenau for 
Serustervin, in Friesland, a province of 
Holland ; and thence in 1719, immigrated 
to Pennsylvania, where twenty families of 
them settled at, and about Germantown, 
where the church increased considerably, 
receiving members from the inhabitants 
along the Wissahickon, and from Lancas- 
ter county. In 1723, the members in 
Germantown and vicinity formed them- 
selves into a community under Peter 
Becker, who was chosen official baptize r, 
and who, in succeeding years, collected 
the dispersed brethren in Lancaster county 
into a distinct society at Muelback, (Mill- 
creek.) Among the prominent members 
of the church here, was Conrad Beisel, 
who was baptized in 1724, in Pequae 
creek, by Peter Becker. Beisel was after- 
wards the founder of another order of Ger- 
man Baptists, usually known by the name 
of Dunkers ;* or more properly : Seventh- 
Day German Baptists, at Ephrata, Lan- 
caster county.*)" 

Congregations were also organized un- 
der the supervision of Becker, at Cones- 
toga creek ; and in Oley, Berks county. 
In 1729, Alexander Mack, the Father of 
the first society, accompanied by a num- 



* Buck, Hendricks, and others, who follow 
the traditionary history of this denomination, 
style them Dunkers. 

j- Article German Seventh-Day Baptists, by 
W. M. Fahnestock, M. D. 



ber of his consociates, arrived in this 
country. Im Jahr, 1729, says Peter J 
Miller, in his Chronica Ephra : ist Alex- 
ander Mack, der Urstaender der Taeu- 
fer, samt den nebrigen gedacliter Ge- 
mei?ide von Friesland abgesetzt und in 
Pennsylvanien angekommen* 

Peter Becker was a man of considerable 
property, much of which he devoted to the 
common use of the recently organized 
society. By his indefatigable exertions, 
and others elected as teachers, among 
them, churches were organized in various 
parts of Pennsylvania, and some in New 
Jersey. The German Baptists, or Breth- 
ren, as they called themselves, in common 
with other religious denominations, grew 
luke-warm, their number diminished rather 
than increased with the population of the 
country, f A general lethargy prevailed 
on the subject of religion in the sever? 1 
provinces, till about the year 1733, or '34, 
" when the spirit of God began extraor- 



* September 15, 1729, the Ship Allen, James 
Craigi e, Master, from Rotterdam, arrived at 
Philadelphia with 126 passengers, consisting 
of 59 Palatine families — names and heads of 
families are : 

Alexander Mack, Johannes Mack, Felte 
Mack, Alexander Mack, jr., John Henrich 
Kalkloeser, Andreas Boney, William Knipper, 
Jacob Lisley, Christopher Matler, Paul Libe- 
kip, Christopher Kalkloeser, Christian Cropp, 
Andreas Cropp, Jacob Cropp, Christian Cropp, 
jr., Hans Schlachter. Johannes Pellickhover, 
Johannes Kipping, Hans George Koch, John 
Michael Amwi?, Hans Ulrich Kisle, Ulrich 
Eley, Reinhart Hammer, Samuel Galler, Con- 
rad Iller, Hans Casper Kulp, John Martin 
Crist, Hisbert Bender, Jacob Possart, Jacob 
Wise, Christian Schneider, Hans Contee, Jo- 
hannes Flickinger, Felte Beecher, John Jacob 
Hopbach, Johannes Mackinterfeer, Christian 
Kitsintaader, Lenhart Amwigh, Mathias Sch- 
neider, Joseph Prunder, Mathias Ultand, Jo- 
hannes Prunder, George Hoffart, Johannes 
Perger, Johannes Weightman, Philip Michael 
Fiersler, Valentine Gerhart Hisle, Hans 
George Clauser, Henrich Holstein, Felte Ra- 
fer, George Fetter, John Jacob Knecht, Alex- 
ander Till, Henrich Peter Middledorf, David 
Lisley, Jacob Possart, Daniel Crop. Prov. 
Record, iii., p. 391, 392. 

f Proud, speaking of them, in 1765, says: 
They are a quiet, inoffensive people, not nu- 
merous, at present on the decline. — There are 
419 families, 2095 persons, at 5 of a family, and 
4 meeting houses in different parts of the pro- 
vince. — Proud' s His. Pa., ii., 347. 



HISTORY OF THE RIVER BRETHREN. 



553 



dinarily to set in and wonderfully to work 
among the people in various parts of the 
provinces j* and produced great awaken- 
ings and revivals of religion," which, as 
history and experience confirm, are essen- 
tial, as it were by a sudden shock effec- 
tually to counteract the sluggish tendency 
in the human mind, on the subject of re- 
ligion ; and, which have always been pro- 
ductive of the greatest good to the cause 
of pure and undefiled religion. This was 
the case during the period of the Reforma- 
tion in Germany, Switzerland, Holland, 
France, Denmark, and England, which 
were at that time severally visited by co- 
pious showers of divine influence. From 
the day of the Great Awakening, of 
1740, a change in religious feeling and 
correspondent action came over society ; 
" for it appears from the history of reli- 
gious opinions and practices since 1733," 
that the most important practical idea 
then received prominence and power, and 
has held its place ever since, is the idea 
of the New Birth — the doctrine, in order 
to be saved, a man must undergo a change 
in his feelings and principles of moral ac- 
tion, which will be either accompanied, or 
succeeded by exercises of which he is 
conscious, and can give an account ; so 
that those who have been thus changed, 
may ordinarily be distinguished from those 
who have not.f The salutary effects of 
revivals were also experienced among the 
Germans^ of Pennsylvania, during the 
last half of the past century. 

Among the several German denomina- 
tions, especially among the Mennonites, 
being the most numerous society in Lan- 
caster county, awakenings were more com- 
mon. Between sixty and seventy years 
ago, awakened persons of Mennonites, 
Lutherans, German Reformed, Brethren 
or Taeufer, " whose hearts were closely 
joined together — had a common interest, 



* The Great Awakening in the time of Ed- 
wards and Whitfield, in 1733, 1740, and other 
revivals in 1744, 1757, 1 772, &c., in various 
parts of the provinces are alluded to here. 

f Tracer's History of the Revival of Reli- 
gion, <fcc. 

* It is a well known fact that the Germans 
are opposed to innovation; full of pious rever- 
ence for the views and customs of their an- 
cestors — not easily moved or excited. — Rauch. 



not only in regard to the general cause of 
religion, but in each others individual edi- 
fication," and they met in the capacity of 
a social devout band, from house to house, 
to make prayer and supplication for the 
continued influence of God s Spirit — out 
of these social circles,* was organized 
the Religious Association, now commonly 
known as the River Brethren. 

The appellation they assumed, is 
"Brethren," considering as Christ is 
their master, that they, as his disciples, 
" are all brethren" Matt, xxiii. 8 ; James 
iii. 1. Several societies in different parts 
of Lancaster county were simultaneously 
organized : one near the Susquehanna 
river; another on Conestoga creek. By 
way of local distinction, the latter were 
called the Conestoga Brethren, those on, or 
near Susquehanna, the River Brethren,^ 
an appellation by which the society is 
now generally known, to distinguish its 
members from the German Baptists, or 
Brethren, first organized in Europe. 

As they keep neither written or printed 
records touching their ecclesiastical pro- 
ceedings, in the absence of these, oral 
history, or tradition alone can be relied on 
as to the precise time of their church or- 
ganization, and who were the first minis- 
ters among them. The concurrent testi- 
mony, however, among them is, that this 
denomination commenced during the revo- 
lutionary war. — Their first ministers were 
Jacob Engel, Hans Engle, C. Rupp, and 
others. At a later period some ministers 
and lay members of the Saufcc united 
with them. Soon after the formal organi- 
zation of churches in Pennsylvania, Jacob 
Engel visited Canada, and at a later 
period, Ohio, to organize churches. Since 
which, the first churches have considera- 
bly increased, and congregations are now 
to be found in Bucks, Lancaster, Dauphin, 
York, Franklin, Westmoreland, and seve- 
ral other counties in Pennsylvania. — In 
several parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Canada 
West, — numbering several thousand mem- 
bers, and some fifty or sixty ministers. 



* Some of them joined in with the United 
Brethren in Christ. 

f Some years ago they were occasionally 
called River Mennonites, from the circumstance 
that some of their first ministers had stood in 
connexion with the Mennonites. 



70 



554 



HISTORY OF THE RIVER BRETHREN. 



Having not as yet* publicly adopted a 
printed compendium of essential doctrines 
to which every one, it would be expected 
to subscribe — appealing as they profess to 
do, to the Sacred oracles as their only 
guide in matters of Faith and probity — 
their distinctive doctrines cannot be pre- 
sented in this brief article. They believe, 
that their system of church government is 
taught in the Bible, and sanctioned by the 
usages of the apdstles and primitive Chris- 
tians. 

The River Brethren recognize three 
orders of clergy : Bishops, Elders, and 
Deacons. 1 Tim. iii. 1,2; Acts xx. 28 ; 
1 Tim. v. 17 ; 1 Pet. v. 1 ; Phil. i. 1 ; 1 
Tim. iii. 8, 12, 13. Their ministers are 
chosen by votes ; and in some instances, 
when the votes for the several candidates 
are equally divided, they decide by casting 
lots. For this practice they refer to the 
Scriptures — Prov. xvi. 33, xviii. 18; Esth. 
iii. 7 ; Acts i. 26. None of their clergy 
receives a stipulated salary, or any pecu- 
niary remuneration, for services rendered 
in official capacity. In some instances, 
where the circumstances of the minister 
require it, the expenses incident in travel- 
ling, while visiting congregations and mem- 
bers, are borne by the congregations, but 
usually raised by voluntary contributions. 

Bishops, or as they are sometimes 
called in their vernacular tongue, Volle- 
Diener, have the general supervision of 
congregations within certain geographical 
limits, which they visit at least once a year. 
They labor in word and doctrine : attend 
at their Agapea, or Feasts of Charity, 
(Jude xii.) and their Koinonia, or Com- 
munion. 1 Cor. x. 16. Conduct the elec- 
tion of elders and deacons — perform all 
ministerial acts, baptize, ordain, and are 
present at the excommunication of church 
officers. In cases of emergency, and in 
the absence of a Bishop, these duties de- 
volve upon Elders. Bishops and Elders, 
or Mit-Helfer, preach, baptize, minister at 
the Lord's Supper, (Kuriakon Deipnon,) 



* Rising thirty years ago, a Compendium of 
doctrine had been drawn up by some of the 
ministers, and proposed for adoption; but it 
was rejected by a majority of the meeting at 
which it had been proposed. Copies, in MSS., 
of this Compendium, it sesms, are extant 
among some of the ministers. 



Communion, (Koinonia?) and perform 
the rites of marriage, when called on, and 
satisfied that no valid objections can be 
made as to the parties about entering into 
this important relation. 

The duty of Deacons, or Armon-Die- 
ner, is to take care of the secular affairs 
of the church ; keep an oversight of the 
indigent members, widows, and orphans, 
provide them with such things as they 
severally need, from the common chan'tv 
fund of the church. 

As a body, like the Mennonite B , Friends, 
German Brethren, and several other de- 
nominations, they are opposed to war in 
all its features, as being at variance with 
the peace-breathing precepts of the Sa- 
viour, contrary to the teachings of the 
apostles, and incompatible with the prac- 
tise of primitive Christians. In support 
of their views on this subject, they cite 
the following Scriptures : — 

" I say unto you, that ye resist not 
evil." 

" Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate 
thine enemy : But I say unto you love 
your enemies, bless them that curse you, 
do good to them that hate you." — Matt, 
v. 39., &c. 

" Blessed are the peace-makers : for 
they shall be called the children of God." 
—Matt. v. 9. 

" Have peace one with another." — Mark 
ix. 50. " See that none render evil for 
evil to any man." — 1 Thess. v. 15. " God 
hath called us to peace." — 1 Cor. vii. 15. 

"Follow after love, patience, meek- 
ness." — " Be gentle, showing all meek- 
ness unto all men." — " Live in peace." 

"Let all bitterness and wrath, and 
anger and clamor, and evil speaking, be 
put away from you, with all malice." 

" Avenge not yourselves." — " If thine 
enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, 
give him drink." — " Recompense to no 
man evil for evil." — " Overcome evil with 
good." 

They have, in support of their views, j 
examples from history. 

"Maximilian, as it is related in the 
Acts of Ruinart, was brought before the 
tribunal to be enrolled as a soldier. On 
the proconsul's asking his name, Maxi- 
milian replied, "I am a Christian and 



HISTORY OF THE RIVER BRETHREN. 



555 



cannot fight." It was, however, ordered 
that he should be enrolled, but he refused 
to serve, still alleging that he was a 
Christian. He was immediately told 
that there was no alternative between 
bearing arms and being put to death. 
But his fidelity was not to be shaken : — 
" I cannot fight," said he, " if I die." He 
continued steadfast to his principles, and 
was consigned to the executioner. 

" The primitive Christians not only re- 
fused to be enlisted in the army, but when 
any embraced Christianity while already 
enlisted, they abandoned the profession, 
at whatever cost. Marcellus was a cen- 
turion in the legion called Trajana. 
While holding this commission, he be- 
came a Christian ; and believing, in com- 
mon with his fellow Christians, that war 
was no longer permitted to him, he threw 
down his belt at the head of the legion, 
declaring that he had become a Christian, 
and that he would serve no longer. He 
was committed to prison ; but he was still 
faithful to Christianity. " It is not law- 
ful," said he, " for a Christian to bear 
arms for any earthly consideration ;" and 
he was in consequence put to death. Al- 
most immediately afterward, Cassian, 
who was notary to the same legion, gave 
up his office. He steadfastly maintained 
the sentiments of Marcellus, and like him 
was consigned to the executioner. Martin, 
of whom so much is said by Sulpicius 
Severus, was bred to the profession of 
arms, which, on his acceptance of Chris- 
tianity, he abandoned. To Julian the 
Apostate, the only reason that we find he 
gave for his conduct was this : — " I am a 
Christian, and therefore I cannot fight." 

" These were not the sentiments, and 
this was not the conduct, of insulated 
individuals who might be actuated by in- 
dividual opinion, or by their private inter- 
pretations of the duties of Christianity. 
Their principles were the principles of the 
body. They were recognized and de- 
fended by the Christian writers their con- 
temporaries. Justin Martyr and Tatian 
talk of soldiers and Christians as distinct 
characters ; and Tatian says that the 
Christians declined even military com- 
mands. Clemens of Alexandria calls his 
Christian contemporaries the " followers 
of peace," and expressly tells us " that 



the followers of peace used none of the 
implements of war." Lactantius, another 
early Christian, says expressly, " It can 
never be lawful for a righteous man to go 
to war." About the end of the second 
century, Celsus, one of the opponents of 
Christianity, charged the Christians with 
refusing to bear arms even in case of 
necessity. Origen, the defender of the 
Christians, does not think of denying the 
fact ; he admits the refusal, and justifies 
it, because war was unlawful. Even 
after Christianity had spread over almost 
the whole of the known world, Tertullian, 
in speaking of a part of the Roman 
armies, including more than one-third of 
the standing legions of Rome, distinctly 
informs us that " not a Christian could be 
found among them." 

During the first two centuries, not a 
Christian soldier is found upon record. 
Not till the third century, when Chris- 
tianity became partially corrupted, are 
Christian soldiers found."* 

The church ordinances among the 
River Brethren, are Baptism, Feet-wash- 
ing, the Lord's Supper, and the Commu- 
nion. They reject infant baptism ; bap- 
tizing none but believing adults. Baptism 
they perform by trine-immersion, differing 
in this respect, from some other Baptists, 
who dip, or immerse the subject, once. 

Feet-washing, they confess to be an 
ordinance of Christ, which he himself ad- 
ministered to his disciples, and recom- 
mended by his example, to the practice 
of believers, in these words : — " If I then, 
your Lord and Master, have washed 
your feet, ye also ought to wash one 
another's feet ; for I have given you an 
example, that ye should do as I have 
done to you." — John xiii. 14, 15. 

The LoroVs Supper — Kuridkon Deip- 
non, or Agapce, is a meal or Feast, held 
by them previously to the Koinonia, i. e., 
Communian. The Agapce, or Feasts of 
Charity, they maintain were practised 
among the first Christians, with a view of 
cultivating mutual affection and friendly 
intercourse among the participants.! 



* Dymond. 

f It is customary among the River Brethren to 
invite members of good standing of other de- 
nominations, to participate with them on this 
occasion. 



556 



HISTORY OF THE RIVER BRETHREN. 



" They maintain that this custom is de- 
rived from the fact that the Saviour insti- 
tuted the Communion, after the Supper, 
or the feast in which he had been engaged 
with his disciples, and that thence the 
early Christians derived the custom of 
observing such a festival, or supper, be- 
fore the communion." 

After supper, and immediately prece- 
ding Communion, they wash each others 
feet, according to the words and example 
of Christ. — John xiii. 14, 15. 

The Communion — Koinonia^ they 
view as an ordinance instituted by Christ 
in remembrance of himself, which all 
baptized believing persons should com- 
memorate till the coming of Christ, in 
remembrance, set forth by broken bread, 
and poured out wine, of the sufferings and 
death of Christ. — Matt, xxvii. 25 ; Luke 
xx. 19; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25. 

Annual Conferences are held in the 
Spring, at Easton, in Pennsylvania — a 
month or two later m Canada, at which 
Bishops, Elders, Deacons, and Lay-mem- 
bers attend, and take part in the transac- 
tion of the ecclesiastical affairs of the 
Church. All their meetings for the trans- 
action of church business, as well as for 
worship, except in a few places, are held 
in dwelling houses ,* and, if the season 



* The Lord's Supper, as generally under- 
stood by Theologians, is known by several 
scriptural names, as found in the original: 
Kuriakon deipnou, 1 Cor. xi. 20 ; Trapeza Ku- 
riou, 1 Cor. x. 21 ; Koinonia, rendered Com- 
munion, 1 Cor. x. 10. 

The ecclesiastical names of this sacrament 
are : Eulogia Eucharistia, as used by Ignatius, 
Justin the Martyr, and Tertullian. Theodoret 
calls it Leitourgian. It is also called Sunaxis 
agin a collection of persons ; hence a holy col- 
lection for celebrating the Lord's Supper ; and 
finally the Lord's Supper itself. Musterion, 
thusia, prosphora, &c, were applied to it. 
Knapp's Christian Theol, Sec. CXLIII, p. 437, 
London Ed. B. Haug's Allerthuemer der 
Christen, p. 428., Stuttgart Ed., 1785. 



admit, in barns, fitted up with appro- 
priate seats for the occasion. 

Their ministers officiate usually in the 
German language ; though a few of them 
preach in either language, if required. 
Several of them preach exclusively in 
English. Their ministry, in the par- 
lance of the day, is by no means an 
educated ministry — still, they are devo- 
ted, laborious and useful men — apparently, 
given much to self-denial. Their habits, 
of both ministers and lay-members, are 
simple and unostentatious. It is custom- 
ary among them to wear their beards 
unshorn. 

The writer cannot conclude this brief 
article without here noticing, what struck 
him, in the intercourse with this people, 
as a distinctive peculiarity of theirs from 
many other denominations. They are 
simple, plain and unassuming in their 
deportment ; zealous in maintaining, as 
all should, what they believe to be truth, 
they still manifest an unusual degree of 
kindness and Christian forbearance to- 
wards those who differ very essentially 
from them in matters of faith. They 
reduce to practice, at least in respect to 
diversity of sentiment on minor points of 
religion, towards others, what the doc- 
trines of Christ enjoin upon all his disciples 
— forbearance ; for all have, if we are in 
the right, a claim upon our compassion. 
They avoid, what appears to have been 
forgotten by many, harshness and denun- 
ciation towards fellow Christians — for 
harshness, instead of closing the breach, 
occasioned by diversity of religious senti* 
ment, widens it. It has been well said — ^ 
" Amidst the din of controversy, and the 
jarrings of adverse parties, the opinions 
of the head are often substituted for the 
virtues of the heart, and thus is practical 
religion neglected." May all cherish in 
their minds a spirit of moderation and 
love towards their fellow Christians. 



HISTORY OF THE SCHWENKFELDERS. 



557 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE SCHWENKFELDERS 



BY ISAAC SCHULTZ, BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 



Schwenkfelders are a denomination 
of Christians, and are so called after 
Casper Schwenkfeld von Ossing, a Sile- 
sian knight, and counsellor to the Duke of 
Lignitz. He was born (seven years after 
the Saxon Reformer, Martin Luther, first 
beheld the light, in Eisleben) in Lower 
Silesia, A. D. 1490, in the principality of 
Lignitz. He studied several years at Co- 
logne and other universities ; he was well 
read in the Latin and Greek classics, as 
well as in the Fathers. He was a man of 
eminent learning. After finishing his uni- 
versity course, he was taken into service 
by the Duke of Munsterberg and Brieg, 
until he was disabled by bodily infirmities 
from attending to the business of the court. 
He then applied himself to the study of 
theology. About this time Luther com- 
menced the Reformation in Germany, 
which attracted Schwenkfeld's whole at- 
tention. Every circumstance in his con- 
duct and appearance was adapted to give 
him credit and influence. His morals were 
pure, and his life in all respects exem- 
plary. His exhortations in favor of true 
and solid piety were warm and persuasive, 
and his principal zeal was employed in 
promoting piety among the people; he 
thus acquired the friendship and esteem 
of many learned and pious men, both in 
the Lutheran and Helvetic churches ; 
among these were Luther, Melancthon, 
&c, whom he held in high esteem, but 
was decided in his opinion that they still 
held several relics of Popery in their doc- 
trines. 



He differed from Luther and other 
friends of the Reformation, in three points. 
The first of these points related to the doc- 
trines concerning the Eucharist. Schwenk- 
feld, inverted these words : " rovs-o tan to 
a^a fxov," (Matt. xxi. 26,) " This is my 
body," and insisted on their being thus 
understood : " My body is this," that is, 
such as is this bread which is broken and 
consumed ; a true and real food, which 
nourishes, satisfies, and delights the soul. 
" My blood is this," i. e., such in its effects 
as the wine, which strengthens and re- 
freshes the heart. The second point on 
which he differed from Luther, was in his 
hypothesis relating to the efficacy of the 
divine word. He denied, for example, 
that the external word, which is com- 
mitted to writing in the scriptures, was 
endowed with the power of healing, illu- 
minating, and renewing the mind ; and he 
ascribed this power to the internal word, 
which, according to his opinion, was 
Christ himself. His doctrine concerning 
the human nature of Christ, formed the 
third subject of debate between him and 
the Lutherans. He would not allow Christ's 
human nature, in its exalted state, to be 
called a creature, or a created substance, 
as such denomination appeared to him in- 
finitely below his majestic dignity, united 
as it is, in that glorious state, with the 
divine essence. 

On the first point of difference, Schwenk- 
feld wrote Luther twelve questions, con- 
cerning the impanation of the body of 
Christ. These Luther answered lacom- 



558 



HISTORY OF THE SCHWENKFELDERS. 



cally, but " in his usual rough style,"* 
told Schwenkfeld he should not irritate 
the Church of Christ ; that the blood of 
! those he should seduce would fall upon his 
i head. Notwithstanding this, he still ex- 
postulated with Luther, and desired a 
candid examination of his arguments, 
which so irritated Luther that he wrote a 
maledictory letter to Schwenkfeld. 

Schwenkfeld was an indefatigable writer ; 
he produced some ninety treatises and 
pamphlets, in German and Latin, on reli- 
gious subjects, most of which were printed, 
and are yet extant, though whole editions 
were confiscated and destroyed. He had 
an extensive correspondence all over the 
empire, with persons of every rank and 
description. The principal part of his 
letters was printed, and three large folio 
volumes thereof are still left. In his writ- 
ings, he displayed a penetrating discern- 
ment and good judgment, with a true 
Christian moderation. He often declared, 
in his writings, that it was by no means 
his object to form a separate church, and 
expressed an ardent desire to be service- 
able to all Christians, of whatever denomi- 
nation ; but his freedom in giving admoni- 
tion to those whom he thought erroneous 
in doctrine, brought on him the enmity, 
not of Papists only, but of some Protest- 
ants. His writings were prohibited to be 
printed, and such as had been printed were 
either confiscated or destroyed; and he 
was obliged to wander from place to place, 
under various turns of fortune, to escape 
danger, and to flee from his persecutors, 
till death put an end to all his trials upon 
earth ; he died in the city of Ulm, 1562, 
in the 72d year of his age. His learning 
and piety are acknowledged by all ; and 
even his most bitter antagonists award him 
this praise. 

After his death, many, on having read 
and heard his views, and having embraced 
them, were known and called Schwenk- 
felders, and persecuted nearly as much as 
had been the deceased Schwenkfelder 



* Luther, in his reply, said : " Kurtzum, en- 
tweder ihr, oder wir, mussen des Teufels lei- 

| beigen seyn, weil wir uns beyderseits Gottes 

I Worts ruhmen," i. e. " In short, either you or 
we, must be in the bond-service of the devil, 

i because we, on both sides, appeal to God's 

I Word. 



himself. The greatest number of them 
were in Silesia, particularly in the princi- 
palities of Lignitz and Tour. The estab- 
lished clergy there, being Lutherans, re- 
sorted to various devices, and used every 
intrigue, to oppose them ; in particular, if 
they assembled for religious worship, they 
were thrown into prisons and dungeons, 
where many of them perished. Such was 
often their unhappy fate. This was es- 
pecially their lot in 1590, in 1650, and at 
a later period. 

In 1719, the Jesuits thought the conver- 
sion of the Schwenkfelders an object 
worthy of attention. They sent mission- 
aries to Silesia, who preached to that 
people the faith of the emperor. They 
produced imperial edicts, that all parents 
should attend public worship of the mis- 
sionaries, and bring their children to be 
instructed in the holy Catholic faith, under 
severe penalties. The Schwenkfelders 
sent deputies to Vienna to solicit for tole- 
ration and indulgence; and though the 
emperor apparently received them with 
kindness and condescension : yet the 
Jesuits had the dexterous address to pro- 
cure another imperial edict, ordering that 
such parents as would not bring every one 
of their children to the missionaries for 
instruction, should at last be chained to 
the wheel-barrow, and put to hard labor 
on the public works, and their children 
should, by force, be brought to the mis- 
sionaries. Upon this, many families fled, 
in the night, into Lusatia, and other parts 
of Saxony, in 1725, sought shelter under 
the protection of the Senate of Gorlitz, 
and also of Count Zinzendorf — leaving 
behind them their effects real and person- 
al, (the roads being beset, in day time, to 
stop all emigrants.) They dwelt unmo- 
lested in their " late sought shelter" about 
eight years ; when, this protection being 
withdrawn, they resolved to seek a per- 
manent establishment in Pennsylvania. A 
number of them, in 1734, emigrated to 
Altona, a considerable city of Denmark, 
and Holland, thence to Pennsylvania, as 
will be seen from the sequel. 

The last mentioned edict was not put 
in its fullest rigor by the missionaries till 
after the death of Charles VI., when 
another edict was published threatening 
the total extermination of the remaining 



HISTORY OF THE SCHWENKFELDERS. 



559 



Schwenkfelders, from which they were 
unexpectedly relieved by Frederick, the 
king of Prussia, making a conquest of all 
Silesia, who immediately published an 
edict, in which he invited, by proclama- 
tion, in 1742, all -the Schwenkfelders to 
return to Silesia, who had emigrated, and 
promised them their estates, with tolera- 
tion and protection not only in Silesia, 
but in all other parts of his dominions — 
but none of those who had emigrated to 
Pennsylvania, ever returned. Still they 
kept up an important correspondence with 
European friends, near half a century, up 
to the time of the French Revolution. 

Having obtained permission from the 
crown of England to emigrate to Penn- 
sylvania, and their protection in Germany 
being withdrawn, they left Berthelsdorf 
and Gorlitz in April, 1734, for Altona, in 
Denmark, where they arrived May 17th ; 
thence they sailed for America, and after 
a tedious and long voyage they arrived at 
Philadelphia the 22d Sept., 1734, and on 
the 5th of October of the same year, seve- 
ral other families arrived. They settled 
principally in Montgomery, Berks, Bucks 
and Lehigh counties, Pennsylvania, where 
their grandchildren chiefly reside at pre- 
sent, on the branches of the Skippack and 
Perkiomen rivulets, in the upper, middle, 
and lower end of Montgomery, lower east 
part of Berks, and south corner of Lehigh. 

On their first arrival in Pennsylvania 
they held a " festival in grateful memory 
of all mercies and divine favors, mani- 
fested towards them by the Father of mer- 
cies ;" on which occasion, Father Senior 
George Wise, their pastor, conducted the 
solemnities. This commemorative festival 
has, since 17 34, been annually observed by 
their descendants. Father Wise labored 
in sacred things but six years amongst 
them in Pennsylvania; he departed this 
life in 1740. His successors were the 
Rev. B. Hoffman, A. Wagner, G. Wieg- 
ner, Christopher Shultz, sen.. C. Kriebel, 
C. Hoffman, G. Kriebel, Mr. kriebel, Mr. 
Shultz, B. Shultz, A. Shultz, and D. 
Shultz, assistants ; I. Shultz, and last, the 
Rev. C. Shultz, who died in March, 1843, 
aged 66 years. The latter was the grand- 
son of the Rev. Christopher Shultz, sen., 
of Hereford, who was distinguished as a 
scholar, and writer ; he was the author 



of their excellent Catechism, Compendium 
of Christian Doctrine and Faith, and 
Hymn Book. The late Rev. C. Shultz 
was much esteemed, as a sound divine, 
and a man of undoubted piety, by all sur- 
rounding denominations. And on account 
of his devotedness and his eloquence, he 
was repeatedly called by the Reformed, 
Moravians, Mennonites, and others, to 
preach to them the gospel of everlasting 
salvation. His motto was " Soli Deo 
Gloria, et Veritas vmcet." 

The present young candidates in the 
gospel" ministry of the upper district, in 
Berks county, are the Rev. Joshua Schultz 
and William Schultz. In the middle and 
lower districts, the Rev. B. and A. Hueb- 
ner, and Rev. David Kriebel of Worces- 
ter, Montgomery county. Their pastors 
are chosen by casting lots ; but after be- 
ing chosen great attention is paid to their 
education : they are instructed in all the 
necessary branches pertaining to the gos- 
pel ministry. 

They number at present about three 
hundred families ; eight hundred mem- 
bers ; have five churches and school- 
houses. They form a respectable part of 
the German community of the counties 
above named. Some of them pursue 
agriculture, some manufactures, others are 
engaged in commercial enterprise. By 
their strict church discipline, they keep 
their members orderly, and pure from the 
contaminating influence of the corruptions 
so prevalent. They are a moral people ; 
pious and highly esteemed by all who 
know them. They pay great attention to 
the education, the religious and moral 
training of their children. Many of them 
possess a respectable knowledge of the 
learned languages, Latin, &c. There is 
scarce a family among them that does not 
possess a well selected and neatly ar- 
ranged library, among which you find 
manuscript copies from their learned fore- 
fathers of the size of Mell's or Erasmus 
Weichenhan's Postill, which they hold 
sacred on account of the purity of doctrine 
contained therein. 

In order fully to carry out their excel- 
lent arrangements, an election is held 
among them annually, in May, either for 
elders, or trustees of schools, or overseers 
of their poor, and sometimes other officers. 



560 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



They have not long since had their lite- 
rary and charity funds incorporated, en- 
trusted to a number of trustees and others, 
constituting a body corporate. Church 
meetings are. held, when young and old 
attend, every Sunday forenoon, once in 
the upper, and once in the middle or 
lower district ; and every other Sunday 
afternoon, catechetical instruction is held, 
indoctrinating the young and old in the 
truths of the 'gospel. Their marriages 
and funerals are conducted as becomes 
Christians, upon strict temperance prin- 
ciples. At present, all teaching or preach- 
ing is principally, if not wholly, con- 
ducted in the German language. 

We introduce here what might, perhaps, 



have been more appropriately mentioned 
before. There is an existing ordinance 
among us not common with other Chris- 
tian denominations : the ordinance respects 
infants. As soon as a child is born, a 
preacher or minister is called in to pray 
for the happiness and prosperity of the 
child, admonishing the parents to educate 
their tender offspring ; to bring them up 
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, 
according to the will of God. Parents 
generally bring their little ones into the 
house of worship, where the same ser- 
vice is performed ; praying, and singing 
some appropriate verses. We hold the 
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all 
sin. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



BY THE REV. WILLIAM HANBY, CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO. 



This denomination took its rise in the 
United States, about the year 1755, and 
is distinguished from the Old United Breth- 
ren or Moravian Church, by the additional 
phrase of " In Christ." 

In 1752, William Otterbein, a distin- 
guished German divine, came to America, 
being at that time a minister of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church ; he soon became 
convinced, after his arrival in this country, 
of the necessity of a deeper work of grace 
being wrought on his heart than he had 
ever, as yet, received. He accordingly 
rested not, day nor night, until he found 
the Lord precious to his soul, in the full 
and free pardon of all his sins. He imme- 
diately commenced preaching the doctrines 
of a spiritual and holy life. After having 
been persecuted for some years, for preach- 



ing the doctrines of the Reformation, he 
virtually withdrew from his mother church, 
and commenced laboring for the conver- 
sion of souls in connection with two Ger- 
man divines by the name of Beohm and 
Geeting, who had also deeply engaged in 
the work of Reformation. In 1771, 
Messrs. Asbury and Wright, came over 
from England, under the direction of the 
Rev. J. Wesley, and commenced as co- 
workers with these German brethren ; and 
so united were they at that time, in their 
labors of love, that one branch was called 
" Methodist," and the other " German Me- 
thodist ;" though the German brethren, 
at that time anticipated an organization of 
their own. In 1784, at the request of the 
Rev. F. Asbury, William Otterbein, as- 
sisted Dr. Coke, in his (Asbury's) ordina- 



J 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



561 



1 tion, who was the first bishop in the Me- 
{' thodist Episcopal Church in America. 

The number of German Brethren in- 
I creased rapidly, and numerous societies 
I were formed, and the gracious work spread 
1 through the States of Maryland, Pennsyl- 
!: vania, and Virginia. Great meetings were 
appointed annually, and on these occa- 
sions Otterbein would lay before the Breth- 
ren, the importance of the ministry, and 
the necessity of their utmost endeavors 
to save souls. 

At one of these meetings, it was re- 
solved that a conference should be held, 
in order to take into consideration, how, 
and in what manner they might be most 
useful. 

The first conference was accordingly 
held in the city of Baltimore, Md., in 
1789. The following preachers were pre- 
sent : 

William Otterbein, Martin Beohm, Geo. 
A. Geeting, Christian Newcomer, Adam 
Lohman, John Ernst, Henry Weidner. 

In the mean time, the number of mem- 
bers continued to increase, and the preach- 
ers were obliged to appoint an annual con- 
ference, in order to unite themselves more 
closely, and labor more successfully in the 
vineyard of the Lord ; for some were 
Presbyterians or German Reformed, some 
were Lutherans, others Mennonites, and 
some few Methodists. They accordingly 
appointed an annual conference, which 
convened in Maryland, in 1800. They 
there united themselves into a society 
which bears the name of " United Breth- 
ren in Christ," and elected William Otter- 
bein and Martin Beohm, as superintendents 
or bishops ; and agreed that each should 
act according to his own convictions as 
to the mode of baptism. The rapid in- 
crease of members and ministers was 
such, that the want of some general regu- 
lations, by which all should be governed, 
was deeply felt, for, as yet, they had no 
Discipline. It was resolved that a Gene- 
ral Conference should be held to accom- 
plish that object, in a manner not deroga- 
! lory to the word of God. The members 
of this conference were to be elected from 
among the preachers, by a vote of the 
members throughout the whole society in 
eeneral. 



The conference was accordingly hell 
in 1815, at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylva- 
nia, and after mature deliberation, a Dis- 
cipline was presented containing the doc- 
trines and rules for the government of the 
church. 

As William Otterbein was the principal 
instrument under God, in founding the 
Brethren Church, a few remarks in refer- 
ence to this good man, may not be out of 
place here. He was born in Nassau Dil- 
lingburg, Germany, on the 6th day of 
March, 1726, and died November 17th, 
1813, in the 88th year of his age. He 
resided 26 years in Germany, and 61 
years in America ; all of which latter 
term he labored in the ministry. He was 
considered a ripe scholar in Latin, Greek, 
Hebrew, Philosophy, and Divinity. The 
following is a specimen of the exalted 
views entertained by Bishop Asbury, of 
this divine : " Is father Otterbein dead ? 
Great and good man of God ! An honor 
to his church and country ; one of the 
greatest scholars and divines that ever 
came to America, or born in it. Alas, 
the chiefs of the Germans are gone to 
their rest and reward — taken from the evil 
to come." (Asbury's Letter, under date 
of November, 1813.) 

The same reverend gentleman, in preach- 
ing the funeral sermon of Martin Beohm, 
in the same year, speaks thus of Otter- 
bein : " Pre-eminent among these, is Wil- 
liam Otterbein, who assisted in the ordi- 
nation of your speaker, to the superinten- 
dency of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
William Otterbein was regularly ordained 
to the ministry in the German Presbyte- 
rian Church. He is one of the best scho- 
lars and greatest divines in America. 
Why then is he not where he began ?" 
(alluding to his having to leave his old 
church because of persecution.) " Alas 
for us," says the bishop, " the zealous are 
necessarily so, those whose cry has been, 
' Put me into the pries? s office, that I 
may eat a morsel of bread P Osterwald 
has observed, ' Hell is full of the skulls 
of unfaithful ministers /' Such was not 
Beohm, such is not Otterbein ; and now, 
his sun of life is setting in brightness ; 
behold, the saint of God leaning upon 
his staff waiting for the chariots of 
Israel." 



71 



562 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



DOCTRINES. 

The doctrines of the Brethren Church, 
may be summed up in the following items : 

1st. They believe in the only true God, 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; that 
these three are one, the Father in the Son, 
the Son in the Father, and the Holy Ghost 
equal in essence or being with both. That 
this triune God created the heavens and 
the earth, and all that in them is, -visible 
as Well as invisible, and sustains, governs 
and supports the same. 

2d. They believe in Jesus Christ, that 
he is very God and man ; that he became 
incarnate by the Holy Ghost in the Virgin 
Mary, and was born of her ; that he is the 
Saviour and Mediator of the whole human 
race, if they with full faith accept the 
grace proffered in Jesus. That this Jesus 
suffered and died on the cross for us ; was 
buried and rose again on the third day, 
ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the 
right hand of God to intercede for us, and 
that he shall come again at the last day 
to judge the quick and dead. 

3d. They believe in the Holy Ghost ^ 
that he is equal in being with the Father 
and Son ; and that he comforts the faith- 
ful, and guides them into all truth. 

4th. They believe in a Holy Christian 
Church, the communion of saints, the re- 
surrection of the body, and life ever- 
lasting. 

5th. They believe that the Holy Bible, 
Old and New Testaments, is the word of 
God ; that it contains the only true way 
to our salvation ; that every true Christian 
is bound to receive it with the influence of 
the Spirit of God, as the only rule and 
guide ; that without faith in Jesus Christ, 
true repentance, forgiveness of sins, and 
following after Christ, no one can be a 
true Christian. 

6th. They believe that the fall in Adam 
and redemption through Jesus Christ, shall 
be preached throughout the world. 

7th. They believe also, that the ordi- 
nances, namely : baptism and the remem- 
brance of the sufferings and death of 
Christ, are to be in use, and practised by 
all Christian societies, but the manner 
of which ought always to be left to the 
judgment of every individual. The ex- 
ample of washing the saints' feet is left to 
the judgment of all to practise or not. 

I . 



GOVERNMENT. 

As brevity is desired, a few extracts, 
in substance, from the Constitution and 
General Rules of the Church, will be 
sufficient for present purposes. 

1st. All ecclesiastical power, to make 
or repeal any rule of discipline, is vested 
in a General Conference, which shall con- 
sist of elders elected by the lay members 
of the whole church. 

2d. General Conferences shall be held 
every four years, the bishops to be con- 
sidered members and presiding officers. 

3d. The General Conference shall at 
every session elect one or more bishops, 
who shall serve as such for four years 
only, unless re-elected. 

4th. No rule shall be passed at any 
time, to change the Confession of Faith 
as it now stands, or do away the itinerant 
plan. 

5th. No rule shall be adopted that will 
deprive local preachers of membership in 
annual conferences. 

6th. Free-Masonry, in every sense of 
the word, is totally prohibited and in no 
way tolerated in the Brethren Church. 

7th. All slavery, in every sense of the 
word, is prohibited. Should any be found 
in our church, who hold slaves, they can- 
not continue as members, unless they 
do personally manumit or set free such 
slaves. 

8th. The vending or distillation of ar- 
dent spirits is prohibited in our church, 
for medical and mechanical purposes ex- 
cepted ; should any members be found 
dealing in the unholy traffic, they must 
desist or cease to be members, 

CONFERENCES. 

The Brethren Church have three orders 
of Conferences, to wit : quarterly, annual, 
and general. A quarterly conference 
meets every three months ; and is com- 
posed of all the class-leaders, stewards, 
exhorters, local and travelling preachers 
within the bounds of a circuit or station, 
with the presiding elder at the head, as 
president. 

Annual conferences meet annually, and 
are composed of all the preachers within ; 
the specified bounds thereof, with the j 
bishops as presiding officers. At annual \ 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



563 



conferences, the labors and moral deport- 
ment of all the preachers are examined, 
the bounderies of circuits and stations 
defined, applications to the ministry re- 
ceived or rejected, presiding elders elect- 
ed, preachers stationed, and elders or- 
dained.* 

General Conference is the highest tri- 
bunal in the church, is the law-making 
department for the whole body, and is 
composed of elders elected by the laity of 
the church. Each annual conference dis- 
trict is allowed to send three delegates to 
General Conference. 



MINISTERS. 

The Brethren Church recognises but 
one order in the ministry, only that of 
ordained elders, who, by virtue of their 
ordination, administer the ordinances of 
God's house, and solemnize the rites of 
matrimony. 

OFFICERS. 

Numerous offices are recognised in the 
church, such as class-leaders, stewards, 
preachers-in-charge, presiding elders, and 
bishops. 

It is the duty of leaders to attend strictly 
to the classes assigned them, and meet 
them once a week for prayer or class 
meeting, and to admonish their members 
to lead a holy life. 

The duty of stewards is to attend to the 
pecuniary wants of the ministers. 

A preacher-in -charge, supposes two 
preachers to be on one circuit, and that 
he has the oversight, and it is his duty to 
attend to the general regulations of his 
circuit. 

A presiding elder is an officer elected 
by the annual conference from among the 
ordained elders, and it is his duty to travel 
over a specified number of circuits, and 
hold, as president, quarterly conference 
meetings, four on each circuit a year, and 
see that all the laborers under, his charge, 
discharge their duty faithfully. 



* All candidates for the ministry, after hav- 
ing received license to preach, must stand a 
probation of three years, before they can be 
ordained as elders. 



Bishops are general superintendents of 
the whole church, and preside at all annual 
and general conferences. 

STATISTICS. 

At the present time, the statistics of the 
church stand, as nigh as can be estimated, 
as follows, viz. : 

Bishops, - - - - - 3 

Annual Conferences, - - 9 

Circuits, .... 120 

Churches, - - - 1,800 

Preachers, ... 500 

Members, - - - 65,000 

Eight Home Missionary Societies, and 
one for tho benefit of the foreign field ; 
though but little has been done, as yet, for 
foreign missions. 

There are two church periodicals, one 
German, and the other English. The 
German is printed in Baltimore, Maryland ; 
the English, in Circleville, Ohio. 

Though the Brethren Church is as old 
as the Methodist Episcopal Church, yet it 
is comparatively small, owing to the fact, 
that until within the last twenty years, its 
religious exercises have all been conducted 
in the German language exclusively, or 
nearly so. Within the last twenty years 
the church has more than doubled its 
numbers. 

REMARKS. 

It will be perceived from the foregoing, 
that the government of the church is 
founded upon republican principles ; that 
an equal balance of power is secured be- 
tween the ministry and the laity. That 
there is a regular gradation from the 
lowest officer to the highest ; and that all 
the rulers are constituted by the ruled, and 
by them can be removed at pleasure. The 
subjects of the ecclesiastical law make 
their law, and can alter or amend the same 
as seemeth good to them. 

Perhaps no greater evil has ever existed 
in the Christian Church, than that of an 
undue power assumed and exercised by 
the ministry, and no evil should be more 
strongly guarded against. Preachers are 
men, in some respects like all other men, 
and, while on earth, have not ascended 



564 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



up on high ; and consequently should have 
some restraint thrown around them, "as 
well as others. The church that invests 
in the hands of the clergy (be their appa- 
rent prosperity what it may) the right to 
make all law, and execute the same un- 
controlled, is in danger of that degrading 
monarchy, which has characterized Papal 
Rome for ages past. 

The particular doctrines which charac- 
terize the preaching of the Brethren, are : 
salvation through faith in the merits of a 
Saviour, by a true repentance and forgive- 
ness of sins ; holiness of heart, life and 
conversation. 



APPENDIX. 



BY THE REV. H. G. SPOYTH. 

The United Brethren in Christ origi- 
nated from William Otterbein, who was 
born and brought up by eminently pious 
parents, who afforded him a classical edu- 
cation — embracing a full study in divinity 
in Heilbron Europa ; where, as well as in 
this his adopted country, he stood de- 
servedly high as a scholar and a divine, 
of an unsullied reputation and an able ex- 
pounder of the word of God. He was 
solemnly ordained and set apart for the 
work of the ministry, in the German Re- 
formed Church. In the discharge of his 
pastoral duties, and in search of that truth 
which God requires in the inward parts, 
he found the pearl of great price, and ob- 
tained the pentecostal blessing, which was 
soon after he had entered the sacred office 
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He enter- 
tained a holy and exalted view of the mag- 
nitude of the ministration of peace, and 
thought it no light thing to be a spiritual 
guide. His zeal in the church was great, 
and his manner of preaching was eloquent, 
persuasive and clear. Without restraint 
he sought to carry the truth to the sin- 
ner's heart. Many of his hearers became 
deeply affected, while others were filled 
with divine consolation. This state of 
things led him to hold special meetings for 
prayer, to afford him an opportunity to 
converse with all the serious persons, par- 
ticularly on the state of their minds, so he 
might exhort, comfort, or admonish each, 



individually, as the case might be. — 
Through William Otterbein prayer meet- 
ings were once more revived ,' for be it 
remembered, the name as well as the 
holding of a prayer meeting was a some- 
thing unknown at that dark day. Thus 
the reformation commenced, and with it 
the rise and progress of the United Brethren 
in Christ. But this reformation oL primi- 
tive Christianity brought alike witn it its 
opposition from within and without the 
church. Here and there pulpits were de- 
nied and church doors closed against the 
so-called new doctrine — the doctrine of 
repentance and the new birth ; and the 
prayer meetings were, if not violently yet 
sharply opposed by men professing godli- 
ness. Attending a prayer meeting was 
the signal of reproach and church cen- 
sure. 

Otterbein thought that the people of God 
were not confined to any particular com- 
munity ; and although there were a divi- 
sion of churches — separated from each 
other, rather by tradition and non-essen- 
tial forms than otherwise — yet he believed 
that the love of God, shed abroad in the 
heart by the Holy Ghost, is the same 
wherever it governs the affections, and it 
alone forms the true bond of Christian 
fellowship ; also freely admitting that 
there are many such, who, standing within 
the pales of different denominations, will 
nevertheless hold themselves spiritually 
joined in the bonds of Christian love, to all 
who are partakers with them in the like 
precious faith ; and that they, irrespective 
of forms or party name, should and may 
freely meet together around the sacra- 
mental table of the Lord's Supper. This 
again was resisted as by common consent 
by the different Christian churches and 
sects, as an innovation in the established 
order and usage of the time. 

His position was now peculiarly trying, 
and his conflict severe ; but he stood, 
prophet-like, nothing doubting, although 
single and alone, with a firm resolve to 
follow the direction of Heaven — comply- 
ing, with a willing mind, to its high de- 
mands — committing himself to the divine 
protection. He was not, however, suffer- 
ed long to stand alone. The Lord was 
pleased to call Martin Beohm, George A. 
Geeting, Christopher Grosh, Christian 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



565 



Newcomer, Andrew Zeller, George Pfri- 
mer, John Neidig, Joseph Huffman, Jacob 
Bowlus, and others. The purity and 
simplicity with which these men preached 
the word of God, the fervency of spirit 
that animated them in exhorting the peo- 
ple every where to repent, the love and 
meekness which characterized their social 
intercourse with their fellow-men, won for 
them the esteem and friendship of many ,* 
and thus an effectual door was opened 
unto them for the preaching and defence 
of the gospel, which no man as yet has 
been able to shut ; and we may truly say, 
not by might but by my spirit, said the 
Lord. Very many indeed were made the 
happy subjects of the converting grace of 
God. 

The number daily increasing, the peo- 
ple assembled themselves for the solemn 
worship of the Almighty, wherever they 
could, in private houses, in barns and 
groves, in order to afford the preachers, 
as well as the Brethren generally, an op- 
portunity to meet ; and they were then to 
be found over the states of Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, and what was then called New 
Virginia. Big meetings were resolved on ; 
the first was held in Lancaster county, Pa. 
Here perhaps for the first, and for many 
long years, an assembly of Christians met 
together from far and near, — Lutherans, 
German Reformed, Mennonites, Dunkers, 
and others, coming as with one accord 
and with one mind. Many of the Breth- 
ren were thus for the first time, happily 
brought together ; and as the meeting pro- 
gressed it increased in interest. Br. Beohm 
being of small stature, wearing his beard 
long, dressed in the true costume of a Men- 
nonite ; Wm. Otterbein being a large man, 
showing a prominent forehead, on which 
one might see the seal of the Lord im- 
pressed ; when Beohm had just closed a 
discourse, but before he had time to take 
his seat, Otterbein rose up, folding Beohm 
in his arms saying, " We are brethren." 
At this sight some praised God aloud, but 
most of the congregation gave place to 
their feelings by a flood of tears. This 
meeting, and the peculiar circumstances 
attending it, under the harmonizing influ- 
ence of the divine Spirit, in uniting a peo- 
ple of such various pre-existing orders, 
now again free from party strife and feel- 



ing, under the great Head of the Church, 
gave rise to the name of " United Breth- 
ren in Christ." A name which the church, 
some time after thought proper to adopt. 

The dawn and rise of the Brethren as 
a people, as to time, would take us back 
to A. D. 1758. 

In the main, it was not a secession from, 
or a disaffection to any particular church, 
but an ingathering of precious blood-bought 
souls. Nor was it the offering of another 
gospel or doctrine, than that of reconcilia- 
tion, repentance, and the remission of sins 
— Now while you hear his voice, the 
preacher cried. Yet all this was account- 
ed strange. William Otterbein, Martin 
Beohm, and all others with them, were 
given to understand that a persisting in 
such a course of teaching and preaching 
would and must produce a separation : 
they would and must be cast out. 

Otterbein dearly loved the church in 
which he had been brought up and or- 
dained a minister, and remained in it as 
long as a prospect remained of benefiting 
it ; but the hope eventually vanished. He 
had nothing to retract or to recall of what 
he had done, and what he was still doing 
as a faithful servant of his Lord ; but the 
synod of which he had been a member 
thought otherwise, and the connexion be- 
tween them was many years previous to 
his removal from earth fully dissolved. 
The synod and church parted with him 
apparently with little sorrow or regret. 
But not so with Otterbein ; the dissolving 
of ties and relations so sacred and dear, 
and next to God and a good conscience, 
had possessed his affections and his heart, 
filled his soul with anguish and a weight 
of sorrow, that at times seemed to know 
no bounds ; tears would fill his eyes, and 
in big drops run down his cheeks, and 
then again as if he would lay hold of 
heaven, he would exclaim, " O how can 
I give thee up !" In these hours of dis- 
tress his best friends dared not attempt to 
comfort him. His closet exercises on the 
same could be known only to God alone. 
No conception can now be formed of what 
he suffered in mind for some years after 
this sad event. But as his was the night 
of sorrow, his also, was the joy of the 
morning. The Lord knows how to send 
comfort to his chosen ones. In one of 



566 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



those seasons of bereavement and wo, the 
Bible opened for the morning lesson on 
the 49th chapter of the Prophet Isaiah, 
beginning " Listen, O isles, unto me, and 
hearken ye people, from far ; the Lord 
hath called me from the womb.; from the 
bowels of my mother hath he made men- 
tion of my name. And he hath made my 
mouth like a sharp sword ; in the shadow 
of his hand hath he hid me, and made me 
a polished shaft ; in his quiver hath he 
hid me ; and said unto me, Thou art my 
servant," &c. The word and work run, 
thousands were blessed, and God was 
glorified. But the writer is admonished 
under existing circumstances to observe 
brevity, and must make one long stride. 

The time came when he was no longer 
able to travel, and leave Baltimore, and 
take up his accustomed route to attend big 
meetings ; but from the infirmities of his 
body, his mind seemed to gather strength, 
in pleading with God the more for the pros- 
perity of Zion. The deepest thought that 
for the last year of his life occupied his 
mind, was, "Shall the work stand and 
endure the fiery test ? And will it ulti- 
mately prosper in righteousness after my 
departure ?" A short time previous to his 
end, he sent for Brothers Newcomer and 
Bowlus, that he might see them once more, 
and in conversation with them as to the 
past and present state of religion and the 
church, he remarked, " The Lord has been 
pleased graciously to satisfy me fully that 
the work will abide." 



His benevolence knew no bounds. All 
he received, and all he had, he gave away 
in charities. The writer cannot conclude 
this short and imperfect narration better 
than with the tribute paid Otterbein by the 
late Bishop Asbury ; who said of him, 
" He was a good man full of faith and the 
Holy Ghost." 

The demise of Otterbein, Beohm, and 
Geeting, as to time, is : Martin Beohm 
was permitted to preach to within a short 
time of his death. His last illness was 
short ; he, feeling his end was nigh, raised 
himself up in bed, sang a verse, commit- 
ting his spirit unto God in solemn prayer, 
praising God with a loud voice, expired, 
March 23d, 1812, in the eighty-seventh 
year of his age, having preached fifty 
years. George A. Geeting quickly fol- 
lowed Beohm, which was on the 28th of 
June, same year, 1812. His illness was 
of but one night and a day, without much 
pain. Being sensible that his hour had 
come, he desired to be helped out of bed, 
which being done, he lined a verse and 
sang it with a clear voice, knelt down by 
the bedside, and offered up his last prayer 
on earth ; and in the full triumph of faith 
bid the world adieu, having preached forty 
years. Wm. Otterbein, as he was first, 
was also last of the three ; for the year 
1813 closed the labors in the vineyard of 
the Lord of this holy man of God, full of 
years, of hope, and a glorious immortality. 
Sdi Deo gloria, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS 



567 



HISTORY 



THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS, 



BY SETH WELLS AND CALVIN GREEN, OF NEW LEBANON, N. Y.* 



The United -Society of Believers, 

or Milennial Church, commonly called 
Shakers, maintain, and with much plausi- 
bility, as they believe, that the apostolic 
church gradually degenerated, and ulti- 
mately became rather anti-christian under 
the secular protection of Constantine the 
Great, a Roman emperor in the fourth 
century, who, after having made a pro- 
fession of Christianity, was not baptized 
till he fell sick, A. D. 337, in which year 
he died in the vicinity of Nicomedia, after 
a reign of thirty-one years. They, how- 
ever, admit that notwithstanding an ex- 
tended degeneracy of true Christianity, 
God has, in every age, raised up witnesses 
to bear testimony against sin and the de- 
moralizing power of antichrist. They 
reckon among these witnesses the Cami- 
sars, or Camisards, or more commonly 
known as the French Prophets, whose 
origin is attributed by M. Gregoire to a 
certain " School of Prophets," in Dauphi- 
ny, conducted by a Calvinist named Du 
Serre. 

These prophets first appeared in Dauphi- 
ny and Vivarias, in France, 1688; in 
which year five or six hundred of them, 
of both sexes, professed to be inspired of 
the Holy Ghost ; and they soon amounted 
to many thousands. When they received, 



* The historical, doctrinal, and statistical 
facts of this article were furnished the editor 
by S. Wells and C. Green. The former, aged 
eighty years, has been a member of the society 
for half a century, who regrets his present 
inability to furnish an entire article. — Editor. 



what seemed to them to be, " the spirit of 
prophecy" their bodies were greatly agi- 
tated — they trembled, staggered, and fell 
down, and lay as if they were dead. They 
recovered, twitching, shaking, and crying 
for mercy, in their assemblies, houses and 
fields. The least of their assemblies made 
up four or five hundred, and some of them 
amounted to even three or four thousand. 
About the year 1705, three of the most 
distinguished of their number : Elias Mar- 
lon, John Cavilier, and Durand Fage, left 
France, and repaired to England. Under 
the influence of this spirit, they propagated 
the like spirit to others, so that before the 
year was out, there were two or three 
hundred of these prophets in and about 
London, of both sexes, and of all ages.* 

The great subject of their prediction 
was, the near approach of the kingdom 
of God, the happy times of the Church, 
and the millenial state. Their message 
was the acceptable year of the Lord. 

Among other prominent persons who 
had joined the French and' English pro- 
phets, as they were then known, were 
James Wardley, and Jane, his wife, form- 
erly Friends, living at Bolton, Lancashire 
county. About the year 1747, a society 
was formed without any established creed, 
or particular mode of worship, professing 
perfect resignment, to be led and governed, 
from time to time, as the Spirit of God' 
might dictate. The leading members of 
this society were James Wardley, Jane 



* Hughson's French and English Prophets. 



5G8 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



Ward ley, John Townley and his wife, both 
of Manchester ; John Kattis, a distinguish- 
ed scholar ; but, it is said, did not retain 
his faith. Wardley and his wife Jane con- 
ducted their meetings. Jane having the 
principal lead in meeting was called 
" Mother.'' 

Some years after the formation of this 
society, a personage of no ordinary im- 
portance in the history of the United Be- 
lievers, connected herself with them — af- 
terwards known as Mother Ann. Ann Lee 
was born February 29th, 1736. At a 
marriageable age she entered the bonds of 
matrimony with Abraham Stanley. In I 
1758 she joined the society. " By divine 
inspiration she received a powerful testi- 
mony against the carnal nature of the 
flesh, and, through the spirit, declared it 
to be the root of human depravity, and 
the foundation of the fall of man. Her 
testimony on this subject was delivered 
with such mighty power and demonstra- 
tion of the Divine Spirit, that it was re- 
ceived and acknowledged as the greatest 
revelation of Divine Light that had ever 
been given to the society, and that it was 
beyond dispute the true gospel of Christ's 
second appearing."* 

This revelation was made in the year 
1770, and from that period Ann was 
received and acknowledged by all the 
faithful members of the society, as their 
spiritual Mother in Christ ; and the true 
leader whom God had appointed for the 
society. Thenceforth she has ever been 
distinguished and known throughout the 
community by the address and title of 
Mother Ann. 

A few years after this extraordinary 
revelation, Mother Ann received a reve- 
lation from God to repair to America, 
where, as she prophesied, there would be 
a great increase and permanent establish- 
ment of the Church. Accordingly, as 
many as firmly believed her testimony, 
and could settle their temporal concerns 
and furnish necessaries for the voyage, 
concluded to follow her — They procured 
a passage at Liverpool, in the ship Maria, 
Captain Smith, and arrived at New York 
in 1774. Those who came with her, 
were her husband Abraham Stanley, 



* Wells. 



William Lee, James Whittaker, John 
Parlington, and Mary, his wife ; John 
Hocknel, James Shepard, and Ann Lee, 
a niece of hers. 

In 1776, they settled in the town of 
Watervliet, seven miles from Albany. 
Here they remained in retirement till the 
Spring of 1780. In the beginning of this 
year, the society consisted, in all, of but 
about ten or twelve persons, all of whom 
came from England. Early in the Spring 
of that year, the people in this country, 
having heard their testimony, began to 
gather to them ; and from this time there 
was a gradual and extensive increase in 
numbers, until the year 1787, when those 
who had received faith, and had been 
faithful from the beginning, and who were 
the most fully prepared, 'began to collect 
at New Lebanon. Here the church was 
established as a common centre of union, 
for all who belonged to the society, in va- 
rious parts of the country. This still 
remains as the Mother-Church, being the 
first that was established in gospel order. 
And all the societies in the various parts of 
the country which are established upon 
the same gospel foundation, and governed 
by the same spirit and principles, are 
branches of the one Church of Christ. 

During a period of five years, from 
1787, to 1792, regular societies were 
formed and established upon the same 
principles of order and church govern- 
ment, in the various parts of the Eastern 
States, where the testimony of the gospel 
had been received. The local situation 
of each society, and the present estimate 
of their numbers, may be stated as fol- 
lows : 

The first and largest society is at New 
Lebanon, situated about two and a half 
miles South of Lebanon Springs, in the 
county of Columbia, and State of New 
York, about twenty-five miles South-east 
from Albany, and contains at present 
between 5 and 600 persons, including 
old and young, male and female. 

There is also one at Watervliet, about 
seven miles North-west from the city of 
Albany, in the same State. This was 
established soon after the church at New 
Lebanon, and contains about 200 mem- 
bers. 

One at Hancock, in the county of 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



569 



Berkshire, and State of Massachusetts. 
This is situated about three miles South- 
east from New Lebanon, and five miles 
West from Pittsfield, and contains about 
300 members. One at Tyringham, about 
sixteen miles South from Hancock, in the 
same county, which contains about 100 
members. 

One at Enfield, county of Hartford, 
State of Connecticut, about five miles 
East of Connecticut river, and eighteen 
miles North-easterly from Hartford, and 
contains about 200 members. 

One at Harvard, in the county of 
Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, 
about thirty miles North-westerly from 
Boston, which contains about 200 mem- 
bers. 

One at Shirley, county of Middlesex, 
in the same State, about seven miles West 
from Harvard, which contains about 150 
members. 

One at Canterbury, county of Rock- 
ingham, in the State of New Hampshire, 
about twelve miles North by East from 
Concord, which contains upwards of 200 
members. 

One at Enfield, county of Grafton, in 
the same State, about twelve miles South- 
east from Dartmouth College, which con- 
tains upwards of 200 members. 

One at Alfred, county of York, about 
thirty miles South-westerly from Portland, 
in the State of Maine, which contains 
about 200 members. 

One at New-Gloucester, county of 
Cumberland, in the same State, about 
twenty-five miles North-west from Port- 
land, which contains about 150 members. 
These were all the societies formed prior 
to the year 1805. 

But the greatest and most remarkable 
increase has been in the Western States. 
About the beginning of the 19th century 
a most extraordinary revival of religion, 
commonly called The Kentucky Revival, 
commenced in the Western States. This 
work was swift and powerful, and exhib- 
ited such evident proofs of supernatural 
power, that it excited the attention of all 
classes of people, and for a season bore 
down all opposition. 

This remarkable work extended 
through several of the Western States, 
and continued, with increasing; light and 



power, about four years. During the 
latter part of the year 1 804, many of the 
subjects of this mighty work, were power- 
fully impressed with a oelief that another 
summer would not pass away without 
realizing a full display of that great sal- 
vation from sin, for which they had been 
so long and so earnestly praying, and 
which they had not yet attained by all 
the light and power of the revival. 

Accordingly, near the close of the last 
mentioned year, the church at New Leb- 
anon was impressed with a feeling to send 
messengers to visit the subjects of the 
revival in that country, and to open the 
testimony of salvation to them, provided 
they were in a situation to receive it. 
John Meacham, Benjamin S. Youngs and 
Issachar Bates, were selected for this im- 
portant mission. 

Without any previous acquaintance in 
the western country, or any correspond- 
ence with the inhabitants, these messen- 
gers set out on the first day of January, 
1805, on a pedestrial journey of more 
than a thousand miles. 

They arrived in Kentucky about the 
first of March, visited a number of places 
where the spirit of the revival had pre- 
vailed, saw and conversed with many who 
had been the subjects of it, and felt some 
freedom to declare their mission. They 
then passed over into the state of Ohio, 
and proceeded on to Turtle Creek, so called, 
near Lebanon, in the county of Warren, 
where they arrived on the 22d of March. 
They were providentially led to the house 
of a man of respectable character, and 
liberal education, who had been a leading 
character in the revival. Here they felt 
freedom to declare their mission and open 
their testimony in full, which was received 
with great joy. This man had before 
frequently testified, by the spirit, that the 
work of the latter day, which would usher 
in the kingdom of Christ, in that country, 
would commence in this place, and spread 
between the two Miamies. This place is 
situated between these two rivers, near 
Turtle creek ; and there the work did 
begin in reality, and he and his family 
were the first who embraced it. 

From thence it spread, and was cor- 
dially received by many of the subjects of 
the revival in that vicinity ; and in a 



72 



570 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



^hort time had an extensive circulation 
through that part of the state, and soon 
afterwards extended into Kentucky and 
Indiana, and was joyfully received by 
many, and violently opposed by many 
others. Indeed, the violence of opposition, 
in various places where the testimony was 
received, was often so great, that nothing 
short of Divine Power could have pro- 
tected the lives of these messengers, and 
rendered their testimony effectual. 

The testimony has mostly prevailed in 
the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, 
where societies have been established. 
There are at present, 1847, four societies 
in the state of Ohio : one at Union Village, 
in the county of Warren, about four miles 
west from Lebanon, and thirty north by 
east from Cincinnati. This is the oldest 
and largest society in the Western states, 
and contains perhaps 500 members. One 
at Water vliet, on Beaver Creek, in the 
county of Montgomery, about 22 miles 
north of Union Village, and six miles 
south-east from Dayton, which contains 
about 100 members. One at White Water, 
Hamilton county, 22 miles north-west of 
Cincinnati, containing about 150 members. 
One at North Union, about 8 miles north- 
east from Cleaveland, containing about 
200 members. One at Groveland, Liv- 
ingston county, New York, about 4 miles 
south of Mount Morris, containing about 
150 members. The three last named 
have been formed since the year 1824. 
There are also two in Kentucky, formed 
not long after that in Union Village. One 
at Pleasant Hill, in Mercer county, about 
seven miles easterly from Harodsburg, 
and 21 miles south-westerly from Lexing- 
ton, containing between 400 and 500 
members. The other is at South Union, 
Jesper Springs, Logan county, about 15 
miles north-easterly from Russellville, and 
contains between 300 and 400 members. 
One was formed at West Union, Knox 
county, Indiana, 16 miles above Vincen- 
ness, and contained about 200 members. 
But on account of the unhealthiness of the 
location, has been dissolved, and the mem- 
bers who resided there have removed to 
other branches of this community. There 
is, at present, a gradual increase of num- 
bers in the various branches of the com- 
munity, which are in a general state of 



prosperity, both temporally and spirit- 
ually. 

Mother Ann deceased at Watervliet, 
Sept. 8, 1784, and was succeeded in the 
leading authority of the society, by James 
Whittaker, who was received and ac- 
knowledged by the society as her true 
successor, and was known by the title of 
" Father James." Though after Mother 
Ann's decease, there was a number whose 
faith and confidence centred in her, and 
extended no further, who withdrew and 
left the society ; but there was no general 
apostacy, nor any great decrease of num- 
bers. The number of this community in 
Mother Ann's day, was far short of what 
it has been for many years since. Under 
the administration of Father James, the 
affairs of the society were ably conducted, 
and all faithful believers found much 
spiritual increase, and were fully prepared 
to be gathered into united communities, 
which soon after took place. 

Father James deceased at Enfield, in 
Connecticut, July 20th, 1787, and was 
succeeded in the administration of the So- 
ciety by Father Joseph Meacham, who 
was a native of Enfield, and had formerly 
been a Baptist Elder and preacher, and 
held in much estimation — 

Father Joseph was thence received and 
acknowledged as the true successor of 
Father James, and as the spiritual Father 
of the Society. Under his administration, 
together with others, as helps, both male 
and female, who formed the ministry, the 
people who had hitherto been scattered fa r 
and wide, were gathered into associations 
or communities, in which they since enjoy 
equal rights and privileges, in a unity of 
interest in all things, both spiritual and 
temporal, after the order of the primitive 
church. Wherever any branch of the 
Society finds a permanent location, this 
united interest is its ultimate order. 

Father Joseph deceased August 16th, 
1796. Since that period, according to his 
directions, given by divine authority, the 
administration and leading authority has 
been vested in a Ministry, and confirmed 
by the general approbation of the Society. 
This Ministry generally consists of four 
persons, two of each sex. 

Concerning their mode of worship. 
This subject is generally greatly misun- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



571 



derstood. The people of this Society do 
not believe that any external performance 
whatever, without the sincere devotion of 
the heart, with all the feelings of the soul, 
in devotion and praise to the Creator of 
all their powers and faculties, can be any 
acceptable worship to Him who looks at 
the heart. But in a united assembly, a 
unity of exercise in acts of devotion to 
God, is desirable ; for harmony is beauti- 
ful, and appears like the order of Heaven. 
The people of this society were at first led 
into the manner of external worship by 
repeated operations of supernatural power 
and divine light. These operations were 
various, according to the various move- 
ments of the Spirit ; but they find that 
they were fully supported by the Scrip- 
tures. It will be difficult to describe all 
the various modes of exercise given in the 
worship of God at different times ; because 
the operations of the Spirit are so various, 
that even the leaders are unable to tell 
beforehand, what manner will be given by 
the Spirit in the next meeting. Yet, in a 
] regular meeting, where nothing extraor- 
dinary appears, they sometimes exercise 
j in a regular dance*, while formed in straight 
i lines, and sometimes in a regular march 
! around the room, in harmony with regular 
songs sung on the occasion. Shouting 
: and clapping of hands, and many other 
operations are frequently given, all which 
have a tendency to keep the assembly 
alive, with their hearts and all their senses 
and feelings devoted to the service of God. 
Our benevolent Creator has given us 
hands and feet as well as tongues, which 
| we are able to exercise in our own service. 
And where a people are united in one 
spirit, we know of no reason why a unity 
of exercise in the service of God should 
not be attained, so as to give the devotion 
of every active power of soul and body as 
a free-will offering to the God of all good- 
ness, who has given us these faculties. 
When the Israelites were delivered from 
their Egyptian bondage, they praised God 
with songs and dances. (See Exod. chap, 
xv.) This was figurative of the deliver- 
ance of spiritual Israel from the bondage 
of sin. This dancing before the Lord was 
predicted by the ancient prophets. (See 
Jeremiah chap, xxxi.) See also the ac- 
count of David's dancing before the ark 



of the Lord. (See 2 Saml. vi. 14.) This 
is considered figurative of the spiritual ark 
of salvation, before which, according to 
the faith of God's true witnesses, thou- 
sands and millions will yet rejoice in the 
dance. See also the return of the prodi- 
gal son. (Luke xv. 25.) We notice 
these figurative representations and pro- 
phetic declarations as evidently pointing 
to a day of greater and more glorious light, 
which in those days was veiled in futurity, 
and if this is not the commencement of 
such a day, then where shall we look 
for it ? 

The remarkable supernatural and spirit- 
ual gifts showered down upon the Apos- 
tles and primitive Christians on the day 
of Pentecost and onward, have not only 
been renewed in this church and society, 
but extensively increased. See 1 Cor. 
chap, xii., " Diversities of gifts, but the 
same spirit." The gift of speaking in 
unknown tongues has been often and ex- 
tensively witnessed. The gift of melo- 
dious and heavenly songs has been very 
common. The gift of prophecy has been 
wonderful, by pouring forth a degree of 
light and understanding never before re- 
vealed to mortals. The gift of healing 
has been often witnessed, but not so com- 
mon as many other gifts. 

Touching their religious tenets : " they 
believe that the first light of salvaiion was 
given or made known to the Patriarchs by 
promise; and that they believed in the 
promise of Christ, and were obedient to 
the command of God made known unto 
them, were the people of God ; and were 
accepted by him as righteous, or perfect 
in their generation, according to the mea- 
sure of light and truth manifested unto 
them ; which were as waters to the an- 
kles ; signified by Ezekiel's vision of the 
holy waters, chap, xlvii. And although 
they could not receive regeneration, or the 
fulness of salvation, from the fleshy or 
fallen nature in this life ; because the ful- 
ness of time was not yet come, that they 
should receive the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost and fire, for the destruction of the 
body of sin, and purification of the souL 
But Abraham being called and chosen of 
God, as the father of the faithful, was re- 
ceived into covenant relation with God by 
promise ; that in him, and his seed, all the 



572 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



families of the earth should be blessed. 
And the earthly blessings, which were 
promised to Abraham, were a shadow of 
gospel or spiritual blessings to come. And 
circumcision, or outward cutting of the 
foreskin of the flesh, did not cleanse the 
man from sin, but was a sign of the spir- 
itual baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. 
Which is by the power of God manifested 
in divers operations and gifts of the spirit, 
as in the days of the apostles, which does 
indeed destroy the body of sin or fleshy 
nature, and purify the man from all sin, 
both soul and body. So that Abraham, 
though in the full faith of the promise, 
yet as he did not receive the substance of 
the thing promised, his hopes of eternal 
salvation was in Christ, by the gospel to 
be attained in the resurrection from the 
dead. 

"The second light of dispensation was 
the law that was given of God to Israel, 
by the hand of Moses ; which was a far- 
ther manifestation of that salvation, which 
was promised through Christ by the gos- 
pel, both in the order and ordinances 
which was instituted and given to Israel, 
as the church and people of God, accord- 
ing to that dispensation which was as iva- 
ters to the knees — Ezek. xlvii. 4, by which 
they were distinguished from all the fami- 
lies of the earth. For while they were 
j faithful and strictly obedient to all the 
commands, ordinances, and statutes that 
God gave ; approbated of God according 
to the promise for life, and blessing pro- 
mised unto them in the line of obedience ; 
cursing and death in disobedience. — 
Deut. xxviii. 2, 15. For God, who is 
ever jealous for the honor and glory of 
his own great name, always dealt with 
them according to his word. For while 
they were obedient to the commands of 
God, and purged out sin from among 
them, God was with them, according to 
his promise. But when they disobeyed 
the commands of God, and committed sin, 
and became like other people, the hand 
of the Lord was turned against them ; 
and those evils came upon them which 
God had threatened. So we see, that 
they that were wholly obedient to the will 
of God, made known in that dispensation 
were accepted as just or righteous. Yet 
as that dispensation was short, they did 



not attain that salvation which was pro- 
mised in the gospel ; so that, as it re- 
spected the new birth, or real purification 
of the man from all sin, the laiv made 
nothing perfect — Heb. vii. 19, but was a 
shadoio of good things to come — Cor. ii. 
17. Heb. x. 1. Their only hope of eter- 
nal redemption was in the promise of 
Christ by the gospel, to be attained in the 
resurrection from the dead. 

" The third light of dispensation was 
the gospel of Christ's first appearance in 
the flesh, which was as waters to the loins 
— Ezek. xlvii. 4, and that salvation which 
took place in consequence of his life, 
death ,* resurrection, and ascension to 
the right hand of the Father, being ac- 
cepted in his obedience, as the first born 
among many brethren — Rom. viii. 29, 
he received power and authority to admin- 
ister the power of the resurrection and 
eternal judgment to all the children of 
men. So that he has become the author 
of eternal salvation unto all that obey 
him — Heb. iv. 9. And as Christ had this 
power in himself, he did administer power 
and authority to his church at the day of 
Pentecost, as his body, with all the gifts 
that he had promised them ; which was 
the first gifts of the Holy Ghost, as an 
in-dwelling comforter, to abide with them 
forever ; and by which they were baptized 
into Chrisfs death ; death to all sin : and 
were in the hope of the resurrection from 
the dead, through the operation of the 
power of God, which wrought in them. 
And as they had received the substance 
of the promise of Christ's coming in the 
flesh, by the gift and power' of the Holy 
Ghost, they had power to preach the gos- 
pel, in Christ's name, to every creature ; 
and to administer the power of God to as 
many as believed, and were obedient to 
the gospel which they preached ; and to 
remit and retain sins in the power and au- 
thority of Christ on earth. So that they 
that believed in the gospel, and were obe- 



* It was, says a distinguished writer among 
them, that Christ should die, and visit the dark 
abodes of departed spirits, and return again 
amongst the living, that his triumphant victory 
over death and sin might be made known to 
all, his salvation proclaimed, and his govern- 
ment established as head over all things to the 
church. — Dunlavfs Manifesto, p. 78. — Editor. 



J 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



573 



dient to that form of doctrine which was 
taught them, by denying all ungodliness 
and worldly lust, and became entirely 
dead to the law, by the body of Christ, or 
power of the Holy Ghost, were in the tra- 
vail of the resurrection from the dead, or 
the redemption of the body — Rom. viii. 
28. So that they who took up a full cross 
against the world, flesh, and devil, and who 
forsook all for Christ's sake, and followed 
him in the regeneration, by persevering in 
that line of obedience to the end, found 
the resurrection from the dead, and eternal 
salvation in that dispensation.*' But as 
the nature of that dispensation was only 
as water to the loins, Ezek. 47, the mys- 
tery of God was not finished, but there 
was another day prophesied of, called the 
second appearance of Christ, or final and 
last display of God's grace to a lost world, 
in which the mystery of God should be fin- 
ished, Rev. x. 7, as he has spoken by his 
prophets, since the world began — Luke i. 
70 : which day could not come, except 
there was a falling away from that faith 
and power that the Church then stood in 
—2 Thess. ii. 3. 2 Tim. iv. 3. Dan. xi. 
36 to 38. See Dan. chap. xii. Jn which 
Anti-Christ was to have his reign, whom 
Christ should destroy with the spirit of his 
mouth, and brightness of his appearance 
— 2 Thess. ii. 8. Which falling away, 
began soon after the apostles, and gradu- 
ally increased in the Church, until about 
four hundred and fifty-seven years, (or 
thereabouts) ; at which time the power 
of the holy people, or church of Christ 
was scattered or lost, by reason of trans- 
gression, Dan. xii. 7. viii. 12.; and Anti- 
Christ, or false religion, got to be estab- 
lished. Since that time, the witnesses of 
Christ have prophesied in sackcloth, or 
under darkness — Rev. xi. 3. And al- 
though many have been faithful to testify 
against sin, even to the laying down of 
their lives for the testimony which they 
held, so that God accepted them in their 



* They maintain that the human body is not 
I the proper subject of the true resurrection ; 
! but that the true resurrection promised in 
j Christ, is the passing from the first Adam into 
| the second. That Resurrection, a term used 
I by sacred writers, is the same as Regeneration, 
j and is a progressive work. — Dunlavfs Mani- 
I fexto, p. 345, 356.— Editor. 



obedience, which they w T ere faithful and 
just to live, or walk up to the measure of 
light and truth of God, revealed or made 
known unto them. But as it is written, 
that all they that will live godly in Christ 
Jesus, shall suffer persecution ; and so it 
has been : and those faithful witnesses lost 
their lives by those falsely called the 
church of Christ, which is anti-Christ. 
For the true church of Christ never per- 
secuted any ; but were inoffensive, harm- 
less, separate from sin. For the true 
church of Christ, taking up their cross 
against the world, flesh, and devil, and all 
sin ; living in obedience to God, they earn- 
estly contend for the same. Therefore, 
it may be plainly seen and known where 
the true church is. But as it is written, 
anti-Christ, or false churches, should pre- 
vail against the saints, and overcome 
them, before Christ's second appearance — 
2 Thess. ii. 3, Let no man deceive you by 
any means, for that day shall not come, 
except there come a falling aivay first, 
and that man of sin be revealed, the son 
of perdition. And it was given unto him 
to overcome all kindreds, tongues, and 
nations — Rev. xiii. 7. And this is the 
state Christ prophesied the world of man- 
kind should be in, at his second appear- 
ance. See Luke xvii. 22, to end of the 
chap. And as it teas in the days of 
Noah, so shall it be in the days of the 
Son of man, ver. 30. Even so shall it 
be in the days when the Son of Man is 
revealed: Plainly referring to his second 
appearing, to consume and destroy anti- 
Christ, and make a final end of sin, 
and establish his kingdom upon earth — 
Isa, Ixv. 25. Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. Dan. ii. 
44, and vii. 18, 27, and ix. 24. Oba. 21. 
Rev. xi. 15, &c. But as the revelation 
of Christ is spiritual, consequently must 
be in his people, whom he had chosen to 
be his body, to give testimony of him, and 
to preach his gospel to a lost world. 

" The fourth light of dispensation is'the 
second appearance of Christ, or final and 
last display of God's grace to a lost world ; 
in which the mystery of God will be fin- 
ished, and a decisive work, to the final 
salvation or damnation of all the children 
of men : which according to the prophe- 
cies, rightly calculated and truly under- 
stood, began in the year of our Saviour, 



574 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



1 



1747,* (see Daniel and the Revelations) 
in the manner following : To a number, 
in the manifestation of great light, and 
mighty trembling, by the invisible power 
of God, and visions, revelations, miracles, 
and prophecies. Which has progressively 
increased with administrations of all those 
spiritual gifts that was administered to the 
apostles at the day of Pentecost : which is 
the comforter that has led us into all truth ; 
and which was promised to abide with the 
true church of Christ unto the end of the 
world. And by which we find baptism 
into Chrisfs death — Rom. vi. 4, death 
to all sin : become alive to God, by the 
power of Christ's resurrection, which 
worketh in us mightily. By which a dis- 
pensation of the gospel is committed unto 
us, and woe be unto us if we preach not 
the gospel of Christ ; for in sending so 
great a salvation and deliverance from the 
law of sin and death, in believing and 
obeying this gospel, which is the gospel 
of Christ ; in confessing and forsaking all 
sin, and denying ourselves, and bearing 
the cross of Christ against the world, flesh, 
and devil, we have found forgiveness of 
all our sins, and are made partakers of 
the grace of God, wherein we now stand. 
Which all others, in believing and obey- 
ing, have acceptance with God, and find 
salvation from their sins as well as we. 
God being no respecter of persons, but 
willing that all men should come to the 
knowledge of the truth and be saved." 

Various opinions are abroad in the 

world respecting " Mother Ann ;" but 

this society consider her as a vessel chosen 

of God to usher into the world the Divine 

Spirit of Christ, and thus to commence 

the dispensation of his second appearance : 

That this same Spirit, in divine elements 

of power and light, now dwells in his 

church, which is his visible body. And 

that this Christ, in the completed order of 

Father and Mother, can be found by every 

faithful soul, " without sin unto salvation," 

according to his promise to all who will 

pay the price which he sets, that is, to 

j give up all in order to win " the pearl of 

I great price." That this is the everlasting 

| gospel which will extend through the 

I world bv increasing decrees, until it esta- 



See Dunlavy's Manifesto, p. 405. — Editor. 



Wishes the kingdom of the saints of the 
Most High to stand forever. 

The society at New Lebanon, is the 
principal one, and has served as a pattern 
for all the branches of this community, 
which have been established in various 
parts of the United States. In every 
place where the faith and testimony of 
this society has been planted, the same 
order and principles of government have 
been gradually established and maintain- 
ed ; so that the society and its members 
are now generally known ; and form the 
striking peculiarities which distinguish 
them from all other Christians, no person 
needs be deceived by imposters. 

They believe that no institution, nor 
any system of government, could be esta- 
blished which would be more compatible 
with truth, justice, reason and all the civil 
and religious rights of man, than the in- 
stitution of this society. The following 
primary principles constitute the basis on 
which this institution is founded, with all 
its movements and operations. 

I. Faith and principles of the Society 
at New Lebanon, 

1. Abstinence from all carnal and sen- 
sual passions, and a strict life of virgin 
purity, agreeable to the example of the 
Lord Jesus, and the recommendation and 
example of the apostle Paul. 

2. Abstinence from all the party con- 
tentions and politics of the world. " My 
Kingdom is not of this world," said Jesus. 

3. Abstinence from wars and bloodshed. 
" Follow peace with all men," is a divine 
precept ; and hence also the necessity of 
abstaining from all acts of violence to- 
wards our fellow men, and from all the 
pursuits of pride and worldly ambition. 

4. Perfect justice and honesty in all our 
dealings with our fellow creatures. 

5. A faithful discharge of all just debts, 
and all legal and equitable claims of every 
nature, as soon and as effectually as pos- 
sible ; thus fulfilling the apostle's pre- 
cept, " Owe no man any thing but love 
and good will." 

6. Do good to all men, as far as oppor- 
tunity and ability may serve, by adminis- 
tering acts of charity and kindness, and 
promoting light and truth among mankind. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS 



-j! 
575 'I 



" Whatsoever ye would that men should 
do to you, do ye even so to them." 

7. Agreeable to the example of the first 
Christian church, let the object of our 
labors be directed to support and maintain 
a united and consecrated interest, as far 
and as soon as preparatory circumstances 
will admit. But this is to be done by the 
free will and voluntary choice of every 
member, as a sacred privilege, and not by 
any constraint or undue persuasion. 

The faith of the Society is firmly esta- 
blished in the foregoing principles, as the 
genuine basis of Christianity, emanating 
from Divine Light and Wisdom ; these 
principles are supported by reason, and 
by the precepts and example of Jesus 
Christ and the primitive christians ; and 
they form a system of morality and reli- 
gion adapted to the best interest and hap- 
piness of man, both here and hereafter. 

II. Manner of receiving members. 

1. Persons wishing to unite with this 
society must do it freely, according to their 
own faith and unbiased judgment. 

2. No one is permitted to unite without 
a full understanding of all its obligations. 

3. No considerations of property are 
made use of to induce any to join the so- 
ciety ; nor to prevent any from leaving. 

4. No believing husband or wife is al- 
lowed to separate from the unbelieving 
one, except by mutual consent ,• unless the 
conduct of the unbeliever is such as to 
justify a separation by the laws of God 
and man. Nor can any husband or wife, 
who has abandoned his or her partner, 
except as above stated, be received into 
communion with the society. 

5. Every person wishing to become a 
member of this society, must rectify all 
his wrongs, and, as fast and as far as it is 
in his power, discharge all just and legal 
claims, whether of creditors or filial heirs. 
Nor can any person who does not conform 
to this principle, if a member of the insti- 
tution, remain such. But the society is 
not responsible for the debts of any indi- 
vidual, except by agreement ; because such 
responsibility would involve a principle 
ruinous to the institution. 

6. It is an established principle, that no 
difference is to be made in the distribution 



of parental estate among the heirs, whether 
they belong to the society or not ; but an 
equal dividend must be made, as far as is 
practical and consistent with reason and 
justice. 

7. If an unbelieving wife separate from 
the believing husband by agreement, the 
husband must give her a just and reason- 
able portion of his property, (if he have 
any ;) and if they have children who have 
arrived to years of understanding, suffi- 
cient to judge for themselves, and who 
choose to go with their mother, he must 
not disinherit them on that account. 
Though the character of this institution 
has been much slandered on this ground ; 
yet we boldly assert that the principle 
above stated has never been violated by 
this Society. 

8. Idleness is incompatible with the 
principles of this Society. No member 
who is able to labor, can be permitted to 
live upon the labors of others. All are 
required to be employed in some manual 
occupation, when not engaged in other ne- 
cessary duties. Industry, temperance and 
frugality are prominent features in this 
institution. 

III. Manner of government. 

The leading authority of the Society is 
vested in a Ministry, generally consisting 
of four persons, including both sexes. 
These, together with the Elders and Trus- 
tees, being supported by the general ap- 
probation of those concerned, constitute 
the general government of the Society, in 
all its branches, and are invested with 
power to counsel, advise and direct in all 
matters of a spiritual or temporal nature, 
pertaining to their respective departments. 
The Ministry, together with the Elders, 
for the time being, are vested with power 
to appoint their successors, and other sub- 
ordinate officers, as occasion may require ; 
to superintend the concerns of different 
families or departments of the community, 
to give and establish all needful orders, 
rules and regulations, for the direction and 
government of the different branches of 
the Society. But no rule can be made, 
nor any person assume a lead, contrary 
to the primitive faith, and the known and 
established principles of the Society. And 



576 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



! 



nothing which respects the government, 
order and general arrangement of the So- 
ciety, is considered as fully established, 
until it has received the general approba- 
tion of the Society, or of that branch 
thereof which it more immediately con- 
cerns. 

No creed can be framed to bind the 
progress of "improvement in this institu- 
tion. This would be incompatible with 
the true spirit of Christianity : for it is the 
faith of the Society, that the operations of 
divine light and wisdom are unlimited, and 
will forever continue to diffuse their benign 
and salutary influence, in extending divine 
knowledge and instruction, and bringing 
to perfection, in man, those principles 
which, in their Divine Source, are bound- 
less as eternity. 

No corporal punishment is approved of, 
nor any external force allowed to be ex- 
ercised over any rational person who has 
come to years of understanding. Com- 
pulsory power and personal coercion, are 
not considered compatible with the laws 
of Christ, over rational and intelligent 
beings, whose reason and understanding, 
if properly guided, are sufficient to direct 
their steps in the path of duty, without the 
aid of blind force and coercive power. The 
want of mental energy, in such persons, 
is rarely supplied by corporal force. 

The management of temporal affairs, 
in families holding a united interest, so far 
as respects the consecrated property of the 
Society, is committed, for the time being, 
to Trustees. These are appointed by the 
Ministry and Elders ; and being supported 
as aforesaid, are legally invested with the 
fee of the real estate belonging to the So- 
ciety. All the consecrated property comes 
under their general charge, together with 
the oversight of all public business, and 
all commercial dealings with those without 
the bounds of the community. But all the 
transactions of the Trustees, in the use, 
management and disposal of this united 
interest, must be done in behalf, and for 
the joint benefit of the Society, including 
all the associated members, in their re- 
spective departments, and not for any per- 
sonal or private use or purpose whatever. 
And in all these things, they are strictly 
responsible to the leading authority of the 
Society for the faithful performance of 



their duty. It is also an established prin- 
ciple, that no Trustee, nor any member 
whatever, shall contract debts, of any 
kind, in behalf of the Society. 

IV. Order and Arrangement of the , 
Society. 

Any person, rich or poor, who shall re- 
ceive faith in the testimony and principles 
of the Society, and voluntarily desire to 
become a member, after giving sufficient 
evidence of his or her sincerity, may be 
admitted on trial, by conforming to the 
established principles of the institution. 

The Society assumes no control over 
persons, property or children ; nor will it ac- 
cept any such control, unless by the request 
and free choice of the parties concerned. 

This community is divided into several 
different branches, generally called fami- 
lies. This division is generally made for 
convenience, and is often rendered neces- 
sary on account of local situation and 
other concurrent circumstances, which 
usually attend the arrangement of Believers 
into the order of families. But the proper 
division and arrangement of the Society, 
without respect to local situation, is into 
three classes or degrees of order, as fol- 
lows : 

1 . Those who unite with the Society in 
religious faith and principle ; but do not 
come into any temporal connexion with it. 
These live with their own families, if they 
have any, or provide places for themselves 
wherever it is most convenient. In such 
cases, husbands and wives take care of 
each other, and bring up their children, 
(if they have any,) hold their own interest, 
improve, use and dispose of their own 
property, and manage their affairs accord- 
ing to their own discretion. They may 
continue in this situation as long as they 
find it beneficial, as to their temporal cir- 
cumstances and spiritual improvement. 
But they are required to bear in mind the 
necessity and importance of a spiritual 
increase, without which they are ever ex- 
posed to fall back into the course of the 
world ; and they can maintain their union 
and connexion with the Society, so long 
as they conform to its religious faith and 
principles. 

Such persons are admitted to all the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



577 



privileges of religious worship and spiritual 
communion, common to Believers, and 
receive instruction and counsel from their 
leaders, according to their needs and cir- 
cumstances, whenever they feel it neces- 
sary to apply for it ; nor are they debarred 
from any privilege of which their choice 
and local situation and circumstances will 
admit. But being religious members of 
the community, they are necessarily sub- 
ject to the spiritual direction of their 
leaders. If at any time they desire to 
make a donation to any religious or char- 
itable purpose of the Society, they are at 
liberty to do so ; provided they are clear 
of debt, and their temporal abilities admit 
of it ; but after having freely made the 
donation, they can have no more right to 
reclaim it, than the members of other re- 
ligious societies have to reclaim the like 
donations. 

Believers of this class are not controlled 
by the Society, as to their property, chil- 
dren or families ; but act as freely, in all 
these respects, as the members of any 
other religious Society, and still enjoy all 
their spiritual privileges, and maintain 
their union with the Society ; provided 
they do not violate the faith and the moral 
and religious principles of the institution. 

No children are ever taken under the 
immediate charge of the Society, except 
by the request or free consent of those 
who have the lawful right and control of 
them, together with the child's own con- 
sent. No parents who join the Society 
are required to give up their children ; nor 
are they always accepted when offered. 
Very few children are received into the 
Society in proportion to the applications 
made. 

Children taken into the Society are 
treated with care and tenderness. The 
government exercised over them is mild, 
gentle and beneficent, usually exciting in 
them feelings of affection, confidence and 
respect towards their instructors, not often 
found among other children, and which 
generally produces a willing obedience to 
what is required of them. The practical 
exercise of mildness and gentleness of 
manners, is early and sedulously cultivated 
among them. Churlishness, moroseness 
of temper, harshness of language, rough, 
unfeeling behavior, unkind, uncivil de- 



portment, and all mischievous and wicked 
propensities, are cautiously watched and 
reproved ; great pains are taken to lead 
them into the practical exercise of truth, 
honesty, kindness, benevolence, humanity 
and every moral virtue. The duties of 
obedience to their instructors, respect to 
their superiors, reverence to the aged, and 
kindness and civility to all, are strictly 
enjoined upon them. 

A good common school education is 
carefully provided for them, in which they 
generally excel children of their own age, 
in the common schools of the country. 
Where traits of genius are discovered, their 
privilege of instruction is proportionately 
extended. They are early led into the 
knowledge of the sacred scriptures, in- ' 
structed in their history, and practically 
taught the divine precepts contained in 
them, and particularly those of Jesus 
Christ and the Apostles. They are always 
brought up to some manuel occupation, by 
which they may be enabled to obtain a 
livelihood, whether they remain with the 
Society or not. 

2. The second class, or degree of or- 
der, is composed of those persons who, 
not having the charge of families, and 
under no embarrassments to hinder them 
from becoming members of a family, in a 
united capacity, choose to enjoy the bene- 
fits of such a situation. These enter into 
a contract to devote their services, freely, 
to support the interest of the family of 
which they are members, so long as they 
continue in that order ; stipulating at the 
same time, to claim no pecuniary com- 
pensation for their services. But all the 
members of such families are mutually 
benefited by the united interest and labors 
of the whole family, so long as they con- 
tinue to support the order and institution 
thereof; and they are amply provided for 
in health, sickness and old age. These ', 
benefits are secured to them by contract. 

Members of this class or order, have 
the privilege, at their option, by contract, 
to give the improvement of any part or 
all their property, freely to be used for 
the mutual benefit of the family to which 
they belong. The property itself may be 
reclaimed at any time, according to the 
contract ; but no interest can be claimed 
for the use thereof; nor can any member 



73 



578 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. 



of such family be employed therein for 
wages of any kind. Members of this 
order may hold all their own property, so 
long as they find it beneficial, and choose 
so to do ; but at any time, after having 
sufficiently proved the faith and principles 
of the institution, to be able to act delibe- 
rately and understandingly, they may, if 
they choose, dedicate and devote a part, 
or the whole, and consecrate it forever, to 
the support of the institution. But this is 
a matter of free choice; the Society urges 
no one so to do, and they are always ad- 
vised, in such cases, to consider the mat- 
ter well, so as not to do it until they have 
a full understanding of its consequences ; 
lest they should do it prematurely, and 
afterwards repent of it. Because when it 
is once done, there can be no just nor legal 
retraction. There have been many in- 
stances in which persons who have offered 
such dedication, have been put off or re- 
fused ; because it was believed that they 
were not duly prepared to make such con- 
secration, with sufficient discretion and 
understanding. 

3. The third class or degree of order 
is composed of such persons as have had 
sufficient time and opportunity, practically 
to prove the faith and principles of the 



institution, and are thus prepared to enter 
fully and voluntarily, into a united and 
consecrated interest. These enter into a 
contract, and covenant to dedicate and de- 
vote themselves and services, with all they 
possess, to the service of God and the 
support of the institution forever, stipu- 
lating therein never to bring debt, nor 
damage, claim nor demand, against the 
Society, nor against any member thereof, 
for any property or service which they 
have thus devoted to the uses and purposes 
of the institution. No one is admitted into 
this order, until he oiv she has had suffi- 
cient experience, in the foregoing degrees, 
to prove the faith and principles of the 
Society, so as to be able to act with a full 
understanding of the sacrifices and effects 
of such dedication. No particular length 
of time is specified for such a preparatory 
experience ; but it generally requires some 
years. 

N. B. — Those who wish further infor- 
mation concerning this society, are re- 
ferred to a 12mo. vol. entitled, ' The Tes- 
timony of Christ's Second Appearing;' 
also to * Dunlavy's Manifesto,' and to a 
small 12mo. vol. entitled, « A Summary 
view of the Millennial Church.' 




DR. WM, E. CHANNING. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



579 ' 



HISTORY 



THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS, 



BY THE REV. ALVAN LAMSON, 

DEDHAM, MASS. 



ANALYSIS OF THE ENSUING ARTICLE. 

1. Doctrines of Unitarians. — Great distinguishing features of Unitarianism — Diversity of 
opinion among Unitarians — Views generally received among them — Character of God — Gos- 
pel of Jesus originated in his mercy — Unitarian views of his justice — Jesus Christ — Unita- 
rians believe him to be a distinct being from the Father, and inferior to him — The sort of 
evidence on which they rely for proving this — Assert the incredibility of the Trinity — Their 
view of the teachings of the scripture relating to the Son — The inference they make from the 
conduct of the disciples and others — Their views of Trinitarian proof texts — Of the conces- 
sions of Trinitarian Christians — Unitarians do not address Christ directly in prayer — Reasons 
for not doing it — Question of his nature — How regarded by Unitarians — His character and 
offices — True ground of reverence for Jesus, according to Unitarians — Unitarian views of the 
divinity of Christ — Their views of the Atonement — They do not, they contend, destroy the 
hope of the sinner, nor rob the Cross of its power — Unitarian views of the Holy Spirit — Of the 
terms of salvation — Of the new birth — How Unitarians speak of reverence for human nature — 
Need of help — Retribution for sin and holiness — Of the Bible — their reply to the charge of 
unduly exalting human reason. 

2. History. — Unitarians do not profess to hold any new doctrine — What they affirm, that they 
are able to prove of the Unitarianism of the ancient Church — Reference to modern Unita- 
rianism in Europe — American Unitarianism — Its date — Its progress, to the commencement of 
the present century — Its state during the first fifteen years of this century — 1815 an epoch in 
its history — First controversy — Its origin and results — Second controversy — First separation 
between orthodox and Unitarian Congregationalists. 

3. Statistics. — Number of societies and churches — Other Unitarians besides Congregation- 
alists — Unitarian Periodicals — American Unitarian Association — Present condition and pros- 
pects of Unitarianism. 



The brevity we must study in this arti- 
cle will not allow us to give any thing 
more than a very meagre sketch of the 
I] views held by Unitarian Congregational- 
II ists of the United States, and add a few 
facts concerning the history and recep- 
tion of these views, and the general sta- 
tistics of the denomination. 



DOCTRINES. 

Unitarianism takes its name from its 
distinguishing tenet, the strict personal 



unity of God, which Unitarians hold in 
opposition to the doctrine which teaches 
that God exists in three persons. Unita- 
rians maintain that God is one mind, one 
person, one undivided being ; that, the 
Father alone is entitled to be called 
God in the highest sense ; that he alone 
possesses the attributes of infinite, unde- 
rived divinity, and is the only proper ob- 
ject of supreme worship and love. They 
believe that Jesus Christ is a distinct 
being from him, and possesses only de- 
rived attributes; that he is not the su- 



580 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



preme God himself, but his Son, and the 
mediator through whom he has chosen to 
impart the richest blessings of his love to 
a sinning world. 

This must be called the great leading 
doctrine, the distinguishing, and, properly 
speaking, the only distinguishing feature 
of Unilarianism. Unitarians hold the 
supremacy of the Father, and the inferior 
and derived nature of the Son. This is 
their sole discriminating article of faith. 

On several other points they differ 
among themselves. Professing little rev- 
erence for human creeds, having no com- 
mon standard but the Bible, and allowing, 
in the fullest extent, freedom of thought 
and the liberty of every Christian to inter- 
pret the records of divine revelation for 
himself, they look for diversity of opinion 
as the necessary result. They see not, 
they say, how this is to be avoided with- 
out a violation of the grand Protestant 
principle of individual faith and liberty. 
They claim to be thorough and consist- 
ent Protestants. 

There are certain general views, how- 
ever, in which they are mostly agreed, 
as flowing from the great discriminating 
article of faith above mentioned, or inti- 
mately connected with it, or which they 
feel compelled to adopt on a diligent ex- 
amination of the sacred volume. Of the 
more important of these views, as they 
are commonly received by Unitarian Con- 
gregationalists of the United States, some 
account may be here expected. To do 
full justice to the subject, however, would 
require far more space than it would be 
proper for this article to occupy. 

We begin with the character of God. 
Unitarians, as we said, hold to his strict 
personal unity ; fhey are accustomed, too, 
to dwell with peculiar emphasis on his 
moral perfections, and especially his pa- 
ternal love and mercy. They believe 
that he yearns, with a father's tenderness 
and pity, towards the whole offspring of 
Adam. They believe that he earnestly 
desires their repentance and holiness; 
that his infinite, overflowing love, led him, 
miraculously, to raise up and send Jesus 
to be their spiritual deliverer, to purify 
their souls from sin, to restore them to 
communion with himself, and fit them for 
pardon and everlasting life in his pres- 



ence ; in a word, to reconcile man to 
God, and earth to heaven. 

They believe that the gospel of Jesus 
originated in the exhaustless and unbought 
love of the Father ; that it is intended to 
operate on man, and not on God ; that 
the only obstacle which exists, or which 
ever has existed on the part of God, to 
the forgiveness of the sinner, is found in 
the heart of the sinner himself; that the 
life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus, 
become an instrument of pardon, as they 
are the appointed means of turning man 
from sin to holiness, of breathing into his 
soul new moral and spiritual life, and ele- 
vating it to a union with the Father. They 
believe that the cross of Christ was not 
needed to render God merciful ; that Jesus 
suffered, not as a victim of God's wrath, 
or to satisfy his justice ; they think that 
this view obscures the glory of the divine 
character, is repugnant to God's equity, 
veils his loveliest attributes, and is injuri- 
ous to a spirit of filial trusting piety. Thus 
all in their view, is to be referred prima- 
rily to the boundless and unpurchased love 
of the Father, whose wisdom chose this 
method of bringing man within reach of 
his pardoning mercy, by redeeming him 
from the power of sin, and establishing in 
his heart his kingdom of righteousness 
and peace. 

We now proceed to speak of Jesus 
Christ. As before said, Unitarians be- 
lieve him to be a distinct being from God 
and subordinate to him. The following 
may serve as a specimen of the process of 
thought, views, and impressions through 
which they arrive at this conclusion. We 
beg leave to state them, not for the pur- 
pose of argument, for we have no wish 
here to enter into any defence of Unita- 
rian sentiments, but simply that our views 
may be understood, and the more espe- 
cially, as we have reason to believe that 
they are often misapprehended. No more 
of argument will be introduced, and no 
more of the history of ancient and foreign 
Unitarianism, than appears necessary to 
put the reader in complete possession of 
the sentiments and position of the sect as 
it exists in this country. 

Unitarians do not rely exclusively, or 
chiefly, on what they conceive to be the 
intrinsic incredibility of the doctrine to 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATION ALISTS. 



581 



which they stand opposed. They take 
the Bible in their hands, as they say, and 
sitting down to read it, as plain unlettered 
Christians, and with prayer for divine 
illumination, they find that the general 
tenor of its language either distinctly as- 
serts or necessarily implies the supremacy 
of the Father, and teaches the inferior and 
derived nature of the Son. In proof of 
this, they appeal to such passages as the 
following : " This is life eternal, that they 
might know thee, the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John 
xvii. 3.) " For there is one God and one 
Mediator between God and man, the man 
Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. ii. 5.) « My Fa- 
ther is greater than I." (John xiv. 28.) 
" My doctrine is not mine, but his that 
sent me." (Ibid. vii. 16.) "I speak not 
of myself." (Ibid. xiv. 10.) "I can of 
my own self do nothing." (Ibid. v. 30.) 
" The Father that dwelleth in me he doeth 
the works." (Ibid. xiv. 10.) " God hath 
made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, 
both Lord and Christ." (Acts ii. 36.) 
" Him hath God exalted with his right 
hand to be a Prince and a Saviour." 
(Ibid. v. 31.) 

They appeal to such passages, and 
generally to all those in which Jesus Christ 
is called, not God himself, but the Son of 
God ; in which he is spoken of as sent, 
and the Father as sending, appointing him 
a kingdom, " giving" him authority, giv- 
ing him to be head over all things to the 
Church. Such passages, they contend, 
show derived power and authority. Again, 
when the Son is represented as praying to 
the Father, and the Father as hearing and 
granting his prayer, how, ask they, can 
the plain serious reader, resist the convic- 
tion, that he who prays is a different being 
from him to whom he prays ? Does a 
being pray to himself? 

Unitarians urge, that passages like those 
above referred to, occurringpromiscuously, 
are fair specimens of the language in which 
Jesus is spoken of in the New Testament ; 
that such is the common language of the 
Bible, and that it is wholly irreconcilable 
with the idea that Jesus was regarded by 
those with whom he lived and conversed, 
as the infinite and supreme God, or that 
the Bible was meant to teach any such 
doctrine. They do not find, they say, 



that the deportment of the disciples and 
the multitudes towards Jesus, the questions 
they asked him, and the character of their 
intercourse with him, indicated any such 
belief on their part, or any supposition 
that he was the infinite Jehovah. We 
meet, say they, with no marks of that 
surprise and astonishment which they must 
have expressed on being first made ac- 
quainted with the doctrine, — on being told 
that he who stood before them, who ate 
and drank with them, who slept and 
waked, who was capable of fatigue and 
sensible to pain, was in truth, the Infinite 
and Immutable One, the Preserver and 
Governor of nature. 

They contend that the passages gene 
rally adduced to prove the supreme deity 
of Jesus Christ, fail of their object ; that 
without violence they will receive a dif- 
ferent construction ; that such construc- 
tion is often absolutely required by the 
language itself, or the connexion in which 
it stands ; that most of those passages, if 
carefully examined, far from disproving, 
clearly show the distinct nature and infe- 
riority of the Son. They notice the fact 
as a remarkable one, that of all the proof 
texts, as they are called, of the Trinity, 
there is not one on which, at one time or 
another, eminent Trinitarian critics have 
not put a Unitarian construction, and thus 
they agree that Unitarianism may be 
proved from the concessions of Trinita- 
rians themselves. 

To the doctrine of three persons in one 
God, Unitarians object again, its intrinsic 
incredibility. They say, that they can- 
not receive the doctrine, because in assert- 
ing that there are three persons in the 
Divinity, it teaches, according to any con- 
ception they can form of the subject, that 
there are three beings, three minds, three 
conscious agents, and thus it makes three 
Gods, and to assert that these three are 
one, is a contradiction. 

So too with regard to the Saviour, — to 
affirm that the same being is both finite 
and infinite, man and God, they say ap- 
pears to them to be a contradiction and an 
absurdity. If Jesus Christ possessed two 
natures, two wills, two minds, a finite and 
an infinite, they maintain that he must be 
two persons, two beings. 

Unitarians of the present day, as far as 



582 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



we know, do not think it lawful directly 
to address Christ in prayer. 

They think that his own example, the 
direction he gave to his disciples — " When 
ye pray, say, Our Father," — and such ex- 
pressions as the following, " In that day," 
that is, when I am withdrawn from you 
into heaven, " ye shall ask me nothing ; 
verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever 
ye shall ask the Father in my name he 
will give it you," not only authorize, but 
absolutely require prayer to be addressed 
directly to the Father. To prove that the 
ancient Christians were accustomed thus 
to address their prayers, they allege the 
authority of Origen, who lived in the 
former part of the third century, and was 
eminent for piety and talents, and in learn- 
ing surpassed all the Christians of his day. 
" If we understand what prayer is," says 
Origen, " it will appear that it is never to 
be offered to any originated being, not to 
Christ himself, but only to the God and 
Father of all ; to whom our Saviour him- 
self prayed and taught us to pray." 

In regard to the metaphysical nature 
and rank of the Son, and the time at which 
his existence commenced, Unitarians un- 
doubtedly differ in opinion. Some hold 
his pre-existence, and others suppose that 
his existence commenced at the time of his 
entrance into the world. 

The question of his nature they do not 
consider as important. Some take this 
view. They think that the testimony of 
the apostles, the original witnesses to whom 
we are indebted for our knowledge of him, 
bears only on his birth, miracles, teach- 
ings, life, death, resurrection and ascen- 
sion, that is, on his character and offices, 
and that beyond these we need not go ; 
that these are all which it is important 
that we should know or believe ; that the 
rest is speculation, hypothesis, with which, 
as practical Christians, we have no con- 
cern ; that our comfort, our hope, our 
security of pardon and eternal life depend 
not upon our knowledge or belief in it. 

At the same time all entertain exalted 
views of his character and offices. In a 
reverence for these they profess to yield 
to no class of Christians. The divinity 
which others ascribe to his person, they 
think may with more propriety be referred 
to these. " We believe firmly," says one 



of the most eminent writers in the sect, 
" in the divinity of Christ's mission and 
office, that he spoke with divine authority, 
and was a bright image of the divine per- 
fections. 

" We believe that God dwelt in him, 
manifested himself through him, taught 
men by him, and communicated to him his 
Spirit without measure. 

" We believe that Jesus Christ was the 
most glorious display, expression, and 
representative of God to mankind, so that 
through seeing and knowing him, we see 
and know the invisible Father ; so that 
when Christ came, God visited the world 
and dwelt with men more conspicuously 
than at any former period. In Christ's 
words we hear God speaking ; in his mi- 
racles we behold God acting ; in his cha- 
racter and life, we see an unsullied image 
of God's purity and love. We believe, 
then, in the divinity of Christ, as this term 
is often and properly used." 

Unitarians do not think that they de- 
tract from the true glory of the Son. They 
regard him as one with God in affection, 
will, and purpose. This union, they think, 
is explained by the words of the Saviour 
himself: " Be ye also one," says he to his 
disciples, " even as I and my Father are 
one ;" one not in nature, but in purpose, 
affection and act. Through him Chris- 
tians are brought near to the Father, and 
their hearts are penetrated with divine 
love. By union with him as the true vine, 
they are nurtured in the spiritual life. In 
his teachings they find revelations of holy 
truth. They ascribe peculiar power and 
significance to his cross. To that emblem 
of self-sacrificing love, they teem with 
emotions which language is too poor to 
express. 

The cross is connected in the minds of 
Christians with the atonement. On this 
subject Unitarians feel constrained to differ 
from many of their fellow Christians. 
Unitarians do not reject the atonement in 
what they believe to be the scriptural mean- 
ing of the term. While they gratefully 
acknowledge the mediation of Christ, and 
believe that through the channel of his | 
gospel are conveyed to them the most I 
precious blessings of a Father's mercy, I 
they object strongly to the views frequently 
expressed, of the connection of the death i 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



583 



of Christ with the forgiveness of sin. 
They do not believe that the sufferings of 
Christ were penal — designed to satisfy a 
principle of stern justice ; for justice, say 
they, does not inflict suffering on the inno- 
cent in order to pardon the guilty ; and 
besides, they believe that God's justice is 
in perfect harmony with his mercy ; that 
to separate them, even in thought, is 
greatly to dishonor him. They believe 
that however the cross stands connected 
with the forgiveness of sin, that connexion, 
as before said, is to be explained by the 
effects wrought on man and not on God. 

They believe that in thus teaching they 
do not rob the cross of its power, nor take 
away from the sinner ground of hope. To 
the objection that sin requires an infinite 
atonement, and that none but an infinite 
being can make that atonement, they re- 
ply by saying, that they find in their Bibles 
not one word of this infinite atonement, 
and besides, that no act of a finite being, 
a frail, sinning child of dust, can possess 
a character of infinity, or merit an infinite 
punishment ; that it is an abuse of lan- 
guage so to speak ; and further, that if an 
infinite sufferer were necessary to make 
due atonement for sin, no such atonement 
could ever be made, for infinite cannot 
suffer ; that God is unchangeable, and it 
is both absurd and impious to ascribe suf- 
fering to him ; God cannot die ; and ad- 
mitting' Jesus to have been God as well 
as man, only his human nature suffered ; 
that there was no infinite sufferer in the 
case ; that thus the theory of the infinite 
atonement proves a fallacy, and the whole 
fabric falls to the ground. Still is not the 
sinner left without hope, because he leans 
on the original and unchanging love and 
compassion of the Father, to whom as the 
prime fountain we trace back all gospel 
means and influences, and who is ever 
ready to pardon those, who through Christ 
and his cross are brought to repentance 
for sin and holiness of heart and life. 

Further, the Unitarians reply, that what- 
ever mysterious offices the cross of Christ 
may be supposed to possess, beyond its 
natural power to affect the heart, it must 
owe that efficacy wholly to the divine ap- 
pointment, and thus the nature and rank 
of the instrument becomes of no impor- 
tance, since the omnipotence of God can 



endow the weakest instrument with power 
to produce any effect he designs to accom- 
plish by it. 

They quote Bishop Watson, a Trinita- 
rian writer, as saying that " all depends [ 
on the appointment of God ;" that it will 
not do for us to question the propriety of 
any " means his goodness has appointed, 
merely because we cannot see how it is 
fitted to attain the end ;" that neither the 
Arian nor the Humanitarian hypothesis 
necessarily precludes " atonement by the 
death of Jesus." (Charge delivered in 
1795.) 

By the Holy Spirit, Unitarians suppose 
is meant not a person, but an influence ; 
and hence it is spoken of as " poured out," 
" given," and we read of the " anointing" 
with the Holy Spirit, phrases, which they 
contend, preclude the idea of a person. It 
was given miraculously to the first disci- 
ples, and gently as the gathering dews of 
evening distils upon the heart of the fol- 
lowers of Jesus in all ages, helping their 
infirmity, ministering to their renewal, 
and ever strengthening and comforting 
them. It is given in answer to prayer, as 
Christ said : " If ye then, being evil, know 
how to give good gifts unto your children ; 
how much more shall your heavenly Fa- 
ther give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
him?" (Lukexi. 13.) 

Unitarians believe that salvation through 
the gospel is offered to all, on such terms 
as all, by God's help, which he will never 
withhold from any who earnestly strive to 
know and do his will, and lead a pure, 
humble, and benevolent life, have power 
to accept. 

They reject the doctrine of native total 
depravity ; but they assert that man is 
born weak, and in possession of appetites 
and propensities, by the abuse of which all 
become actual sinners ; and they believe 
in the necessity of what is figuratively ex- 
pressed by the " new birth," that is, the 
becoming spiritual and holy, being led by 
that spirit of truth and love which Jesus 
came to introduce into the souls of his fol- 
lowers. This change is significantly called 
the coming of the kingdom in the heart, 
without which, as they teach, the pardon 
of sin, were it possible, would confer no 
happiness, and the songs of Paradise 
1 would fall with harsh dissonance on the ear. 



584 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



Unitarians sometimes speak of rever- 
ence for human nature — of reverence for 
the soul. They reverence it as God's 
work, formed for undying growth and im- 
provement. They believe that it possesses 
powers capable of receiving the highest 
truths. They believe that God, in various 
ways, makes revelations of truth and duty 
to the human soul ; that in various ways 
he quickens it ; kindles in it holy thoughts 
and aspirations, and inspires it by his life- 
giving presence. They believe that how- 
ever darkened and degraded, it is capable 
of being regenerated, renewed, by the 
means and influences which he provides. 
They believe that it is not so darkened by 
the fall but that some good, some power, 
some capacity of spiritual life, is left in it. 
But they acknowledge that it has need of 
help ; that it has need to be breathed upon 
by the divine Spirit. They believe that 
there is nothing in their peculiar mode of 
viewing Christianity which encourages 
proscription ; encourages pride and self- 
exaltation. They believe that the heart 
which knows itself will be ever humble. 
They believe that they must perpetually 
look to God for help. They teach the 
necessity of prayer, and a diligent use of 
the means of devout culture ; they do not 
thus teach reverence for human nature in 
any such sense, they think, as would 
countenance the idea that man is sufficient 
to save himself without God : they pray 
to him for illumination, pray that he will 
more and more communicate of himself 
to their souls. They teach the blighting 
consequences of sin. They believe that 
in the universe which God has formed, 
this is the only essential and lasting evil ,* 
and that to rescue the human soul from 
its power, to win it back to the love of 
God, of truth and right, and to obedience, 
to a principle of enlarged benevolence 
which embraces every fellow-being as a 
brother, is the noblest work which reli- 
gion can achieve, and worth all the blood 
and tears which were poured out by Jesus 
in his days of humiliation. 

While they earnestly inculcate the ne- 
cessity of a holy heart and a pure and 
benevolent life, they deny that man is to 
be saved by his own merit, or works, ex- 
cept as a condition to which the mercy of 
God has been pleased to annex the gift of 



everlasting life and felicity. Unitarian 
Congregationalists believe firmly in a fu- 
ture retribution for sin and holiness. 

There is nothing peculiar in the senti- 
ments which, as a body, they entertain of 
the Bible. They regard the sacred books 
of it as containing words of a divine reve- 
lation miraculously made to the world. 
They receive it as their standard, their 
rule of faith and life, interpreting it as 
they think consistency and the principles 
of sound and approved criticism demand. 
They make use of the common, or King 
James' version, as it is called, but, like all 
well-informed Christians, they think that 
a reverence for truth and a desire to ascer- 
tain the will of God, justify and require 
them, wherever there is any doubt about 
the meaning, to appeal to the original, or 
to compare other versions. In doing this, 
they say, that they do not fear that they 
shall be condemned by any intelligent 
Christian. 

In proof of their reverence for the 
Bible, they appeal to the circumstance that 
several of the ablest defenders of Chris- 
tianity against the attacks of infidels, have 
been Unitarians, a fact, say they, which 
they are confident no one acquainted with 
the theological literature of modern ages 
will call in question. 

To the charge that they unduly exalt 
human reason, Unitarian Christians reply 
by saying, that the Bible is addressed to 
us as reasonable beings, that reverence 
for its records, and respect for the natures 
which God has bestowed on us, and which 
Christ came to save, make it our duty to 
use our understanding and the best lights 
which are afforded us, for ascertaining its 
meaning; that God cannot contradict in 
one way what he records in another ; that 
his word and works must utter a consistent 
language ; that if the Bible be his gift, it 
cannot be at war with nature and human 
reason ; that if we discard reason in its 
interpretation, there is no absurdity we 
may not deduce from it ; that we cannot 
do it greater dishonor than to admit that it 
will not stand the scrutiny of reason ; that 
if our faculties are not worthy of trust, if 
they are so distempered by the fall, that 
we can no longer repose any confidence 
in their veracity : then revelation itself 
cannot benefit us, for we have no reason 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREOATIONALISTS. 



585 



left of judging of its evidences or import, 
and are reduced at once to a state of utter 
scepticism. 

Such, omitting minor differences, are 
the leading views of the Unitarian Con- 
gregationalists of the United States. They 
do not claim to hold all these views as 
peculiar to themselves. Several of them 
they share in common with other classes 
of Christians, or with individuals of other 
denominations. 



HISTORY. 

Of the history and statistics of Unita- 
rians in the United States, we have left 
ourselves little room to speak. The Uni- 
tarians of these days do not profess to hold 
any new doctrines. They speak of its 
antiquity and revival. 

The history of ancient Unitarianism, I 
must pass over, both as foreign to the 
object of this sketch, and a subject which 
would require more space than is assigned 
for our whole article. I will only state in 
a single paragraph what modern Unita- 
rians contend that they are able to prove 
in regard to the early prevalence of this 
doctrine. They begin by stating that the 
Jews before the time of the Saviour, were 
strictly Unitarian ; that it is a fact as well 
ascertained as any fact can be, that the 
Jewish Christians of the early ages were 
so also ; being believers in the simple hu- 
manity of Jesus ; that several of the early 
fathers recognise this fact ; and that this 
belief was not originally deemed heretical. 
They contend and profess to show, that 
all the fathers for more than three hun- 
dred years after the commencement of the 
Christian era, never fail of ascribing su- 
premacy to the Father, and held the strict 
and proper inferiority of the Son ; that 
they made him a distinct being from the 
father, though many of them assigned 
im from all eternity a sort of metaphy- 
ical, or potential, existence in the Father 

an attribute, that is, his wisdom or rea- 
n, which attribute took a separate per- 
nal existence a little before the creation 

the world, and became an agent of the 

ther in its formation. In this they differ 

frbi the Arians, who taught that he was 

| crated out of nothing. Unitarians affirm, 

I th£ the germ of the doctrine of the Trinity 



is first traced in the learned Platonizing 
converts, who brought it with them from 
the school of human philosophy ; they 
say that its origin is thus in their view 
satisfactorily explained ; they contend that 
it was of gradual formation, and that they 
can trace its growth from age to age, till 
it acquired something like its present form 
about the middle of the fifth century. 
These views they think have been well 
established in modern writings, both in this 
country and in England. 

We now come to modern Unitarian- 
ism. The history of this, too, in foreign 
countries, we must dismiss in some half 
a dozen or a dozen sentences, stating 
merely a few general facts. 

We discover traces of anti-trinitarian 
sentiments, in the early days of the Re- 
formation under Luther, and Unitarianism 
was openly avowed and defended by Cel- 
larius, a learned man, a native of Stutt- 
gard, born in 1499, and for some time 
united in warm friendship with Luther 
and Melancthon. Several of the learned 
contemporaries of Luther, in Germany 
and Switzerland, embraced the same sen- 
timents. Servetus, a native of Aragon, 
was burned as a heretic for his Unitarian- 
ism, at Geneva, in 1553. About the 
same time a society of Unitarians in Italy 
was broken up and dispersed by the In- 
quisition. A retreat was afterwards 
opened to them in Poland ; they had a 
college at Racow, numbering at one time 
more than a thousand students ; they had 
churches in all parts of the kingdom, and 
their sentiments were embraced by many 
of the chief nobility. There they flour- 
ished many years, and left behind them 
many monuments of their learning and 
zeal. They were banished from the 
kingdom in 1660. Some went to Eng- 
land ; some to different parts of Germa- 
ny ; and some to Transylvania, where 
they still exist as a distinct sect. Holland 
still contains a considerable number, and 
most of the pastors of Germany hold 
Unitarian sentiments. 

In England, they are traced back to 
the early part of the sixteenth century ; 
but there as elsewhere, they were subject 
to severe persecution for their opinions, 
and some of them sealed their faith with 
their blood. The doctrine, however, was 



74 



586 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



not suppressed, and English Unitarian- 
ism numbers a long line of learned men, 
the ornaments of their age and of human- 
ity. Among them we find the names of 
Emlyn, Whiston, Dr. Samuel Clark, 
Lardner, Price, Priestly, Lindsey, Aikin, 
Jebb, Rees, and many others, besides the 
three greater lights, Locke, Newton, and 
the poet Milton. Unitarian sentiments 
are now extensively diffused among the 
Presbyterians of England, and in the 
north of Ireland ; and Unitarian houses of 
worship exist in different places in Scot- 
land. The last report of the American Uni- 
tarian Association, (May, 1842,) states the 
number of Unitarian Congregations in 
England at about 300 ; in Ireland, at 39 ; 
in Scotland, at 12. Of those who have 
renounced the Church of Rome in Hol- 
land, Switzerland, France and Germany, 
the same document affirms, that not less 
than one-half hold the Unitarian faith. 

American Unitarianism dates back, at 
least, to the middle of the last century. 
In a letter to Dr. Moore, dated May 15th, 
1815, the older President Adams says, in 
reply to a statement that Unitarianism 
was then only thirty years old in New 
England, " I can testify as a witness to 
its old age." He goes back sixty-five 
years, and names some clergymen, and 
among others Dr. Mayhew of Boston, and 
Gay of Hingham, who were Unitarians. 
" Among the laity," he adds, " how many 
could I name, lawyers, physicians, trades- 
men, farmers !" There was, however, 
little open avowal of Unitarianism at this 
period, nor until after the American Rev- 
olution ; nor were there many congrega- 
tions professedly Unitarian until after the 
commencement of the present century, 
though as early as 1756, Emlyn's In- 
quiry into the Scripture Account of Jesus 
Christ, was republished in Boston, and 
extensively read. 

In 1785, the society worshipping at 
King's Chapel, Boston, adopted an 
amended liturgy, from which Trinitarian 
sentiments were excluded. Between that 
period and the end of the century, Unita- 
rian sentiments manifested themselves to 
a small extent in Maine, and Mr. Bently 
openly preached them in Salem, Massa- 
chusetts. The same sentiments were 
preached in the southern parts of the 



state, in Plymouth and Barnstable coun- 
ties, in the latter of which there were 
many Unitarians. In the western part 
of Massachusetts, in Connecticut, Rhode 
Island, and New Hampshire, Unita- 
rianism had made but little progress. 
Out of New England, few if any traces 
of it were visible, except at Northumber- 
land and Philadelphia, where Dr. Priestly 
had made some converts. 

Thus closed the eighteenth century. 
But though, as before remarked, there 
was at this time but little open profession 
of Unitarianism, the general tone of think- 
ing and feeling in Boston and the vicinity, 
was decidedly Unitarian, or, at least, the 
current was strongly setting that way. 

During the first fifteen years of the 
present century, controversy on the sub- 
ject was seldom or never introduced into 
the pulpit, but Unitarianism was making 
silent progress. Many having ceased to 
hear the opposite sentiments inculcated, 
embraced it, often without any distinct 
consciousness of the fact. The term 
Unitarianism was then seldom heard in 
New England, those since called Unita- 
rians being then denominated Liberal 
Christians. The appointment of one of 
them to the divinity professorship at Cam- 
bridge, in 1805, was the occasion of some 
controversy. 

The year 1815, formed an epoch in the 
history of American Unitarianism. The 
circumstances were briefly these : Mr. 
Belsham, in his Memoirs of Lindsey, pub- 
lished in London in 1812, had introduced 
a chapter on American Unitarianism, or 
as it was expressed, on the " Progress and 
Present State of the Unitarian Churches 
in America." This was republished in 
Boston in 1815, with a Preface by the 
American editor, the object of the republi- 
cation being to sound the alarm against 
Unitarianism on this side the Atlantic 
The pamphlet was immediately reviewei 
in the Panoplist, an Orthodox publicatici 
of the day. The two publications causd 
great excitement. The Panoplist esp- 
cially, was complained of by Unitarian, 
as greatly misrepresenting their sedi- 
ments, and containing many injurius 
aspersions on their character. 

A controversy ensued, Dr. Channng 
leading the wav, in a letter addressei to 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



587 



the Rev. S. C. Thacher, in which he 
charges the Panoplist with the attempt to 
fasten on the Unitarians of this country 
all the odium of Mr. Belsham's peculiar 
views, and replies to what he conceived to 
be other misrepresentations of the re- 
viewer, particularly to the accusation of 
hypocritical concealment, brought against 
the Unitarians. Several pamphlets were 
written in this controversy by Dr. Chan- 
ning, Dr. Samuel Worcester, of Salem, 
and some others, mostly in 1815. 

The tendency of this controversy was 
to draw a sharp and distinct line between 
the parties. The Panoplist had urged on 
the Orthodox the necessity of a separation 
" in worship and communion from Uni- 
tarians." From that time the exchange 
of pulpits between the clergymen of ortho- 
dox and liberal denominations, in a great 
measure, ceased, though all were not pre- 
pared for this decided step. Many con- 
gregations were much divided in opinion ; 
a separation was viewed by many as a 
great evil ; many were strongly opposed 
to it, but it now became inevitable. 

The Unitarian controversy, strictly so 
called, brought up the question of the 
rights of churches and parishes, respect- 
ively, in the settlement of a minister. 
Before the excitement on this subject had 
subsided, another controvery arose, occa- 
sioned by Dr. Channing's sermon, preach- 
ed at Baltimore, at the ordination of Mr. 
Sparks. 

This controversy embraced the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, and the doctrines of 
Calvinism generally, all of which were 
subjected to a very thorough discussion. 
Professor Stuart, of Andover, appeared in 
defence of the Trinity, and • Mr. Andrews 
Norton in opposition to it, in an article in 
the Christian Examiner, subsequently en- 
larged and published in a separate volume, 
under the title, " A Statement of Reasons 
for not believing the Doctrine of Trini- 
tarians, concerning the Nature of God, 
and the Person of Christ." Dr. Woods, 
of Andover, defended the doctrines of Cal- 
vinism, and Dr. Ware, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, replied. There were several re- 
plications and rejoinders on both sides. A 
discussion was at the same time going on 
between Mr. Sparks of Baltimore, and Dr. 
Miller, of Princeton. 



By the time this controversy subsided, 
the Orthodox and Unitarian Congrega- 
tionalists were found to constitute two dis- 
tinct bodies. The ministers of both divi- 
sions, however, in Massachusetts, still an- 
nually met in convention as Congrega- 
tionalists, a name which belongs equally 
to both, but have, elsewhere, little religious 
fellowship or communion. 

Such is the origin and history, so far as 
they can be given here, of the American 
Unitarians, viewed as constituting a dis- 
tinct class or denomination of Christians. 
They are mostly the descendants of the 
old Congregationalists of New England, 
and are still Congregationalists, the forms 
of which they value for what they regard 
as their scriptural simplicity, as well as 
from many ancestral associations. 

STATISTICS. 

It is difficult to estimate the number of 
Unitarians in the United States ; and of 
their character for intelligence, piety, and 
benevolence, it does not become us, in the 
present article, to speak. When they 
have no separate place of worship, they 
continue in many instances united in wor- 
ship with orthodox societies. From the 
Fifteenth Report of the Executive Com- 
mittee of the American Unitarian Asso- 
ciation (May, 1840,) it appears that the 
number of religious societies and churches 
professedly Unitarian, in Massachusetts, 
was then 150; in Maine, 15; in New 
Hampshire, 19 ; and out of New England, 
36. The number has since increased, 
and is now estimated in ail about 300. 
These are Congregational Unitarians, to 
whom this article refers. The same docu- 
ment assigns to the denomination called 
Christians, (who are also Unitarians,) in 
1833, 700 ministers, 1000 churches, from 
75,000 to 100,000 communicants, and 
from 250,000 to 300,000 worshippers. 
Besides the Congregational Unitarians, it 
is computed that there are now in the 
United States, about 2,000 congregations 
of Unitarians, chiefly of the sects called 
Christians, Universalists, and Friends or 
Quakers. 

Among the periodicals which utter Uni- 
tarian sentiments, at the present time, are 
the Christian Register, a weekly paper, 



588 



HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CONGREGATION ALISTS. 



commenced in Boston, in 1822 ; the Month- 
ly Miscellany of Religion and Letters, a 
monthly publication in Boston, commenced 
in 1829; and the Christian Examiner. 
The latter was originally issued under the 
name of the Christian Disciple, a monthly 
publication, commenced at Boston in 1813, 
under the superintendence of the late Dr. 
Noah Worcester. It continued under his 
charge until 1819, when a new series was 
commenced under different editors. This 
series terminated with the fifth volume, at 
the end of 1823. The work then took 
the name of the Christian Examiner, which 
is still continued, a number being issued 
every two months, the 34th volume being 
now in the course of publication. This 
work, which combines literature with theo- 
logy, has always sustained a high reputa- 
tion for learning and ability, — nearly all 
the more eminent Unitarians of the day 
having been, at different times, numbered 
among its contributors. 

The American Unitarian Association 
was founded in Boston, in 1825. An ex- 
tensive correspondence is carried on, and 
other business transacted by the general 
secretary of the Association ; and there 
are now several auxiliaries in different 
parts of the United States. 

The Association holds its annual meet- 
ings at Boston, in May of each year, at 



after which various topics are discussed in 
speeches or addresses. The Association, I 
through its Executive Committee, issues J 
tracts monthly, of which the 16th volume 
is now in the course of publication. 

It furnishes temporary aid to small and 
destitute societies, and does something for 
domestic missions, particularly in the 
Western States. There is also a Book and 
Pamphlet Society, not under the control 
of the Association, but which co-operates, 
in some measure, with it, and distributes 
a large number of books and tracts. 

The last annual report of the Associa- 
tion speaks of the condition and prospects 
of the denomination, as in a high degree 
encouraging. Societies, it affirms, are 
multiplying in New England, and in va- 
rious parts of the South and West. If the 
spirit of active controversy in the sect is 
passing away, as some think, the import- 
ance of a living, practical faith, and an 
earnest piety, was never more deeply felt. 
The present year, active efforts have been 
made, and not wholly in vain, to raise 
funds to meet the wants of the denomina- 
tion, especially to educate young men for 
the ministry, to assist destitute societies, 
and support missionaries ; in different ways 
to promote the cause of spiritual Chris- 
tianity, and aid in building up the kingdom 
of the Redeemer in the world. 



which the report of the secretary is read, 

Contributed by Rev. Henry A. Miles, D.D., Secretary of the American Unitarian Association, Boston. 



The above sketch of the history of Unitarian 
Congregationalists was written by Rev. Dr. 
Lamson in 1843. A few facts will now be added 
to bring the sketch down to the present time. 
In 1844 a Unitarian Theological School was 
opened in Meadville, Penna. It has been in 
successful operation since, instruction being 
given by four professors to the three classes, 
which vary in number from five to ten each. 
It has proven an important institution in sup- 
plying Western churches with a well educated 
ministry. The Divinity School in Harvard 
University, Cambridge, Mass., has averaged 
about the same number of pupils. Two new 
professors were added to this institution in 
1857. A Book Fund of nearly $30,000 was 
raised by the denomination in 1853-4. It was 
placed in the hands of the American Unitarian 
Association, which has since issued nearly 
100,000 volumes of books. These are divided 
into two classes — a Theological Library, con- 
taining standard works in exposition of the 
Unitarian faith ; and a Devotional Library, en- 
forcing the claims and duties of a devout and 



holy life. In the place of its tracts, the Asso- 
ciation has published since 1853 a Quarterly 
Journal, making now five volumes of five hun- 
dred pages each. In the year last named the 
Association established a mission in Kansas, 
where it has since sustained a preacher, who 
has gathered' a permanent and prosperous 
society. The Association has since erected a 
church in Lawrence, the first edifice for public 
worship in that Territory. About the same 
time a mission was established in Calcutta, 
India, by the Association, and a zealous and 
devoted missionary has formed a Unitarian 
society there, which has been active in the dis- 
tribution of tracts and books throughout British 
India. A large and vigorous Unitarian society 
has also been formed in San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia. On the whole, there are many indica- 
tions of activity in the Unitarian denomination ; 
but the diffusion of its religious views is far 
more widely effected by the liberal influences 
of the age, which are turning many reflecting 
minds in all denominations towards a generous 
faith. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



589 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



BY REV. THOS. H. BEVERIDGE, PHILADELPHIA. 



The United Presbyterian Church of 
North America is the body which was 
formed on Wednesday, May 26th, 1858, 
in the City Hall, Pittsburg, Penna., by 
the union of the Associate Presbyterian 
and Associate Reformed Presbyterian 
Churches. As she has yet little or no 
history of her own, the reader is referred 
to the sketches of the Churches of which 
she was formed, which will be found at 
pages 17 and 24, ante. 

After twenty years of unwearied labor 
and fervent prayer, a Basis of Union was 
agreed upon by the two Synods, at their 
meetings in May, 1857, in the cities of 
Philadelphia and New York ; and on this 
Basis the union was consummated in May, 
1858, at Pittsburg. On the final question 
the vote was as follows : in the Associate 
Reformed Synod (a delegated body), Fur 
the Union, ministers, 54 ; elders, 39 ; total, 
93; Against the Union, ministers, 3; elder, 
1. In the Associate Synod, on the final 
question, the yeas and nays were not re- 
corded ; but it is known that out of some 
213 members, not more than 14 ministers 
and 12 elders were in the negative. Four 
ministers and one elder of the Associate 
Reformed Synod, and seven ministers of 
the Associate Synod, protested against 
this decision ; and the protesters on both 
sides have organized, and claim to be the 
true Associate and Associate Reformed 
Synods. The latter are confined to East- 
ern New York, and the former chiefly to 
Washington county, Pa., Greene county, 
Ohio, and some portions of Northern 
Indiana. 

The Subordinate Standards of the Uni- 
ted Church are the Westminster Confes- 



sion of Faith,* Catechisms, &c, and the 
Testimony which was adopted as the Basis 
of Union. The latter document contains 
those principles of the United Presbyte- 
rian Church by which she is distinguished 
from other churches professing to adhere 
to the Confession of Faith. The following 
are the declarations of this Testimony; 
an adherence to which, as well as to the 
Westminster standards, is required of all 
who seek admission into the United 
Church. 

3. PLENARY INSPIRATION OF THE 
SCRIPTURES. 

We declare, That God has not only in 
the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments made a revelation of his will to 
man, as the only rule of faith and prac- 
tice, but that these Scriptures, viewed as 
a revelation from Cod, are in every part 
the inspired word of Cod, and that this 



'* As the language employed in the West- 
minster Confession (chap. xx. § 4 ; chap, xxiii. 
\ 3; chap. xxxi. \ 2) respecting civil govern- 
ment and the magistrate's power circa sacra, 
has been variously interpreted, and by many 
thought to be inconsistent with that "liberty 
of conscience," and that "distinct government 
in the hands of church officers," which the 
Confession itself recognises, the acknowledged 
doctrine of the Church (which, in accordance 
with the generally received views of American 
Christians, denies the right of the magistrate 
to interfere, in any way, in the affairs of the 
Church, or to exercise any lordship over the 
conscience) is exhibited in a parallel column, 
without the expression of any judicial opinion 
in relation to the meaning of these parts of the 
Confession, leaving every reader to form his 
own opinion as to the agreement or disagree- 
ment between the views thus set forth. 



590 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



I 

inspiration extends to the language, as I and thereby infallibly obtain for them j 

well as to the sentiments which they eternal redemption. 

express. 



6. IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



2. THE ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 



We declaim, That in justification there ;j 
We declare, That our Lord Jesus Christ is an im P» tati ™ *° ^ believer of that » 



is not only true and supreme God, being 
one in essence with the Father, but also 
the Son of God in respect to his natural, 
necessary, and eternal relation to the 
Father. 

3. THE COVENANT OF WORKS. 

We declare, That God having created 
man in a state of perfect holiness, and in 
possession of a perfect ability to obey him 
in all things, did enter into a covenant 
with him, in which covenant Adam was 
the representative of all his natural pos- 
terity, so that in him they were to stand 
or fall as he stood or fell. 



4. THE FALL OF MAN, AND HIS PRESENT 
INABILITY. 

We declaim, That our first parents did, 
by their breach of covenant with God, 
subject themselves to his eternal wrath, 
and bring themselves into such a state of 
depravity as to be wholly inclined to sin, 
and altogether unable, by their own power, 
to perform a single act of acceptable obe- 
dience to God; and that all their natural 
posterity, in virtue of their representation 
in the covenant, are born into the world 
in the same state of guilt, depravity, and 
inability, and in this state will continue 
until delivered therefrom by the grace 
and righteousness of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 



5. THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE 
ATONEMENT. 

We declare, That our Lord Jesus Christ 
did, by the appointment of the Father, 
and by his own gracious and voluntary act, 
place himself in the room of a definite 
number, who were chosen in him before 
the foundation of the world; so that he 
was their true and proper legal surety; 
and as such, did, in their behalf, satisfy 
the justice of God, and answer all the de- 
mands which the law had against them, 



righteousness, or satisfaction and obedience I 
which the Lord Jesus Christ, as the surety 
of his people, rendered to the law; and 
that it is only on the ground of this im- 
puted righteousness that his sins are par- 
doned, and his person accepted in the 
sight of God. 

7. THE GOSPEL OFFER. 

We declare, That the gospel, taken in j 
its strict and proper sense, as distinguished 
from the law, is a revelation of grace 
sinners as such; and that it contains a j! 
free and unconditional ofFer and grant of j 
salvation through Christ, to all who hear | 
it, whatever may be their character or 
condition. 



8. SAYING FAITH. 

We declare, That in true and saving 
faith there is not merely an assent of the 
mind to the proposition that the Lord 
Jesus Christ is the Saviour of sinners; 
but also a cordial reception and appropria- ; 
tion of him by the sinner as his Saviour, 
with an accompanying persuasion or assu- 
rance corresponding to the degree or 
strength of his faith, that he shall be 
saved by him ; which appropriation and 
persuasion are founded, solely, upon the i 
free, and unconditional, and unlimited 
offer of Christ and salvation in him, which 
God makes in the gospel -to sinners of 
mankind. 

9. EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 

We declare, That that repentance which 
is a saving grace, is one of the fruits of a 
justifying faith ; and, of course, cannot 
be regarded as a ground of the sinner's 
pardon, or as necessary to qualify him for 
coming to Christ. 

10. THE BELIEVER'S DELIVERANCE FROM 
THE LAW AS A COA^ENANT. 

We declare, That although the moral 
law is of perpetual obligation, and conse- 






quently does and ever will bind the be- 
liever as a rule of life, yet, as a covenant, 
he is by his justification through Christ, 
completely and for ever set free from it, 
both as to its commanding and condemning 
power, and consequently not required to 
yield obedience to it as a condition of life 
and salvation. 

11. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

We declare, That the Holy Spirit, the 
third person of the Trinity, does, by a 
direct operation accompanying the word, 
so act upon the soul as to quicken, regen- 
erate, and sanctify it; and that without 
this direct operation the soul would have 
no ability to perceive, in a saving manner, 
the truths of God's word, or yield to the 
motives which it presents. 

12. THE HEADSHIP OF CHRIST. 

We declare, That our Lord Jesus Christ, 
besides the dominion which belongs to 
him as God, has, as our God-man Media- 
tor, a twofold dominion, with which he 
has been invested by the Father as the 
reward of his sufferings. These are a 
dominion over the Church, of which he is 
the living Head and Lawgiver, and the 
source of all that Divine influence and 
authority by which she is sustained and 
governed; and also, a dominion over all 
created persons and things, which is exer- 
cised by him in subserviency to the mani- 
festations of God's glory in the system 
of redemption, and the interests of his 
Church. 

13. THE SUPREMACY OF GOD'S LAW. 

We declare, That the law of God, as 
written upon the heart of man, and as set 
forth in the Scriptures of the Old and New 
Testaments, is supreme in its authority 
and obligations j and that where the com- 
mands of the Church or State are in con- 
flict with the commands of this law, we 
are to obey God rather than man. 

14. SECRET SOCIETIES. 

We declare, That all associations, whe- 
ther formed for political or benevolent 
purposes, which impose upon their mem- 



bers an oath of secresy, or an obligation 
to obey a code of unknown laws, are in- 
consistent with the genius and spirit of 
Christianity, and church members ought 
not to have fellowship with such asso- 
ciations. 

15. COMMUNION. 

We declare, That the Church should 
not extend communion, in sealing ordi- 
nances, to those who refuse adherence to 
her profession, or subjection to her govern- 
ment and discipline, or who refuse to for- 
sake a communion which is inconsistent 
with the profession that she makes; nor 
should communion in any ordinance of 
worship be held under such circumstances 
as would be inconsistent with the keeping 
of these ordinances pure and entire, or so 
as to give countenance to any corruption 
of the doctrines and institutions of Christ. 

16. COVENANTING. 

We declare, That public social cove- 
nanting is a moral duty, the observance 
of which is not required at stated times, 
but on extraordinary occasions, as the 
providence of God, and the circumstances 
of the Church may indicate. It is sea- 
sonable in times of great danger to the 
Church — in times of exposure to back- 
sliding — or in times of reformation, when 
the Church is returning to God from a 
state of backsliding. When the Church 
has entered into such covenant transac- 
tions, they continue to bind posterity 
faithfully to adhere to and prosecute the 
grand object for which such engagements 
have been entered into. 



17. PSALMODY. 

We declare, That it is the will of God 
that the songs contained in the Book of 
Psalms, be sung in his worship, both 
public and private, to the end of the 
world ; and in singing God's praise, these 
songs should be employed to the exclusion 
of the devotional compositions of unin- 
spired men. 

The following preamble and resolutions 
were adopted by both Synods, on the day 
preceding the consummation of the union. 

Whereas, It is understood that the Tes- 



i 



timony submitted to the General Synod 
of the Associate Reformed Church by the 
Associate Synod, was proposed and ac- 
cepted as a term of communion, on the 
adoption of which the union of the two 
churches was to be consummated : 

And whereas, It is agreed between the 
two churches that the forbearance in love 
which is required by the law of God, will 
be exercised toward any brethren who may 
not be able fully to subscribe the stan- 
dards of the United Church, while they 
do not determinedly oppose them, but 
follow the things which make for peace, 
and things wherewith one may edify 
another : 

Resolved, 1st, That these churches, when 
united, shall be called the " United Pres- 
byterian Church of North America/' 

Resolved, 2d, That the respective Pres- 
byteries of these churches shall remain 
as presently constituted until otherwise 
ordered, as convenience shall suggest. 

Resolved, od, That the supreme court 
of this Church shall be a General Assem- 
bly, to meet annually, to be composed of 
delegates from the respective Presbyteries, 
the number of delegates to be according 
to the proportion of the members consti- 
tuting each Presbytery, as now fixed by 
the rules of the Associate Reformed 
Church, until a change shall be found 
expedient. 

Resolved, 4:th, That there shall be sub- 
ordinate Synods, and these shall be the 
same as those now existing in the Asso- 
ciate Reformed Church, to which Synods 
the different Presbyteries in the Associate 
Church shall attach themselves for the 
present, according to their location : Pro- 
vided, That the separate Synods and Pres- 
byteries of the said Associate Reformed 
and Associate Churches shall also continue 
as at present constituted, until otherwise 
directed. 

Resolved, 6th, That the General and 
subordinate Synods shall be regulated ac- 
cording to the rules presently in force in 
the Associate Reformed Church, until the 



United Church shall see fit to alter such 
rules. 

Resolved, 6th, That the different Boards 
and Institutions of the respective churches 
shall not be affected by this union, but 
shall have control of their funds, and re- 
tain all their corporate or other rights and j 
privileges, until the interests of the ; 
Church shall require a change. 

It may be proper to state, in conclusion, 
that during the period that has now (Jan- 
uary, 1859) elapsed since the consumma- 
tion of the union, all has been harmonious 
and peaceful in the United Church. 
Those who witnessed the ceremony of 
union, which took place in the presence 
of over 2000 persons, all unite in declaring 
it the most thrilling scene they ever wit- 
nessed. The presence and the finger of 
God were then manifest, and the holy 
influences with which the Church was 
baptized at her birth, seem to be with her 
still. The four Subordinate Synods all 
held their annual meetings in October, 
1858, and in each of them there was the I 
most entire harmony, and abundant mani- 
festations of the Spirit's presence. The 
origin of this new Church has been 
marked by an increased spirit of devotion, 
a greater zeal for the extension of the Re- 
deemer's kingdom, at home and abroad, 
and an eager desire to lay hold of every 
lawful instrumentality for that purpose. 
Academies, Colleges, Musical Institutes, 
Sabbath Schools, and Mission Stations, 
are beginning to spring up, under her care, 
in different quarters of the country ; and 
there is a growing feeling that the favor 
and blessing of God can be expected only 
in the diligent use of all the means which 
He has placed at her disposal for doing 
her part in the evangelization of the 
world. 

Those desiring further information in 
regard to the United Church, or in refer- 
ence to either of the bodies of which that 
Church is composed, are referred to "The 
Church Memorial," by Rev. R. D. Harper. 




Rev. HOSEA BALLOU. 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



593 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNIVERSALISTS, 



BY THE REV. A. B. GROSH, UTICA, N. Y. 



Such is the general and approved name 
of that denomination of Christians, which 
is distinguished for believing that God will 
finally save all mankind from sin and 
death, and make all intelligences holy and 
happy by and through the mediation of 
Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. 
Anciently, believers in this sentiment were 
called by its opposers, " Merciful Doc- 
tors ;" and at a later day, "Hell-Redemp- 
tionists" and " Restorationers ;" and within 
a few years past, efforts have been made 
to create a distinction among them, by 
classing them as " Restorationists" and 
" Ultra-Universalists ;" — but the denomi- 
nation itself, though composed of all classes 
thus attempted to be distinguished and di- 
vided off, claims for itself the sole name 
of Universalis! 1 , and disclaims any other 
distinctive titleby which to be designated. 
The great general sentiment of the final, 
universal salvation of all moral beings 
from sin and death, in which this denomi- 
nation is united, and by which it is distin- 
guished, is termed TJniversalism ; or, 
sometimes, by way of varying the phrase- 
ology, " the Abrahamic faith ;" because it 
is the gospel that was declared to Abra- 
ham — or, sometimes, "the Restitution," 
or, " the Restitution of all things," &c. 
But that the reader may have as full in- 
formation of this denomination and its 
faith, as the limits of this work will permit, 
I will state — First, the history of the 
sentiment peculiar to it. Second, the rise, 
progress, present condition, and prospects 
of the denomination in its collective capa- 



city. Third, a brief summary of the 
general views held by Universalists, and 
the principle scriptures on which they rely 
for support. 



L THE HISTORY OF THE SENTIMENT, 
OR DOCTRINE, OF UNIVERSAL SAL- 
VATION FROM SIN. 

The first intimation of God's purpose to 
destroy the cause of moral evil, and re- 
store man to purity and happiness, is con- 
tained in the promise that the serpent, 
(which represents the origin and cause of 
sin,) after bruising man's heel, (a curable 
injury of the most inferior portion of hu- 
manity,) should have its head bruised by 
the woman's Seed. (Genesis iii. 15.) A 
bruise of the head is death to the serpent, 
(and to what that reptile represents ;) and 
the destruction being effected by the Seed 
of the woman, shows man's final and 
complete deliverance from, and triumph 
over, all evil. In accordance with the idea 
conveyed by representing man's heel only, 
as being bruised, is the limitation of the 
punishment divinely pronounced on the 
first pair of transgressors, to the duration 
of their earthly lives — (Genesis iii. 17, 
19) — and the total absence of every thing 
like even a hint, that God would punish 
Cain, or Lamech, or the antediluvians, 
with an infinite or endless penalty — and 
the institution of temporal punishment 
only, in the law given by Moses. And the 
intimation of the final, total destruction of 
the very cause of moral evil, and of all 



15. 



594 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



its works or effects, (or all sin,) is further 
explained and confirmed by later and more 
conclusive testimony, in which it is stated 
that Jesus would destroy death and the 
devil, the devil and all his works ; and 
that the grave {Hades, or Hell) and 
its victory, and death and its sting, (which 
is sin,) would exist no more after the re- 
surrection of the dead. (See Heb. ii. 14 ; 
1 John iii. 8 ; and 1 Cor. xv. 54-57.) 

This brief intimation of the ultimate de- 
struction of evil, and man's salvation there- 
from, grew into that divine promise to 
Abraham and his descendants, which the 
apostle Paul expressly calls " the gospel," 
viz': that in Abraham and his seed, (which 
seed is Jesus Christ,) " shall all the fami- 
lies," " all the nations," and " all kindreds 
of the earth be blessed" — by being " turned 
away every one from iniquity," and by 
being "justified (i. e. made just) by faith." 
(Compare Genesis xii. 3", xviii. 18, xxii. 
18, and xxvi. 4, with Acts iii. 25, 26, and 
Galatians iii. 8.) Christ being a spiritual 
Prince, and a spiritual Saviour only, and 
this gospel being a spiritual promise ; of 
course the blessings promised to all, in 
Christ, will be spiritual also, and not 
merely temporal. For all that are blessed 
in Christ, are to be new creatures. (2 
Cor. v. 17.) Accordingly we find this 
solemn, oath-confirmed promise of God — 
this " gospel preached before due time to 
Abraham" — made the basis and subject of 
almost every prophecy relating to the 
ultimate prevalence, and universal, end- 
less triumph of God's moral dominion 
under the mediatorial reign of Jesus 
Christ. 

But if we would obtain a more perfect 
understanding of those prophetic promises, 
we must examine them in connection with 
the expositions given of their meaning, by 
the Saviour and his apostles, in the New 
Testament. One or two examples are all 
that can be given here. The subjugation 
of all things to the dominion of man, (Ps. 
viii. 5, 6,) is expressly applied to the spi- 
ritual subjugation of all souls to Jesus, by 
the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
who declares it a universal subjection ; 
(" for in that he put all in subjection under 
him, he left nothing that is not put under 
him ;") and that it is not the present phy- 
sical or external subjection, but the pros- 



pectively final, spiritual and internal sub- 
jection that is meant — " for we see not 
yet all things put under him," &c. 
(Heb. ii. 8, 9.) And in 1 Cor. xv. 24- 
28, this subjection is represented as 
taking place after all opposing powers 
are put down, and the last enemy is de- 
stroyed — and it is connected with the sub- 
jection of all alike unto Jesus, and of 
Jesus unto God, and is declared to be, 
that God may be all that is in all ; — thus 
most emphatically and conclusively show- 
ing that nothing but a thorough, spiritual 
subjection of the whole soul to God can 
be intended. And that it is to be strictly 
universal, is evident, also, from the 27th 
verse, where God is expressly named as 
the only being in the universe who will 
not be subjected to the moral dominion of 
Jesus — thus agreeing with the testimony 
of Hebrews ii. 8, before quoted. Again : 
the promise of universal blessedness in the 
gospel, under the figure of a feast for all 
people, made on Mount Zion, and the swal- 
lowing up of death in victory, recorded in 
Isaiah xxv. 6-8, is very positively applied 
by the Apostle Paul to the resurrection of 
all men to immortality — thus showing its 
universality, its spirituality, and its end- 
lessness. (See 1 Cor. xv. 54.) And 
again; in Isaiah Iv. 10, 11, God gives a 
pledge that his word will more certainly 
accomplish all it is sent to perform, than 
will his natural agents perform their mis- 
sion. In Isa. xlv. 22-24, he informs us 
that the mission of his word is, to make 
every knee bow, and every tongue swear 
allegiance, and surely say* that in the 
Lord each one has righteousness and 
strength. The apostle to the Gentiles, in 
speaking of the flesh-embodied Word of 
God, Jesus of Nazareth, in a very em- 
phatic manner confirmed the absolute uni- 
versality of this promise, by declaring that 
it included all in heaven, and in earth, and 
under the earth, in its promise of final 
salvation, by gathering them into Christ. 
(See Phil. ii. 9-11.) This acknowledg- 
ment of Jesus, as universal Lord or owner, 
is to be made by the influence of the Holy 
Spirit — (1 Cor. xii. 3 ; and Rom. xiv. 8, 



* The word "one" being in italics, was sup- 
plied by the translators, and is no part of the 
original scripture 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



595 



9, compared with John vi. 37-39, and 
Phil. iii. 21) — and is called reconciliation, 
without which, indeed, it could not be a 
true spiritual subjection and allegiance. 
(Col. i. 19, 20 ; and Eph. i. 8-10.) 

Thus have we very briefly traced the 
rise and gradual development' of the doc- 
trine of universal salvation, from its first 
intimation down to its full and clear ex- 
position ; — thus proving that it is, indeed, 
" the restitution of all things, which God 
hath spoken by the mouths of all his holy 
prophets, since the world began" — (Acts 
iii. 21) — and the gospel which God " hath 
in these last days spoken unto us by his 
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all 
things." This gospel of the great salva- 
tion, so abundantly testified to by the 
apostles of the Saviour, was undoubtedly 
the faith of the primitive churches. True, 
other matters more directly engaged the 
preaching and controversies of the early 
teachers ,• for both Jews and Gentiles de- 
nied that Jesus was a divinely commis- 
sioned teacher, and that he rose from the 
dead after his crucifixion and burial — and 
many also denied the resurrection of the 
dead in general. But it is a fact clearly 
stated on the page of ecclesiastical history, 
and proved by the writings of the early 
Fathers themselves, that the doctrine of 
universal salvation was held, without any 
directly counter sentiment being taught, 
until the days of Tertullian, in A. D. 204 ; 
and that Tertullian himself was the first 
Christian writer now known, who as- 
serted the doctrine of the absolute eternity 
of hell-torments, or, that the punishment 
of the wicked and the happiness of the 
saints were equal in duration. Nor was 
there any opposition to the doctrine of 
universal salvation, until long after the 
days of Ofigen, (about A. D. 394,) — nor 
was it ever declared 'a heresy by the 
Church in general, until as late as the 
year 553, when the fifth General Council 
thus declared it false. But that the reader 
may have names and dates, we will here 
name a few of the most eminent Fathers, 
with the dave of their greatest fame, who 
openly avowed and publicly taught the 
doctrine of Universalism. 

A. D. 140, the authors of the Sibylline 
Oracles; 190, Clement, President of the 
Catechetical School at Alexandria, the 



most learned and illustrious man before 
Origen ; 185, Origen, the light of the 
Church in his day, whose reputation for 
learning and sanctity gave rise to many 
followers, and finally a great party, in the 
Christian Church, the most of whom (if 
not all) were decided believers and advo- 
cates of Universalism. Among these we 
will merely name, (for we have no room 
for remarks,) Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, 
and Titus, Bishop of Bostra ; A. D. 360, 
Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, and Gregory 
Nazianzen, Archbishop of Constantinople ; 
380, Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, and 
Fabius Manus Victorinus; A. D. 390, the 
Origenists, the Gnostics, and the Mani- 
cheans generally held it about this time, 
and many eminent fathers whom we have 
not room to particularize. Those we have 
named quoted the same texts, and used 
many of the arguments in proof of the 
doctrine, that are now urged by Univer- 
salists. And it is a remark-worthy fact, 
that the Greek Fathers who wrote against 
endless misery, and in favor of Univer- 
salism, nevertheless used the Greek word 
axon and its derivatives, (rendered ever, 
for ever, everlasting, and eternal, in our 
common English version of the Bible,) to j 
express the duration of punishment, which 
they stated to be limited — thus proving 
that the ancient meaning of these words 
was not endless duration when applied to 
sin and suffering. For instances, with re- 
ference to author and page, see the " An- 
cient History of Universalism, by the Rev. 
H. Ballou 2d" from which the foregoing 
very condensed statement is extracted. 

After existing unmolested, in fact, after 
being the 'prevailing sentiment of the 
Christian Church, for nearly 500 years — 
especially 01 that portion of the Church 
nearest Judea, and therefore most under 
the influence imparted by the personal dis- 
ciples of the Lord Jesus, — Universalism 
was at last put down, as its Great Teacher 
had been before it, by human force and 
authority. From the fifth General Coun- 
cil, in A. D. 553, we may trace the rapid 
decline of pure Christianity. During all 
the dark ages of rapine, blood and cruelty, 
Universalism was unknown in theory as 
it was in practice ; and the doctrine of 
ceaseless sin and suffering prevailed with- 
out a rival. But no sooner was the Re- 



596 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



formation commenced, and arts and learn- 
ing began to revive, and the scriptures to 
be read and obeyed, then Universalism 
again found advocates, and began to spread 
in Christendom. The Anabaptists of Ger- 
many and of England openly embraced 
it — many eminent men of worth, talents 
and learning, embraced and defended it — 
and it formed the hope and solace of hun- 
dreds of pious men and women of various 
denominations. Among many others who 
embraced and taught Universalism, we 
have room only to name Winstanley, Ear- 
bury, Coppin ; Samuel Richardson, author 
of " Eternal Hell Torments Overthrown ;" 
Jeremy White, Chaplain to Cromwell, 
and author of " The Restoration of all 
Things ;" Dr. Henry More, Archbishop 
Tillotson, Dr. Thomas Burnet, William 
Whiston, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. George 
Cheyne, Chevalier Ramsay, John William 
Petersen, Neil Douglass, James Purves, 
Dr. Hartley, author of " Observations on 
Man ;" Bishop Newton, Sir George Stone- 
house, Rev. R. Barbauld, and his wife, 
Anna Letitia Barbauld, the authoress ; 
many of the General Baptists, in England; 
the English Unitarians, almost universally 
— especially Drs. Priestley, Lindsey, Bel- 
sham, and others — and many eminent 
men in Holland, France, and Germany. 
In the latter named country, the sentiment 
has spread most generally, and is now 
held by a vast majority of both the evan- 
gelical and the rationalist Christians : so 
much so, that Professor Sears has styled 
it " the orthodoxy of Germany ;" and Mr. 
Dwight declares that there are few eminent 
theologians in that country but what be- 
lieve it. In the United States the senti- 
ment is held, with more or less publicity, 
among sects whose public profession of 
faith is at least not favorable to it : as 
among the Moravians, the German Bap- 
tists of several kinds, a portion of the 
Unitarians, a few Protestant Methodists, 
and even among the Congregationalists 
and Presbyterians, according to Professor 
Stuart's statement. And it will undoubt- 
edly continue to spread silently and un- 
seen, among the more benevolent and 
affectionate portions of all sects, as rapidly 
as true scriptural knowledge enlightens 
their minds; until their prayers for the 
salvation of the lost shall find an answer- 



ing support in their hopes and their faith, 
and the modern, like the primitive Church, 
shall hold in its purity the doctrine of uni- 
versal salvation from sin and suffering. 



II. THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSAL- 
IST DENOMINATION, AND ITS PRE- 
SENT CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 

As a denomination, Universalists began 
their organization in England, about 1750, 
under the preaching of the Rev. John 
Kelly, who gathered the first church of 
believers in that sentiment, in the city of 
London. Mr. Kelly, and his congrega- 
tions generally, held to a modified form of 
the doctrine of the Trinity ; this has given 
a character accordingly to Universalism 
in Great Britain, which it does not possess 
in the United States. The Unitarians of 
Great Britain being very generally Uni- 
versalists, also, in sentiment and preach- 
ing, all who embrace Universalism in con- 
nection with the doctrine of the divine 
unity, join the Unitarians ; and hence it 
is, that the denomination does not increase 
as rapidly in Great Britain as it does in 
this country, though the doctrine is 
spreading there very extensively, and also 
on the Continent. 

Universalism was introduced into the 
United States as a distinctive doctrine, by 
John Murray. Mr. Murray had been 
converted from Methodism by the preach- 
ing of Mr. Kelly, and emigrated to this 
country in 1770, and soon after com- 
menced preaching his peculiar views in 
various places in New Jersey, Pennsylva- 
nia, New York, Rhode Island, and Massa- 
chusetts, and thus became the principal 
founder of the denomination. For a very 
interesting biography of Mr. Murray, we 
refer the reader to his Life; and for a 
fuller history of the sentiment and deno- 
mination generally, and especially of Uni- 
versalism in America, than my limits will 
allow me to furnish, I refer the reader to 
the " Modern History of Universalism, by 
Rev. Thomas Whittemore." This, with 
the " Ancient History of Universalism," 
before referred to, will give a continuous 
history of the doctrine, from the days of 
the apostles down to A. D. 1830. 

In the United States, to which we now 
confine our very brief sketch, Universal 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



591 



ism had been occasionally advocated, 
from pulpit, and press, before the arrival 
of Murray. Dr. George De Benneville, 
of Germantown, Pa., a learned and pious 
man, was a believer, and probably pub- 
lished the edition of Seigvolk's " Ever- 
lasting Gospel," a Universalist work 
which appeared there in 1753. The 
Rev. Richard Clarke, an Episcopalian, 
openly proclaimed it while rector of St. 
Philip's Church, in Charleston, S. C, 
from 1754, to 1759. Dr. Jonathan 
Mayhew, Congregationalist, of Boston, 
preached and published a sermon in its 
favor in 1762. Besides, the Tunkers (or 
German Baptists,) and Mennonists gener- 
ally, and some among the Moravians, 
(including Count Zinzendorf, who visited 
this country,) held it, though it is believed 
they did not often publicly preach it. 
But Mr. Murray was the first to whose 
preaching the formation of the denomina- 
tion can be traced. After itinerating 
several years, he located in Gloucester, 
Massachusetts, where the first Universal- 
ist society in this country was organized 
in 1779 ; and the first meeting-house, ex- 
cepting Potter's, in New Jersey, was 
erected there by the same, in 1780. 
Shortly previous to this, other preachers 
of the doctrine arose in varoius parts of 
New England, among whom were Adam 
Streeter, Caleb Rich, and Thomas Barnes 
— and organized a few societies as early 
as 1780. Elhanan Winchester, celebra- 
ted as a preacher among the Calvinistic 
Baptists, and, next to Murray, the most 
efficient early preacher of Universalism, 
was converted at Philadelphia, in 1781. 
The most of these early preachers, thus 
almost simultaneously raised up of God, 
probably differed considerably from Mr. 
Murray, and from each other, on various 
doctrinal points, while they held fellow- 
ship with each other as believers in the 
common salvation ; and thus was proba- 
bly laid the foundation of that heavenly 
liberality of feeling among Universalists 
in this country, which led them to tolerate 
a diversity of religious opinions in their 
denomination, almost as great as can be 
found in all the opposing sects united ; 
and causes them to hold fellowship as 
Christians, with all who bear that name 
and sustain that character ; and as Uni- 



versalists, all Christians who believe in 
universal salvation from sin and death. 

From this feeble commencement we 
date the rise of the Universalist denomi- 
nation on this continent. Simultaneous 
with it, persecutions dark and fierce were 
waged against it by the religious world. 
Legal prosecutions were commenced 
against our members in Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire, to compel them to 
support the established sects, and to ren- 
der illegal the ministerial acts of our 
preachers, as marriage, &c. For several 
years they were thus persecuted, insulted, 
and subjected to vexatious and expensive 
lawsuits, and denied the Christian name 
and sympathies, until they were com- 
pelled, in self-defence, to assume a de- 
nominational name and form, and at last 
even to publish to the world a written 
Profession of Faith : not to trammel the 
minds or bind the consciences of their 
members^ but to comply with a legal 
requisition, and inform the world what 
they did believe and practise as a Chris- 
tian people. The first meeting of dele- 
gates (from probably less than ten socie- 
ties) for this purpose, was held in Oxford, 
Massachusetts, September 14th, 1785. 
They took the name of " Independent 
Christian Universalists." Their socie- 
ties were to be styled, " The Independ- 
ent Christian Society in , commonly 

called Universalists ." They united in a 
" Charter of Compact," from which we 
make the following brief extract, as ex- 
pressing the views and feelings of the 
denomination to this day. 

" As Christians, we acknowledge no 
master but Christ Jesus : and as disci- 
ples, we profess to follow no guide in 
spiritual matters, but his word and spirit ; 
as dwellers in this world, we hold our- 
selves bound to yield obedience to every 
ordinance of man for God's sake, and we 
will be obedient subjects to the powers 
that are ordained of God in all civil cases ; 
but as subjects of that King whose king- 
dom is not of this world, we cannot ac- 
knowledge the right of any human au- 
thority to make laws for the regulation of 
our consciences in spiritual matters. 
Thus, as a true independent Church of 
Christ, looking unto Jesus, the author 
and finisher of our faith, we mutually 



598 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



agree to walk together in Christian fel- 
lowship, building up each other in our 
most holy faith, rejoicing in the liberty 
wherewith Christ has made us free, and 
determining by his grace no more to be 
entangled by any yoke of bondage." 

On this broad foundation (Jesus Christ 
being the chief corner-stone) of freedom 
of opinion and conscience — this liberality 
and toleration of widely differing views 
and practices in non-essentials — and this 
world-wide, heavenly charity to the bro- 
therhood, and to all mankind — the denom- 
ination was then based : on that founda- 
tion it has thus far been builded up a 
holy temple to the Lord ; and on that 
foundation of Christian liberty, love, and 
truth, may it ever continue, until every 
soul God has created is brought into it as 
a lively spiritual stone of the universal 
building. 

" The General Convention of the New 
England States and others," which was 
recommended by the meeting of delegates 
above noticed, held its first session in 
Boston, in 1786, and met annually there- 
after. In 1833, it was changed into the 
present " United States' Convention," with 
advisory powers only, and constituted by 
a delegation of four ministers and six lay- 
men, from each state convention in its 
fellowship. Rev. Hosea Ballou (yet living 
in a green old age, and actively engaged 
in preaching and writing in defence of the 
Restitution) was converted from the Bap- 
tists in 1791. His " Treatise on the Atone- 
ment," published in 1805, was probably 
the first book ever published in this coun- 
try that advocated the strict unity of God, 
and other views accordant therewith. 
That and his other writings, and his con- 
slant pulpit labors, probably have changed 
the theological views of the public, and 
moulded those of his own denomination 
into a consistent system to a greater ex- 
tent than those of any other man of this 
age, and in this country. In 1803, as 
before stated, the General Convention, 
during its session in Winchester, N. H., 
was compelled to frame and publish the 
following Profession of Faith. It is the 
only one that has ever been adopted and 
published by that body : 

" I. We believe that the Holy Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testaments 



contain a revelation of the character and 
will of God, and of the duty, interest, and 
final destination of mankind. 

" II. We believe there is one God, 
whose nature is love ; revealed in one Lord 
Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, 
who will finally restore the whole family 
of mankind to holiness and happiness. 

" III. We believe that holiness and true 
happiness are inseparably connected ; and 
that believers ought to maintain order, and 
practise good works, for these things are 
good and profitable unto men." 

In the unity of this General Profession 
of Faith, the entire denomination remained 
without any disturbance, until in 1827; 
when an effort commenced to create a 
division on the grounds of limited punish- 
ment after death, and no punishment after 
death. It finally resulted in a partial di- 
vision of a few brethren in Massachusetts, 
who held to punishment after death, from 
the main body, and the formation by them 
of " the Massachusetts Association of Re- 
storationists." But the great body of 
brethren agreeing with these few in senti- 
ment, refusing to separate from the deno- 
mination, and the few who did secede being 
nearly all gradually absorbed into the 
Christian (or Freewill Baptist) and Unita- 
rian denominations, or coming back to the 
main body, the Restorationist Association 
became extinct, and the division has ceased, 
except in the case of two or three preach- 
ers, and probably as many societies, which 
yet retain their distinctive existence in 
Massachusetts alone. Besides these, there 
are one or two societies in the United 
States, and perhaps as many preachers, 
who refused to place themselves under the 
jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical bodies of 
the denomination, yet profess a full and 
hearty fellowship for our faith and general 
principles. 

Leaving the history of the denomina- 
tion, we give the following statistics, to 
show within a small space the present 
condition of the denomination. 

Universalism in an organized form is 
now recognized in thirty-two States and 
Territories of the United States, and in 
four British Provinces on the North and i 
East. 

In the United States, the General Con- ; 
vention, the supreme head, is composed j 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



599 



of lay and clerical delegates, from the 
State Conventions. There is also a His- 
torical Society, which is the possessor of 
an increasing library, containing many 
rare and valuable works ; and a General 
Reform Association, devoted to advancing 
various reforms in the moral and religious 
condition of society. 

In nineteen States and Territories, State 
Conventions meet regularly, with which 
are connected four Educational, nine Mis- 
sionary, one Tract, and four Sunday School 
Associations, one Relief Fund, and one 
very thriving Book and Newspaper estab- 
lishment. 

Subordinate to these, and each em- 
bracing one or more counties, are eighty- 
three Ecclesiastical Associations, consti- 
tuted of delegates from the churches and 
societies, and of the ministers within their 
bounds. Connected with some of these, 
are four Missionary, and probably some 
other Associations. 

Under the control of these last are 1122 
Churches and Societies (not including 
churches organized within Societies), own- 
ing 905 meeting-houses, to which are at- 
tached 648 preachers, among whom are 
included those not fellowshipped in the 
usual form. 

The Educational Institutions owned and 
controlled wholly or in part by Univer- 
salists, are : 1 University (besides another 
in progress), 2 Colleges, 6 High Schools 
and Academies. 

The advancement of the doctrine in the 
Eastern, Middle, and Western States, has 
been astonishing within the last few years. 
In the Southern States, its progress has 
been much slower. In the United States 
and Territories, there are now (in 1858) 
constituting and belonging to the Univer- 
salist denomination : 1 United States Con- 
vention ; 1 Historical Society, with a val- 
uable library; 19 State Conventions; 4 
State Sunday School Associations; 11 
State Missionary Associations; 4 Educa- 
| tional Associations ; 83 other Associations 
for religious purposes; 129 schools; 1131 
Churches or Societies of believers; 905 
meeting-houses; 646 preachers; 19 peri- 
odicals; and 9 institutions for the dissem- 
ination of knowledge. 

In the United States and British Pro- 
vinces in North America combined, there 



are 1 General Convention, 1 Historical 
Society, and 1 General Reform Associa- 
tion ; 19 State Conventions, and 20 other 
State organizations for religious purposes ; 
85 Associations, and 4 Associational or- 
ganizations for special denominational ob- 
jects; 1334 Churches or Societies of 
believers, 913 houses of worship, 655 
preachers, 18 periodicals, and 9 institutions 
of learning. 

The number of unorganized congrega- 
tions, and individual believers scattered 
abroad, is very great also. And from the 
past increase and rapidly accelerating 
spread of the doctrine, aided as it is by all 
the benevolent feelings, holy desires, and 
humane tendencies of the age, its con- 
tinued prosperity even unto a final triumph 
is certain to our minds, even were we not 
assured of that fact by the promises and 
prophecies of God recorded in the pages 
of Holy Writ. 



III. THE FAITH OF UNIVERSALISTS, AND 
THE PRINCIPAL SCRIPTURE TEXTS 
RELIED ON FOR ITS SUPPORT. 

As we have before stated, the principles 
of Christian freedom of opinion and of 
conscience, and liberal toleration in all 
non-essentials, adopted by the founders of 
the denomination, are practised by Uni- 
versalists at the present day. In religious 
faith we have but one Father and one 
Master, and the Bible, the Bible, is our 
only acknowledged creed-book. But to 
satisfy inquirers who are not accustomed 
to the liberal toleration induced by a free 
exercise of the right of private judgment, 
it becomes necessary to state in other than 
scripture language, our peculiar views on 
theological subjects. The General Pro- 
fession of Faith adopted in 1803, and 
given above, truly expresses the faith of 
all Universalists. In that, the denomina- 
tion is united. 

The first preachers of our doctrine in 
this country, were converts from various 
denominations, and brought with them, to 
the belief of Universalism, many of their 
previous opinions, besides some which they 
picked up by the way. Murray held to 
the Sabellian view of the divine existence; 
and that man, being wholly punished in 
the person of the Saviour, by union with 



600 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



him, suffered no other punishment than 
what is the mere consequence of unbelief. 
Winchester was a Trinitarian of the " or- 
thodox" stamp, and held to penal suffer- 
ings. Both were Calvinistic in their views 
of human agency, and both believed in 
suffering after death. Mr. Ballou was 
Arian in his views of God's mode of sub- 
sistency; but gradually abandoned the 
doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ, and 
became convinced that sin and suffering 
begin and end their existence in the flesh. 
Others, probably, differed somewhat in 
these and other particulars from these 
three brethren. But, very generally, Uni- 
versalists have come to entertain, what are 
commonly called, Unitarian views of God, 
of Christ, of the Holy Spirit, and of Atone- 
ment, at least there appears to be a very 
general similarity between us and the 
English Unitarians, not only on those sub- 
jects, but also on the nature and duration 
of punishment, on the subject of the devil, 
and demoniacal agency, and on the final 
salvation of all moral beings. The Rev. 
Walter Balfour, a convert from the Con- 
gregationalist ministry, in Massachusetts, 
by his " Inquiries into the meaning of the 
original words rendered hell, devil, Satan, 
for ever, everlasting, damnation, &c. &c," 
and more especially by his " Letters on 
the Immortality of the Soul," led some to 
adopt the opinion that the soul fell asleep 
at death, and remained dormant until the 
resurrection, when it was awakened, and 
raised in the immortal, glorious, and hea- 
venly image. But all, or very nearly all 
Universalists agree in the opinion, that all 
sin and suffering terminate at the resur- 
rection of the dead to immortality, when 
Death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed ; 
and sin, the sting of death, be no more ; 
and Hades (hell or the grave) will give up 
its victory to the Reconciler of all things 
in heaven, earth, and under the earth, unto 
God ; and God be all that is in all. (See 
1 Cor. xv.) 

But, as before stated, they keep fellow- 
ship as Universalists with all Christians 
who believe in the final salvation of all 
intelligences from sin and death, whether, 
in other respects, they are Trinitarian 
or Unitarian ; Calvinistic or Arminian ; 
whether they hold to baptism by immer- 
sion, sprinkling or pouring of water, or to 



the baptism of the spirit only; whether 
they use or reject forms ; and whether 
they believe in punishment after death or 
not. In short, nearly all the differences 
of opinion which have rent the rest of 
Christendom into hundreds of opposing 
sects, exist in the Universalist denomina- 
tion, without exciting any division or even 
strife; yea,*they seldom cause even any 
controversy. Such is the harmonizing in- 
fluence of the doctrine of one Father, one 
Saviour, one interest, and one final destiny 
for the whole human family ! Universal- 
ists require, as the great evidence and only 
test that a professing Christian is what he 
pretends to be, the manifestation of the 
spirit of Jesus in his daily walk and con- 
versation — practical proofs that he loves 
God and man — that he has the spirit 
of Christ dwelling in his soul, as well as 
the light of truth in his understanding. 
" By this shall all men know that ye are 
my disciples, that ye have love, one to 
another," said Jesus ; and the only certain 
way to know that a maa has such love, is 
to see it in his life and actions. No pro- 
fessions, no forms or ceremonies, can ever 
so well evince this love, as living it. 

Those who wish to obtain more full and 
definite information respecting our views, 
are referred to the following out of the 
many excellent works published on the 
subject, viz. : Ballou on Atonement ; Bal- 
lou on the Parables ; Whittemore on the 
Parables ; Whittemore's Guide to Uhiver- 
salism ; O. A. Skinner's Universalism Il- 
lustrated and Defended ; Pro and Con of 
Universalism ; Williamson's Argument for 
Christianity ; Williamson's Exposition and 
Defence of Universalism ; Ely and 
Thomas's Discussion ; D. Skinner's Let- 
ters to Aikin and Lansing ; Smith's Divine 
Government ; Winchester's Dialogues ; 
Siegvolk's Everlasting Gospel ; Petitpierre 
on Divine Goodness ; (these four, and se- 
veral other good works, are published in 
the first ten numbers of the " Select Theo- 
logical Library," by Gihon, Fairchild & 
Co., Philadelphia — cost, only 81,00 for 
the ten numbers) ; Streeter's Familiar 
Conversations ; Balfour's Inquiry ; Bal- 
four's Second Inquiry ; Balfour's Letter's 
to Professor Stuart; Paige's Selections 
from Eminent Commentators; Sawyer's 
Review of Hatfield's " Universalism as It 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS. 



601 



Is ;" Asher Moore's Universalist Belief; or 
any of our numerous periodicals, pamph- 
lets, &c. 

We close, (for our limits forbid further 
remarks,) by giving the following scriptu- 
ral statement of our faith on several im- 
portant doctrines — a statement which has 
been widely circulated by our churches 
and brethren generally, and which may 
therefore be received with confidence, as 
stating our sentiments correctly. May we 
all be instructed of God into the reception, 
love and practice of all divine truth, now 
and for evermore. 

I. We believe in one, supreme, and self- 
existent God, who is love — the Creator, 
Preserver, and Benefactor of all things — 
the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and 
the Judge of the whole earth — whose every 
attribute and perfection is but a modifica- 
tion of his infinite and unchanging good- 
ness — of his impartial, unbounded and 
adorable love — and whose unending bene- 
volence and almighty power are unceas- 
ingly directed to produce, ultimately, the 
greatest possible good of his intelligent 
creation.* 

II. We believe in one Lord, the " Me- 
diator between God and Men, the man 
Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom 
for all, to be testified in due time" — who 
is the propitiation for the sins of the whole 
world — being the promised Seed of the 
woman, and descended also from Abra- 
ham, to whom the promise was made. 
We believe this Mediator to be the Son of 
the living God, the Saviour of the world, 
the brightness of the Father's glory, and 
the express image of his person, who has 
revealed unto us the will of his Father, 
and brought life and immortality to light 
through the gospel. We also believe that 
God endued this, his Son and Messenger, 
plenteously with all good gifts ; gave him 
all power necessary to execute his mis- 



* Wishing to be as brief as possible, we 
must beg your labor to examine the following, 
among many other passages of scripture which 
might be quoted, to prove the foregoing, and 
further declare our views respecting our hea- 
venly Father. Please to consult them. Deut. 
vi. 4 ; Psalm Ixxxv. 10, and cxlvii. 5 ; Isa. xlv. 
21, 22 ; Mai. ii. 10, and iii. 6 ; Mark xii. 29 ; 
John iv. 24 ; Acts xvii. 24-28 ; 1 Cor. viii 4-6 ; 
Eph. i. 11 ; 1 Tim. ii. £, 5; 1 John iv. 8, 16. 



sion, and communicated to him the Spirit 
without measure, that through him, (as he 
is the way, the truth, the resurrection, and 
the life,) the whole human family (for all 
die in Adam, or the earthly nature) might 
finally be ransomed from the grave, saved 
{not in but) from sin, delivered from mi- 
sery, and be raised to poiuer, incorrup- 
tion, holiness, glory, and be crowned 
with immortal life (not death) and un- 
speakable felicity in the resurrection — for 
as all die in Adam, even so, in Christ 
shall all be made alive. We further be- 
lieve that when Jesus has thus seen of the 
travail of his soul and is satisfied, he will 
deliver up the kingdom to God, his Father, 
and be himself subject unto the Father, 
that God may be all in all* 

III. We believe in the Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments, and receive 
their doctrines as the rule of our faith, 
and their precepts as the guide of our 
practice. We believe them to contain a 
revelation of the character, will, and attri- 
butes of God, our heavenly Parent — of 
the mission, life, doctrines, and precepts 
of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour — 
and of the duty and final destination of 
man. Believing them to be thus profitable 
for doctrine, reproof, correction, and in- 
struction in righteousness, that the Ser- 
vant of God may be thoroughly finish- 
ed unto all good works, and whoso that 
properly readeth them become wise unto 
salvation, we do most devoutly believe that 
every promise and every threatening 
made in them, and relating to a period yet 
future, will be fully performed and com- 
pletely fulfilled, to the honor, glory and 
praise of God, and to the benefit, satisfac- 
tion, and final salvation of man. We do 
not, therefore, believe that the Law (or 
threatenings) is against the gospel (or pro- 
mises) — for the promises were first made 
unto Abraham, and the law was given to 
Moses four hundred and thirty years after- 
ward, not to annul, but to confirm the 
promises. Therefore will all chastisement 
but tend to produce the blessings promised 



* Proofs. — Isaiah liii. 11 ; Matt. i. 21 ; John 
i. 45; iii, 34, 35; vi. 37-39, and xvii. 2, 3; 
Rom. xiv. 7-9 ; 1 Cor. vii. 6, and xv. ; Eph. i. 
9, 10;' Philip, ii. 10, 11; Colos. i. 14-20; 1 
Tim. ii. 5, 6 ; 2 Tim. i. 10 ; Heb. i. 2, 3, and ii. 
14; 1 John ii. 1, 2, iv. 14, and v. 10, 11. 



76 



602 



HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALISTS 



for all the nations, families, and kindreds 
of the earth, in Christ, the chosen seed. 

Disavowing, however, and protesting 
against all merely human authority in 
matters of religious belief — from that of 
the greatest council or highest dignitary, 
down to the humblest layman — and re- 
jecting the binding force of all man made 
creeds and confessions of faith, we ac- 
knowledge the Bible as our only creed, and 
claim for ourselves, what we freely grant 
to others, the privilege of reading and 
construing it, under divine aid, according 
to the teachings of our understandings and 
the dictates of our consciences.* 

IV. We believe that man, in his intel- 
lectual or spiritual nature, is the offspring 
of God — that, even when a sinner, he is 
authorized and commanded to call God 
his Father in heaven, and to pray to him 
for the forgiveness of his sins — that, though 
a backsliding child, yet he is called on to 
return to the practice of righteousness, be- 
cause God is " married unto" him — and 
though mankind are, by creation, the 
children of God, yet they may, in a more 
peculiar manner, become characteristical- 
ly the children of their Father which is 
in heaven, by imitating his impartial good- 
ness and universal perfections. We be- 
lieve that man is a moral agent, and as 
such an accountable being, — that he will 
certainly be punished for every crime he 
commits, and rewarded for every virtuous 
act he performs. We also believe that 
man was, by his Maker, " made subject 
to vanity," gifted with limited powers and 
faculties, and is, therefore, a finite being, 
capable of performing finite actions only — 
actions deserving none other than finite 
rewards and finite punishments. But, as 
man is the offspring of God, who has 
given us this life as a free gift, (it being 



* Proofs. — Gen. xii. 3, xviii. 18, xxii. 18, 
xxvi. 4, and xxviii. 14, compared with Acts iii. 
25, 26; and Gal. iii. 15-22; Num. xxiii. 19, 
compared with Isa. lv. 8-13, and Heb. xii. 5- 
14; 2 Cor. iii. 17; and 1 Cor. vii. 23; Luke 
xii. 57 ; John xii. 48, and 1 Thess. v. 21. 



unearned and unpurchased by our exer- 
cise of faith, works, or other conditions,) 
so we contend that the immortal, incor- 
ruptible, or endless life of holiness and 
enjoyment, which will be conferred on all 
mankind in the resurrection, will also be 
the free, unpurchased gift of our heavenly 
Parent. Believing thus, we contend that 
man's real and highest interest is to be 
virtuous ; inasmuch as virtue and happi- 
ness, on the one hand, and vice and misery, 
on the other hand, are as inseparably con- 
nected as cause and effect ; so that with- 
out a firm reliance on God and obedience 
to his commandments, there can be no 
real happiness — or, in other words, " fol- 
low after peace with all men ; and holi- 
ness, without which no man shall see [i. e. 
enjoy'] the Lord."* 

V. Respecting the divine laws and pre- 
cepts given for the obedience of man, we 
believe they all may be summed up in 
this : " Love God supremely, your neigh- 
bour as yourself" — that " love is the ful- 
filling of the law" — that " in [not merely 
by] keeping the commandments there is 
great reward" — that all the penalties of 
God's law are designed to promote its ful- 
filment, and not its violation — to secure 
the reformation and obedience of its trans- 
gressors, and not their endless misery and 
disobedience — and that being framed by 
unbounded wisdom, with a perfect fore- 
sight of all its operations, and armed with 
almighty power, not one jot or tittle shall 
ever depart from it until it receives the 
endless, voluntary and happy obedience 
of every intelligent being in the uni- 
verse.f 



* Proofs.— Gen, ii. 7, Num. xvi. 22, Mai. i-i. 
10, and Heb. xii. 9, compared with Luke xi. 2, 
4; Jerem. iii. 14, and James iii. 9; Matt. v. 
43-48 ; Exodus xxxiv. 6, 7 ; Prov. xi. 21 ; xvi. 
5, and Rom. ii. 5-13, Titus iii. 3-8, and Rom. 
viii. 19-24; Rom. xi. 6, compared with 29-36 ; 
Isa. Mi. 20, 21, and Gal. v. 22 ; 1 Cor. xv. 

■j- Proofs. — Rom. xiii. 10 ; James i. 25 ; Ps. 
lxxxix. 31-34; Isa. i. 5, 6 ; Prov. iii. 11,12; 
Ps. cvii. Ps. cxix. 67, 71, and Heb. xii. 11 ; 
Rom. viii 7-13 ; Matt. v. 17, 18. 



STATISTICS 



OF 



KELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



BAPTISTS. 

Statistical Details of the Regular Baptist Denominations in the United States in 1853, 
and a Comparison of the Variations from 1848. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

California 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

District of Columbia 

Florida 

Georgia 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Indian Territory 

Iowa - 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi , 

Missouri „ 

New Hampshire 

New Jersey 

New York - 

North Carolina 

Ohio 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania .. 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas... 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Wisconsin 

German and Dutch Churches, U.S. 
Swedish Churches in U. States.... 
Welsh Churches in United States 



Total in the United States. 



2.35 
19 
113 

2 

4 

100 

905 
602 

606 
40 
167 

176 
276 

32 
257 
186 

31 
561 



114 
812 
645 
474 

27 
369 

50 
451 
655 
321 
105 
704 
153 

40 
8 

34 



"P. 3 
OS 

362 

117 

14 

114 

3 

46 
538 
413 
290 

38 
124 
396 

85 
185 

24 
267 
126 

28 
269 
359 

79 
'115 
738 
348 
314 

16 
259 

56 
267 
381 
161 

89 
360 

86 

30 
7 

20 



W 


.g 


s 


3 


NO) 


Si 

C3 ■"" 






o 


uj 


ffl 


H 


58 


3,917 


52.696 


6 


971 


8,704 


2 


52 


932 


18 


598 


16,308 




5 


379 





100 


930 


20 


318 


4,396 


153 


6.015 


72.160 


64 


2.482 


31.448 


44 


2,132 


29,756 




301 


4.050 


26 


718 


7,561 


40 


5,118 


78,972 


6 


873 


8,765 


12 


757 


18,530 


7 


599 


3.834 


18 


1,745 


33,205 


11 


602 


9,924 


2 


CO 


818 


38 


2,614 


36.123 


49 


2,897 


37,076 


7 


262 


7,777 


18 


845 


14,846 


90 


4,326 


84,266 


71 


4,244 


52,275 


39 


1,928 


27,389 


6 


116 


877 


55 


2,093 


33,753 


7 


290 


7,582 


23 


4,776 


54.278 


55 


3,124 


50,539 


18 


1,463 


12.822 


3 


267 


7,481 


43 


5.792 


102,667 




421 


6.379 


11 


263 


2,000 




130 


400 




240 


1,300 


1,025 


63,506 


923,198 



33.772 

2,355 

2 

15,840 

352 

700 

1,931 
50,719 
12,363 
18,071 

1.857 

1,075 
62,139 

3,463 
20,402* 

1,758 
29,309 

8,122 

20.'727 
16,945 

8,718* 
11,850 
85.014* 
35,908 
24.743 
63 
28,04-4 

7,128 
40,116 
32,476 

1.019 

8.500* 
79,918 

2,350 



REMARKS. 



No returns from 1 Ass'n since 1856. 
Full returns. 
No returns. 

Full returns. 

No returns from 10 Associations. 
" « 13 " 

" a 21 " 

No returns. 

Full returns. 

No returns from 13 Associations. 

Full returns. 



No returns from 5 Associations. 

" « 6 " 

Full returns. 



No returns from 7 Associations. 
Full returns. 



No returns from 6 Associations. 
" " 11 

" " 5 " 

Full returns. 

No returns from 3 Associations. 
" " 1 " 

Full returns. 

Estimated numbers. 



* Decrease in 1858. 



RECAPITULATION. 



Years. 


Associations. ( 


1858 

1848 


565 

421 


Increase 


144 



Churches. Ordained Ministers. Members. 

11,600 7,141 923,198 

8,205 4,950 667,750 



3,395 



2,191 



255,44S 



The above figures indicate that the net increase in membership has been at the rate of 25,500 annually to the 
Regular Baptist Churches. In 1848, the number of those who were connected with the different Churches which 
practised immersion, was 1,039,612; at present, the number is estimated to be 1,515,490, being an increase of 475,878 
in the number of immersed believers : an average of 47.587 each year. Add to this the large number of those who 
have been immersed in the churches of the various Paedobaptist denominations, and an estimate may thus be made 
of the progress of this denomination. 

(603) 



604 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Other Denominations of Baptists in the United States. 



NAME OF SOCIETY. 



Old School, or Anti-Mission Baptists in the United States 

Free-Will Baptists 

Six Principle Baptists 

Seventh-Day Baptists 

Church of God 

Disciples of Christ 

German Baptists, or Brethren : 

Mennonites 



Associa- rhnr^oc Ordained Licen- Baptized Total No. 
tions. ^ nurcnes - Ministers, tiates. in 1857. in 1858. 



155 
130 



1,720 

1,170 

18 

67 

275 

2,000 

150 

300 



825 
945 
16 
70 
132 
2,000 
200 
250 



1,500 
1,415 



58,000 
50,312 
3,000 
7,250 
13.800 
350,000 
8,200 



Statistics of the Regular Baptists in the British Provinces and West India Islands, together 
with a Statement of the V/hole ITumber in North America. 



LOCATION 



British Provinces* 

West India Islands* , 

Total Regular Baptists in North America 



Associa- 
tions. 


Churches. 


Ordained 

Ministers. 


Licen- 
tiates. 


Baptized 
in 1857. 


13 
4 

582 


350 
110 

12,000 


212 
125 

7,478 


"38 
1,063 


1,700 
1,800 

67,006 



rotal No. 
in 1858. 



29,200 

2C ; 250 



988,648 



* Estimated. 



Baptist Periodicals in the United States. 



Name of Periodical. 

American Baptist 

Biblical Recorder 

Christian Chronicle " 

Christian Index " 

Christian Secretary " 

Christian Watchman and Reflector " 

Journal and Messenger " 

Louisiana Baptist " 

Michigan Christian Herald " 

Mississippi Baptist " 

New York Chronicle " 

New York Examiner " 

Pacific Recorder " 

Religious Herald " 

Southern Baptist " 

South-Western Baptist " 

The Baptist Watchman <; 

The Christian Era " 

The Christian Times " 

The New Jersey Baptist " 

The Tennessee Baptist " 

The Texas Baptist " 

The True Union " 

The Witness " 

Virginia Baptist « 

Western Recorder " 

Western Watchman " 

Zion's Advocate " 

Baptist Family Magazine Monthly. 

Baptist Missionary Magazine " 

Baptist Preacher " 

Der Sendbote des Evangeliums {German) " 

Home and Foreign Journal " 

Home Mission Record..... " 

Mother's Journal... " 

The Aurora « 

The Christian Repository « 

The Commission " 

The Macedonian " 

Western Evangelist " 

Western Star (Welsh) " 

Young Reaper " 

Christian Review Quarterly 

Southern Review and Eclectic " 

Total number of Periodicals published in the United States, 44, 



Place of Publication. 



Issued. 

Weekly New York, New York. 

" Raleigh, North Carolina. 

" Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

" Pennfield, Georgia. 

" Hartford, Connecticut. 

" Boston, Massachusetts. 

" Cincinnati, Ohio. 

" Mount Lebanon, Louisiana. 

" • Detroit, Michigan. 

" Jackson, Mississippi. 

" , New York, New York. 



San Francisco. California. 
Richmond, Virginia. 
Charleston, South Carolina. 
Tuskegee, Alabama. 
Knoxville, Tennessee. 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Chicago, Illinois. 
Newark. New Jersey. 
Nashville, Tennessee. 
Anderson, Tennessee. 
Baltimore, Maryland. 
Indianapolis, Indiana. 
Fredericksburgh. Virginia. 
Louisville, Kentucky 
St. Louis, Missouri. 
Portland, Maine. 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
Boston, Massachusetts. ' 
Richmond. Virginia. 
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. 
Richmond, Virginia. 
New York, New York. 
« (i 

Murfreesboro', Tennessee. 
Louisville, Kentucky. 
Richmond, Virginia. 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Rockwell, Illinois. 
Pottsville, Pennsylvania. 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
Baltimore, Maryland. 
Nashville, Tennessee. 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



605 



Baptist Periodicals in the British Provinces. 



Name of Periodical. Issued. 

Christian Messenger Weekly 

Christian Messenger " 

Christian Observer " 

Christian Visitor " 

Le Semeur Canadien " 

Grand Ligne Mission Kegister Quarterly St. Johns, Canada East, 

Total number of Periodicals published in the British Provinces, 6. 



Place of Publication. 
Brantford, Canada West. 
Halifax, Nova Scotia. 
Toronto, Canada West. 
St. Johns, New Brunswick. 
Montreal, Canada East. 



Bautist Colleges in the United States. 



Name. 



Baylor University 

Bethel College 

Brown University 

Burlington University 

Central College , 

Central University 

Central University 

Cherokee College 

Columbian College 

Denison University , 

Eleutherian College 

Enon College 

Franklin College 

Eurman University 

Georgetown College , 

Howard College 

Kalamazoo College , 

Madison University 

Marshall College , 

Mercer University 

Mississippi College 

Mount Lebanon University 

Mount Pleasant College , 

Oregon College 

Rector College , 

Richmond College 

Shurtleff College 

University at Lewisburg 

University of Rochester 

Union University 

Wake Forest College 

Waterville College 

Wayland University 

William Jewell College 

Colleges 

Universities . 



Location. Founded. 

Independence, Texas 1845. 

Russelville, Kentucky 

Providence, Rhode Island 1764. 

Burlington, Iowa 1854. 

M'Grawville, New York 1848. 

Minnesota 1855. 

Peila, Iowa 1854. 

Cassville, Georgia 1855. 

Washington, District of Columbia 1821. 

Granville, Ohio 1832. 

Lancaster, Indiana 1855. 

Sumner County, Tennessee 1851. 

Eranklin, Indiana 1844. 

Greenville, South Carolina 1851. 

Georgetown, Kentucky 1829. 

Marion, Alabama 1841. 

Kalamazoo, Michigan 1855. 

Hamilton, New York 1819. 

Griffin, Georgia 1854. 

Penfield, Georgia 1833. 

Clinton, Mississippi 1851. 

Mount Lebanon, Louisiana 1853. 

Mount Pleasant, Missouri 1855. 

Oregon City 1850. 

Pruntytown, Virginia 1839. 

Richmond, Virginia 1832. 

Upper Alton, Illinois 1835. 

Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 1849. 

Rochester, New York 1850. 

Murfreesboro', Tennessee 1840. 

Wake Forest, North Carolina 1838. 

Waterville, Maine 1820. 

Beaver Bam, Wisconsin 1854. 

Liberty, Missouri 1849. 

„ 20 

14 



Baptist Theological Institutions in the United States. 



Name. 

Fairmount Theological Institute....... 

Furman Theological Seminary 

Kalamazoo Theological Seminary , 

Mercer Theological Seminary 

New Hampton Theological Seminary 

Newton Theological Institution 

Rochester Theological Seminary 

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.... 
Theological Dep. University at Lewisburg. 

Theological Dep. Howard College 

Theological Dep. Madison University 

Western Baptist Theological Institution.. 



Total. 



Location. Founded. 

Cincinnati, Ohio 1851. 

Greenville, South Carolina 1835. 

Kalamazoo, Michigan 1846. 

Penfield, Georgia 1833. 

Fairfax, Vermont 1825. 

Newton Centre, Massachusetts 1826. 

Rochester, New York 1850. 

Greenville, South Carolina 1858. 

Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 1855. 

Marion, Alabama 1843. 

Hamilton, New York 1820. 

Georgetown, Kentucky 1840. 

12 



NE¥ SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS 



Theological Seminaries of the Hew School Presbyterians. 

Name. Location. 

Union New York, New York. 

Auburn Auburn, " 

Lane Near Cincinnati, Ohio. 

South- Western Marysville, Tennessee. 



606 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Statistical Details of the Condition of the New School Presbyterian Church in the 
United States, in 1858. 



No. 



SYNODS, 



Albany 

Utica 

Geneva 

Onondaga 

Susquehanna 

Genesee 

New York and New Jersey. 

Pennsylvania 

Western Pennsylvania 

Michigan 

Western Reserve 

Ohio 

Cincinnati 

Indiana 

Wabash 

Illinois 

Peoria 

Wisconsin 

Iowa..... 

Alta California 

Missouri 

Virginia 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

West Tennessee 

Mississippi 

Total 



Date. 


Presby- 
ters. 


Ministers. 


Licen- 
tiates. 


Candi- 
dates. 


Churches. 


1803 


5 


84 


3 


7 


70 


1829 


4 


65 





9 


72 


18P2 


6 


109 


4 


13 


3 


1855 


4 


80 


16 


12 


70 


1853 


3 


42 




3 


51 


1821 


6 


125 


4 


3 


108 


1788 


9 


226 


25 


73 


155 


1838 


4 


81 


5 


29 


69 


1843 


3 


21 




2 


37 


1834 


9 


81 


1 


12 


101 


1825 


7 


108 


3 


22 


89 


1814 


4 


53 


4 


6 


74 


1829 


3 


41 


12 


1 


37 


1826 


4 


43 


1 


12 


62 


1851 


4 


34 


3 


3 


58 


1831 


4 


63 


1 


8 


81 


1843 


8 


96 


3 


22 


78 


1857 


3 


32 


1 


1 


25 


1853 


5 


41 




10 


62 


1857 


3 


14 






10 


1S32 


4 


40 


2 


4 


57 


1788 


4 


37 


7 


7 


49 


1802 


3 


13 






21 


1817 


4 


44 




14 


84 


1826 


3 


19 




2 


38 


1846 


4 


20 


2 


2 


36 


120 


1.612 


102 


277 


1.687 





cants. 



8,257 
7,106 
9,725 
7,769 
3,989 
12,371 
24.905 
11^179 
2,850 
7,745 
6.113 
4,656 
2,691 
3,459 
2.709 
4,010 
4,289 
1,131 
1,974 
345 
2,290 
4,173 
1,028 
5,286 
2,209 
1,151 



OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS. 

Statistics of the Old School Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1858. 



SYNODS. 



Albany. 

Buffalo 

New York..... 
New Jersey... 

Philadelphia, 

Baltimore 

Pittsburg 

Allegheny.... 

Wheeling 

Ohio 

Cincinnati.... 

Indiana 

N. Indiana.... 

Illinois 

Chicago 

Wisconsin 

Iowa 

S. Iowa , 

U. Missouri., 

Missouri 

Kentucky — 

Virginia , 

N. Carolina.. 
Nashville...., 
S. Carolina.., 

Georgia 

Alabama 

Mississippi... 

Memphis 

Arkansas 

Texas 

Pacific .... 

N. India , 

Synods, 33. 



1803 
1843 

1788 
1823 



1854 
1802 
1854 
1841 
1814 
1829 
1S26 
1S43 
1831 
1856 
1851 
1852 
1858 
1858 
1832 
1802 
1788 
1788 
1826 
1813 
1845 
1835 

1829 

1847 
1852 
1851 
1852 
1841 



NAMES OF PRESBYTERIES COMPRISED IN EACH SYNOD. 



Londonderry, Troy, Albany, Mohawk 

Ogdensburgh, Genesee River, Buffalo City. Michigan, Rochester City. 
Hudson, North River, Bedford, Long Island, N. York, N. York 2d, [ 

Canton, Ningpo, Connecticut, Nassau, Western Africa ) 

Elizabethtown, Passaic, New Brunswick, West Jersey, Newton. \ 

Raritan, Susquehanna, Luzerne, Burlington j 

Philadelphia, Philadelphia 2d, New Castle, Donegal, Huntingdon, T 

Northumberland J 

Baltimore, Carlisle, Winchester 

Redstone, Blairsville, Saltsburgh, Ohio. Clarion 

Allegheny, Beaver, Erie. Allegheny City 

Washington, Steubenville, New Lisbon, St. Clairsville 

Columbus, Marion, Zanesville, Richl'd,Wooster, Coshocton, Hocking. 
Chillicothe, Miami, Cincinnati, Oxford, Sidney, Maumee, Findlay... 
N. Albany, Vincennes. Madison, Indianapolis, White Water, Palestine. 

Logansport, Lake, Fort Wayne, Crawfordsville, Muncie 

Kaskaskia, Peoria, Sangamon 

Chicago, Rock River, Schuyler 

Dane, Mihvaukie, Winnebago, Chippewa 

Cedar, Dubuque, St. Paul, Sioux City 

Iowa, Des Moines, Council Bluffs 

Upper Missouri, Kansas, Lafayette, Platte, Highland 

Missouri, St. Louis. Palmyra, Potosi 

Louisville, Muhlenb'g/fransylvania, Ebenezer.W. Lexington, Paducah 
Greenbrier. Lexington, West Hanover, East Hanover, Montgomery. 

Orange, Fayetteville, Concord: 

Holston, Maury, Nashville, Knoxville, Tuscumbia 

South Carolina, Bethel, Harmony. Charleston , 

Georgia, Hopewell, Flint River, Florida, Cherokee 

East Alabama, South Alabama, Tuscaloosa 

Mississippi, Louisiana, Tombeckbee, Red River, East Mississippi, \ 

Central Mississippi, New Orleans j 

Western District, Chickasaw, Memphis, North Mississippi 

Arkansas, Ouachita, Indian, Creek Nation 

Brazos. Eastern Texas, Western Texas, Central Texas 

California, Oregon, Stockton, Benicia 

Lodiana, Furrukhabad, Allahabad 

Total 



W 


„_, 


<— 




It 


.j 


"3 - E 


11 


0J JC 




3.- 




Zxi 


zs 


zc 











4 


99 


64 


5 


60 


62 


11 


169 


130 


9 


193 


179 


6 


180 


196 


3 


92 


120 


5 


104 


147 


4 


62 


91 


4 


76 


127 


7 


91 


176 


7 


99 


123 


6 


66 


127 


5 


44 


96 


3 


51 


92 


3 


67 


87 


4 


41 


42 


4 


43 


71 


3 


37 


52 





36 


61 


4 


57 


74 


6 


91 


151 


5 


109 


143 


3 


88 


167 





38 


49 


4 


96 


123 


5 


83 


141 


3 


52 


99 


7 


81 


121 


4 


51 


88 


4 


31 


49 


4 


38 


57 


4 


21 


21 


3 


22 


8 


— 


. 





159 


2,468 


3,324 



§ |« 

zo 

7.756 
5,028 J 
17,495 

21,119 

26,316 

10,215 
16.878 
9,181 
12.549 
11,335 
11.500 
7^328 
4,811 
4.490 
4^82 
1,534 
2.195 
2,660 
1,716 
4.793 
8.238 
10,640 
14.207 
3.278 
12.259 
6.442 
5,616 

5,508 

4.418 

2.616 

1,333 

674 

265 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 607 

General Review of the Old School Presbyterian Church, for the Year ending May, 1858. 

Synods in connection with the General Assembly 33 

Presbyteries 159 

Licentiates 256 

Ministers 2,468 

Churches 3,324 

Colored Communicants.. 12,115 

Number of Children in Sabbath-Schools and Bible Classes 136,715 

Whole number of Communicants reported 259,335 

Theological Seminaries of the Old School Presbyterians. 

Name. Location. 

Princeton Princeton, New Jersey. 

Western Theological Seminary Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. 

Union Theological Seminary Hampden Sydney, Prince Edward County, Virginia. 

Danville Theological Seminary Danville, Kentucky. 

Columbia Columbia, South Carolina- 
Old School Presbyterian Periodicals published in the United States. 

Name of Periodical. Issued. Place of Publication. 

Biblical Reporter Quarterly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Central Presbyterian Weekly Richmond, Virginia. 

Foreign Missionary Monthly New York, New York. 

Home and Foreign Record " Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Home, School, and the Church Annual " " 

North Carolina Presbyterian Weekly Fayetteville, North Carolina. 

Presbyterian Banner and Advocate " Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Presbyterian Herald " Louisville, Kentucky. 

Presbyterian of the West " Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Presbyterian Magazine Monthly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Presbyterian Expositor " Chicago, Illinois. 

St. Louis Presbyterian Weekly St. Louis, Missouri. 

Southern Presbyterian " Charleston, South Carolina. 

Southern Presbyterian Review.... Quarterly Columbia, South Carolina. 

Sabbath-School Visitor '. Semi-Monthly Philadelphia and New York. 

The Presbyterian Weekly Philadelphia and New York. 

True Witness " New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Total number of Periodicals published in the United States, 17. 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPALIAN'S. 

Principal Educational Institutions connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 

United States. 

Name. Location. 

Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Berkeley Divinity School Middletown, Connecticut. 

Burlington College Burlington, New Jersey. 

College of St. James Near Baltimore, Maryland 

Columbia College New York, New York. 

Connecticut Episcopal Academy , Connecticut. 

De Veaux College Suspension Bridge, New York. 

Diocesan School Near Fayetteville, Arkansas. . 

Diocesan Theological Seminary , Kentucky. 

Episcopal High School Howard, Fairfax County, Virginia. 

Female Episcopal Institute Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Hannah More Academy for Girls Near Reisterstown, Maryland. 

IIobart Free College Geneva, New York. 

Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio. 

Nashotah House Nashotah, Wisconsin. 

Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary • Near Alexandria, Virginia. 

Racine College Racine, Wisconsin. 

Shelby College Shelbyville, Kentucky. 

Southern Institute Jackson, Louisiana. 

St. Ann's Hall , Frankfort, Kentucky. 

St. Ann's Hall Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

St. Mary's Hall Green Bank, Burlington, New Jersey. 

St. Mary's Hall Baltimore, Maryland. 

St. Mary's School Raleigh, North Carolina. 

St. Paul's School Concord, New Hampshire. 

St. Paul's College , New Orleans, Louisiana. 

St. Paul's College Palmyra, Missouri. 

St. Thomas' Hall Holly Springs, Mississippi. 

St. Timothy's Hall Catonsville, Baltimore County, Maryland. 

The Georgia Episcopal Institute Near Macon, Georgia. 

Theological Seminary of Ohio Gambier, Ohio. 

Trinity School New York, New York. 

Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut. 

Vermont Episcopal Institute , Vermont. 

Virginia Female Institute Staunton, Virginia. 



608 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Statistics of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U. States, 1858. 



STATES. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

California 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

District of Columbia...* 

Florida 

Georgia 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kentucky 

Kansas 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Massachusetts 

Martland 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

New Hampshire 

New York 

New Jersey 

New Mexico! 

North Carolina 

Ohio 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah! 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington Territory^ 
Wisconsin 

Total , 





s 






to 


s 


O 


E2 








o 


M 


o 


1 


28 




5 


1 


12 


2 


128 


1 


19 


1 


...... 


1 


25 


1 


64 


1 


30 


1 


25 


1 


29 




3 


1 


32 


1 


17 


1 


78 


1 


144 


1 


41 




18 


i 


31 


l 


23 




JL 


i 


13 


2 


435 


1 


SO 


1 


48 


1 


85 


1 


7 


2 


173 


1 


31 


1 


69 


1 


18 




13 


1 


"23 


2 


125 


1 


47 


34 


1,930 









c 








is 


Hi 





37 


1,240 


2 




17 


500 


117 


10,596 


26 


S94 


14 


385 


27 


1.5S0 


80 


2.640 


33 


1,118 


28 


671 


26 


1,633 


2 




41 


1.551 


16 


1.063 


67 


6,127 


132 


10.510 


40 


1,550 


5 




35 


1.049 


25 


9S1 


1 




14 


626 


410 


31.401 


76 


4,012 


60 


2.6S6 


89 


5.117 


6 




163 


13,207 


26 


2.607 


64 


5.453 


17 


914 


26 


532 


33 


1.442 


180 


6,315 


36 


1,S69 


,974 


120,328 



3 
17 
15 

1 

8 

253 

60 

"33 

56 
2 
149 
25 
56 
U 



r 






































- 




II 




11 


il 

SB ,§ 



■3 

to 


— = 


a. ■£ 

S?5 


to 


M 




O 


* 


3 


w 


9S 


69S 


"i 


1 








47 


238 




1.044 


5.092 


3* 


2 


2 






222 
75 


1,7 S4 


1 










491 




144 


1.405 


i 










239 


1,838 


2 




2 






151 


981 












S6 


511 












269 


2,109 
" 1.520 


3 
"2 


1 








1S1 




14S 


1,072 


1 












4.992 
6.647 


"4 


4 
4 


2 

1 


i 




773 




177 


1,197 


"2 


3 








68 


493 




99 


6S5 


1 
1 


2 




... 




47 


369 




2,953 


23.992 


8 


13 


12 




i 


523 


4.3G6 


3 

"i 


1 


::: 






10 


1.593 




609 


4,2S8 


3 


i 


2 










1 
9 


"s 


*2 


"i 




1.S35 


17.630 




323 


2,3S7 


1 


1 


_ 






225 


2,072 


2 


3 


2 






86 


494 




1 








36 


209 


1 




... 






_ 


603 


1 




... 






S03 


4,735 


4 
"3 


2 


1 






169 


1.215 




11,373 


95,706 


59 


47 


26 


2 


1 



* Embraced in Diocese of Maryland. f ^ T ° returns rendered. J Embraced in Diocese of Oregon. 

Statistics of Foreign Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 



MISSIONS. 


Bishops. 


Clergy. 


Lay 

Assistants. 


N ative 
Teachers. 




1 
1 


10 
8 

1 


13 
4 
2 




China „ 


i'6 






Total 


2 


19 


19 


17 







EVANGELICAL LUTHERANS. 

Principal Literary and Theological Institutions connected with the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in the United States. 

Name. Location. 

Central College of Iowa Des Moines, Iowa. 

Female Seminary Hagerstown, Maryland. 

Hartwick Seminary Hartwick, New York. 

Illinois State University , Illinois. 

Lutheryille Female Seminary LutnerTille, Maryland. 

Newberry College and Theological Seminary Newberry, Soutb Carolina. 

Pennsylvania College Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 

Roanoke College Salem, Roanoke County, Pennsylvania. 

The Orphan's Farm School Zelienople, Butler County, Pennsjlvania. 

The Orphan's Home Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Western Carolina Male Academy Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. 

Wittenberg College Springfield, Ohio. 

Wythevllle Female College Wytheville, Virginia. 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



609 



Statistics* of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the TJ. States, 1858. 



NAMES OF SYNODS, 



New York Ministerium 

Hartwick Synod 

Synod of Pennsylvania 

" East " 

" West " 

Allegheny Synod 

Pittsburg Synod 

Central Synod of Pennsylvania. 

Synod of Maryland 

Melanchthon Synod 

Virginia Synod 

Synod of West Virginia 

" North Carolina 

" South Carolina 

" Texas 

'•' Kentucky 

English Dis. Synod of Ohio 

East Ohio Synod 

Wittenberg Synod of Ohio 

Miami Synod of Ohio 

Olive Branch Synod of Indiana. 
Synod of Illinois 

" North Illinois 

" South " 

" Iowa 

Joint Synod of Ohio 

Tennessee Synod 

Synod of Indiana 

" Wisconsin 

" Missouri 

" Indianapolis 

" Michigan 

German Synod of Iowa 

Synod of Buffalo 

Franckean Synod 

Total.... 





S 


gfj 












a 


s 


C3 
03 

O 

O 


^2 

0> ° OT 


o 
o 


a 

o 
O 


t 
to 




lil 


2 => 
o.-ii 

PP 


59 


55 


10,377 


51 




356 


3,129 






25 


33 


3,200 


23 


24 


186 


1,253 


2 




99 


258 


38,532 
7,795 


140 








13 


5 


50 


91 


31 


59 


1,178 


7,700 






40 


76 


11,502 


22 


57 


629 


5,232 






31 


93 


7,210 


69 




596 


3,629 






42 


110 


7,898 


58 


24 


534 


10,257 




3 


21 


72 


6,124 
10,454 


12 












21 


44 


41 


42 


868 


5,198 


2 


1 


12 
26 


24 
55 






"28 


"l54 




""2 




2,839 


1,103 


18 
17 


30 

28 


1,056 
2,682 


"To 




"*37 




'""i 




335 


43 


55 


4,811 


32 




168 


1,119 


2 




12 


17 


600 










1 




9 


11 


721 




8 


63 


350 






13 


36 


3,530 


22 


35 


31 


1,360 






26 


69 


1,823 

1,772 














24 


31 


15 


10 


150 


1.0S9 


7 




26 


40 


2,074 


28 




265 


1,805 






18 


35 


1.190 


15 


4 




660 






23 


17 


2,621 


14 


5 


40 


300 


3 




39 


48 


3,725 














9 
16 
90 
32 
14 


14 
36 
171 

79 
15 


""348 


4 
7 
20 


"'25 






""i 
""i 












1,040 


971 


16 


50 
















140 
10 
10 
12 
16 
24 


120 

20 
20 
21 
16 
30 












2 
""2 




















134,004 






1,083 


1,920 


614 


321 


5,285 


45,490 


39 


9 



IS 



* These statistics have been prepared from the last Synodical Minutes, when they have been accessible ; when not, 
the latest material in the possession of the compiler has been used. Although, in every instance, there may not be 
the strictest accuracy, we presume a correct exhibition of the numerical strength of the Lutheran Church in the 
United States is given. — Lutheran Almanac, 1859. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Methodist Periodicals published in the United States. 

Name of Periodical. Issued. Place of Publication. 

California Christian Advocate , Weekly San Francisco,, California. 

Central Christian Advocate " St. Louis, Missouri. 

Christian Advocate and Journal " New York, New York. 

Ladies' Repository , Monthly " " 

Missionary Advocate , " " " 

National Magazine " " " 

Northern Christian Advocate Weekly Auburn, New York. 

North-western Christian Advocate " Chicago, Illinois. 

Pacific Christian Advocate " Salem, Oregon. 

Pittsburg Christian Advocate " Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Quarterly Review Quarterly New York, New York. 

Sunday-School Advocate Monthly a " 

The Good News " " " 

Western Christian Advocate Weekly ;.... Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Methodist Colleges and Universities in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 

the United States. 



Name. Location. 

Allegheny College Meadville, Pa. 

Cornell College Mt. Vernon, Iowa. 

Dickinson College Carlisle, Pa. 

Garrett Biblical Institute Evanston, 111. 

Genesee College Lima, N. Y. 

Hamline University Red Wing, Min. 

Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomingtou, 111. 

Indiana Asbur? University Greencastle, Ind. 

Iowa Wesleyan University Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. 



Name. Location. 

Lawrence University Appleton, Wis. 

Methodist Biblical Institute Concord, N. H. 

M'Kendree College Lebanon, 111. 

North-western University Evanston, 111. 

Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, Ohio. 

University of the Pacific Santa Clara, Cal. 

Wesleyan University Middletown, Conn, 

Willamette University Salem, Oregon. 



77 



610 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Methodist Seminaries, in Connection with the Annual Conferences of the Methodist 

Episcopal Church. 



Name. 

Albion Wesleyan Seminary 

Amenia Seminary 

Asbury Female Institute 

Asbury Seminary 

Ashland Collegiate Institute 

Bakersfield Academy 

Baldwin Institute 

Baltimore Female College. 

Brookville College 

Charlotte Boarding Academy 

Conference Seminary 

Danville Seminary 

Dickinson Seminary 

E. Maine Conference Seminary... 

Falley Seminary 

Female Collegiate Institute 

Flushing Female Institute 

Fort Wayne Female College 

Genesee Wesleyan Seminary 

Georgetown Seminary 

gouverneur wesleyan seminary. 

Greenfield Seminary 

Hamline Unit. Prepar. Dep 

Illinois Conference Female Col.. 
Indiana Asbury Female College.. 

Indiana Female College 

Jonesville Academy 

Maine Wesleyan Seminary 

Mansfield Female College 

Missouri Conference Seminary... 

Mount Carmel Academy 

Newark Wesleyan Institute 

N. Hampshire Conf. Seminary 



Location. 

Albion, Michigan. 
Amenia, N. York. 
Greencastle, Ind. 
Chagrine Falls, O. 
Ashland, N. York. 
Bakersville, Vt. 
Berea, Ohio. 
Baltimore, Md. 
Brookville, Ind. 
Charlotte, N. Y. 
Bethany, Pa. 
Danville, 111. 
Williamsport. Pa. 
Bucksport, Me. 
Fulton, N. York. 
Newbury, Yt. 
Flushing, L. I. 
Fort Wayne, Ind. 
Lima, N. York. 
Georgetown, 111. 
Gouverneur, N.Y. 
Greenfield, Ohio. 
Red Wing, Min. 
Jacksonville, 111. 
New Albany, Ind. 
Indianapolis, Ind. 
Jonesville, N. Y. 
Kent's Hill, Me. 
Mansfield, Ohio. 
Jackson, Mo. 
Mount Carmel, El. 
Newark, N. J 
Northfield, N. H. 



Name. 
N. Jersey Conference Seminary.. 

N. York Conference Seminary 

N. W. Virginia Academy 

Oakland Female Seminary 

Ohio Wesleyan Female College... 

Olin and Preston Institute 

Oneida Conference Academy 

Oregon Institute 

Paris Methodist Seminary 

Pennington Female Seminary 

Pittsburg Female College 

Portland Academy 

Preparatory School 

Providence Conference Academy. 

Rock River Seminary 

Shelby Seminary 

S. III. Conf. Female Academy 

Springfield High School 

Susquehanna Seminary 

Troy Conference Academy 

A t alley Female Institute 

Wellsburgh Female Seminary 

Wesleyan Academy 

Wesleyan Female College 

Wesleyan Female Coll. Institute. 

Wesleyan Female Institute 

Wesleyan Seminary 

Wesleyan Seminary 

Western Reserve Seminary 

Whitewater Female College 

worthington female seminary... 
Wyoming Seminary 



Location. 

Pennington, N. J. 
Charlotteville, N.Y. 
Clarksburgh, Va. 
Hillsborough, Ohio. 
Delaware, Ohio. 
Blacksburg, Ya. 
Cazenovia, N.Y. 
Salem, Oregon. 
Paris, III. 
Pennington, N. J. 
Pittsburg, Pa. 
Portland, Oregon. 
Middletown, Conn. 
E. Greenwich, R. I. 
Mount Morris, 111. 
Shelbyville. 111. 
Belleville. 111. 
Springfield, Ohio. 
Bingham ton, N. Y. 
West Poultney, Yt. 
Winchester, Va. 
Wellsburgh, Pa. 
Wilbraham, Mass. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Wilmington, Del. 
Staunton, Ya. 
Springfield, Vt. 
Feoria, 111. 
Farmington, Ohio. 
Centerville, Ind. 
Worthington, Ohio. 
Kingston. Pa. 



Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1858. 



CONFERENCES. 



Kentucky.... ., 

Louisville 

Missouri 

St. Louis 

Kansas Mission...., 

Tennessee 

Holston 

Memphis 

Mississippi 

Virginia 

Western Virginia. 
North Carolina.... 
South Carolina.... 

Georgia 

Alabama 

Florida 

Texas 

Eastern Texas 

Arkansas 

Wachita 

Pacific 

Indian Mission 

Louisiana 

Total 



PREACHER S. 


Travelling-. 


Supernu- 
merary. 


Local. 


77 


11 


235 


79 


13 


201 


82 


4 


142 


101 


9 


202 


22 




12 


178 


9 


364 


106 


10 


388 


130 


7 


430 


120 


12 


205 


164 


4 


185 


48 


1 


66 


114 


10 


204 


145 


11 


231 


182 


25 


578 


187 


16 


493 


71 


8 


106 


122 


6 


178 


69 


4 


192 


56 


1 


143 


68 


3 


144 


34 


1 


30 


35 




64 


77 


2 


114 


2,267 


167 


4,907 



MEMBERS IN SOCIETY. 



Whites. 



17.606 
20,857 
16,186 
18,895 
540 
34,644 
42.977 
32,135 
17,110 
34,743 

8.534 
32,345 
35,733 
49.385 
41,535 

8,967 
11.308 
12:570 
li:341 

9,251 

1,664 
102 

8,227 



Colored and 
Indians. 


Total. 


5,005 


22,934 


4.036 


25.186 


1,760 


18,174 


1.602 


20.809 


191 


765 


7,332 


42.527 


4,332 


47.813 


7 722 


40,418 


14,5S8 


32.041 


5,574 


40,730 


296 


8.945 


12,590 


45,263 


45,190 


81,310 


23,237 


73,407 


22.292 


64,523 


7.224 


16,376 


3,198 


14,812 


1,959 


14,794 


1,000 


12,541 


2,453 


11,919 




1,729 


3,844 


4,045 


6,296 


14,716 


181,308 


655,777 





Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 




NAME. 


Elected. 


RESIDENCE. 


NAME. 


Elected. 


RESIDENCE. 


Joshua Soule 




1824 
1832 

1846 


Nashville, Tenn. 
Summerfield, Ala. 
Aberdeen, Miss. 


George F. Pierce 


1854 
1854 
1854 


Culverton, Ga. 
Lynchburgh, Ya. 
Louisville, Ky. 


Robert Paine 


H. H. Kavanaugh 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



611 



Statistical View of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1858. 



CONFERENCES, 



Baltimore 1 

East Baltimore J 

Philadelphia 

Arkansas 

Kentucky 

Providence 

New England 

North Indiana 

New Jersey \ 

Newark j 

New York East 

Western Virginia 

Kansas and Nebraska 

Maine 

Oneida 

Pittsburg 

New Hampshire 

New York 

Vermont 

Wyoming 

BIissouri 

East Maine 

Troy 

Black River 

Erie 

Minnesota 

East Genesee 

West Wisconsin 

Genesee ' 

Ohio 

Rock River 

Wisconsin 

Detroit 

Cincinnati 

Peoria 

Upper Iowa 

North Ohio 

Michigan 

Delaware 

South-east Indiana 

Iowa 

South Illinois 

Indiana 

North-west Indiana 

Illinois 

Oregon 

California 

German Mission 

Liberia (1855) 

Total.... 



PREACHERS 



Travelling 


Supernu- 
merary. 


316 


47 


213 


29 


19 




20 


2 


109 


28 


126 


33 


105 


9 


204 


30 


142 


45 


88 


7 


29 




90 


27 


147 


34 


176 


21 


77 


28 


207 


38 


61 


18 


93 


11 


39 


3 


77 


16 


165 


50 


168 


30 


167 


26 


58 


4 


150 


33 


79 


6 


110 


14 


144 


13 


151 


18 


111 


6 


116 


7 


174 


23 


106 


7 


103 


4 


129 


15 


104 


6 


100 


8 


107 


16 


129 


5 


123 


6 


113 


6 


101 


11 


169 


17 


53 


4 


67 


7 


11 




19 


1 


5,365 


769 



Total. 


Local. 


363 


371 


242 


368 


19 


29 


22 


27 


137 


99 


159 


91 


114 


181 


234 


247 


187 


176 


95 


155 


29 


43 


117 


86 


181 


142 


197 


224 


105 


96 


245 


161 


79 


56 


104 


134 


42 


62 


93 


82 


215 


177 


198 


159 


193 


206 


62 


81 


183 


139 


85 


133 


124 


102 


157 


249 


169 


230 


117 


165 


123 


141 


197 


236 


113 


194 


107 


170 


144 


146 


110 


138 


108 


151 


123 


159 


134 


• 275 


129 


306 


119 


176 


112 


145 


186 


330 


57 


43 


74 


62 


11 


7 


20 


7 


6,134 


7,169 



NUMBERS IN SOCIETY. 



1,117 
2,721 
13,326 
13,938 
16,858 

34,709 

22.236 
16,452 

1,033 

9.735 
16,380 
29,969 

9,320 
26,666 

6,438 
11,652 

4.526 

8,352 
22,990 
16,972 
20,306 

2,131 
16,861 

5,490 

9,511 
27,063 
14,005 

7.655 
10,681 
26,301 
12,221 

9,215 
14.844 
10;i94 
12.993 
17,302 
17.889 
16,284 
19,707 
12,305 
20,609 

1,895 

2,500 
558 

1,197 



Probationers 


Total. 


8,649 


73,622 


7,454 


57,342 


145 


1,262 


365 


3,086 


1,726 


15,052 


1,912 


15,850 


4,325 


21,183 


6,312 


41,021 


3,029 


25.265 


2,910 


19,362 


149 


1,182 


1,742 


11,477 


2,134 


18.514 


5,008 


34,977 


1,528 


10,848 


4,477 . 


31,143 


905 


7,343 


2,485 


14.137 


643 


5,169 


2,428 


10,780 


3,382 


26.372 


' 3,128 


20,100 


2,607 


22,913 


553 


2,684 


2.257 


19,118 


1.368 


6,858 


1,133 


10.644 


* 3.206 


30.269 


2,413 


16,418 


1,646 


9,301 


2,072 


12,753 


2,106 


28,407 


1,690 


13,911 


1,859 


11,074 


1,586 


16,430 


1,532 


11.726 


1,359 


14,352 


1,813 


19,115 


2,841 


20.730 


3,902 


20,186 


3,154 


22.861 


1,809 


14,114 


3.213 


23,822 


591 


2,486 


612 


3,112 


216 


774 


177 


1,374 


110,551 


820,519 



Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



NAME. 


ENTERED THE MINISTRY. 


ELECTED BISHOP. 


RESIDENCE. 


Thomas A. Morris 

Edmund S. Janes 


Ohio Conference 

Philadelphia Conference 


1816 
1830 
1826 
1833 
1839 
1830 


At Cincinnati... 
At New York... 
At Boston 


.. 1836 
.. 1844 

.. 1852 
.. 1852 
.. 1852 

.. 1852 


Cincinnati. 
New York. 
Wilmington, Del. 






Pittsburg. 


Osmon C. Baker 

Edward It. Ames 


New Hampshire Conference 

Illinois Conference 


:::::: 


Concord. N. II. 
Indianapolis. 



612 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Statistical View of the British Wesleyan Methodist Church, in 1858. 



CONFERENCES. 



BRITISH CONFERENCE:— 

Great Britain 

Ireland 

Missionaries 

Foreign Missions 

FRENCH CONFERENCE 

AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE 

CANADA CONFERENCE , 

BRITISH AMERICAN EASTERN CONFERENCE., 

Total 



MINISTERS. 



1,107 

86 

27 

297 



16 
83 

203 
70 



MEMBERS. 



270.095 
19:287 



64,775 



354,157 
1,130 
21.247 
37,596 
12,750 



426,860 



Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. 



DISTRICTS. 



Toronto 

Hamilton , 

Brantford 

London , 

Chatham , 

Guelph and Huron 

Owen's Sound 

Barrie* 

Colburgh 

Belleville 

Kingston 

Brock ville 

Ottawa 

Montreal 

Quebec 

Stanstead 

Hudson's Bay 

Total 



MINISTERS AND PREACHERS. 


Number of 
Members. 


Number 
of 
Sunday- 
Schools. 


Number of 
Sunday- 
School 
Scholars. 


3a Circuits. 


On Domes- 
tic Missions. 


On Indian 
Missions. 


24 
23 
12 
7 
3 
5 
10 

"l2 

7 
10 
9 
5 
3 
1 


3 

....„ 

7 
8 
4 

3 
4 
3 
6 
9 
5 
11 


....... 

...... 

...... 

""a 


5,168 
3.217 
3^76 
2,152 
1,602 
3,635 
1,370 
1,978 
3,274 
3,961 
3,366 
2,884 
1,831 
1,682 
1,105 
1.206 
330 


57 
10 
30 
34 
18 
46 
16 
28 
32 
40 
23 
23 
16 
27 
16 
16 


3,746 
909 

2,097 
1,972 

912 
2,632 

739 
1,168 
2,237 

803 
1,465 

635 

1,984 

""595 






131 


68 


15 


42,086 


434 


21,786 



* No returns. f Returns incomplete. 

ISRAELITES. 

Statistics of the Israelites in the United States. 



Maine 

New Hampshire... 

Vermont 

Massachusetts { 

Rhode Island J 

Connecticut J 

New York 

New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Carried forward... 



Ministers. 


Congrega- 
tions. 


8 


8 


35 


33 


23 


22 


1 


1 


7 


7 


5 


5 


3 


3 


4 


4 


5 


5 


4 


4 


2 


2 


97 


94 



Numerical 
Strength.* 



3,000 



35,000 
1,000 

10,000 
500 
8,000 
5,000 
1.500 
3 000 
3,000 
300 
3,000 
1,000 



|4,300 



STATES. 



Carried forward... 

Louisiana 

Tennessee 

Kentucky 

Missouri 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Ohio 

Wisconsin 

Iowa 

Michigan 

Texas 

California 

Kansas 

Nebraska \ 

Minnesota j 

Oregon 

Arkansas 

Total 



Ministers. 


Congrega- 
tions. 


97 


94 


5 


5 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


4 


4 


4 


4 


13 


13 


2 


2 


1 


1 


2 


2 


2 


2 


6 


6 


1 


1 


143 


140 



Numerical 
Strength.* 



74.300 
8,000 
2,500 
2,500 
3.000 
4,000 
4,000 

10,000 
1.500 
1.000 
3.000 
2,000 

10,000 
800 

1,500 

1,000 



Estimated ; there being no reliable data. 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 613 



Israelite Periodicals published in the United States. 



Name of Periodical. Issued. 

Deborah Weekly... 

The Corner Stone " 

The Gleaner " 

The Israelite " 

The Jewish Messenger " 

The Occident Monthly. 

Sinai Weekly... 



Place of Publication. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
New York, New York. 
San Francisco, California. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
New York, New York. 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
Baltimore, Maryland. 



Educational Institutions of the Israelites in the United States. 

Name. Location. 

Hebrew Education Society Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. 

Two Grammar Schools Cincinnati, Ohio. 

EVANGELICAL GERMAN" REFORMED CHURCH. 

Statistics of the Evangelical German' Reformed Church in the United States, for 1858. 

The Church comprises two Synods — the Eastern, or parent Synod, styled "The Synod of the German Reformed 
Church in the United States ;" and the Western, styled " The Synod of Ohio and adjacent States." The Synods are 
divided into classes. 



SYNODS. 


NAMES OF CLASSES. 


Ministers. 


Congre- 
gations. 


Members. 


Communi- 
cants. 


Sunday- 
Schools. 


Sunday- 
School 
Scholars. 


EASTERN 




19 
12 

17 
24 
12 
16 
19 

6 
26 
12 

8 
15 
15 

7 


86 
35 
59 
73 
44 
65 
47 
8 
53 
47 
35 
31 
19 
22 


13,630 
3,568 
8,932 
4,816 
3,346 
3,939 
5,975 
1,451 
4,056 
3,050 
1,455 
2,192 
2,984 


10,426 
3,049 
7,442 
4,830 
2,921 
3,479 
4,734 
991 
3.710 
2.543 
1,355 
1,840 
2,629 


70 
21 
75 
58 
40 
61 
34 
5 
27 
31 
16 
19 
19 

100 


7,000 






2,100 
7.500 
5,800 
4,000 
6,100 
3,400 
500 




Lebanon 

Zion 


















2.700 






3,100 
1.600 










1.900 






1.900 










Additional allowance for ) 
defective statistics ) 


12,000 


10,000 


10,000 


WESTERN 


Total in Eastern Synod 

Miami 


208 

22 
13 

9 
14 
18 
10 

4 
11 

6 
19 


674 

44 
30 
47 
38 
47 
29 
4 
19 
13 
70 
10 


70,794 

2,554 

1,032 

2,648 

1,519 

2,134 

932 

400 

1,200 

323 

5,000 

6,000 


59,812 

2,324 

1,000 

2.348 

1,338 

2,057 

800 

352 

951 

299 

4,157 

5,000 


557 

24 
11 
25 
25 
15 
7 
5 
15 
8 
32 
50 


55,700 

2.400 
1,100 




Westmoreland 


2.500 
2.500 






1,500 
700 
500 




St. Joseph 






1,500 

800 

3,200 

2,500 




Illinois 




Allowance for defects 




Total in Western Synod.... 


128 


351 


23,642 


20,625 


167 


19,200 




Total in hoth Synods 


336 


1,025 


94,436 


80,437 


724 


74,900 



jStatislics for 1817. — 1 Synod; 36 Ministers; 295 Congregations; 15,360 Members. 
Educational Institutions of the Evangelical German Reformed Church in the United States. 

Name. Location. 

Franklin and Marshall College , Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 

Heidelberg College Tiffin, Ohio. 

Theological Seminary Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. 

Theological Seminary Tiffin, Ohio. 

Periodicals published by the Evangelical German Eeformed Church in the United States. 

Name of Periodical. Place of Publication. 

Der Evangelist (German) Tiffin, Ohio. 

Der Lammkrhirtel, " Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Pie Kirchenzeitung, " Chambershurg, " 

The German Reformed Messenger " " 

The Mrrcershurg Review " and Philadelphia. 

The Western Missionary Dayton, Ohio. 



614 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



KEFOKMED PBOTESTAOT DUTCH CHURCH. 

Statistics of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the United States, for the Year 1858. 



NAMES OF CLASSES. 



New York 

South Classis of New York, 

New Brunswick , 

Bergen 

Paramus 

South Long Island 

North " 

Poughkeepsie 

Philadelphia , 

Passaic 

Hudson 

Westchester... 

Monmouth 

Arcot (India) 

Albany 

Ulster 

Renssel^r 

Montgomery - 

Schoharie , 

Schenectady 

Cayuga 

Orange 

Greene 

Kingston 

Saratoga 

Geneva 

Michigan 

Illinois 

Holland , 

"Wisconsin 

Total 

Summary for 1850 

Growth since 1850 



Churches 


Ministers 


22 


29 


12 


18 


21 


29 


24 


27 


13 


13 


14 


18 


13 


16 


11 


11 


11 


14 


10 


10 


8 


8 


13 


12 


8 


8 


5 


7 


16 


14 


12 


14 


11 


11 


19 


11 


13 


9 


13 


12 


12 


8 


22 


22 


9 


8 


12 


10 


16 


12 


16 


16 


10 


7 


10 


9 


10 


7 


12 


6 


398* 


396 


292 


293 


106 


103 



2,075 

974 

2.020 

2.217 

1,334 

1.351 

1,063 

699 

1,311 

1,013 

'836 

733 

537 

' 1.403 

1.255 

1.319 

1.755 

'753 

1.427 

679 

2.109 

763 

1.314 

924 

915 

262 

490 

726 

485 



32,742 
23,687 



9,055 



Members of 
Congrega- 
tions. 


Communi- 
cants. 


Sunday- 
Schools. 


11.100 


3,818 


21 


4.274 


2.319 


15 


7,948 


3.610 


46 


10,000 


2.615 


29 


5.529 


1.5S0 


12 


7.230 


2.189 


21 


4.862 


1,203 


13 


2,535 


1,634 


16 


5.350 


1.950 


39 


4,795 


1.069 


21 


4,095 


1,084 


18 


2.475 


1.057 


13 


2,655 


707 
157 


12 


7.036 


2.469 


23 


5,830 


1.678 


21 




1 638 


26 


6.9S3 


1,482 


19 


2.945 


787 


13 


5.640 


1.797 


26 


2.744 


869 


14 


10,315 


2.369 


39 


3.857 


1.316 


18 


6.337 


1.219 


28 


3.970 


1,228 


8 


3,641 


1,322 


15 




246 


5 






15 




1,314 


3 






952 


2 

551 




132.236 


46,354 


111,240 


33,553 


382 


10.996 


12,801 


169 



Sunday- 
School 
Scholars. 



2.341 
1.539 

790 
2.220 

725 
1.779 
1.620 

600 
1.020 



260 
5S2 
418 



1.073 
'628 

""370 
528 
724 
410 

1.625 
550 
381 
490 
590 
170 
675 
275 
198 



23,33S 
19,791 



,547 



Exclusive of Missionary Stations. 



Educational Institutions of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the United States. 

Name. Location. 

Holland Academy Holland, Michigan. 

Butgers' College New Brunswick, N. Jersey. 

Theological Seminary " " 

In June, 1858, 125 young Men were reported as in preparation for the Ministry in these Institutions. 
There are 16 Parochial Schools in the United States. 



Periodicals connected with the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the United States. 



Name. 

Christian Intelligencer . 

The Sower and Missionary Recorder.. 
Der Saeman (German) 



Issued. Place of Publication. 

Weekly New York, N. Y. 

Monthly " " 



Missions connected with the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the United States. 

Foreign Missions. — Male Missionaries. 12 ; Female Missionaries, 10: and 1 Native Ordained Minister: Places 
of Stated Worship, 8; Communicants, 309; Catechists, 9; Christian School Teachers. 9; Contributions (1S57-8), 
$16,044 43. 

Domestic Missions. — 75 Churches and Stations (aided): Contributions (1S57-S), $15,338 39: German 
Churches, 23 — Holland Churches, 27 — (both exclusive of Stations). 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



615 



BOM AN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 1 



Statistics of the Roman Catholic Church in th»3 United States, in 1858. 







73 H 
C£|2 
























i 






E- J 


o 
























PROVINCES. 


DIOCESES. 


<9 


2 
o 


O 


C3 2, 


So 


£ 


CD 

p 

5 


05 
ft 


o 


o 
o 

J5 


S 

T3 


'S. 

3 


c 0. 
^ 
■gPn 






>^ 


l a 


B 


> 


> 


o 
137 


o 
90 


11 


34 


73 

15 


7 


CM 


O 


I. BALTIMORE 


Baltimore 




3,500 


135,000 


Estab. 1S08. 


Philadelphia. 






2 a 




2 


142 


150 


2 


73 


40 





8.884 


210,000 




Pittsburg 






1 




1 


80 


74 


3 


6 


24 


3 


4,700 


50,000 




Erie 






1 




1 


20 


38 




7 


1 


1 


116 


19,000 




Richmond 






1 




2 


13 


13 


4 


8 


6 


2 


900 


12,000 




Wheeling 






1 




1 


9 


17 




10 


4 


1 


700 


10,000 




Charleston ... 






1 




1 


16 


19 




40 


1 


2 


300 


10.000 




Savannah 






1 






11 


11 


i 


20 


5 


2 


375 


8.000 






Florida.. 






1 




3 


10 




4 


2 




100 


4,000 


II. OREGON 4 

Estab. 1846. 


Oregon 

Nesqually 




1 








6 


r 




23 




3 










1 






15 


6 




8 


1 


1 


100 


6,000 


III. ST. LOUIS 


St. Louis 




i 






i 


120 


68 


i 


36 


20 


12 


4,500 


125,000 


Estab. 1847. 


Chicago 






I s 






65 


85 




70 


16 


2 


3,500 


80,000 




Alton 






1 






36 


69 




46 


20 


1 


2.500 


55,000 




Nashville 






1 




i 


12 


11 


3 


35 


6 


1 


900 


10,000 




Milwaukie 






1 




2 


97 


189 


9 


32 


12 


4 


2,000 


180.000 




Dubuque... 






1 




2 


50 


64 




38 


3 


3 


817 


56.000 




St. Paul's 










• l b 


27 


41 




90 




4 


300 


50,000 




Santa Fe" 






1 






26 


83 


21 


25 




1 




1 80,000 
3,700 




Kansas... 
Nebraska 


..„.. 


"i" 


]■ 

l 10 


T 

i 


17 
3 
92 
15 


13 
3 

73 
16 




18 
...... 

5 


8 5 
...... 

4 


"To 

3 


250 

"3,000 
400 






6.000 


IV. N. ORLEANS... 


New Orleans. 
Nachitoches.. 


175.000 


Estab. 1850. 




30,000 










1 
1 




•2 
1 


25 
14 


12 
14 




50 


8 


1 

4 


700 
188 


13.000 




Natchez 




11.0(10 




Galveston 






1 




3 


47 


42 




60 


3 


3 


650 


40,000 




Little Rock.. 






1 




1 


10 


1L 


3 


60 




4 


300 


10.000 


V. CINCINNATI.... 


Cincinnati 




i 






3 


120 


132 




70 


65 


11 


15,400 


160,000 


Estab. 1850. 


Cleveland 






i 




3 


57 


82 




20 


50 


5 


10,000 


60.000 




Louisville 






i 




1 


70 


76 




100 


6 


10 


1,800 


60,000 




Covington 






i 




1 


20 


23 




30 


15 


4 


3,500 


20,000 




Vincennes 






i 






42 


77 




19 


11 


1 


2,700 


90,000 




Fort Wayne.. 






i 




i 


28 


33 




52 


10 










Detroit 






i 




i 


43 


56 




67 


24 


3 


3,800 


95,000 




S. St. Marie.. 






i 






16 


28 




13 


13 


1 


1,200 


6.500 


VI. NEW YORK.... 


New York 

Portland 




i 


"i" 




i 

l 


123 
25 


70 
42 




30 
13 


44 


10 


13,143 


3S0.940 
40.000 




Burlington ... 






i 






12 


27 




35 




i 


150 


25,000 




Boston 






i 




i 


78 


80 


5 


43 


6 


4 3,300 


150.000 




Hartford 






i 




i 


42 


52 




39 


23 


3 3.945 


90,000 




Brooklyn 






i 






31 


34 




7 


29 


2 


8.450 


135,000 




Albany 






i 




i 


85 


117 


5 


50 


23 


3 


7,005 


160,000 




Buffalo 






i 




2 


106 


102 




30 


38 


9 


6,259 


110,000 




Newark 






i 




1 


43 


51 




15 


10 


2 


1.804 


75,000 


VII. S. FRANCISCO 


S. Francisco.. 




i 








40 


53 


8 


50 


6 


4 


1.545 


80.000 




Monterey 




7 


i 

36 


3 


42 


16 
2,105 


19 

2,389 


7 
86 


10 
1,497 


2 

588 


156 


2-JO 
125,381 


28,000 


Totals 7 


43 


3 


3,177,140 



1 Compiled in part from "Duni jail's American Catholic Almanac," for 1S59. 
a The Archbishop of Baltimore takes precedence of all others. 

3 Right Rev. James F. Wood, Bishop of Antigonia, in partibus, and coadjutor to Bishop of Philadelphia. 

4 Included in this Province, is the Diocese of Vancouver's Island, British America. 
8 Administered by the coadjutor to the Archbishop of St. Louis. 

s Very Rev. Augustine Ravoux, V. G., Administ. sede vacantc. \ 

1 Indians, 8,000. 

8 Bishop of Messenia, in partibus infidelium, and Vicar Apostolic of Indian Territory east of the Rocky 

Mountains. 

9 Pottowatainie and Osage Indian Manual Labor Schools, under direction of Society of Jesus. 
:0 Vicar Apostolic of Indian Territory ; Administ. Apost. ad interim. 



616 STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Statistics of the Koinan Catholic Church in the British Provinces, in 1853. 



PROVINCES. 


DIOCESES. 


1 

KM 


o 
< 

1 

3 
1 


p. 

5 

...„. 

2 1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 

...... 

1 
1 
1 
1 


c 

"o 

£ 2. 
o < 

1 
1 


So 
> 

5 
3 
5 
3 
1 
3 
1 
1 

2 
..„.. 


a 
E 

to 
O 

272 
74 
238 

40 
39 
30 
21 
25 

4 

25 
23 
30 
8 
16 
24 

79 
10 
16 


3 
6 

187 
60 

122 
54 
65 
56 
42 
20 

23 
60 

76 

36 

8 
14 

867 


p. 
a 

O 
2 

24 
26 


w 

"54 

13 
"si 

IS 

119 





J5 
O 
W 

880 

315 

125 

200 

7 

6 

54 

14 

"l5 
1,616 


£ 

33 
4 
5 

4 
1 
2 
3 
4 

2 

3 

1 

7 

"1 

70 


Eh 


c 

~ 3 

c a. 
£ ° 


QUEBEC. 


Quebec, C. E... 
Three Rivers.. 

Montreal 

St. Hyacinth... 
Bytown, C.W... 

Kingston 

Toronto 

Hamilton 




23.000 
10,000 
11.130 
8,000 
782 
1,600 
4.300 
1,900 

40 
420 


250.000 




80,000 
260,000 
100,000 
40.000 
50.000 




Jamaica, / 

W.I... 1 

Sandwich ") 

Islands. J 


40,000 
30.000 
4,000 

2,000 

15,000 
35.000 


HALIFAX 


Vancouver's ) 
Island 2 $ 

Halifax, N. S.. 

Arichat, C.B.I. 

St. John. N. B. 

Harbor Grace. 

Charlottetowx 

Newfoundland 

Port of Spain 1 
W. I......... $ 




POET OP SPAIN.. 


2,800 
90 


80,000 
3.500 
36,000 
56,000 

99,500 
19 500 






22,000 






Totals 3 


17 


» 


2 


15 


2 


25 


1,043 


64,062 


1,222,500 



Note. — The returns from London, Vancouver's Island, Arichat, Harbor Grace, Charlottetcwn, Newfound- 
land, Port of Spain, Jamaica, and the Sandwich Islands, are very incomplete. 
1 Right Rev. Joseph La Rocque, D.D., Bishop of Cydonia, and coadjutor of the Bishop of Montreal. 
3 Under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Oregon, United States. 
3 See vacant. 



Catholic Colleges and Universities in the United States. 

Name. Location. Founded. 

College of St. Andrew Near Fort Smith, Arkansas 1849 

" St. Francis Xavier New York, New York 1847 

" of the Holy Cross Worcester. Massachusetts 

" Immaculate Conception New Orleans, Louisiana 1847 

'' SS. Peter and Paul Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1S50 

Eton Hall College Madison. New Jersey 

Georgetown College Georgetown. District of Columbia... 1791 

Loyola College.. « Baltimore, Maryland 1S52 

Mount St. Mary's College... Near Emmittsburg. Maryland 1808 

" " " Near Lebanon, Kentucky 

Santa Clara College Santa Clara. California 1851 

Sinsinawa Mound College Sin sinawa. "Wisconsin 1846 

Springhill College Spriughill, Alabama 1830 

St. Charles' College Grand Couteau, Louisiana 1838 

St. John's College., Frederick, Maryland 1829 

" Fordham, New York 1841 

St. Joseph's College Philadelphia. Pennsylvania 1851 

" ■ Bardstown, Kentucky 1819 

" " Buffalo, New York 1S4S 

'■' Susquehanna, Pennsylvania 

" Near Somerset, Ohio 1851 

St. Mary's College Wilmington, Delaware 1839 

" Near Lebanon. Kentucky 18'il 

" Collegiate Institute Columbia, South Carolina 1852 

St. Stanislaus' College Scott Countv. Kentucky 

St. Vincent's College Cape Girardeau, Missouri 1839 

St. Xavier's College Cincinnati, Ohio 1S40 

University of Notre Dame du Lac... Notre Dame, Indiana 1S42 

" St. Mary of the Lake Chicago. Illinois 1844 

" St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri 1S32 

Villa Nova College Villa Nova, Pennsylvania 1844 

Colleges 28 

Universities 3 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 617 



Catholic Theological Seminaries in the United States. 

Name. Location. 

Augustinian Monastery op St. Thomas Villa Nova, Pennsylvania. 

Benedictine " St. Vincent.. Near Latrobe, " 

Congregation Pretiosissimi Sanguinis Thompson, Ohio. 

College for the Propagation of the Faith Santa Barbara, California. 

Diocesan Seminary'of St. Thomas Near Bardstown, Kentucky. 

Dominican Convent of St. Joseph's " Somerset, Ohio. 

" " St. Hose " Springfield, Kentucky. 

" " Benicia, California. 

Ecclesiastical Seminary Charleston, South Carolina. 

" " Wheeling, Virginia. 

" « Buffalo, New York. 

" " Springfield, Alabama. 

" " of St. Charles Near Vincennes, Indiana. 

" " of St. Francis of. Sales Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

" " of St. Vincent of Paul Lafourche, Louisiana. 

Franciscan Convent Alleghany, New York. 

House of Studies of Redemptorists Cumberland, Maryland. 

Mount St. Mary's Theological Seminary Baltimore, " 

" " Ecclesiastical " Near Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Novitiate of the Society of Jesus Frederick, " 

" " " " Near Florissant, Missouri. 

Passionist Convent of Blessed Paul Birmingham, Pennsylvania. 

Seminary , St. Paul, Minnesota. 

" Dubuque, Iowa. 

" of Na. Sa. de Guadulupe Santa Yves, California. 

" of St. Mary of the Lake Chicago, Illinois. 

St. Joseph's Theological Seminary Fordham, New York. 

St. Mary's Theological " Baltimore, Maryland. 

" Ecclesiastical " Cleveland, Ohio. 

" Seminary -. Galveston, Texas. 

St. Michael's " Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

St. Thomas Aquinas' Seminary i San Francisco, California. 

Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

" " St. Louis Carondelet, Missouri. 

University of Notre Dame du Lac Notre Dame, Indiana. 

Preparatory Seminaries. 

Novitiate of Redemptorists Annapolis, Maryland. 

Preparatory Seminary of St. Thomas Near Bardstown, Kentucky. 

" " our Lady of the Angels Niagara, New York. 

" " San Francisco Santa Fe, New Mexico 

Seminary Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

St. Charles' College Near Ellicott's Mills, Maryland. 

St. Mary's Preparatory Seminary Barrens, Perry County, Maryland. 

Total , 42 



Catholic Periodicals published in the United States. 

Name Issued. Place of Publication. 

Catholic Telegraph and Advocate Weekly Cincinnati. Ohio. 

Der Herold des Glaubers (German) ? " St. Louis, Missouri. 

Der Religions Freund, " " Baltimore, Maryland. 

Der Warheits Freund, " " Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Katolische Kirchen Zeitung. " " New York, New York. 

Le Propagateur Oatholique (French) " New Orleans, Louisiana. 

The Buffalo Sentinel " Buffalo, New York. 

The Catholic Herald and Visitor " Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

" Mirror " Baltimore, Maryland. 

" Standard " New Orleans, Louisiana. 

The Guardian " Louisville, Kentucky. 

The Monitor " San Francisco, California. 

The New York Freeman's Journal and Catholic Register. " New York, New York. 

" " Tablet " " " 

The Pilot " Boston, Massachusetts. 

The Pittsburg Catholic " Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

The United States Catholic Miscellany " Charleston, South Carolina. 

The Western Star , " Dubuque, Iowa. 

The Catholic Youth's Magazine Monthly Baltimore, Maryland. 

" Institute " " Newburgh, New York. 

The Metropolitan " Baltimore, Maryland. 

Theodora, or Immortal Crowns for Soul and Heart, ]_ (t Springfield Illinois. 

(German) J P o > 

Brownson's Quarterly Review Quarterly Boston, Massachusetts. 

Ordo Divini Officii Recitandi Annual i Cincinnati, Ohio. 

" " Misszeque Celebrand^e " Baltimore, Maryland. 

Total number of Periodicals published in the United States, 25. 

78 



618 



STATISTICS OF EELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Religious Communities established in the United States, in connection with the Roman 

Catholic Church. 



CLASSIFICATION. 


NAMES OF COMMUNITIES. 


Date of 
Institution. 


Date of 
Introduction 

into the 
United States. 


ORDERS OF MONKS 


Benedictines 

Cistercians 


A. D. 

500 
1098 
1119 
1241 
1209 
1215 
about 1200 
1534 
1617 
1762 
1737 
1815 
1834 

1S15 
1642 

1679 
1839 

1209 

1209 
1206 
1542 
1535 
1597 
1610 
1625 
1641 
1800 

1638 
1640 
1650 

1745 

1804 
1S06 

1821 

1828 

1830 
1834 


A. D. 
1806 




1803 


" CANONS REGULAR... 


Premonstratensians 


1846 
1850 


" FRIARS 




1528 






1539 






1790 


REGULAR CLERKS 




1566 




Lazarists; or, Priests of the Mission 


1817 
1841 






1852 










Congregation of the Holy Cross 

Congregation Pretiosissimi Sanguinis 


1842 
1844 


CONGREGATIONS OF PRIESTS 


Priests of Mercy, under the title of the ") 
Immaculate Conception j" 

SULPITIANS 


1840 
1790 


BROTHERS 










1846 




Christian Brothers; or, the Society of \ 

Mary j 

Brothers of the Christian Doctrine 

Xaverian Brothers 

Brothers of the Third Order of St. Francis. 


1852 

1854 
1528 


ORDERS OF NUNS 




1S5S 




Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.... 


1848 
1823 






1790 






17°7 






1847 






1808 










Sisters of our Lady of Charity 


1842 
1819 


SISTERHOODS 


Sisters Pretiosirsimi Sanguinis 


1S09 




Daughters of the Cross 


1854 
1836 




Grey Nuns; or, Sisters of Charity of Mon- \ 

treal j 

Sisters of Notre Dame 


1853 
1858 




" Loretto ; or. Friends of Mary > 
• at the Foot of the Cross... j 

" Charity of Nazareth 

" Providence oe the Holy Child-") 

hood of Jesus j 

Oblates: Sisters of Providence 


1812* 

1812* 

1839 

1825* 
1S52 






1829* 


. 


" Mercy 

" the Holy Cross * 

" Charity of the Blessed Virgin 

Servants of the Immaculate Heart of \ 

Mary '. $ 

Congregation of our Lady of Mount Carmel. 
Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine 

" the Sacred Heart of Mary 

" Propagation of the Faith 


1843 
1843 
* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

1855* 


Totals 8 ..... 


. 55 













Founded in the United States. 



STATISTICS OP RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 619 

UNITED PKESBYTEKIAST CHURCH. 

Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States, in 1858. 



SYNOD OF NEW YORK,. 



FIRST SYNOD OF THE WEST. 



SECOND SYNOD OF THE WEST., 



SYNOD OF ILLINOIS. 



NORTHERN INDIA. 



Totals. 



PRESBYTERIES. 



Boston 

Vermont 

Cambridge 

Washington 

Albany 

Saratoga , 

Caledonia 

Stamford 

New York (A. R.) 

(A.) 

Philadelphia (A. R.). 

AT " (A-) 

Monongahela 

First Ohio 

Second Ohio 

Lakes 

Big Spring 

Steubenville 

Mansfield 

Lawrence.. 

Butler 

Allegheny (A. R.) 

Wheeling 

Westmoreland 

Blairsville 

Ohio 

Chartiers 

Richland 

Shenango 

Muskingum... 

Clarion 

Allegheny (A.) 

Miami .., 

Indiana 

Northern Indiana.... 
Southern " 

Detroit.. 

Chillicothe 

Springfield 

Michigan 

Sidney 

Northern Illinois 

First " . .... 

Second " 

Le Claire 

Iowa (A. R.) 

" (A.) 

Monmouth 

Sealkote 



Ministers. 


Congre- 
gations. 


4 


5 


4 


5 


12 


12 


7 


6 


10 


9 . 


8 


11 


10 


10 


4 


7 


12 


11 


11 


10 


3 


3 


12 


19 


8 


16 


12 


11 


11 


24 


7 


13 


4 


10 


7 


15 


2 


16 


7 


16 


7 


14 


9 


18 


7 


22 


8 


17 


6 


13 


10 


17 


; 16 


22 


6 


12 


17 


30 


13 


23 


7 


17 


10 


17 


13 


18 


6 


14 


4 


5 


4 


10 


3 


7 


10 


14 


5 


7 


12 


17 


9 


8 


9 


18 


7 


13 


20 


27 


5 


12 


8 


14 


23 


26 


7 


8 


3 


1 


419 


661 



Families. 



281 
194 
566 
626 
535 
729 
646 
180 
948 
774 
420 
617 

1,084 
500 
756 
538 
184 
628 
331 
448 
597 
970 
538 
672 
400 
611 

1,178 
375 

1,049 
802 
441 
966 
406 
397 
149 
229 
194 
351 
309 
419 
349 
295 
428 
799 
227 
212 
721 
303 



25,408 



529 

401 

1,237 

1,212 

1,071 

1,407 

1,204 

470 

1,877 

1,696 

1,139 

1.348 

2.184 

1.225 

1,643 

1.091 

387 

1.284 

576 

1,001 

1,363 

2,351 

1,057 

1,473 

899 

1,403 

2,732 

796 

2.351 

L749 

940 

2,262 

951 

975 

338 

519 

367 

859 

727 

832 

728 

631 

946 

1,739 

501 

465 

1,583 

646 

14 



Foreign Missions in connection with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States. 



STATION S. 



Trinidad 

California 

Sealkote, Northern India. 

Damascus, Syria , 

Cairo, Egypt 

Alexandria, Egypt 





PI 




Missionaries 


ysicians. 


1 






1 






3 






2 




1 


2 






1 






10 




1 



Native 
Licentiates, 


Female 
Teachers. 


....„ 


...... 

1 


2 


2 



620 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



Colleges and Academies of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States. 

• Name. Location. 

Birmingham College Birmingham, Iowa. 



eranklin 

Madison 

Monmouth 

Muskingum 

Washington 

Westminster 



New Athens, Ohio. 

Antrim, Ohio. 

Monmouth, Illinois. 

New Concord, Ohio. 

Washington, Iowa. 

New Wilmington, Pennsj'lvania. 



Presbyterial Academy Mansfield, Pennsylvani 

" " Sparta, Illinois. 

Theological Seminaries of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States. 

Name. Location. 

Theological Seminary Allegheny, Pennsylvania. 

" " Monmouth, Illinois. 

" " Newhurgh, New York. 

" " Xeuia, Ohio. 

United Presbyterian Periodicals published in the United States. 

Name. Issued. 

The Presbyterian Witness Weekly... 

The United Presbyterian " 

" " of the West " 

The Westminster Herald " 

The Christian Instructor Monthly. 

The Evangelical Repository '• 



Place of Publication. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Pittsburg. Pennsylvania. 
Monmouth, Illinois. 
N.Wilmington, Lawrence Co., Pa. 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 



CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Statistics* of the Congregationalists in North America, in 1858. 



Maine , 

New Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massachusetts 

Rhode Island 

Connecticut 

New York 

New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois , 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

Iowa 

Minnesota 

Oregon 

California 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

Canada (British Provinces) . 

Total 



Churches. 


Ministers. 


239 


188 


192 


146 


201 


146 


482 


418 


23 


21 


289 


243 


437 


253 


3 


3 


26 


18 


232 


158 


33 


20 


187 


146 


124 


81 


179 


122 


126 


86 


20 


17 


13 


10 


16 


12 


14 


12 


5 


2 


68 


54 


2,909 


2,656 



Members. 



16.014 

19,298 

17.158 

67^22 

3.264 

40,442 

16,983 

614 

1.411 

12,827 

'938 

9.723 

4,984 

6.054 

3,574 

139 

51 

431 

98 

92 

3,376 



225,393 



General 

Associa- 
tions. 



General 
Confer- 
ences. 



1 
1 

1 
1 

1 

1 

1 

'.'. "'"i 

i ...... 

l 

l 
l 

l 

i '.'.'.'.'.'. 



* The Statistics ahove given are hy no means perfect — one out of every five Churches having made no 
report. To those that have made correct returns, there have been added, during the year preceding, 6,876 
members. 

Theological Seminaries of the Congregationalists in the United States. 

Name. Location. 

Andover Theological Seminary..... Andover, Massachusetts. 

Bangor " " Bangor, Maine. 

Chicago " " Chicago, Illinois. 

Oberlin " "' Oberlin, Ohio. 

Theological Institute of Connecticut East Windsor, Connecticut. 

Yale Theological Seminary New Haven, 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 



621 



Congregationalist Periodicals published in the United States. 

Name of Periodical. Issued. Place of Publication. 

Congregational Journal "Weekly Concord, New Hampshire 

'• Herald , " Chicago, Illinois. 

The Christian Mirror 

The Congregationalist 

The Independent. 

The Maine Evangelist 

The Oberlin " 

The Puritan Recorder 

The Religious Herald 

The Vermont Chronicle 



Portland, Maine. 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
New York, New York. 
Lewistown, Maine. 
Oberlin, Ohio. 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Hartford, Connecticut. 
Windsor, Vermont. 



UIIVEESALIST CHURCH. 



Statistics of the Universalist Church in the United States, in 1858. 



Maine 

New Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts... 
Rhode Island.... 

Connecticut 

New York 

New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Maryland 

Virginia 

North Carolina, 
South Carolina.. 

Georgia 

Alabama 

Louisiana 

Mississippi 

Florida 

Texas 

California 

Nebraska 

Oregon 

Total 



Universalist 
Population, 
Estimated. 



58,000 

30,000 

45,500 

76,000 

3,000 

10,000 

97,000 

2,000 

20,000 

50.000 

4^00 

16,000 

13,000 

2,800 

400 

2,000 

1,100 

6,500 

1,200 

2,800 

2,600 

16,000 

300 

5,500 

2,400 

500 

1,200 

400 

1,500 

1,700 

200 

150 



Associa- 
tions. 



473,750 



Periodi- 
cals. 



2 
1 

2 
120 



Societies. 


Meeting- 
Houses. 


Preachers. 


136 


116 


49 


73 


60 


24 


82 


91 


40 


164 


152 


122 


10 


5 


3 


26 


20 


15 


220 


194 


107 


6 


4 


1 


46 


33 


24 


139 


82 


47 


15 


8 


19 


53 


28 


12 


64 


23 


64 


15 


5 


21 


1 


1 


3 


20 


4 


28 


4 


2 


9 


16 


12 


17 


2 


2 


2 


4 


5 


1 


6 





1 


2 


33 


4 


1 




1 


6 


12 


9 


4 


5 


5 

2 




2 


5 


1 


1 




2 




5 


3 




4 
1 




905 


1 


1,131 


C40 



Statistics of the Universalist Church in the British Provinces, in 1858. 



PROVINCES. 



Canada West...., 

" East , 

New Brunswick., 
Nova Scotia 

Total 



Universalist 
Population, 
Estimated. 


Associa- 
tions. 


Periodi- 
cals. 


Schools. 


Societies. 


Meeting- 
Houses. 


1,100 

1,400 

1,000 

300 


1 






10 
3 

2 
2 


2 
1 


3,800 


1 






17 


8 



HISTORY 



OP 



RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS 



IN 



(feglaiti ani Snrflanfc; 



CONTAINING 



AUTHENTIC ACCOUNTS 

OF THE 

DIFFERENT CREEDS AND SYSTEMS OF THE VARIOUS 
EVANGELICAL DENOMINATIONS. 

WRITTEN BY MEMBERS OF THE RESPECTIVE BODIES. 



CONTENTS 



ANALYTICAL INDEX Page 

SYNOPTICAL VIEW OF EACH ARTICLE 

INTRODUCTION ; 

CHURCH OP ENGLAND By Rev. Charles Popham Milks, M.A 

SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH " Rev. J. F. S. Gordon, M.A 

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND " Rev. Robert Jamieson, D.D 

FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND " Rev. William Wilson 

REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH " Rev. Andrew Symington, D.D 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH « Professors Eadie and M'Michael 

CONGREGATIONALISTS " Rev. David Russell 

WESLEYAN METHODISM « Rev. William L. Thornton, M.A 

BAPTISTS " F. A. Cox, D.D., LL.D 

EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH « Rev. Fergus Ferguson, B.A. ., 

APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH « a Member 

UNITARIANISM " Rev. J. R. Beard, D.D 

STATISTICAL TABLES 



5 

6 

9 

11 

46 
58 
86 
105 
112 
141 
148 
166 
178 
188 
195 
206 



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PREFACE 

TO THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. 



The following History of Religious Denominations in England and Scotland 
was gotten up by John Joseph Griffin & Co., of London, and Richard 
Griffin & Co., Glasgow, during the year 1853. It embraces an authentic 
history of the different creeds and systems of several religious denomina- 
tions in England and Scotland, written by members of the respective bodies. 

This is precisely the plan of the History of the Religious Denominations 
in the United States ; and is the only plan upon which authentic and reliable 
accounts can be obtained. This history of the English Churches is not so 
complete as the history of the American Churches. Some of the smaller 
denominations are not given, and several of those which are given are taken 
from the book of the History of the American Denominations : such, for in- 
stance, as the Roman Catholics ; the Friends, or Quakers ; the Shakers, or 
United Society of Believers ; the Moravians, or Unitas Fratrum ; the Swe- 
denborgians, or New Jerusalem Church ; the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints ; 
the Jews, &c. These, therefore, have been omitted in this American edition, 
because they are already given, with but few alterations and additions, in the 
History of the American Churches. 



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PREFACE 

TO THE BRITISH EDITION. 



In a country where universal toleration of religious opinions prevails, it 
occurred to the Publishers that a work in which the principles of the various 
Denominations were authoritatively stated would prove acceptable to the public. 
The attempt to prepare such a work is now for the first time made in this 
country; and although there are a few unavoidable omissions, still the volume 
will be found to embrace, as a whole, a complete view of the tenets and history 
of the chief religious bodies in the British dominions. In order to the suc- 
cessful carrying out of the idea of the work, the most perfect impartiality was 
necessary; and, accordingly, no editorial alterations or remarks have been 
admitted, the articles being precisely as they were furnished by their authors. 
From the very nature of the work, it is evident that it must comprise the 
most diverse and conflicting views ; and, on this account, the Publishers have 
deemed it proper to prefix a short introductory statement, by a member of 
the Evangelical Alliance. The Publishers have also to acknowledge their 
obligations to the various contributors to the volume, for the frank manner 
in which they acquiesced in the application made to them for their co-operation. 
The contributions speak for themselves. 



(4) 



i 

ANALYTICAL INDEX 

rvci 




THE SECOND PART. 


Act of Patronage, 112 


Eldership, 71 


Persecution, 47, 145, 147, 171. 172 


Albigenses, 170 


End of the world, 189 


Prayer, 58, 107 


Anabaptists, 170, 175 


Episcopacy, 14, 47 


Presbytery, 70, 87, 92, 128, 136, 179 


Apostles, 190, 192 


Eucharist, 49, 56 


Presbyterianism, 55, 108, 110 


Apostolic Catholic Church, 188 


Evangelical Union Church, 178 


Proctors, 31 


Archbishops, 14, 25, 47 


Evangelists, 190 


Prolocutors, 31 


Archdeacons, 17, 20 


Extreme unction, 39 


Prophets, 190 


Arianism, 196, 203 


Faith, 156, 180 


Protests. 86, 116, 180 


Assembly, General, 72, 86, 112, 184 


Fasts, 64 


Publications, 109, 118, 119, 121, 163, 


Atonement, 156, 179, 181, 185, 198 


Foreign missions, 104, 109 132, 138, 


165, 172, 182, 185, 204 


Baptism, 38, 57, 62, 108, 131, 137, 144, 


147, 163, 165, 176 


Puseyism, 56, 58 


166 


Form of worship, 58, 108 


Quaker Unitarians, 204 


Baptists, 166, 177 


Free Church of Scotland, 86 


Rationalism, 202 


Benefices, 24, 79. 81 . 


Free will, 186, 196 


Rectors, 17 


Bishops, 14, 47, 50, 57, 68 


GIFT OF TONGUES, 191 


Reformers, 57 


Book of Discipline, 77, 79 


God's mercy, 156 


Reformed Presbyterian Church, 105 


Burgess oath, 120 


Good works, 156 


Regeneration, 55, 197 


Burial service, 42 


Government, 15, 69, 103, 130, 142, 151, 


Relief Church, 123 


Candidates, 16, 80, 159 


190, 193 


Religion natural to man, 201 


Canons. 17 


Grace, 38, 114, 135, 156, 179 


Repentance, 156, 179 


Chancellors, 17, 21 


Heritors, 83 


Revivals, 56 


Chaplains, 17 


History, 11, 46, 86, 105, 112, 123, 148, 


Rural deans, 17, 20 


Christ, 37, 190, 200, 201 


170, 178, 190, 203 , 


Sacraments, 39 


Church of Christ, 40 


Holy orders, 39 


Salaries, 24, 50, 73, 84, 103, 159 


Church of England, 11 


Holy Scriptures, 39, 10S, 139, 143, 166, 


Sale of benefices, 24 


Church of Scotland, 58 


196 


Salvation, 38, 144, 150, 156, 179, 196 


Church discipline, 24, 141, 161 


Home missions, 132, 147 


Sanctification, 144 


Church property, 23, 85 


Homilies, 44 


Scottish (Episcopal) Church, 46 


Church rates, 22, 84 


Independents, 142, 147 


Secession, 117, 125, 161 


Church revenues, 24, 84, 139, 163 


Infant baptism, 166 


Simony. 24 


Circuits, 159 


Institution, 19 


Sin, the source of all human woe, 199 


Class-meetings, 158 


Images, 44 


Sinless naiture of Christ, 37 


Clergy. 17, 20, 25 


Immersion, 166 


Socinians, 195 


Commission, 78, 114, 124 


Imposition of hands, 191, 192 


Spirit (Holy), 36, 107, 143, 155. 169, 


Common Prayer Book, 41, 49 


Irvingism, 88 


187, 191,. 197, 199 


Communion, 49, 56 


Judgment, 144 


Spiritual courts, 26 


Communion of saints, 144, 158 


Justification, 37, 144, 156, 199 


Sustentation fund, 103 


Conferences, 155, 160 


Licensure, 81 


Svmbolism, 194 


Confirmation, 39 


Liturgy, 43, 48 


Synods, 71, 114, 120. 124, 133, 136 


Congregationalists, 141, 183 


Lollards, 171 


Tenets. (See Doctrines.) 


Consubstantiation, 49 


Lord High Commissioner, 73 


Teinds, 84 


Convention, 175 


Lord's Supper, 39, 64, 108, 129, 131, 


Theological institutions, 51, 103, 131, 


Convocation, 31 


137, 144, 146, 177. 193 


163, 175 


Court of Arches, 27, 29 


Man. helpless and sinful nature of, 36, 


Theology the science of God, 200 


Curates, 17 


37' 


Thirty-nine Articles. 41 


Deacons, 189 


Matrimony, 39 


Tithes, 84 


Deans, 17, 20, 21. 29 


Ministers, 55, 62, 84, 159, 193 


Titles, 21 


Deposition, 116, 118, 125, 180, 182, 191 


Miracles, 191 


Toleration > 173, 202 


Dioceses, 14 


Moderator, 71, 72, 74, 98, 115. 125, 133, 


Transubstantiation, 49 


Districts, 160 


138 


Trinity, 11, 35, 143, 155 


Divinity and humanity of Christ, 36 


Oaths, 24 


Unitariamsm, 195 


Doctrines, 33, 56, 79, 98, 110, 135, 143, 


Ordination, 16, 82, 138 


United Presbyterian Church, 112 


155, 166, 186, 189, 194 


Original sin, 187 


United Secession Church, 112 


Ecclesiastical Courts, 27, 29, 69, 71, 


PiEDOBAPTISTS, 166 


Vacancies, 69, 83, 138 


72 


Parish churches, 83, 85 


1 Vestries, 55 


Education, 80, 146, 175 


Parish clerks, 23 


Vicars, 17 


Educational Institutions, 51, 103, 131, 


Peculiars, 30 


Visitations, 67 


146, 163, 175 


Periodicals. (See Publications.) 


Waldenses, 170 


Elders, 68, 73, 135 


Penance, 39 


Watch-night, 159 



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SYNOPTICAL VIEW OF EACH ARTICLE. 



Church of England. 

Origin and history of the English Church, 11; jurisdic- 
tion of the Church of England, 12; constitutional head, 
13; powers defined, 14; division of England into provinces 
and dioceses, 14 ; government of the Church, 15 ; candi- 
dates for ministry, and regulations in regard to ordination, 
16 ; form of ordination, 17 ; titles of the minor grades of 
clergy, and their duties described, 18; vicars and rectors 
beneficed clergymen, 18 ; tithes, impropriation, and appro- 
priation explained, 18, 19; right of presentation of vicars 
and rectors to benefices vested in the patron, and admis- 
sion and institution in the bishop, 19 ; formula for insti- 
tution, 19; induction, how performed, 20; rural deans 
and archdeacons, 20 ; chancellors and deans, 21 ; order of 
precedence of the higher clergy, 21; parishes, and regula- 
tions controlling the erection of churches therein, 21; 
general rules for the selection and guidance of church- 
wardens, questmen, and parish clerks, 22, 23; revenues 
of the Church, and emoluments of the clergy, 23, 24; sale 
and purchase of benefices, how accomplished, 24, 25; sta- 
tistical summary, 25; spiritual destitution, 26; church 
discipline, 27-30; explanation of the term "peculiars," 
as applied to some ecclesiastical appointments, 30; eccle- 
siastical convocations, proctors, and prolocutors, 31 ; doc- 
trines of the Church, 33 ; the Forty-two Articles of Edward 
"VL, 34 ; the Thirty-nine Articles of Elizabeth, 34 ; Book 
of Common Prayer and the King's Primer, 35; statement 
of the doctrinal belief in regard to the Holy Trinity, 35 ; 
thfl divinity and humanity of«Christ; the Holy Spirit; 
the sinful nature of man, 36; the helpless nature of man; 
Christ without sin ; justification by Christ, 37 ; salvation 
through grace; baptism, 38; the Lord's Supper; two 
sacraments only; the bread and wine; the Holy Scrip- 
tures, 39 ; the Church, 40 ; intestine dissensions on doc- 
trinal points, 41; confirmation not deemed an essential 
qualification for a communicant, 42; the Liturgy, a valu- 
able book of prayers, 43 ; the Church of England's most 
dangerous enemies to be found among her own children, 
43; the dogma of sacramental justification a great source 
of contention, 44; introduction of crosses and pictures 
into places of worship condemned, 44; the safety of the 
Church dependent on an adherence to the principles which 
characterized the Reformers, 45; statistics of the Church 
in Great Britain and her colonies, 208. 

Scottish (Episcopal) Church. 

History of its origin. 46 ; extinction of the line of Scot- 
tish bishops in 1603, 47 ; re-established in 1610 by bishops 
consecrated in England, 47 : again extinguished in 1663, 
but a second time renewed from English sources, 47 ; lesral 
establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland, 47 ; the Episcopal 
clergy persecuted by the Covenanters, 47, 48; qualified 
chapels, 48 ; convention of the Scotch clergy in 1S04, and 
their subscription to the "Articles of the United Church 
of England and Ireland," 49; superiority of the "Scotch 
communion office," 49 ; Samuel Seabury, D.D., consecrated 
Bishop of Connecticut at Aberdeen, Nov. 14, 1784, 50; 
poverty of the Scottish clergy, and their insufficient in- 
come, 50: rapid increase in the number of churches and 
clergy, 51 ; Trinity College, 51 ; St. Ninian's Cathedral and 
College, Perth, 52; description of the funereal ceremonies 
performed therein over the body of Dr. Torry, the Lord 
Bishop of St. Andrew's, Dunkeld, and Dumblane, 53; St. 
Margaret's College, Crieff, 54; Church and College of the 
| Holy Spirit, Isle of Cunibras, 54; the doctrine of~foreordi- 
I nation condemned, 54; opinions of the writer concerning 
! Presbyterianism, 55 ; Scottish clergy legally disabled from 
holding "preferment" in England, 55; the vestry system 
considered disadvantageous to the Scottish Church, 55; 
the " revival" and its effects, 56; the doctrines of sacra- 
mental efficacy and holy baptism stumbling-blocks to the 
present generation, 56; endorsed not only by the formu- 
laries of the Church, but also by the writings of the lie- 
formers, 57 ; defence of Puseyism, 58. 



Church of Scotland. 

The Kirk the established Church of Scotland, 58 ; form 
of worship, 58; psalmody, 59; prayer and preaching, 60, 
61; public worship, by whom conducted, 62; dress of the 
clergy while officiating, 62; baptism — time, place, and 
manner of administration, 63 ; Lord's Supper — prepara- 
tions for partaking thereof, 64; who are allowed to parti- 
cipate, 64; form of communion service, 65; tent-preaching 
in former times, 66; abuses which grew out of it, 66; 
"diets of visitation" described, 67; catechetical instruc- 
tion, 67; ministers under the surveillance of local eccle- 
siastical courts, 68; ministerial parity in the Church 
founded on the New Testament, 68; the moderator of 
ecclesiastical meetings the only one who is accorded a 
superiority, 68 ; lay elders share with the pastor the go- 
vernment of the Church, 69; the kirk session, the eccle- 
siastical court of each parish — of whom composed, and ex- 
tent of jurisdiction, 69; the presbytery a higher court — 
how constituted, and what its field of operation, 70; the 
provincial synod, next in gradation above the presbytery, 
72; its members and jurisdiction, 72; the general assem- 
bly the highest of all the ecclesiastical courts, 72; enume- 
ration of the members who compose the general assembly, 
73; time of meeting and order of proceedings, 74, 75; 
powers of the general assembly, 76-78; the commission 
of the general assembly, its duties and powers, 78, 79; 
relations between the government of Great Britain and 
the Church of Scotland reviewed, 79, 80; preparatory stu- 
dies of candidates for the ministry, 80; trials for license, 
81; presentation to a benefice, 81, 82; manner of filling 
vacancies, 83; care of vacant churches, on whom de- 
volved, 83; each parish required to have a church, 83; 
heritors or proprietors required to build and repair parish 
churches, 83; manner of distributing church sittings, 84; 
ministers entrusted with the custody of the churches, 84; 
salaries of ministers paid by a tax on land, 84; mode of 
collection, 84; advantages of the system, 85; perquisites 
of parish ministers, 85; statistical summary, 85; statistics, 
206. 

Free Church of Scotland. 

Meeting of the General Assembly of the National 
Church, May 18,1843. and protest of the Moderator, 86-97 ; 
withdrawal of Moderator, and other members of the As- 
sembly who adhered to the protest, 9S ; organization of 
the Free Church of Scotland, 98; Dr. Chalmers elected 
Moderator of the first General Assembly of the Free 
Church of Scotland, 98; claim of the Free Church to be 
the true National Church, 98; its position toward the 
Establishment, 98 ; character and grounds of the protest 
stated, 99, 100; the "Claim of Right" reviewed, 100 ; Act 
of Parliament entitled "An Act to remove doubts respect- 
ing the admission of ministers to benefices in Scotland," 
considered, 101; "deed of demission." 102; the sustenta- 
tion fund, 103; salaries of ministers, 103; general building 
fund for the erection of churches, 103 ; amount contributed 
to it in 1843-44, 103: description of the college for the 
education of candidates for the ministry, 103; schools in 
connection with the congregations, 103; number of schools 
and attendance of pupils, 103. 104; normal schools, 104; 
salaries of teachers, how raised, 104 ; cost of school build- 
ings, 104; number and cost of parsonages erected, 104; 
foreign missionary establishment, 104; general statistical 
summary, 104 and 206. 

Reformed Presbyterian Church. 

Definition of the term s " Presbyterian" and " Reformed," 
as used in this designation, 105; reasons for its adoption, 
105 ; first origin of the Church, 105 ; objections raised 
against the Church and State settlement, 105 ; protest of | 
a small minority against the acts of the State, 105; state- . 
ment of grievances laid before the General Assembly of 
the Church of Scotland, 106; formation of fellowship 
societies, 106 ; petition to General Assembly, and declara- 



(6) 



tion and protest, 106; Rev. John McMillan and John 
McNeil accept the call of the dissenters, and minister to 
their spiritual necessities, 106; protestation and declina- 
ture laid before the commission of the Assembly in 1708, 
106; Rev. Mr. Nairne joins the dissenters. 106; presbytery 
constituted in 1743 under the title of Reformed Presby- 
tery, 106; statement of the principles of the Reformed 
Presbyterians, 106; general observations on doetrine, wor- 
ship, and government, 107; statistical summary, 109; 
authorized publications of the Church, 109 " the charge 
of schism repelled, 110; profession of the Church stated, 
111; statistics, 206. 

United Presbyterian Church. 

Formed by the union of two bodies, 112; the United 
Secession Church, its origin, 112; the Act of Patronage of 
1712, 112; remonstrance against it presented to the Legis- 
lature by the Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 112; 
disturbances consequent upon the enforcement of the Act, 
113; the. Assembly succumb to the civil authorities, and 
appoint committees to superintend and execute the tyran- 
nical acts of intrusion, 113: rejection by the Assembly of 
1732 of the statement of grievances offered by forty-two 
ministers, and also of one presented by 1700 laymen, 113 ; 
excitement resulting from these acts brought to a crisis by 
a sermon delivered by Ebenezer Erskine, 113; arraignment 
of Professor Simson, of Glasgow, for error, at the bar of 
the Assembly of 1717, and his acquittal, 113; condemna- 
tion of the Presbytery of Auchterader by the same As- 
sembly, 113; republication in Scotland of the "Marrow 
of Modern Divinity," 114; commotion among the clergy 
created by its publication, but approved by a few of the 
evangelical pastors, and the mass of the people, 114; the 
commission of the Assembly of 1719 directed to take cog- 
nizance of all such publications and their authors, 114; 
the " Marrow'* condemned, registered in the " Index Ex- 
purgatorius," and the people exhorted not to read it, 114 ; 
a representation complaining of the obnoxious finding, 
and signed by twelve ministers, submitted to the Assem- 
bly, 114; queries propounded to the representers by the 
commission of the Assembly of 1721 answered in 1722 by 
Ebenezer Erskine and Mr. Wilson of Maxton, 114; partial 
modification of the report of censure, coupled with a re- 
buke of the " Marrow" men at the bar of the Assembly, 

I 114 ; Professor Simson again cited before the Assembly on 
a charge of Arian proclivities, and merely suspended from 
the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions, 115; similar 
lenity shown to Prof. Campbell, when charged with teach- 

! ing a -spurious theology, 115; reflections induced by the 
different treatment of the " Marrow" men and Simson and 
Campbell, 115; degeneracy of the Church of the second 
Reformation, 115; effects upon the people, 115 ; the Synod 
of Stirling and Perth, of 1732, condemn and doom Mr. 
Erskine to formal censure for his sermon, preached before 
Synod, in which he protests against the prevailing errors, 
116; refuses to submit, and, accompanied by three other 
clergymen, carries his case to the Assembly, who affirm 
the decision of synod, 116; the rebuke submitted to, and 
a protest offered, which was refused, and thrown on the 
floor. 116; the protest found and read to the Assembly, 
116; at eleven o'clock at night Mr. Erskine and his friends 
cited to appear before the Assembly the following day, 116; 
first suspended from ministerial functions, and subse- 
quently severed from their charges, 116; copy of sentence, 
116; "Testimony" drawn up by the expelled brethren, 
117 ; alarm of the Assembly, and attempts to conciliate 
the seceders, 117; negative result, 117; comments of the 
writer, 117; growth of the Secession Church, 117; com- 
plaints made to the Assembly of 1738 against the Seceders, 
118; eight ministers obey the citation of the Assembly, 
disclaim its authority, and are solemnly deposed, 118 ; de- 
cree of deposition, 118; ejection of the deposed ministers 
from their churches, 118, 119; the difficulties with which 
they had subsequently to contend, 120; dissension among 
the seceders about the " burgess oath," 120; division into 
two synods, called " Burghers" and "Anti-Burghers," 120; 
testimony of the Anti-Burgher Synod against the oath, 
120; union of the antagonistic synods under the name of 
the United Secession Church, 122; statistical summary, 
122, 123. Belief Church, by whom founded, 123; sketch 
of the life of the founder. 123; refusal of the Presbytery 
of Dunfermline to induct Mr. Richardson into the living 
of Iuverkeithing, 124; sustained by the Synod of Fife, 
and the commission of the Assembly, 124; a compromise 
subsequently effected by the commission, 124; dissented 
from by Dr. Robertson and others, 124; Dr. Robertsou 
sustained by the Assembly, and Presbytery of Dunferm- 
line ordered to proceed with settlement of Mr. Richardson, 
124; arbitrary conduct of Assembly in chajiging quorum 



of Presbytery, so as to defeat action, 124; the six non- 
complying ministers summoned before the Assembly, 124; 
Thomas Gillespie deposed by Assembly for non-compliance 
with its mandate, 125: unsuccessful attempt to remove 
the sentence of deposition, 125; case of Mr. Boston, 126; 
invites Mr. Gillespie to assist in the services of his church 
at Jedburgh, 126; formation of first Relief Presbytery, 
126; original minute, 126; analysis of it by Rev. Dr. 
Struthers, 127; great success of this new religious move- 
ment, 128; principles of the Relief Church defined and 
defended by Rev. Patrick Hutchinson, 129 ; extracts from 
his writings exhibiting those principles, 130, 131: statis- 
tical summary, and retrospect of present condition, 131, 
132. United Presbyterian Church formed by union of the 
Secession and Relief Churches, 133; place, time, and man- 
ner of accomplishment, 133 ; basis of union, 134 ; doctrines 
of the United Church, 135; government, 135, 136; the 
United Presbyterian a voluntary Church, 137; vacant 
churches, how supplied, 138; ordination of ministers, 138; 
formula of interrogatories propounded to ministers at 
time of ordination, 139; summary of statistics and pre- 
sent condition, 140, 206. 

Congregationalists. 

Distinctive principle of Congregationalism, 141; disci- 
plinary authority vested in the church as a body, 141 ; 
admission of members, 141 ; office-bearers elected by the 
churches, 141; duties of deacons, 142; committees of man- 
agement, their sphere of operation, 142 ; duties of pastors 
to their flocks, and obligations of the people to their 
spiritual guides, 142; explanation of the distinction be- 
tween Congregationalism and Independency, 142; what 
Congregationalists believe, 142; declaration of faith 
adopted by the Congregational Union of England and 
Wales, 143; variance between the English and Scotch 
Congregationalists in the administration of the Lord's 
Supper and baptism, 144; substantial unity of the Con- 
gregational churches during two hundred years, 144; 
Congregational Union of England and Wales, 144 ; Con- 
gregational Union of Scotland, 145; the writings of the 
Reformers an embodiment of the great principles of Con- 
gregationalism, 145; foundation of the first church in 
1583, 145; persecution and martyrdom of professors of 
Congregational doctrines in the same and following years, 
145 ; Rev. John Robinson, the father of modern Congre- 
gationalism, 145 ; compelled, with his congregation, to fly 
to Holland, 145; subsequent removal to America, 145; 
doctrines of Congregationalism maintained by some of its 
professors in the Westminster Assembly, 145 ; position of 
the Church under the Commonwealth, 145; favored by 
Cromwell, 145 ; number of churches at present in England 
and Wales, 145; origin of the Church in Scotland, to 
whom principally traced, 145; replies of Rev. John Glas 
to queries put to him by the Synod of Angus Mearns, in 
1728, 145; first society organized by Mr. Glas, at Tealing, 
in 1725, 146; deposition of Mr. Glas by the Synod, 146: 
the Glassites and Sandemanians, 146; formation of the 
Congregational Union of Scotland a sequence of the labors 
of Robert and James Haldane, 146; their trials and per- 
secutions, 146; number of churches in Scotland, 146; col- 
leges and academies, 146; selection of ministers by the 
churches, 146; English "Home Missionary Society," 147; 
"Irish Evangelical Society," 147; "Colonial Missionary 
Society," 147 ; " London Missionary Society," 147 ; " Con- 
gregational Board of Education," 147 ; amount annually 
expended on missions and education, 147; Sir James 
Mcintosh's views as to Congregational influence on the 
advance of civil and religious liberty, 147; Lord Brougham's 
eulogium on Mr. Smith, martyred in Demarara, 147, 148 ; 
statistics, 206. 

Wesieyan Methodism, 

Date of its origin, 148; extracts from Mr. Wesley's 
•'• Short history of the People called Methodists," 148-151; 
rules for the government of the Methodist Society, adopted 
at London, in 1739, 151, 152; progress of Methodism in 
Great Britain and Ireland, 152, 153; secession from the 
Established Church not aimed at by the early leaders of 
Methodism, 153; testimony in support of this view, 154; 
first annual conference of ministers, 154; character of the 
business transacted at the conferences, 155; doctrines of 
the Methodists. 155-158; services on "watch-night," 159; 
circuits, 159 ; districts, 160; review of the question whether 
the Methodists are a Church or a connexion of churches, 
160; secessions from the parent society, 161; origin of the 
title "Wesleyiin Methodists," 161; causes of secessions, 
161 ; forms adopted by the seceding bodies popular but not 
beneficial, 162; numerical strength of the society. 162; 



income, theological colleges, and academies, 163 ; Metho- 
dist Book-Room in London, 163; designation of the Metho- 
dists in the United States, 163; first society established in 
America, 163; Philip Embury and Captain Webb, 163; 
first meeting-house erected in America, 164; funds and 
volunteer preachers sent out by Mr. Wesley, 164; labors 
of Robert Strawbridge in Maryland, 164; voluntary service 
of Francis Asbury and Richard Wright, 164; persecution 
of Methodist ministers in the colonies during the revolu- 
tionary war, 164 ; all return to England except Mr. Asbury, 
who retires to the house of Judge White, 165 ; presbyter 
appointed and elders ordained in England for the ministry 
in America, 165; formation of the Missionary Society of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, 165 ; 
book establishments in the United States and England, 
165; statistics, 206. 

Baptists. 

The two great peculiarities of the Baptists, 166; proofs 
cited in support of the doctrine of baptism by immersion, 
166-168 ; a personal profession of faith an indispensable 
requisite in the subject of baptism, 168; authorities cited 
in proof of this position, 168 ; perpetuity of baptism, and 
reasons for believing in it, 168, 169; high antiquity 
claimed by the Baptists, 170; Anabaptists a term of re- 
proach, 170; only point of agreement between the two 
sects, the rejection of infant baptism, 170; introduction 
of Christianity into Great Britain, 170; preaching of 
Austin, and baptism of 10,000 in the river Swale, on 
Christmas day, A. D. 598, 170; neither Gildus nor Bede 
furnish evidence of infant baptism during the first six 
centuries, 170; Waldenses and Albigenses visit Britain 
during the eleventh century, 170; proscribed by William 
the Conqueror, 171 ; return again in the twelfth century, 
171; increase of Baptists much furthered by contests 
during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries between the 
sovereigns and the archbishops, 171; visit to England of 
Walter Lollard, a Dutchman, 171 ; advocates of immersion 
styled Lollards, 171; persecution of the Lollards in 1400, 
171 ; relieved from it under Henry VIIL, 171 ; called Ana- 
baptists by way of reproach, 171; penal laws repealed 
under Edward VI., 171 ; great increase of the Baptists, 
and charges of proselytizing made against them, 172; 
Craumer intrusted with a commission for their suppres- 
sion, 172; continued persecution under Mary, 172; ban- 
ished by Queen Elizabeth, 172 ; James I. equally intole- 
rant, 172; Mr. Wightman burned at the stake, 172; un- 
successful appeals to the king for a mitigation of the 
severity of his measures, 172; advent of Charles II. and 
flight of Baptists to America, 172; early biography of 
Roger Williams, 172, 173 ; his emigration to America, 173 ; 
banished from Connecticut on account of his profession 
of Baptist principles, 173; founds the State of Rhode 
Island, and establishes religious toleration. 173; first 
Baptist church in America, 173; influence of the Baptists 
on the extension of religious liberty, 173, 174 ; never guilty 
of persecuting those opposed to them in opinion, 174; the 
Baptists the most numerous sect in the United States, 175 ; 
independence of individual churches both in England and 
America, 175; conventions and associations for business 
and mutual edification, 175; " Baptist Union" in England, 
175 ; Baptist building-fund, 175 ; classical education until 
recently not deemed beneficial to the ministry, 175; edu- 
cational and theological institutions lately established, 
175; shining lights of the Baptist denomination, 176; 
Baptist Missionary Society, 176 ; jubilee of the society, 176 ; 
report of progress, receipts, and expenditures, 176; mis- 
sionary efforts of the American Baptists, 176; Scotch Bap- 
tists, 177 ; founder of the sect, 177 ; internal dissensions a 
bar to progress, 177 ; doctrines and practice, 177 ; statistics, 
206. 

Evangelical Union Church. 

Date of its origin, 178 ; religious revivals in Scotland, 
and labors of Mr. Morrison, 178; published a tract which 
subsequently became famouSj 178; called to the pastoral 
charge of the Secession Church in Kilmarnock, 179; two 
members of the presbytery object to him on account of 
the doctrines regarding atonement for sin set forth in his 
tract, 179 ; Mr. Morrison explains, pledges himself to sup- 
press its circulation, and is ordained, 179 ; the tract sub- 
sequently published in London, and republished in Kil- 
marnock, with Mr. Morrison's knowledge, 179; Mr. Mor- 
rison arraigned before presbytery, and charged with heresy 
and disingenuousness, 179 ; suspended from the ministry, 
180 ; protest against the decision, and appeal to synod, 180 ; 
popularity of his ministry, 180; arraigned before synod 
in 1841, and decree of Kilmarnock Presbytery sustained, 
180; protest of Mr. Morrison, 180; defence of him by Dr. 



Brown, 181 ; Rev. Robert Morrison, father of Mr. James 
Morrison, Rev. A. C. Rutherford, and John Guthrie, ar- 
raigned before Synod of 1842 for holding adverse opinions 
on the subject of the atonement, and expelled from the 
Church, 181 ; trial and acquittal of Dr. Brown, 182 ; with- 
drawal of Dr. Marshall from the Church, 182; tracts writ- 
ten and published by the two Morrisons, 182; formation 
of the Evangelical Union, 182 ; accession of several min- 
isters and ehurches of the Congregational denomination 
to the Evangelical Union, with a history of the causes and 
attendant circumstances, 182-184; accession of a minister 
of the Free Church of Scotland, with his congregation, 
and also of one from the Relief Church, 184; point of dif- 
ference between the seceders from the Congregational 
Union, and those from the Secession Church, 184; form 
of government, 184 ; number of ministers and churches, 
185 ; theological academy, 185 ; prominent feature of the 
Evangelical movement, 185; denominational literature, 
1S5; review of doctrinal belief, 185-188; statistics, 206. 

Apostolic Catholic Church. 

First Account. — This religious movement erroneously 
known as Irvingism, 188; idea of the originators, and 
practical effect of the organization, 189 ; the creeds of the 
Catholic Church the only ones recognized, 189 ; forms of 
worship the same as those used in all ages in the Catholic 
Church, 189 ; belief in the near approach of the time for 
the reappearance of the Lord Jesus Christ upon earth, 
189 ; deacons the channels of communication between the 
rich and poor, 189 ; restoration of the ministeries enume- 
rated in the New Testament, 190 ; prophecy the light of 
the rulers of the Church, 190 ; government of the Church, 
190 ; preparation of the people for an entrance into Christ's 
kingdom, 190 ; recognition of the ministry of all sects, 190. 

Second Account. — Rev. Edward Irving the originator of 
the Apostolic Church, 190; his sermons on spiritual gifts, 
190; supernatural power manifested in some of the Chris- 
tians at Port Glasgow, Scotland, 190; excitement in Mr. 
Irving's church in consequence, and introduction therein 
of Mrs. Caird, of Port Glasgow, said to be spiritually gifted 
to speak in unknown tongues, 191 ; similar manifestations 
among the members of Mr. Irving's church, 191 ; general 
purport of the prophetic utterances, 191 ; circumstances 
under which the apostleship was revived and developed, 
191; the apostles, and their mission, 192; cannot perform 
miracles, 192; what they can and do perform, 192; govern- 
ment and discipline of the Church, 193; doctrines and 
symbolism, 194 ; condition of the Church, and location of 
its members, 194; the prophetic utterances a delusion, 
194; imposition practised upon Mr. Irving and his elders, 
194; opinions of the writer in regard to the Apostolic 
Church, 195 ; statistics, 206. 

Unitarianism. 

Reason for the adoption of the name, 195 ; time and 
locality of its origin, 195; whence arose the reproachful 
name of '' Socinian," 195 ; not having any general organi- 
zation, diversities of doctrinal opinion inevitable, 196; 
what Unitarians generally believe, 196-198; the charge 
denied that the Unitarian system is one of morality rather 
than of religion, 198 ; not chargeable with making light 
of sin, 199; the Scriptures acknowledged as the source of 
belief and the standard of practice, 199 ; mission of the 
Messiah, 199; the life of Christ regarded as God's great 
w r ord to man, 200; purpose of the religion of the Bible, 
200; distinction drawn between religion and theology, 
200 ; mere relative value of theological views, 200 ; positive 
character of religion — originating with God, and natural 
to man, 200, 201 ; vouchers of religion superior to those 
of theology, 201 ; religion coeval with the Creation, 201 ; 
toleration in religion inculcated, in view of man's endow- 
ment with a freewill, 202; modern Unitarianism essen- 
tially rationalistic in its origin, 202: Dr. Priestley an ex- 
ponent of this view, 202; Dr. Channing the originator of 
the spiritualistic tendency, and Kant and Coleridge the 
masters of the philosophic school of European Unitarian- 
ism, 202; exhaustion of theology and speculation, and 
progressive spirit of religion and philosophy, 203: anti- 
quity of the Unitarians, 203 ; its continuance and propa- 
gation during the dark ages, 203 ; its advent in England, 
203 ; foundation of a society of Unitarians in Gloucester, 
204; number of churches in Great Britain and Ireland, 
204; educational and theological institutions, 204; pro- 
gress of the society in the United States, 204; churches in 
the United States in 1846, 204 ; sources from which further | 
information can be obtained, 204, 205; statistics, 206. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Of the evidence of the Divine origin of Christianity it is needless to 
say more than this — that, if it be admitted that mankind were in a condi- 
tion requiring a revelation from God, it will scarcely be denied that the 
Bible, from the sublimity of its doctrines, the purity of its precepts, and 
its adaptation to our moral and intellectual nature, possesses all the cha- 
racteristics which might be expected to distinguish such a Divine message. 

Christianity was embodied in the types and ceremonies of the Jewish 
Church; but it was not fully developed till the advent of the great 
Teacher, who "brought life and immortality to light by the gospel." 
This took place at a remarkable crisis in the religious history of the 
world. As prophets foretold, the Saviour appeared when the sceptre was 
departing from Judah, and the Jewish religion had dwindled down into a 
system of outward observances — when its temporal power had for ever 
departed, and the last vestiges of its spirituality were disappearing under 
the ostentatious formalism of the Pharisees and the scepticism of the 
Sadducees. The mythologies of the heathen were, at the same period, 
rapidly becoming effete. " The enfeebled world (says Dr. Merle D'Au- 
bigne) was tottering on its foundations when Christianity appeared. The 
natural religions which had satisfied the parents no longer proved suffi- 
cient for their children. The new generations could not repose contented 
within the ancient forms. The gods of every nation, when transported 
to Rome, there lost their oracles, as the nations themselves had there lost 
their liberty. Brought face to face in the Capitol, they had destroyed 
each other, and their divinity had vanished. A great void was occasioned 
in the religion of the world. Then the "Word was made flesh ; God 
appeared among men, and as man, to save that which was lost. In Jesus 
of Nazareth dwelt all the fulness of the godhead bodily. This is the 
greatest event in the annals of the world. Former ages had paved the 
way for it ; the latter ages flow from it. It is their centre and their bond 
of unity. Henceforward the popular superstitions had no meaning, and 
the slight fragments preserved from the general wreck of incredulity, 
vanished before the majestic orb of eternal truth." 

When the Lord Jesus Christ had finished the work which his Father 
gave him to do, he commissioned his followers to go into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature, and the Founder of Christianity 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

ascended up to heaven, where he was before. The first community of 
Christ's disciples was thereupon constituted at Jerusalem, where their mis- 
sionary labours were to be begun, according to the express command of 
the Redeemer. Another community, formed at Antioch, in Syria, first 
assumed, about the year 65, the name of Christians, which had been ori- 
ginally given to them by their enemies, by way of reproach. By the 
missionary labours of the apostles, the gospel was extended from Pales- 
tine and Syria into Asia Minor, Greece, the islands of the Mediterranean, 
Italy, and the northern coast of Africa, in all of which countries churches 
were established in the first century. The epistles of the apostles formed 
the doctrinal foundations of these primitive churches. These epistles 
foretold the rise of a power which would ere long subvert the simple order 
of those early Christian societies. Meanwhile the gospel continued to 
spread. The lives of its adherents were spiritual and holy, as their habits 
were simple and in accordance with the principles of their religioD. They 
soon experienced the fulfilment of their Master's prophetic warning, that 
the world which had hated him would persecute them ; but the blood of 
the martyrs proved to be the seed of the Church. " So mightily grew 
the Word of God and prevailed." 

Although the spread of the gospel has long been retarded by the natu- 
ral enmity and infidelity of mankind, by the hatred and persecution of 
the abettors of superstition, and, above all, by the inconsistencies and 
divisions of the Protestant churches, it has never been altogether arrested ; 
and, during the present century, its progress has been accelerated as it 
never was since the apostolic age, by means of missionary zeal and libe- 
rality at home, and missionary devotedness abroad. The standard of the 
cross may now be said to have been planted in all lands, and the cry from 
every country to which the Christian missionary has extended his noble 
enterprise is, " Come over and help us." The time is evidently approach- 
ing when, in fulfilment of ancient prediction, the earth shall be filled 
with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Toward 
this end the desires and prayers, the labours and liberalities ol Christians, 
of every name, holding the Head, are tending ; and the more they unite 
in hastening on the consummation of the object for which their glorious 
Redeemer appeared upon earth, the more are they attracted towards each 
other by the charities and sympathies of a common faith and a common 
hope. One of the most delightful of the Christian manifestations of the 
present age is this tendency of all who hold the truth as it is in Jesus — ! 
not, indeed, to arrange themselves under the same ecclesiastical order, j 
(although some pleasing instances of this have recently occurred, and 
more are in prospect,) but towards harmonizing co-operation in the objects j 
of Christian philanthropy, friendly recognition of the great and outstand- 
ing doctrines in which they are agreed, and the exercise of forbearance 
on points of difference, "forbearing one another in love." This is pre- 
eminently a hopeful disposition, and one which every friend of religious 
truth should strive to exemplify in his conduct and promote by his pray- 
ers — remembering that in the visible union of the followers of Christ 
consists that testimony to the divinity of his mission, without which they 
can never look for the general reception of his religion by an unbelieving 
world. 



HISTORY 



THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

BY THE REV. CHARLES POPHAM MILES, M. A., Cambridge, 

INCUMBENT OF ST. JUDE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, GLASGOW. 



In the following succinct account of the 
Church of England, it is intended rather to 
delineate her present aspect in constitution 
and doctrine than to trace her career through 
the history of past ages. It will be desir- 
able, however, in a few words, to sketch 
the origin of her existence, and to mention 
some of the principal events connected with 
her progress. 

Tradition affirms that the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ was introduced into Britain 
in the time of the Apostles. About the 
close of the second century, Tertullian ob- 
served that places considered inaccessible to 
the Roman arms, were already reached by 
the heralds of Christianity; and it is cer- 
tain that, at the commencement of the 
fourth century, there were Christians in 
England who were the objects of persecu- 
tion. We now, also, read of bishops pro- 
ceeding from Britain to attend foreign 
councils — as, for example, the Council at 
Aries, in the year 314; and, from this 
time — with the exception of a severe 
struggle on the part of the Britons to pre- 
serve the Church, when almost extermi- 
nated by the inroads of the Saxons, in the 
fifth and sixth centuries — the Christians 
continued to multiply, and the ancient rites 
of the natives, and of the other inhabitants 
of the island, gradually ceased. 

It thus appears that the Church in Eng- 
land dates her existence from an early 
period. Towards the end of the sixth cen- 



tury, the Bishop of Home, Pope Gregory 
the Great, was instrumental in enlarging 
the number of converts; for, in the year 
596, he despatched a monk, (Augustine) 
with forty companions of his own order, 
who were received favourably by Ethelbert, 
King of Kent, and the Gospel spread it- 
self through the other kingdoms of the 
Heptarchy. Augustine founded an abbey 
at Canterbury, and was consecrated the first 
archbishop in England. 

The blessing which was thus derived by 
the visit of missionaries from Bome, brought 
with it the commencement of a series of 
evils; and these continued steadily to in- 
crease, until the simple truths of the Chris- 
tian religion were almost eclipsed under 
the shadow of the Papal power. Paganism 
receded, and became extinct; and, whilst 
the heathen rites were giving place to the 
new doctrines, the land was being divided 
into dioceses, and the churches, and the 
bishops, and the clergy, were gradually 
augmented throughout the whole of Britain. 
Theodore, the sixth archbishop from Au- 
gustine, is supposed to have introduced, in 
the seventh century, the division of the 
land into parishes. Evils, however, were 
developed in rapid succession. The pope 
struggled for supremacy ; the bishops and 
clergy — excepting a few faithful men occu- 
pied with holier duties — succeeded in 
"lording it over God's heritage ;" a con- 
stant warfare was maintained between Bome 
and the sovereigns of England, with alter- 



(11) 



12 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



nating success — the former striving for 
power and supreme dominion over the 
English Church, and the latter seeking to 
preserve their own authority, as well in ec- 
clesiastical as in temporal affairs, and to be 
independent of the Church of Rome. 
During this contest, every dogma of the 
Romish Church was engrafted, one after 
another, upon the pure doctrines of the 
Gospel, as first introduced into Britain ; the 
simplicity of apostolic life, and of apostolic 
preaching, were exchanged for the posses- 
sion of secular privileges, and for the es- 
tablishment of a ceremonial ritual; the 
wealth of the Church, through the agency 
of the Roman system, became enormous ; 
and we have now only to regard the Church 
of England, in common with the Churches 
of' the continent in the mediaeval ages, as, 
whilst emitting here and there an occa- 
sional ray of light, yet deeply involved in the 
corruptions and superstitions of the times. 

In the sixteenth century, a new era 
burst upon Europe. The previous century 
had prepared the way. Faithful preachers 
and martyrs were raised up at home and 
abroad to testify against the wickedness of 
both priests and people. The fearful 
struggle of the Reformation was pursued 
in earnest by Luther, Melancthon, Zuin- 
glius, and others on the continent; whilst 
in England, and on behalf of the reforma- 
tion in the English Church, there were 
Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and Hooper 
among the bishops, and many of the clergy 
and laity, who, "not counting their lives 
dear unto themselves," laboured for the re- 
moval of ecclesiastical abuses, and for the 
evangelization of the people, even to the 
sacrifice of all that they possessed; and 
they only ceased to expostulate and to re- 
form, when their voices were hushed by 
the sufferings of the martyr's death. 

It was in the reign of Elizabeth, that 
the Church of England began to realise 
the return of a more primitive and spirit- 
ual worship. Men of high Protestant 
principles, and of sound learning, were 
chosen for the office of bishops ; an evan- 
gelical clergy were also raised up and en- 
couraged ; the Holy Scriptures were printed 
and circulated; many of the religious cere- 
monies were abolished as superfluous and 
dangerous; the supremacy of the Sove- 
reign, in emphatic opposition to the claims 
of the Pope, was carefully secured; and, 



in short, the Church of England, already 
firmly rooted in the land by the growth of 
centuries, continued to be what she had 
heretofore been, the Established Church 
of the kingdom, purified through the in- 
strumentality of the Reformation, and libe- 
rated from the dominion and interference 
of Rome. 

Such, in brief, has been the origin and 
history of the English Church. The ele- 
ments of trouble did not cease with the 
struggle for liberty and purity, and there- 
fore, both from within and without, she 
has witnessed several subsequent and severe 
contests; and also the services and disci- 
pline of the Church have been altered or 
modified at periods since the Reformation ; 
but as there have been no changes demand- 
ing notice in this rapid sketch of the past, 
we shall soon be prepared to speak of the 
Church of England as at present existing, 
in respect to her constitution and doctrine. 

Let us first understand the proper limit 
of our subject. In the fullest sense of the 
words, the CnuRCH or England com 



prises, 



besides the ecclesiastical Estab- 



lishment in England and Wales and 
Ireland, all Episcopalians who, having been 
admitted by baptism into her communion, 
continue to acknowledge her discipline, and 
are amenable to the authority of her tri- 
bunals. In the East Indies, the clergy of 
the three Presidencies, including the army 
chaplains and missionaries, are subject, al- 
though in a restricted degree (as being, in 
the case of the chaplains, under the imme- 
diate control of the Indian Government) 
to the oversight of the Bishops respec- 
tively of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. 
In the British colonies, there are " colonial 
chaplains" and missionaries; and the fol- 
lowing dioceses are under the spiritual 
rule of colonial bishops consecrated and 
sent out by the Church of England : — 
Colombo, Victoria, Capetown, Quebec, 
Montreal, Toronto, Nova Scotia, Frederick- 
ton, Newfoundland, Rupert's Land, Ja- 
maica, Barbadoes, Antigua, Guiana, Syd- 
ney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tas- 
mania, New Zealand, and Sierra Leone. 
There is also the Bishop of Gibraltar, whose 
authority, although very limited, extends 
over the English clergy in the Mediterra- 
nean and the South of Europe. And in 
Jerusalem, there is an English bishop, ap- 
pointed by the Crown of England, "to 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 



13 



exercise spiritual jurisdiction over the min- 
isters of British congregations" in Syria, 
Chaldea, Egypt, and Abyssinia. The 
Church of England has no bishops in the 
North of Europe nor in Scotland ; but in 
these countries she has consular chaplains, 
or other clergymen, who officiate for the 
benefit of English congregations. There 
are also military and naval chaplains in her 
Majesty's service in various parts of the 
world ; and these, being under no bishop, 
although in strict communion with the 
Church of England, do not require any 
episcopal license, but are subject at home 
to the particular Government department 
by which they are employed. The con- 
sular chaplains are stationed in foreign 
countries, as in Amsterdam, Lisbon, Ma- 
laga, Marseilles, Madeira, &c. ; they are 
paid partly by their congregations, and 
partly by the British Government, and are 
generally nominated by the former but 
appointed by the latter ; they are entirely 
exempt from the legal jurisdiction of any 
bishop, although the Bishop of London 
has been erroneously supposed to exercise 
authority over the English clergy in foreign 
places ; and they are under the immediate 
control of her Majesty's Secretary of State 
for Foreign Affairs. In the army (exclu- 
sive of the troops in India) there is one 
"Chaplain-General," and five " Chaplains 
to the Forces," in active service; that is, 
one Chaplain to the Forces at each of the 
following five military stations, namely — 
London, Chatham, Mauritius, Malta, and 
Barbadoes, besides "military chaplains" 
in other garrisons, as in Gibraltar, Corfu, 
Quebec, Hong-kong, Cape Town, &c, &c. 
The naval chaplains, about one hundred in 
number, are officiating in ships of war (not 
below the rate of a frigate), and in hospital 
ships in all quarters of the globe, as also 
in Greenwich hospital, and at the dock-yard 
chapels at home and abroad. 

There is in Scotland an Episcopal Com- 
munion, presided over by seven bishops, 
and numbering about 115 ministers; but 
this body must not be considered as a branch 
of the Church of England. It is an inde- 
pendent and voluntary church, altogether 
unconnected with the State, having its own 
laws, appointing its own bishops, differing 
from the Church of England by using, in 
some instances among its congregations, a 
peculiar " Communion Office" at the ad- 



ministration of the Lord's Supper ; and the 
bishops, in point of law, possess neither 
dioceses nor titles, nor any jurisdiction in 
the country, nor have they any rank beyond 
what is courteously given to the senior 
pastors of other independent churches; for 
their episcopal functions are limited to the 
clergy and people who may be willing to 
acknowledge them. Hence, in the large 
towns in Scotland, as in Edinburgh, Glas- 
gow, Aberdeen, and Montrose, there are 
"English chapels," for members of the 
Church of England, with regularly ordained 
English clergymen, "protected and al- 
lowed" by Act of Parliament (10 th Queen 
Anne, chap, vii.) as competent to officiate 
in Scotland without the license of a Scotch 
bishop, and who preserve their congrega- 
tions in full communion with the Esta- 
blished Church of England. The Scotch 
bishops have not the power to ordain cler- 
gymen for the English Church ; nor can a 
minister ordained by a Scotch bishop offi- 
ciate in England except by special permis- 
sion, for " any one day or any two days, 
and no more." (Act of 1840.) 

It will now appear that the Church of 
England is represented almost throughout 
the world. Her proper designation is — 
" The Established and United Church 
of England and Ireland," for, in the 
year 1801, the Established Churches of 
England and Ireland were united into one 
body by Act of Parliament, and they are 
identical in doctrine, and, in all important 
points, in constitution also. The clergy 
ordained by Irish bishops, are eligible to 
hold church preferment in England, and 
the Church in Ireland is equally accessible 
to the English clergy. In short, the union 
between the two is complete ; so that, when 
speaking of the constitution and doctrine 
of the one, we may be understood as in- 
cluding the doctrine and constitution of the 
other. However, for the sake of concise- 
ness and perspicuity, we will withdraw our 
attention from Ireland and the colonies; 
and the following observations will be re- 
stricted to the present aspect of the Church 
of England as established in England and 
Wales. 

The Constitution. — 1. The Sovereign 
is the Governor of the Church of Eugland 
— " the only supreme head on earth" (2. 
3. Anne, cap. xi.) — and, therefore, " hath 



14 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



the chief power in this realm of England, 
and other his dominions, unto whom the 
chief government of all estates in this 
realm, whether they be ecclesiastical or 
civil, in all causes doth appertain/' (Ar- 
ticles of the Church of England, Art. 
xxxvii.) The clergy make the following 
subscription : — " That the King's majesty, 
under God, is the only supreme Governor 
of this realm, and of all other his High- 
ness' s dominions and countries, as well in 
all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, 
as temporal." (Canon xxxvi.) But, in 
order to remove any doubts that might 
possibly offend Christian people, as to the 
import of the royal supremacy in spiritual 
affairs, the same authority which designates 
the Sovereign " Defender of the Faith, and 
Supreme Governor of the Church of Eng- 
land," declares — " We give not our princes 
the ministering either of God's Word or 
of the Sacraments; the which thing the 
injunctions also lately set forth by Eliza- 
beth our Queen do most plainly testify; 
but that only prerogative, which we see to 
have been given always to all godly princes 
in holy Scriptures by God himself: that 
is, that they should rule all estates and de- 
grees committed to their charge by God^, 
whether they be ecclesiastical or temporal, 
and restrain with the civil sword the stub- 
born and evil doers." (Article xxxvii.) 
And the following "Injunctions by Queen 
Elizabeth," alluded to above, will show 
that the maintenance of the royal supre- 
macy in the Church of England has espe- 
cial reference to a specific evil: — " For 
certainly her Majesty neither hath nor ever 
will challenge any authority, than that was 
challenged and lately used by the said 
noble Kings of famous memory, King 
Henry VIII. and K. Edward VI., which 
is and was of ancient time due to the im- 
perial crown of this realm, that is, under 
God, to have the sovereignty, and over all 
manner of persons born within these her 
realms, dominions and countries, of what 
estate, either ecclesiastical or temporal, 
soever they be, so as no other foreign power 
shall or ought to have any superiority over 
them." (Anno 1559. Sparrow's Collec- 
tion.) It appears, then, that whilst the 
British Sovereign is upheld as the " Su- 
preme Governor" of the Church of Eng- 
land, there is no room for supposing that 
the Headship of Christ is denied, or even 



overlooked by English Churchmen. The 
prerogative claimed is simply to " conserve 
and maintain the Church committed to our 
charge, in unity of true religion and in the 
bond of peace; and not to suffer unneces- 
sary disputations, altercations, or questions 
to be raised, which may nourish faction 
both in the Church and Commonwealth." 
(His Majesty's Declaration, prefixed to the 
Articles.) It is also expressly allowed that 
" the Church hath power to decree rites 
or ceremonies, and authority in controver- 
sies of faith;" and that "the Church be 
a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ." 
(Art. xx.) Nor are we in any uncertainty 
as to what is here intended, for "the 
visible Church of Christ is a congrega- 
tion of faithful men, in the which the 
pure Word of God is preached, and the 
Sacraments be duly ministered, accord- 
ing to Christ's ordinance." (Article 
xix.) 

2. The country is divided into the two 
Provinces of Canterbury and York, and 
each province is under the government of 
an Archbishop. But, whilst the two Pro- 
vinces embrace the whole country, and con- 
fer superior dignity upon the archbishops, 
there are also two Dioceses of Canterbury 
and York — much more circumscribed ter- 
ritories — in which the archbishops, respect- 
ively, perform the usual duties attached to 
the other bishops. England and Wales 
are divided into the following twenty-eight 
bishoprics or dioceses : — Canterbury, York, 
London, Durham, Winchester, Bangor, 
Bath and Wells, Carlisle, Chester, Chi- 
chester, Ely, Exeter, Gloucester and Bris- 
tol, Hereford, Lichfield, Lincoln, Llandaff, 
Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Peter- 
borough, Ripon, Rochester, Salisbury, St. 
Asaph, St. David's, Worcester, Sodor and 
Man. The word "diocese" from Sioixyw, 
signifies administration or household, and 
it is applied to the ecclesiastical arrange- 
ment of territory, " for this realm has two 
divisions, one into shires or counties, in re- 
spect of temporal policy — another into 
dioceses, in respect of jurisdiction eccle- 
siastical." (Cowel.) The Bishops of 
London, Durham, and Winchester, rank 
immediately after the archbishops — they 
take precedence of the other bishops, and 
aluays have a seat in the House of Lords. 
The Bishop of Sodor and Man does not 
sit in the House of Lords, unless he hap- 






HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



15 



pens to be a peer in his own right ; * but 
all the other English prelates, except the 
bishop who was last consecrated, are spirit- 
ual peers ; and the junior bishop, when he 
ceases to be junior by. the creation of an- 
other bishop, takes the vacant place as a 
peer among the Lords. 

3. The archbishops are chosen, as vacan- 
cies occur, from among the bishops. The 
appointment is vested in the Crown. The 
Sovereign has also the nomination of all 
the bishops. The rule is as follows: — 
On the death of a bishop, the Dean and 
Chapter of the Cathedral in the vacant 
diocese apply for the " Royal License" to 
elect a successor; the license (called conge 
<iP elire) is sent to the Cathedral ; but, at 
the same time, the Dean and Chapter re- 
ceive "Letters Missive" from the Crown, 
mentioning the name of the person to be 
elected, and which contain the following 
passage : — " We have been pleased, by 
these our letters, to name and recommend 
him unto you, to be elected and chosen to 

the said Bishopric of : Wherefore we 

require you, upon receipt thereof, to pro- 
ceed to your election, according to the laws 
of this our realm, and our conge d } elire 
herewith sent unto you ; and the same 
election, so made, to certify unto us under 
your common seal." The will of the 
Sovereign, therefore, in the appointment is 
absolute. "The only choice the electors 
have under this restraint is, whether they 
will obey the King, or incur a praemunire. 
The election, from beginning to end, pro- 
ceeds, seemingly, upon the conge d' elire, 
without any appearance of restraint from 
the letters missive, and in the same manner 
as if there were no such restraint ; and the 
only circumstance remarkable in it, is the 
solemn declaring of the person elected to 
the clergy and people assembled in the 
church, wherein we see the footsteps of the 
more ancient way of electing, and of the 
part which they had in the election." 
(Bp. Gibson's Codex, I. 109.) The con- 
sent of the person elected is next formally 
obtained. Letters certificatory of the elec- 
tion are then sent to the Crown ; the royal 
assent is supplicated ; and the Crown issues 
"Letters Patent" to the Archbishop of 



* The present Bishop is the Earl of Auckland, 
and therefore sits in the House of Lords as a 
temporal Peer. 



the province requiring him to proceed with 
the confirmation and consecration. When 
the day is fixed for the confirmation, notice 
is published in the church in which the 
ceremony is to take place, and all parties 
who may be opposed to the election are 
thereby cited to come forward. The dean 
and chapter delegate one or more persons 
to attend and present the bishop-elect to 
the archbishop, or to his representative, 
the vicar-general. A proctor, in the name 
of the dean and chapter, requests that all 
opposers not then appearing may be pre- 
cluded from further opposition, and that 
the election may be confirmed. The regu- 
larity of the election is then proved; the 
bishop takes the oaths, 1st, of Allegiance, 
2d, of Supremacy, 3d, of Simony, and 
4th, of Obedience to the Archbishop; and 
now follows " The Definitive Sentence, or 
the Act of Confirmation, by which the 
judge commits to the bishop elected, 
cur am, regimen, et administrationem, spi- 
ritualium, dicti Episcopatus, and then 
decrees him to be installed and enthro- 
nized." (Gibson's Codex, I. iii.) No 
person can be consecrated a bishop until he 
is full thirty years of age. The consecra- 
tion must always be performed on some 
Sunday or holiday, whereupon the bishop- 
elect is presented to the archbishop of the 
province (or to some other bishop appointed 
by lawful commission) by two bishops. 
The archbishop demands the royal man- 
date, and causes it to be read ; the oaths of 
supremacy and obedience to the archbishop 
are taken ; and the remainder of the ser- 
vice is continued according to the form in 
the Book of Common Prayer. It is a 
rule of ancient date in the Episcopal 
Churches, that there shall be no consecra- 
tion unless three bishops, at least, are 
present at the ceremony, and lay their 
hands, at the same moment, on the head 
of the new bishop. 

4. The Government of the Church of 
England is, "under her Majesty, by Arch- 
bishops, Bishops, Deans, Arch-Deacons, and 
the rest that bear office in, the same." 
(Canon vii.) The archbishops and bishops 
alone have the power to ordain clergymen ; 
and no bishop can ordain a person for a 
diocese in England, Wales, or Ireland, 
other than his own, unless at the request 
of the bishop of the other diocese. The 
Canon-law requires that ordinations take 



16 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



place at "allotted certain times," and 
" only upon the Sundays immediately fol- 
lowing Jejunia quatuor temporum, com- 
monly called Ember Weeks, appointed in 
ancient times for prayer and fasting, (pur- 
posely for this cause at their first insti- 
tution,) and so continued at this day in the 
Church of England ; and that this be done 
in the cathedral or parish church where the 
bishop resideth, and in the time of divine 
service, in the presence not only of the 
archdeacon but of the dean, and two pre- 
bendaries at the least, or (if they shall 
happen by any lawful cause to be let or 
hindered) in the presence of four other 
grave persons, being masters of arts at the 
least, and allowed for public preachers." 
(Canon xxxi.) This law, however, as re- 
spects the season and locality, has not been 
generally observed. 

Candidates for the ministry are usually 
graduates of either the Universities of Cam- 
bridge or Oxford, or of Trinity College, 
Dublin, or else of Durham, Lampeter, or 
St. Bees; but the bishops are not bound 
to restrict ordination to members of any 
university or college. The law is — " No 
bishop shall henceforth admit any person 
into sacred orders which is not of his own 
diocese, except he be either of one of the 
universities of this realm, or except he 
shall bring letters dismissory (so termed) 
from the bishop of whose diocese he is ; 
and, desiring to be a deacon, is three-and- 
twenty years old, and to be a priest, four- 
and-twenty years complete, and hath taken 
some degree of school in either of the said 
universities, or at least except he be able 
to yield an account of his faith in Latin, 
according to the articles of religion ap- 
proved in synod of the bishops and clergy 
of this realm, one thousand five hundred 
sixty and two, and to confirm the same by 
sufficient testimonies out of the Holy Scrip- 
tures j and except, moreover, he shall then 
exhibit letters testimonial of his good life 
and conversation, under the seal of some 
college of Cambridge or Oxford, where 
before he remained, or of three or four 
grave ministers, together with the subscrip- 
tion and testimony of other credible persons 
who have known his life and behaviour by 
the space of three years next before/ ' 
(Canon xxxiv.) Although the bishops 
may thus dispense with an academical de- 
gree on the part of a candidate for ordina- 



tion, provided the candidate gives sufficient 
proof of capability, yet it is only in extra- 
ordinary instances that any person except a 
graduate is admitted. The bishop of Lon- 
don departs from the general rule in favour 
of gentlemen educated at the Church Mis- 
sionary College at Islington, and intended 
to labour as missionaries among the 
heathen. 

No person can be ordained who has 
"not first some certain place where he 
might use his function." (Canon xxxiii.) 
This indicates what is meant by the fami- 
liar expression, a title for orders. The 
candidate must show that there is a vacant 
field of duty offered to him, before the 
bishop will accept his application ; that is, 
he must have secured the presentation to a 
curacy or a chaplaincy, or he must be the 
fellow of a college, or a " master of arts of 
five years standing, that liveth of his own 
charge in either of the universities," before 
he can be ordained. The most general 
title for orders is a curacy. "And if any 
bishop shall admit any person into the 
ministry that hath none of these titles as is 
aforesaid, then he shall keep and maintain 
him with all things necessary, till he do 
prefer him to some ecclesiastical living." 
(Canon xxxiii.) ■ The bishops have abso- 
lute power to refuse ordination to any party 
whom they may consider ineligible. The 
usual course is as follows : — The candidate 
writes to the bishop of the diocese in which 
the curacy offered to him as a title is situ- 
ated, and requests to be ordained. He ob- 
tains a personal interview with the bishop, 
and passes through a viva voce examination 
as to his theological opinions and attain- 
ments. If approved, he is permitted to 
send in his papers — that is, the registers of 
his age and baptism, testimonials from his 
college, a certificate of character attested by 
three beneficed clergymen, and another 
document called Si quis, which is a paper 
signed by the clergyman and church- 
wardens of the parish in which the candi- 
date resides, and which certifies that his 
name has been publicly called in the parish 
church, and that no objections have been 
raised against his being admitted into the 
ministry. He is now allowed to proceed, 
with the other candidates, to the examina- 
tion, which is conducted by the bishop's 
examining chaplain, and is sustained, in 
some dioceses, during the whole of three or 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



four days. It is strictly theological and 
ecclesiastical. The approved candidates 
take the Oath of Supremacy, sign a " De- 
claration" that they will conform to the 
Liturgy, and, moreover, subscribe the fol- 
lowing three articles : — 

I. "That the King's Majesty, under 
God, is the only supreme Governor of this 
realm, and of all other his Highness's do- 
minions and countries, as well in all spi- 
ritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as 
temporal; and that no foreign prince, per- 
son, prelate, state or potentate, hath, or 
ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, 
superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ec- 
clesiastical or spiritual, within his Majesty's 
said realms, dominions, and countries. 

II. " That the Book of Common Prayer, 
and of Ordering of Bishops, Priests, and 
Deacons, containeth in it nothing contrary 
to the Word of God, and that it may law- 
fully so be used ; and that he himself will 
use the form in the said Book prescribed in 
public prayer, and administration of the 
Sacraments, and none other. 

III. "That he alloweth the Book of 
Articles of Religion agreed upon by the 
Archbishops and Bishops of both Pro- 
vinces, and the whole Clergy, in the Con- 
vocation holden at London in the year of 
our Lord God one thousand five hundred 
sixty and two ; and that he acknowledged 
all and every the Articles therein con- 
tained, being in number nine-and-thirty, 
besides the ratification, to be agreeable to 
the Word of God." 

The ordination service, as arranged in 
the Book of Common Prayer, is performed 
in the cathedral of the diocese, or in some 
church or chapel, in the presence of the 
congregation. The candidates are there 
formally introduced to the bishop by the 
archdeacon, or his deputy, in these words : — 
" Beverend Father in God — I present unto 
you these persons present to be admitted 
deacons." Towards the close of the ser- 
vice, the bishop, laying his hands severally 
upon their heads, says — "Take thou au- 
thority to execute the office of a deacon in 
| the Church of God committed unto thee, in 
I! the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
j and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." And 
then, placing the New Testament in the 
I j hand of each, he adds — " Take thou autho- 
j rity to read the Gospel in the Church of 
j| God, and to preach the same, if thou be 



thereto licensed by the bishop himself." 
Hence it appears that a deacon in the 
Church of England is an ordained minister. 
He is competent to take any clerical duty, 
except that he cannot consecrate the ele- 
ments at the Sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 
per, nor can he read the forms of absolu- 
tion ; and he is not qualified to hold a 
living, nor any other independent charge. 
(13. 14. Car. II., cap. 4, par. 14.) He 
continues a deacon, generally — although 
not necessarily, provided he is the full age 
of twenty-four — for one year " to the in- 
tent he may be perfect and well-expert in 
the things appertaining to the ecclesiastical 
administration." (Rubric.) He is then 
obliged to undergo another examination, 
conducted, as before, by the bishop's chap- 
lain, and severer than the former; and, 
when this is satisfactorily ended, he is ad- 
mitted, as before, by the bishop in public, 
to the order of Presbyter or priest.* The 
Ordination Service differs in some measure 
from the service which admits to the order 
of deacon. Several of the presbyters pre- 
sent, as well as the bishop, lay their hands 
simultaneously on the head of every candi- 
date, and the bishop says — "Receive the 
Holy Ghost for the office and work of a 
Priest in the Church of God, now com- 
mitted unto thee by the imposition of our 
bauds. Whose sins thou dost forgive they 
are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost 
retain they are retained ; and be thou a 
faithful dispenser of the Word of God, and 
of his holy Sacraments : In the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. Amen." And then, delivering 
to each one a Bible, he adds — " Take thou 
authority to preach the Word of God, and 
to minister the holy Sacraments in the 
congregation where thou shalt be lawfully 
appointed thereunto." When once ordained 
a presbyter, he is competent to take any 
duty, and to hold any kind of preferment 
short of a bishopric, within the pale of the 
Church of England. 

5. The ministrations of the clergy are 
variously apportioned to Deans, Canons (or 
Prebendaries), Archdeacons, Chancellors, 
Rural Deans, Rectors, Vicars, Chaplains, 



* The word Priest, as used in the Church of 
England, means simply a Presbyter. It is a 
corruption of the word iroecfivrcpos, through the 
French, prestre, pretre. 



18 



H1ST0KY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



and Curates. Several of these designations 
may belong to one individual. A dean, 
for instance, is generally the rector or 
vicar of some parish, and may, at the same 
period, hold a chaplaincy. The rector of 
one parish may he the vicar of another, 
and at the same time he may be both a 
chaplain and a curate. Any one clergyman 
may possess, within certain limits, several 
pieces of preferment of different descrip- 
tions. 

Curates are unbeneficed clergymen — that 
is, they do not possess a permanent charge. 
They are engaged by the rector or vicar of 
a parish, or by the incumbent of a church 
or chapel, either to assist in the duties of 
the place, or to act as the representatives 
in the absence of the beneficed pastor. 
They are called stipendiary curates, to 
distinguish them from perpetual curates. 
The latter, when once appointed, cannot 
be dismissed at the will of the patron ; and 
although the appointment differs from a 
rectory or vicarage in respect to its origin 
and payment of income, yet the perpetual 
curate of a parish or church is as truly an 
incumbent as any other beneficed clergy- 
man. The stipendiary curate, however, is 
liable to lose his curacy whenever his 
services are no longer required. He is so 
for protected by law that he may demand 
six months' notice before he is removed; 
and, on the other hand, he is bound to give 
three months* notice to the bishop before he 
leaves a cure to which he has been licensed. 
(1. 2. Vic, cap. 106.) Clergymen often 
take occasional duty, or the temporary 
charge of a parish, without an episcopal 
license; but, as a rule, and both for the 
sake of discipline and for the protection of 
the clergyman himself, "No curate or 
minister shall be permitted to serve in any 
place without examination and admission 
of the bishop of the diocese, or ordinary* 
of the place having episcopal jurisdiction, 
in writing, under his hand and seal, having 
respect to the greatness of the cure and 
meetness of the party. And the said cu- 
rates and ministers, if they remove from 
one diocese to another, shall not be by any 
means admitted to serve without testimony 



* The Bishop, in his character of ecclesiastical 
judge, is the Ordinary ; but an ecclesiastical 
judge, " having episcopal jurisdiction" is also an 
Ordinary, although not a Bishop. 



of the bishop of the diocese, or ordinary 
of the place, as aforesaid, whence they 
came, in writing, of their honesty, ability, 
and conformity to the ecclesiastical laws of 
the Church of England." (Canon xlviii.) 
The bishops have absolute power over cu- 
rates, either to refuse or to withdraw a 
license. 

The term Chaplain has a variety of ap- 
plications. The incumbents or curates may 
be chaplains. Clergymen appointed to 
minister to the inmates of workhouses, 
jails, and hospitals, are so designated. The 
army and navy have their chaplains ; and 
so also have the bishops, and the nobility, 
and her Majesty, either their honorary 
chaplains, or chaplains who are resident 
and officiate in their houses or private 
chapels. 

Vicars and Rectors are beneficed clergy- 
men, to whom the spiritual care of parishes 
is permanently entrusted. They enjoy, as 
a freehold, the livings in the Church. 
These livings are in the gift of a large 
number of patrons, among whom are the 
Crown, the Lord Chancellor, the Duchy 
of Lancaster, the Archbishops and Bishops, 
the Dean and Chapter of each Diocese, the 
Universities, certain corporate bodies, trus- 
tees, and private individuals throughout 
the kingdom. Private interest or merit 
leads to preferment; and unbeneficed or 
stipendiary curates possessing either the 
one or the other are preferred, as the case 
may be, to vicarages and rectories. The 
distinction between these two may be ex- 
plained as follows: — "A rectory or par- 
sonage is a spiritual living, composed of 
land, tithe, and other oblations of the 
people." (Spelman.) Tithes are divided 
into great and small. The great tithes 
comprise the tenth part of all kinds of 
grain, &c, whilst the small tithes consist 
of the tenth part of the milk, eggs, cheese, 
&c, produced on the farms of the living. 
These tithes are the property of the rector. 
The right to possess them converts an ec- 
clesiastical benefice into a rectory. But, 
in former times, the church lands, in cer- 
tain cases, passed into the possession- of 
either bishops or laymen, and thereby the 
great or most valuable tithes were diverted 
from their original purpose. The tithes 
became either impropriated or appropriated. 
"An impropriation is properly so called 
when the church land is in the hands of a 






HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



19 



layman, and an appropriation is when it 
is in the hands of a bishop, college, or re- 
ligious house, though sometimes these 
terms are confounded. (Ayliffe.) The 
vicar, then, of a parish, is the incumbent 
of either an appropriated or impropriated 
benefice; and, whilst the small tithes are 
reserved as his portion, the great tithes are 
received either by the bishop or layman 
into whose possession the church lands may 
have fallen. A layman that has the right 
over church lands is called the Impropri- 
ator, and the living in this case is denomi- 
nated a vicarage. It is usual to commute 
the tithes, both great and small, for money. 
No person can be instituted to any par- 
sonage (i. e., rectory), vicarage, benefice, 
or other ecclesiastical promotion, unless in 
priest's orders. (13. 14. Car. II. cap. 4.) 
Nor can a bishop " institute any to a bene- 
fice, who hath been ordained by any other 
bishop, except he first show unto him his 
jj letters of orders/ and bring him a suffi- 
cient testimony of his former good life and 
behaviour, if the bishop shall require it; 
and lastly, shall appear on due examination, 
to be worthy of his ministry." (Canon 
xxxix.) Although the patron has the ex- 
clusive right of presentation, yet the pre- 
sentee is admitted and instituted by the 
bishop, and afterwards he is inducted by 
the archdeacon, or by some other compe- 
tent person. The u admission, strictly 
speaking, is when the bishop, upon exam- 
ination, admitteth the clerk (the presentee), 
to be able, and saitb, Admitto te habilem ; 
but institution is the actual conveyance of 
the spiritual cure, when the bishop saith 
— Instituo te Rectorem talis ecclesiee cum 
cura animarum, and Accipe curam tuam 
et meam." The clerk is not "complete 
incumbent" until he has been inducted, or 
has received, as the canon law calls it, 
| corporal possession." (Gibson's Codex, 
II. 814.) At the Institution, the pre- 
sentee subscribes, in the presence of the 
ordinary, the Thirty-nine Articles of Re- 
ligion, also the Three Articles quoted above 
from Canon xxxvi., and which are sub- 
scribed at ordination, and whenever a cler- 
gyman is licensed to a new charge. An 
oath is taken against simony — "I, A. B., 
do swear that I have made no simoniacal 
payment, contract, or promise, directly or 
indirectly, by myself, or by any other, to 
my knowledge or with my consent, to any 



person or persons whatsoever, for or con- 
cerning the procuring and obtaining of this 
ecclesiastical dignity, place, preferment, 
office, or living— [>espec^z;e/y and particu- 
larly naming the same, whereunto he is to 
be admitted, instituted, collated, installed, 
or confirmed'] — nor will at any time here- 
after perform or satisfy any such kind of 
payment, contract, or promise, made by 
any other without my knowledge or con- 
sent. So help me God, through Jesus 
Christ."* Also the Oath of Allegiance — 
" I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, 
that I will be faithful and bear true allegi- 
ance to her Majesty, Queen Victoria. So 
help me God." And the Oath of Sove- 
reignty — "I, A. B., do swear, that I do 
from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, 
as impious and heretical, that damnable 
doctrine and position, that princes excom- 
municated or deprived by the pope, or any 
authority of the See of Borne, may be de- 
posed or murdered by their subjects, or any 
other whomsoever. And I do declare that 
no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or 
potentate, hath or ought to have any juris- 
diction, power, superiority, pre-eminence or 
authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within 
this realm. So help me God." (1 Will. 
& Mary, cap. 8.) There is, likewise, the 
Oath of Canonical Obedience to the 
bishop; and every clergyman, on being 
either licensed to a curacy, or instituted to 
a benefice, signs the following declaration : 
— "I, A. B., do declare that I will conform 
to the Liturgy of the United Church of 
England and Ireland, as it is now by law 
established;" which is subscribed in the 
presence of the bishop, or of some other 
person appointed by the bishop as his 
" commissary." A particular and distinct 
entry of ' the institution, mentioning the 
date, the name of the patron of the living, 
&c, is made in the public register of the 
ordinary; "and it is of great importance, 
both to clerk and patron, that such entries 
be duly made and carefully preserved — to 
the clerk, whose letters of institution may 
be consumed or lost, and to the patron 
whose title may suffer, in time to come, by 
the want of proper evidence, upon whose 



* This oath is administered "to avoid the de- 
testable sin of simony, because buying and sell- 
ing of spiritual and ecclesiastical functions, offi- 
ces, promotions, dignities, and livings, is exe- 
crable before God." (Canon xl.) 



20 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



presentation it was that institution was 
given." (Gibson II. 813.) The next 
step on the part of the bishop or ordinary, 
is to issue a mandate for induction, directed 
to the archdeacon, except where the bene- 
fice is exempt from archidiaconal jurisdic- 
tion ; " and the archdeacon, or other person 
to whom the mandate is directed, if he in- 
duct not in his proper person issues a pre- 
cept to others to do it." The proper end 
and nature of induction is " the vesting of 
the incumbent with full possession of all 
the profits belonging to the church, which 
the mandate calls the inducting him in 
realem, actualem, et corporalem posses- 
sionem ecclesiae de , cum juribus, pro- 

ficuis, et pertinentiis universis. And, ac- 
cordingly, the words commonly used by 
the inductor (when he takes the clerk by 
the hand, and lays it upon the key, or upon 
the ring of the church door, or if the key 
cannot be had, and there is no ring on the 
door, on any part of the wall of the church 
or churchyard), are these that follow, or 
others to the same effect : — ' By virtue of 
this mandate, I do induct you into the real, 
actual, and corporal possession of the church 

of , with all the rights, profits, and 

appurtenances thereunto belonging.' After 
which the inductor opens the door, and 
puts the person inducted into the church, 
who usually tolls a bell to make his induc- 
tion notorious to the parish." (Gibson, II. 
815.) The archdeacon or his represen- 
tative then certifies the induction, either in 
a distinct instrument, or, which is more 
usual, on the opposite side of the mandate; 
and the incumbent, now instituted to the 
spiritual cure, and inducted to the tem- 
poral emoluments of his benefice, reads 
the Common Prayer in the church at an 
early opportunity, "within two months 
next after that he shall be in the actual 
possession of the said ecclesiastical bene- 
fice"— (13, 14, Car. II. cap. 4.) — and, in 
the presence of the congregation, he says 
aloud — " I, A. B., do here declare my un- 
feigned assent and consent to all and every- 
thing contained and prescribed in and by 
; the book, entitled the Book of Common 
■ Prayer and Administration of the Sacra- 
I ments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of 
the Church, according to the use of the 
[ Church of England, together with the 
Psalter, or Psalms of David, pointed as 
they are to be sung or said in Churches; 



and the Form or Manner of Making, Or- 
daining, and Consecrating of Bishops, 
Priests, and Deacons." (Ibid.) He is 
also required to read the Thirty-nine Ar- 
ticles "in the same church whereof he 
shall have cure, in the time of common 
prayer there, with declaration of his un- 
feigned assent thereunto," within two 
months after his induction. Further, he 
must " publicly and openly read " the de- 
claration that he will conform to the 
Liturgy of the United Church of England 
and Ireland; and, at the same time, "in 
his parish church, where he is to officiate, 
in the presence of the congregation there 
assembled," he must read a certificate to 
the effect that he has subscribed the Decla- 
ration in the presence of the bishop or or- 
dinary of the diocese. Such are the prin- 
cipal rules and requirements to be observed 
by presbyters, on taking possession of their 
benefices. There are exceptions — as in the 
case of Donatives* — but it is unnecessary 
to notice them here. 

Rural Deans are clergymen who have 
assigned to them, in addition to their own 
parochial labours, the inspection of a cer- 
tain number of parishes in their respective 
parts of the several dioceses. The title 
seems to have originated from the circum- 
stance that formerly each rural dean exer- 
cised a certain amount of superintendence 
over ten parishes or ministers stationed in 
the country. -\ "The proper office of a 
rural dean (however constituted), was the 
inspection of the lives and manners of the 
clergy and people within their district, in 
order to be reported to the bishop." (Gib- 
son, II. 972.) 

The Archdeacon holds a higher position 
in the church. He dates the institution I 
of his office as far back as the latter end of \ 
the third century; and, "by the beginning ; 
of the seventh century, he seems to have 
been fully possessed of the chief care and 
inspection of the diocese in subordination i 
to the bishop/' (Ibid, p. 969.) The | 
several dioceses are divided into -two or, 
three, and in some cases even into four, j 



* Donatives are so called because they are j 
given and fully possessed by the single donation 
of the patron in writing, without presentation, 
institution, or induction. (Gibson's Codex, II. |i 
819.) 

t The word dean is derived from the Latin j 
decanus, and this from the Greek <5«a, ten. 

ii 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 



21 



archdeaconries, with one archdeacon for 
each division. The appointment is in the 
gift of the bishop of the diocese. Trien- 
nial visitations are held by the archdeacons 
in their respective localities, and charges 
are delivered by them to the assembled 
clergy of the archdeaconry. These charges 
treat of a variety of ecclesiastical matters, 
bearing on the present state or future pros- 
pect of the church, and they direct atten- 
tion to any change made by the Legislature 
in respect to church discipline. An im- 
portant part of the duty of an archdeacon 
is to visit and inquire into the condition of 
the different ecclesiastical edifices through- 
out his district, " once in every three years, 
in his own person, or cause the same to be 
done/' (Canon lxxxvi.) 

The Chancellor occupies a station that 
requires forensic knowledge — he must be 
"learned in the civil and ecclesiastical 
laws." (Canon cxxvii.) In some cases 
he is a layman, and in others he is chosen 
by the bishops from among their clergy. 
Occasionally there are two chancellors in a 
bishopric — the chancellor of the church, 
and the chancellor of the diocese. 

And, lastly, there are the Deans, so 
called because the office was originally 
given to a presbyter, who, in virtue of the 
office, obtained superiority over ten other 
presbyters attached to a cathedral or colle- 
giate church. The cathedral is, as it were, 
the parish church of the whole diocese, 
under the exclusive and peculiar care of 
the dean and chapter. The chapter con- 
sists of the canons, of whom there are 
several connected with a cathedral ; and 
sometimes a canonry is held by a bishop. 
There are canons, honorary canons, and 
minor canons. The dean is the head of 
the chapter. His appointment, which 
ranks next to a bishopric, is bestowed by 
letters patent direct from the Crown. 
Among his immediate duties it is provided 
that " he, with the rest of the canons or 
prebendaries resident, shall take special 
care that the statutes and laudable customs 
of their church, not being contrary to the 
Word of God or prerogative royal," be 
observed — (Canon xlii.) — and that "every 
dean, dean and chapter, . . shall 

survey the churches of his or their juris- 
diction once in every three years in his own 
person, or cause the same to be done." 
(Canon lxxxvi.) In the cathedrals there 



is divine service twice every day through- 
out the year, and the dean and canons 
" shall not only preach there in their own 
persons so often as they are bound by law, 
statute, ordinance, or custom, but shall like- 
wise preach in other churches of the same 
diocese where they are resident, and espe- 
cially in those places whence they or their 
church receive any yearly rents or profits." 
(Canon xliii.) 

It may be mentioned that the dignitaries 
of the church — as the higher clergy in the 
Church of England are called — hold ex- 
alted rank, not only among ecclesiastics, 
but in the empire; and they are distin- 
guished by styles peculiar to each rank. 
The Archbishop of Canterbury takes pre- 
cedence of the Lord Chancellor, and there- 
fore has the highest position in the kingdom 
next to members of the royal family. The 
Archbishop of York has precedence imme- 
diately after the Lord Chancellor ; and the 
Bishops having seats in the House of 
Lords hold a position intermediate between 
Viscounts and Barons. Archbishops are 
styled Most Reverend; Bishops, Right 
Reverend Lord ; Deans, Very Reverend ; 
Archdeacons, The Venerable and Reverend ; 
and Chancellors, if in holy orders, The 
Worshipful and Reverend. It appears 
that bishops " long before William the 
Conqueror changed bishoprics into baronies, 
were, as bishops, members of the Witena- 
gemot, or the Great Council of the Land." 
(Gibson's Codex, I. 127.) 

6. The whole country is divided into 
parishes, and many of these have been in 
late years subdivided, and, in consequence 
of the increase of population, even the 
subdivided parishes have given off portions 
into ecclesiastical districts. England is 
supposed to have been divided into parishes 
in the seventh century. In any one parish, 
there may be the parish church, the chapel 
of ease, and several district churches, be- 
sides chapels, which, although private 
property, are in connection with the Esta- 
blished Church, and are licensed by the 
bishop of the diocese. Churches cannot be 
erected without the consent of the bishop, 
and their erection may be prevented if good 
cause is shown by the incumbent of the 
parish. They are consecrated by the bishop 
— that is, they are formally dedicated to 
God, and set apart for sacred purposes by 
an act of solemn and special service, and 



22 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



"the law takes no notice of churches or 
chapels till they are consecrated," although 
the canon law supposes that, with consent 
of the bishop, divine service, including the 
administration of the sacraments, may be 
performed in churches and chapels not 
consecrated. (Gibson, I. 190.) It is or- 
dered that " the churchwardens or quest- 
men shall take care and provide that the 
churches be well and sufficiently repaired, 
and so from time to time kept and main- 
tained, that the windows be well glazed, 
and that the floors be kept paved, plain, 
and even; all things there in such an or- 
derly and decent sort, without dust, or 
anything that may be either noisome or 
unseemly, as best becometh the house of 
God." (Canon lxxxv.) The rector is bound 
to keep the chancel of the parish church 
in good condition, whilst the other parts of 
the edifice are repaired at the expense of 
the parishioners. " Of common right, the 
soil and freehold of the church is the par- 
son's ; the use of the body of the church, 
and the repair of it, common to the parish- 
ioners; and the disposing of the seats 
therjein the right of the ordinary." (Gib- 
son, I. 197.) The appropriation of the 
seats is, in common practice, under the 
management of the churchwardens. 

The usual means for meeting the ex- 
pense of repairs are the church rates ; and 
these are made by the churchwardens, to- 
gether with the parishioners assembled, 
after public notice has been given in the 
church; "and the major part of them that 
appear shall bind the parish, or, if none 
appear, the churchwardens alone may make 
the rate, because they, and not the parish- 
ioners, are to be cited and punished in 
defect of repairs." And further — " If the 
churchwardens make any new addition in 
or about the church, they must have the 
consent of the parish, otherwise they have 
no right to a rate ; and if it be within the 
church, the license of the ordinary is also 
to be obtained, lest some inconvenience 
should thereby arise to render the church 
in any respect less fit for the performance 
of divine service, of which the ordinary is 
judge; and whatever is added by license 
of the ordinary becomes from henceforth a 
necessary part of the church, and is to be 
repaired at the charge of the parishioners, 
but in ordinary repairs the churchwardens 
need not take the consent of the parish- 



ioners . . . because the parish have 
made them their trustees. (Ibid. p. 196.) 

Among other duties are the following : 
— "The churchwardens or questmen of 
every church and chapel shall, at the 
charge of the parish, provide the Book of 
Common Prayer." "And if any parishes 
be yet unfurnished of the Bible of the 
largest volume, or of the Book of Homi- 
lies allowed by authority, the said church- 
wardens shall, within convenient time, pro- 
vide the same at the charge of the parish." 
" The churchwardens or questmen, at the 
common charge of the parishioners in every 
church, shall provide a comely and decent 
pulpit, to be set in a convenient place 
within the same, by the discretion of the 
ordinary of the place, if any question do | 
arise, and to be there seemly kept for the j 
preaching of God's Word." (Canons lxxx. 
and Ixxxiii.) It is also ordained that 
churchwardens or their assistants (commonly 
called sidesmen), shall not allow any "pro- 
fane usage to be kept in the church or 
chapel, or churchyard, neither the bells to 
be rung superstitiously upon holidays or 
eves abrogated by the Book of Common 
Prayer." Canon lxxxviii. 

The law by which church officers, en- 
trusted with so many important and often 
difficult functions, are appointed, is as fol- 
lows: — "All churchwardens or questmen 
in every parish shall be chosen by the 
joint consent of the minister and parish- 
ioners, if it may be; but if they cannot 
agree upon such a choice, then the minister 
shall choose one, and the parishioners an- 
other : and without such a joint or several 
choice, none shall take upon them to be 
churchwardens, neither shall they continue 
any longer than one }-ear in that office, 
except, perhaps, they be chosen again in 
like manner. And all churchwardens, at 
the end of their year, or within a month 
after at the most, shall, before the minister 
and the parishioners, give up a just ac- 
count of such money as they have received, 
and also what, particularly, they have be- 
stowed in reparations and otherwise for the 
use of the church. And, last of all, going 
out of their office, they shall truly deliver 
up to the parishioners whatsoever money 
or other things of right belong to the 
church or parish, which remaineth in their 
hands, that it may be delivered over by 
them to the next churchwardens by bill 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OE ENGLAND. 



23 | 



indented." (Canon lxxxix.) The usual 
practice is for the rector to make a selec- 
tion from the laymen of the parish, and 
this person is commonly known by the 
name of the Rector's Churchwarden ; and, 
at the same time, the parishioners assemble 
in the vestry, and there appoint their own 
churchwarden. "The choice of which 
persons viz. — churchwardens or questmen, 
sidemen or assistants — shall be yearly 
made in Easter week." — (Canon xc.) 

There is yet one other person of whom 
mention must be made — the parish clerk. 
Canon xci. says — " No parish clerk, upon 
any vacation, shall be chosen within the 
city of London, or elsewhere within the 
province of Canterbury, but by the parson 
or vicar, or where there is no parson or 
vicar, by the minister of that place for the 
time being." Formerly, the parish clerks 
were all clergymen,* and the duties con- 
nected with the office embraced the ordi- 
nary functions of a curate. They assisted 
the incumbent in the performance of divine 
service — reading the portions of Scripture 
appointed for the day, and leading the 
choral part of the devotions. At present, 
in some places, the parish clerk is in holy 
orders; but, in such cases, the work is 
performed by a layman of inferior station, 
who is paid by the clerk as his deputy. 
The more general custom now prevailing, 
is for the incumbent to give the appoint- 
ment to a layman, whose usual duties are 
to lead the responses, and to give out the 
psalms or hymns during service in the 
church ; also to announce from his desk on 
the Sundays, in the presence of the con- 
gregation, notices of vestry or parochial 
meetings, to attend on the officiating mi- 
nister at baptisms, marriages, and funerals, 
and to assist in keeping a careful register 
of these ceremonies. Funerals, when at 
the parish church, instead of in public 
cemeteries, come under the more immediate 
superintendence of the sexton,f who sees 
that the graves are properly prepared, settles 
with the parties about payment of the fees, 
apprises the clergyman of the time fixed for 



* The word Clerk, is from the Latin clericus, 
a clergyman; and ordained ministers are still 
designated by this term. 

t The word Sexton is a corruption from Sa- 
cristan, an officer who formerly had charge of 
the sacred utensils and moveables of a church. 



the burials, and is present himself at each 
interment. 

7. The property belonging to the Church 
of England is obtained through many dif- 
ferent channels, and is very valuable, al- 
though, if provision were made for the 
endowment of new churches, and for the 
sustentation of an increased number of min- 
isters, the various sources of wealth would 
prove inadequate to even a reasonable de- 
mand. The church lands in some dioceses, 
as in Durham, derive much of their value 
from the minerals. In other parts, as in 
the Eastern Counties, and especially in the 
Fens, church property has participated in 
the general benefit resulting from drainage, 
and other agricultural improvements; whilst 
elsewhere, as in the neighbourhood of Lon- 
don, the conversion of comparatively un- 
profitable ground into handsome streets has 
greatly augmented the ecclesiastical reve- 
nues. The incomes of the Archbishops of 
Canterbury and York are, respectively, 
£15,000 and £10,000 a-year. The Bishops 
of London and Durham are in the posses- 
sion of annual receipts which seem to vary 
from £12,000 to £20,000; but, at present, 
the amount of these episcopal salaries," and 
of the revenue of other bishops, is so un- 
certain, that it will be impossible to par- 
ticularize them with accurate figures. In 
the Clergy List the income of the Bishop 
of Durham is given at £8000; but it is 
known that this prelate netted, lately, in 
one year, no less a sum than £26,000, 
whilst his average receipts are said to be 
about £16,000. This extraordinary state 
of things appears to have arisen from the 
circumstance that the Ecclesiastical Com- 
missioners gave to the Bishop of Durham 
the option either to pay over to them every 
year the sum of £11,200, "taking his 
chance of the £8000 named by Parliament, 
or to make over to them the whole reve- 
nues of the See, receiving an annual pay- 
ment of £8000." | The Bishop preferred 
the former alternative, and has thereby 
doubled, on an average, the intended salary. 
With respect to the intention of the Legis- 
lature, the subjoined extract from the Act 
of Parliament (6 and 7 Will. IV. cap. 77,) 



t Speeches on Ecclesiastical Affairs, by Ed. 
ward Horsman, Esq., M. P., in the sessions of 
1847 and 1848, page 37. Published by Seeleys. 
London, 1849. 



24 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



wilJ show how the matter stands : — " That, 
in order to provide for the augmentation of 
the incomes of the smaller bishoprics, such 
fixed annual sums be paid to the Commis- 
sioners out of the revenues of the larger 
Sees respectively, as shall, upon due inquiry 
and consideration, be determined on, so as 
to leave as an average annual income to the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, £15,000, to the 
Archbishop of York, £10,000, to the 
Bishop of London, £10,000, to the Bishop 
of Durham, £8,000, to the Bishop of Win- 
chester, £7,000, to the Bishop of Ely, 
£5,500, to the Bishops of St. Asaph and 
Bangor, £5,200, and to the Bishops of 
Worcester, and Bath and Wells, respec- 
tively, £5,000. And that out of the fund 
thus accruing, fixed annual payments be 
made by the Commissioners, in such in- 
stances and to such amount as shall be in 
like manner determined on, so that the 
average annual incomes of the other 
bishops, respectively, be not less than 
£4,000, nor more than £5,000."* An 
adjustment of these pecuniary matters will 
be effected in the course of time, for they 
have lately engaged a large share of public 
attention; and also the property of the 
cathedral establishments is being subjected 
to inspection, for a very general feeling 
prevails that it might be diverted into 
channels better adapted than at present to 
the spiritual wants of the country. The 
revenue of the Cathedral of Canterbury is 
" about £20,000 a-year, of which £8000 is 
divided among the chapter — the dean 
taking two shares, and each of the [six] 
canons one share. Now, besides the estates 
from which this revenue is derived, the 
dean and chapter are patrons, by them- 
selves or their nominees, of about forty 
livings, and by law they may present them- 
selves to these livings, each canon being 
permitted to hold one benefice in conjunc- 
tion with his cathedral stall/ ' f 

The total revenues of the Church of 
England are estimated as being not under 
£5,000,000 a-year, and yet — so unequal is 
the distribution — there are, out of 10,500 
benefices, no less than 6,800 with incomes 
under £300 a-year, and of these there are 
3,460 livings whose annual value is under 



* Quoted by Mr. Horsman, ibid, p. 41. 
t Speeches on Ecclesiastical Affairs, by Ed- 
ward Horsman, Esq., M. P., page 56. 



£150. Some of the clergy, holding several 
pieces of preferment, are in the receipt of 
from £2,000 to £5,000 a-year, while many 
hard-working curates and ministers in 
populous and poor districts are receiving 
not more than £50 or £70 for their yearly 
stipend. The ordinary pay of a curate in 
a large town ranges, according to circum- 
stances, from £70 to £150, and in a few 
cases, where the curates are paid by church 
fees, J the annual income will vary from 
£150 to £300; but this high salary is pre- 
carious, and exceedingly rare. The incum- 
bents of district churches and chapels of 
ease, and also the ministers of proprietary 
and private chapels, obtain their incomes 
generally from the pew rents, although in 
some of these instances there are endow- 
ments through the liberality of individuals. 
These incomes range from £100 to £800 
a-year. It is customary for the parishioners, 
at Easter, to contribute small sums called 
Easter Offerings; and these sometimes 
form a considerable item in the receipts of 
a clergyman. There are also Lectureship)*, 
founded in olden times in some parishes of 
the larger towns, and these are usually 
worth £80 or £100 a-year, and occasionally 
they yield a much larger sum. The in- 
come of the rector of a parish is derived 
from the tithes, from Easter offerings, and 
from church fees. 

The oath against Simony, quoted above, 
will show that a clergyman cannot purchase 
for himself preferment without violating 
the law of the land ; and yet the property 
of the Church, like any other property, 
enters the market and is sold to the highest 
bidder. The legal distinctions to be ob- 
served in the sale of church preferment 
are — 1st, the clergyman preferred must 
not make any pecuniary bargain whatever, 
directly or indirectly, with the patron — 
he cannot buy a living for himself. 2d, 
The patron may sell the next presentation 
to a benefice — that is, he may dispose 
of Ms right, as patron, to present a new 
incumbent when next the benefice becomes 
vacant; and the right of presentation re- 
turns to the patron whenever the church is 
again void. In this way there may be a 
continuous traffic in church property ; and, 



X The Church Fees are for officiating at fune- 
rals and marriages, and for registering the bap- 
tisms, &e. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



25 



although prohibited from presenting them- 
selves to benefices under such circumstances, 
preferment may be bought for clergymen 
by their relatives or friends. 3d, The pa- 
tron, if he desires to sell the next presenta- 
tion, must conclude the bargain during a 
period in which the incumbency is occu- 
pied — he cannot dispose of it " whilst the 
church is void, so as to be entitled thereby 
to such void turn." If, for example, the 
rector of a parish dies whilst the next pre- 
sentation is unsold, the patron must not 
then sell his right, but he must give the 
vacant living to a new incumbent. 4th, 
Patrons may not only make a grant of the 
next presentation, but also they can dispose 
of the advowson. " The right of advowson, 
or of presenting a clerk to the bishop as oft 
as a church becomes vacant, was founded 
in the building, or giving land to build on, 
or the endowing of such church." (Gibson, 
II., 756.) And this right became attached 
to the manor, and the tithes of the manor 
were also annexed to the church. The 
persons who thus obtained the privilege of 
nominating clergymen to benefices, " were 
called advocati and patroni, because they 
were bound to protect and defend the rights 
of the church and their clerks from oppres- 
sion and violence." (Ibid.) And hence 
the term advowson from advocati, signifies 
the ji'ms patronatus, or right of patronage. 
An advowson, then, may be sold like any 
other property, subject, of course, to all 
ecclesiastical claims upon it; and in this 
way many advowsons have become sepa- 
rated from the estates to which they origin- 
ally belonged. Such is the law and custom 
in the Church of England. "But the 
notion and practice of making merchandize 
of advowsons and next avoidances," ob- 
serves Bishop Gibson, " is not so easily re- 
conciled either to the laws of the church, 
or to the ancient laws of the land, or to 
the nature of advowsons, considered (as 
they certainly ought in reason and good 
conscience to be considered), in the nature 
of mere trusts, for the benefit of men's 
souls. Nor does it follow, either from the 
patron's being now vested with that right 
by the common law, or from its being an- 
nexed to a temporal inheritance, that it is 
itself a temporal inheritance, or ought 
(legally speaking) to be considered other- 
wise than as a spiritual trust." — (Ibid, 
II., 758.) In cases where the incumbent 



of a church is elevated to a bishopric, the 
Crown — as if in return for the honour con- 
ferred on the benefice — claims the right of 
the next presentation. 

8. In taking a review of the preceding 
Sketch of the Constitution of the Church 
of England, it will appear that England 
and Wales are divided, first, into two pro- 
vinces, under the Archbishops of Canter- 
bury and York ; and, second, into twenty- 
eight dioceses, including those of York and 
Canterbury, each diocese being under a 
bishop. The whole of this territory is 
further divided into parishes, each parish 
being under a rector, or vicar, or perpetual 
curate ; and in the more populous parishes, 
we notice the sub-division of districts, each 
ecclesiastical district being under the spirit- 
ual superintendence of an incumbent or 
curate. There are also the cathedral es- 
tablishments and collegiate churches; .and 
throughout the length and breadth of the 
land, there are stipendiary curates and 
chaplains, licensed to ofiiciate in parishes, 
or in hospitals, jails, and workhouses. 
The clergy are on the increase with the 
growing population ; and, at present, there 
are not less than 17,000 men whose names 
are enrolled in the Clergy List as ordained 
ministers of the Church of England. The 
population of England and Wales is about 
sixteen millions. The number of benefices 
is 10,500. There are churches and chapels, 
13,154. The dignitaries of the church, 
heads of colleges, &c, are 1,147. The 
working clergy are in number more than 
13,000. Of clergymen without duty there 
are 1,568 ; and the chaplains in the navy, 
and on foreign stations, are 372. These 
figures show that there are above 16,000 
clergymen belonging to the Established 
Church in England and Wales.* The 
"Clergy List" for the year 1851 gives the 
number at 17,352, but this large return in- 
cludes many colonial chaplains and mission- 
aries. And yet there is great deficiency 
of labourers in this vast field of sixteen 
millions of souls at home — not to mention 
the inadequate supply that almost neces- 
sarily accompanies our emigrants in their 
rapid flight to the colonies. In the large 



* These statistics are made up principally by 
Mr. Horsman, for the year 1849. See Speeches, 
page 13. The numbers of churches, benefices, 
and clergymen, are constantly changing with 
the increase of population and division of parishes. 



26 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



cities and towns of England, such as Man- 
chester and Liverpool, and throughout the 
manufacturing and mining districts, there 
are considerable masses of the people, nomi- 
nally members of the English Church, 
who never enter a place of worship, and 
are as sheep without a shepherd. The 
strenuous efforts of late years — great and 
beneficial as they have been — are not com- 
mensurate with the wants of an accumu- 



lating population. Not only the parishes, 
but even the congregations in many parts 
of the kingdom, remain — not through neg- 
ligence so much as from necessity — without 
being regularly visited by their ministers. 

The following Table, constructed in the 
year 1849, by Mr. Horsman, will show 
the spiritual destitution — as far as the 
Church of England is concerned — in the 
metropolitan districts : — 



Parish. 



Population. 



No. of Clergy with 
Cure of Souls. 



Proportion. 



St. George's, Southwark 50,000 5 1 in 10,000 

St. George's East 42,000 4 1 

Poplar 21,000 2 1 



Limehouse 22,000 2 

Shadwell 10,000 1 

Spitalfields 21,000 2 



Shoreditch, St. Leonard 35,000 3 1 

" Hoxton 24,000 2 1 

" Haggerstone 19,000 2 1 

Clerkenwell, St. James 30,300 2 1 

" St. John 8,500 1 1 

St. Luke, Old Street 15,300 2 1 

" St. Barnabas 14,000 1 1 

Newington, Surrey 60,000 7 1 

Christ Church 15,000 2 1 

St. Anne, Soho 17,000 2 1 

Stepney, St. Dunstans 25,000 3 1 



10,500 
10,500 
11,060 
10,000 
10,500 
11,666 
12,000 
9,500 
" 15,000 
8,500 
7,500 
14,000 
8,750 
7,500 
8,500 
8,300 



It is obvious that the government of so 
large a body of ecclesiastics, occupying so 
many dissimilar positions, demands a ma- 
chinery for the execution of discipline. 
In the Church of England there are va- 
rious spiritual courts. " Till the reign of 
William the Conqueror, the court for ec- 
clesiastical and temporal matters was one 
and the same, namely, the county court, 
where the bishop and the Sheriff, or their 
representative, sat jointly for the adminis- 
tration of justice — the first in matters ec- 
clesiastical, by the laws of the church, the 
second in matters temporal, by the laws of 
the state." (Gibson, II. 1001.) But 
these two jurisdictions were separated, and 
spiritual causes were subsequently referred 
to ecclesiastical tribunals. The archbishops 
and bishops have severally their Consis- 
tories, or church courts — a court for each 
diocese. Jurisdiction is committed unto 
deans, chancellors, commissaries, officials, 
and archdeacons. The churchwardens have 
assigned to them the particular duty of 
observing the morals of the people in their 



respective parishes ; and they " shall faith- 
fully present all and every of the said 
offenders, to the intent that they, and every 
of them, may be punished by the severity 
of the laws, according to their deserts." 
(Canon, cix.) And " if the churchwardens 
or questmen, or assistants, do or shall know 
any man within their parish, or elsewhere, 
that is a hinderer of the Word of God to 
be read or sincerely preached, or of the 
execution of these our constitutions, or a 
fautor of any usurped or foreign power, by 
the laws of this realm justly rejected and 
taken away, or a defender of Popish and 
erroneous doctrine, they shall detect and 
present the same to the bishop of the dio- 
cese, or ordinary of the place, to be cen- 
sured and punished according to such eccle- 
siastical laws as are prescribed in that j 
behalf." (Canon ex.) And again — " In 
all visitations of bishops and archdeacons, 
the churchwardens or questmen, and side- 
men, shall truly and personally present the 
names of all those which behave themselves 
rudely and disorderly in the church, or 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



27 



which, by untimely ringing of bells, by 
walking, talking, or other noise, shall 
hinder the minister or preacher." (Canon 
cxi.) Thus provision is made in every 
parish for bringing irregularities under the 
cognizance of the spiritual authorities. 

The rural deans, of whom mention has 
been already made, are the eyes of the 
bishops. It is their province to notice and 
report to their superiors any misconduct or 
heretical teaching on the part of the clergy 
residing or labouring within their districts ; 
and the archdeacons are bound not only to 
iuspect the churches and church-yards 
throughout their archdeaconries, but also to 
exercise a vigilant regard for the efficiency 
and orthodoxy of all clerical duties, and 
for the spiritual welfare of the parishes 
within their jurisdiction. It ought not to 
be expected that men, educated as minis- 
ters of the Gospel are, and placed in a 
public and responsible position, with the 
most solemn vows upon them for the faith- 
ful discharge of their duties, and under the 
surveillance of constituted authorities, 
should expose themselves to any serious 
accusation, in respect either to their private 
character or public ministrations; yet it 
seems not possible that there should be a 
body of 17,000 men, however favourable 
their circumstances, which shall escape 
from the vexatious proceedings, or from the 
occasional moral delinquencies of refractory 
or unprincipled members. Hence the ne- 
cessity of ecclesiastical discipline. It has 
been already remarked that the bishops, in 
their several dioceses, have absolute control 
over all clergymen who are merely licensed 
or stipendiary curates — they can revoke a 
curate's license at pleasure; they can also 
refuse peremptorily to admit any unbene- 
ficed minister to a curacy within their juris- 
diction ; and, moreover, the will of a bishop 
is absolute in rejecting any candidate for 
holy orders. Immense responsibility, there- 
fore, rests with the chief overseers of the 
Church of England. The law entrusts 
them with a power which may be as readily 
abused as beneficially employed; and ex- 
amples are not wanting of episcopal au- 
thority being exerted rather for the sup- 
pression than encouragement of faithful 
expositors of Christian truth. The lay 
members of the English Church are, in 
law, amenable to spiritual jurisdiction, al- 
though in practice, the authority of church 



courts is, as a general rule, restrained to 
the correction of the clergy. The Canons 
are explicit — "The minister, churchwar- 
dens, questmen, and assistants, of every 
parish church and chapel, shall yearly, 
within forty days after Easter, exhibit to 
the bishop or his chancellor the names and 
surnames of all the parishioners, as well men 
as women, which, being of the age of sixteen 
years, received not the communion at 
Easter before." (Canon cxii.) And again 
— " It shall be lawful for every minister, 
churchwardens, and sidemen, to present 
offenders as often as they shall think meet ; 
and likewise, for any godly-disposed per- 
son, or for any ecclesiastical judge, upon 
knowledge or notice given unto him or 
them of any enormous crime within his 
jurisdiction, to move the minister, church- 
wardens, or sidemen, as they tender the 
glory of God and reformation of sin, to 
present the same, if they shall find suffici- 
ent cause to induce them thereunto, that it 
may be in due time punished and reformed/' 
(Canon cxvi.) 

The principal point remains to be 
noticed. In what way is church discipline 
applied to beneficed clergymen ? The rec- 
tor, or vicar, or perpetual curate of a 
parish, is as independent and secure in his 
position as any dignitary or bishop. No 
bishop can exercise arbitrary power in this 
direction. All beneficed clergymen are 
protected by the law of the land, and can- 
not be dispossessed of their livings, or in 
anywise punished without a trial before the 
appointed tribunals. Nor can any bishop, 
unless supported by the ecclesiastical courts, 
prevent the institution and induction of a 
qualified clergyman, when duly nominated 
by the patron to a benefice within his dio- 
cese. In the case of refusal, there is an 
appeal to the Court of Queen's Bench or to 
the Court of Arches, and to her Majesty 
in Council ; and should the refusal of the 
bishop, after being over-ruled by these 
higher authorities, be continued, the clergy- 
man is instituted to his living by the arch- 
bishop of the province without any neces- 
sary concurrence of the bishop of the dio- 
cese. By these means, the rights of 
patrons are guarded, and the clergy cannot 
be debarred from taking possession of their 
preferment, unless sufficient cause is proved 
in an open court, and confirmed by the 
highest judicial authority in the realm. 



28 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



It is not necessary to speak here of the 
several Cousistories, or other church courts, 
established in England during many centu- 
ries, because the ancient rule has been in 
some measure repealed by the Legislature, 
and the law of Henry VII. for the " punish- 
ment of priests," has been superseded by 
" An Act for better enforcing church dis- 
cipline," in the reign of Victoria. (3d and 
4th Victorias Reginas, cap. 86.) The course 
at present followed will be understood from 
a perusal of the subjoined epitome of the 
principal clauses of the enactment : — 

I. In every case of any clerk in holy 
orders of the United Church of England 
and Ireland, who may be charged with 
any offence, or concerning whom there 
may exist evil report, it shall be lawful for 
the bishop of the diocese, on the applica- 
tion of any party complaining, or of his 
own mere motion, to issue a commission to 

\\flve persons, of whom one shall be his 
J vicar-general, or an archdeacon or rural 
i] dean within the diocese, for the purpose of 
making inquiry as to the grounds of such 
charge or report, — provided that intimation 
of the circumstances connected with the 
charge shall be sent by the bishop to the 
party accused fourteen days at least before 
such commission shall issue. 

II. It shall be lawful for the said com- 
missioners, or any three of them, to ex- 
amine upon oath all witnesses who shall be 
tendered to them for examination, or whom 
they may deem it necessary to summon, 
for the purpose of ascertaining whether 
there be sufficient prima facie ground for 
instituting further proceedings; and notice 
of the time when, and place where, every 
meeting of the commissioners shall be 
holden shall be given to the party accused, 
seven days at least before the meeting; 
and it shall be lawful for the party ac- 
cused, or his agent, to attend the proceed- 
ings and to examine the witnesses ; and all 
such preliminary proceedings shall be pub- 
lic, unless on the application of the party 
accused ; and when such proceedings, 
whether public or private, shall have been 
closed, one of the commissioners shall 
openly declare the opinion of the majority 
of the commissioners present at such in- 
quiry, whether there be or be not sufficient 
prima facie ground for instituting further 
proceedings. 

III. The said commissioners, or any 



three of them, shall transmit to the bishop 
the despositions of witnesses, and a report 
of the opinion of the majority of the com- 
missioners whether or not there be sufficient 
prima facie ground for instituting proceed- 
ings against the party accused ; and the 
bishop shall, upon the application of the 
party accused, cause to be delivered to such 
party a copy of the said report and of the 
depositions. 

IV. In all cases where proceedings 
shall have been commenced against any 
such clerk, it shall be lawful for the bishop, 
with consent of such clerk and of the 
party complaining, to pronounce, without 
any further proceedings, such sentence as 
the bishop shall think fit, not exceeding 
the sentence which might be pronounced 
in due course of law. 

V. If the commissioners shall report 
that there is sufficient prima facie ground 
for instituting proceedings, and if the bishop, 
or the party complaining, shall thereupon 
think fit to proceed against the party ac- 
cused, articles shall be drawn up, and, 
when approved and signed by an advocate 
practising in Doctor's Commons, shall, to- 
gether with a copy of the depositions taken 
by the commissioners, be filed in the re- 
gistry of the diocese ; and any such party 
shall be entitled to inspect, or to have 
copies of such depositions ; and a copy of 
the articles so filed shall be served upon 
the party accused; and it shall not be 
lawful to proceed upon any such articles 
until after the expiration of fourteen days 
after the day on which such copy shall have 
been served. 

VI. It shall be lawful for the bishop to 
require the party to appear either in person 
or by his agent, at any place within the 
diocese, after the expiration of the said 
fourteen days, and to make answer to the 
said articles ; and if the party shall appear, 
and by his answers admit the truth of the 
articles, the bishop or his commissary shall 
forthwith pronounce sentence according to 
the ecclesiastical law. 

VII. If the party accused shall refuse 
to appear and make answer to the said 
articles, or shall make answer other than 
an admission of the truth thereof, the 
bishop shall proceed to hear the cause, with 
the assistance of three assessors, nominated 
by the bishop, one of whom shall be an 
advocate in the court of the archbishop of 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



29 



the province, or a sergeant-at-law, or a bar- 
rister of seven years' standing, and another 
shall be the dean of his cathedral church, 
or one of his archdeacons, or his chancellor ; 
and upon the hearing of such cause, the 
bishop shall determine the same, and pro- 
nounce sentence according to tKe ecclesi- 
astical law. 

VIII. It shall be lawful for the bishop 
of any diocese, either in the first instance, 
or after the commissoners shall have re- 
ported that there is sufficient prima facie 
ground for instituting proceedings, and be- 
fore the filing of the articles, but not after- 
wards, to send the case, by letters of re- 
quest, to the court of appeal of the pro- 
vince, to be there heard and determined 
according to the law and practice of such 
court. 

IX. In every case in which it shall ap- 
pear to the bishop that great scandal is 
likely to arise from the party accused con- 
tinuing to perform the services of the 
church while such charge is under investi- 
gation, it shall be lawful for the 'bishop to 
cause a notice to be served inhibiting the 
said party from performing any services of 
the church within such diocese, until sen- 
tence shall have been given in the said 
cause. 

X. It shall be lawful for any party who 
shall think himself aggrieved by the judg- 
ment pronounced in the first instance by 
the bishop, or in the court of appeal of the 
province, to appeal from such judgment; 
and such appeal shall be to the archbishop, 
and shall be heard before the judge of the 
court of appeal of the province, when the 
cause shall have been heard and deter- 
mined in the first instance by the bishop ; 
and the appeal shall be to the Queen in 
council, and shall be heard before the Ju- 
dicial Committee of the Privy Council, 
when the cause shall have been heard and 
determined in the first instance in the 
court of the archbishop. 

XI. And it is enacted, That every arch- 
bishop and bishop of the United Church 
of England and Ireland, who now is, or at 
any time hereafter shall be sworn of her 
Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, 
shall be a member of the Judicial Com- 
mittee of the Privy Council for the purposes 
of every such appeal as aforesaid ; and that 
no such appeal shall be heard before the 
Judical Committee of the Privy Council, 



unless at least one of such archbishops or 
bishops shall be present at the hearing 
thereof. 

XII. Every suit or proceeding against 
any such clerk in holy orders, for any of- 
fence against the laws ecclesiastical, shall 
be commenced within two years after the 
commission of the offence in respect of 
which the suit or proceeding shall be in- 
stituted, and not afterwards. 

Such, then, is the present state of the 
law for the maintenance of orthodoxy and 
good behaviour among the clergy of the 
Church of England.* It will be observed 
that any accused party not wishing to con- 
fide the case to the judgment of his own 
bishop, has the alternative of an appeal 
either to the archbishop of the province, or 
to the Queen in Council. An appeal to 
the archbishop of Canterbury, for example, 
is brought into the Court of Arches. u The 
person who administers justice under this 
style is the official principal of the arch- 
bishop, who was called officialis de arcu- 
bus, and the court itself curia de arcubus, 
from its being anciently held in Ecclesia 
B. Maride de arcubus, or Bow Church, ~\ 
by reason of the archbishop having ordi- 
nary jurisdiction in that place, as the chief 
of his Peculiars in London, and the 
church where the dean of those Peculiars 
(commonly called the Dean of the Arches) 
holds his courts. And, because these two 
courts were held in the same place, and 
the dean of the arches was usually substi- 
tuted in the absence of the official, while 
the offices remained in two persons, and the 
offices themselves have in many instances 
been united in one and the same person, 
as they now remain; by these means a 
false notion hath obtained that it is the 
Dean of the arches, as such, who hath 
jurisdiction throughout the province of 
Canterbury, whereas the jurisdiction of that 
office is limited to the thirteen Peculiars of 
the Archbishop in the city of London, and 
the jurisdiction throughout the province for 
receiving of appeals, &c, belongs to him 
only as official principal." (Gibson, II., 
1004.) The court of arches, therefore, is 



* This law will probably be altered, as it does 
not give satisfaction. 

f Bow Church, in Cheapside, London, has its 
name from the arches which help to form the 
roof; and hence the familiar term, Court of 
Arches, as above explained. 



30 



HISTORY OE THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



the archbishop's court, and here cases of 
appeal are reviewed on behalf of the arch- 
bishop, by his official principal, commonly 
called the Dean of the arches, who is a 
layman educated as an ecclesiastical lawyer, 
and elevated to the dignity of a judge. 
From this court an appeal may be made, 
under certain limitations, to the Queen, as 
temporal head of the Church, who, by the 
advice of the Judicial Committee of the 
Privy Council, reverses or confirms the 
sentence of the lower court. It will be 
noticed, that in spiritual causes, the Judi- 
cial Committee cannot hear appeals unless 
an archbishop or bishop, being a member 
of the Privy Council, is present. In the 
recent case of Gorham v. Bishop of Ex- 
eter, the Judicial Committee consisted of 
five of her Majesty's principal lay judges, 
assisted by the Archbishops of Canterbury 
and York, and the Bishop of London — a 
competent court of appeal, eminently qual- 
ified for the purpose, and intended — not to 
make laws for the Church, nor to deter- 
mine the doctrines of Scripture, but to ex- 
press an unbiassed and correct judgment 
as to whether or not the principles of the 
Church of England, as exhibited in her 
accredited Formularies and Articles, have 
been violated or infringed by the party ap- 
pealing to her Majesty for protection. 

9. In the English Church, there are 
some benefices, or ecclesiastical appoint- 
ments, distinguished by the name of Pecu- 
liars or Exemptions — so designated be- 
cause they are peculiarly circumstanced, 
and are exempt, in a great measure, from 
episcopal jurisdiction, or from the jurisdic- 
tion of the bishop in whose diocese they 
may be situated. For example, as stated 
above — the archbishop of Canterbury has, 
in the city of London, thirteen Peculiars, 
including Bow Church ; and these are sub- 
ject to the authority, not of the Bishop of 
London, but of the Dean of the arches on 
behalf of the archbishop. There are other 
peculiars that are under the jurisdiction 
of the deans and chapters of cathedrals. 
The donatives, already explained, are also 
exemptions. Hospitals — such as Sherburn 
Hospital, in the county of Durham — com- 
mand the same immunity; the master, 
warden, or chaplain, being independent of 
the bishop of the diocese. The chaplains 
of Chelsea and Greenwich hospitals require 
no episcopal license, and are exempt from 



episcopal visitations ; and a similar remark 
applies to our consular chaplains, and to 
the chaplains in the army and navy. So 
that a large body of the English clergy, not 
only in foreign countries, but ministering 
to congregations in dioceses at home, are 
exempted from the operation of those eccle- 
siastical laws which generally regulate the 
clergy of the Establishment. It forms no 
part of the constitution of the Church of 
England that her ordained ministers should 
hold a license from a bishop — a license, as 
shown above, is necessary where the sphere 
of labour is within the jurisdiction of a 
bishop; but episcopal jurisdiction is limited, 
and beyond these limits the clergy possess 
full power — on the authority of their letters 
of orders, received from the bishops by 
whom they were severally ordained — to ad- 
minister the sacraments, and to preach the 
"unsearchable riches of Christ" wherever 
the opportunity is granted, in any part of 
the world. Hence, on the continent, there 
are English clergymen labouring without a 
license fifom any bishop ; and, under the 
same sanction of her ecclesiastical polity, 
the Church of England has in Scotland 
several congregations, which, with their 
ministers, are necessarily exempt from the 
jurisdiction of the prelates of their own 
church. An English bishop may perform 
any of his episcopal functions north of the 
Tweed whenever he pleases (as, indeed, has 
already occurred), and without the consent 
of any party ; but he cannot either exercise 
or impart authority in Presbyterian Scot- 
land. The Scotch bishops possess no ju- 
risdiction whatever; for "the Protestant 
Episcopalian Church in Scotland is main- 
tained by the law of the land, under the 
spiritual authority of bishops, exercising 
episcopal functions within given districts, 
but without any fixed sees or titles recog- 
nized by law ;" and "to exercise spiritual 
functions as a bishop is one thing — to ex- 
ercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction as a bishop 
is another."* It follows, therefore, that 
the Church of England congregations in 
Scotland, as distinguished from the Scottish 
Episcopal Communion, are in a position 
analogous, in some respects, to the peculiars 



* Letters Apostolic, Considered with Reference 
to the Law of England, by Travers Twiss, D.C.L. 
of Doctor's Commons, Commissary-General of 
the Diocese of Canterbury, pages 11, 62. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



31 



and exemptions in England, or to Church 
of England congregations on the continent; 
and the ministers who officiate in Scotland 
without connecting themselves with the 
Scottish bishops, do not in any wise violate 
or disregard the ecclesiastical principles by 
which they are bound. Hence, the present 
Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on 
this subject in the House of Lords, ob- 
served — "I feel a sympathy with those 
members of our church who, residing in 
Scotland, are naturally desirous of enjoying 
the ministration of clergy whose sentiments 
are identified with their own ; and if any 
clergyman circumstanced like themselves 
should be presented to a benefice in my 
diocese, I shall not scruple to receive him, 
without waiting for a mandamus, if he 
brings a sufficient testimonial of conduct 
and orthodoxy." And the present Arch- 
bishop of York has said — " I shall not ob- 
ject to license, in my diocese, clergymen 
duly qualified (according to my judgment) 
in soundness of doctrine and character, who, 
having officiated in English chapels in Scot- 
land separate from the Scottish Episcopal 
Church, do not possess a testimonial from 
a Scotch bishop." * 

Although there are many positions which 
the clergy may occupy without coming 
under the immediate jurisdiction of a 
bishop, yet, in the event of misconduct on 
the part of any minister holding prefer- 
ment, the late act (3 and 4 Vic. cap. 86) 
provides that " every archbishop and bishop 
within the limit of whose province or dio- 
cese respectively, any place, district, or 
preferment, exempt or peculiar, shall be 
locally situate, shall, except as herein 
otherwise provided, have, use, and exercise 
all the powers and authorities necessary for 
the due execution by them respectively of 
the provisions and purposes of this act, and 
for enforcing the same with regard thereto 
respectively, as such archbishop and bishop 
respectively would have used and exercised 
if the same were not exempt or peculiar, 
but were subject in all respects to the juris- 
diction of such archbishop or bishop, . . . . 
provided that the peculiars belonging to any 
archbishopric or bishopric, though locally 
situate in another diocese, shall continue 



* Report of the Debate in the House of Lords, 
May 22, 1849, pages 35, 97. Published by 
| Hutchard, London. 



subject to the archbishop or bishop to 
whom they belong, as well for the purposes 
of this act as for all other purposes of ec- 
clesiastical jurisdiction." 

10. The next point to be noticed is Con- 
vocation, by which is signified "an assembly 
of the clergy for consultation on matters 
ecclesiastical, in time of Parliament; and 
as the Parliament consists of two distinct 
Houses, so does this — the one called the 
Upper House, where the archbishops and 
bishops sit severally by themselves; the 
other the Lower House, where all the rest 
of the clergy are represented by their de- 
puties." (Cowel.) At the meeting of Par- 
liament, the Crown issues a writ, whereby 
Convocation is summoned to assemble in 
the provinces of Canterbury and York. 
The whole Church is sometimes erroneously 
supposed to be represented in these two 
ecclesiastical bodies; but, in fact, as the 
laity are excluded, and have no part in the 
election of the constituent members, the 
Convocation of either province can only 
pretend to represent its own share of the 
clergy. The Upper House, consisting of 
the archbishop and bishops of the province, 
is not liable to any change in its members 
except as they are removed by death ; but 
the Lower House, being formed of clergy- 
men chosen, in part at least, by the suf- 
frages of their brethren, may be consider- 
ably altered by the introduction of new 
members on every occasion of its being 
summoned. The representatives are called 
Proctors. These are elected by the clergy 
of the several archdeaconries, before the 
meeting of Parliament; and, besides the 
representatives of the parochial clergy, 
there are, as members of the Lower House, 
the deans, archdeacons, chancellors, and a 
certain number of the canons. The Lower 
House, in the province of Canterbury, con- 
sists of about twenty-three deans, fifty-seven 
archdeacons, twenty-four proctors for the 
chapters, and forty-two proctors for the 
parochial clergy — that is, of 146 members ; 
and, after Convocation has been opened by 
the Archbishop, these clergymen are de- 
sired to choose from among themselves a 
Prolocutor, to preside over their proceed- 
ings. It is usual for Convocation in the 
province of Canterbury to meet in St. 
Paul's Cathedral, or in the Jerusalem 
Chamber, adjoining Westminster Abbey; 
and Convocation in the province of York 



Ojf) 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



assembles in York Cathedral, under the 
direction of its own archbishop, and con- 
sists of the bishops, deans, archdeacons, 
and proctors of the province, resolving 
themselves, as in the province of Canter- 
bury, into an Upper and Lower House. 
Two distinct ecclesiastical assemblies are 
therefore constituted in virtue of writs from 
the Queen, whenever the Parliament of 
Great Britain is opened. 

Since the year 1717, Convocation has 
ceased to possess power. It has been 
found, in all ages of the church, that eccle- 
siastical bodies, uninfluenced by the lay 
element, and entrusted with power to legis- 
late, are detrimental to the commonwealth. 
Hence, in England, the clergy are pro- 
hibited from meeting in Convocation unless 
summoned by the Crown.' " G-eneral coun- 
cils may not be gathered together without 
the commandment and will of princes; and 
when they be gathered together (forasmuch 
as they be an assembly of men, whereof 
all be not governed with the spirit and 
word of God), they may err, and sometimes 
have erred, even in things pertaining unto 
God. Wherefore, things ordained by them 
as necessary to salvation, have neither 
strength nor authority, unless it may be 
declared that they be taken out of Holy 
Scripture." (Thirty-nine Articles, Art. 
xxi.) The Canons of 1603 affirm that it 
is not " lawful for any sort of ministers 
and lay persons, or of either of them, to 
join together, and make rules, orders, or 
constitutions, in causes ecclesiastical, with- 
out the King's authority." (Canon xii.) 
And the clergy shall henceforth not " pre- 
sume to attempt, alledge, claim, or put in 
use any constitutions or ordinances, provin- 
cial or synodal, or any other canons, nor 
shall enact, promulge, or execute, any such 
canons, constitutions, or ordinance provin- 
cial, by whatsoever name or names they 
may be called, in their convocations in time 
coming, (which always shall be assembled 
by authority of the King's writ), unless 
the same clergy may have the King's most 
royal assent and license to make, promulge, 
and execute such canons, constitutions, and 
ordinances, provincial or synodal, upon pain 
of every one of the said clergy doing con- 
trary to this act, and being thereof convict, 
to suffer imprisoment, and make fine at the 
King's will." (25 Henry VIIL, cap. 19.) 
This Act was repealed in the reign of Philip 



and Mary, and restored by the Parliament 
of Elizabeth, (1 Eliz., cap. I.) Although, 
therefore, Convocation assembles in both 
provinces with the meeting of Parliament, 
and in obedience to the Queen's writ, yet 
the prelates and clergy at such times are 
restricted to the voting of an address to the 
Crown, and are powerless in matters of 
legislation. Convocation has not even the 
privilege of adjournment ; and, therefore, 
if a discussion on the proposed address en- 
sues, and is protracted beyond the first day, 
the archbishop, by his own authority, pro- 
rogues, but does not adjourn the meeting.* 
When the Parliament is prorogued, the 
Crown sends a writ to the archbishop to 
prorogue Convocation; but, during the 
sitting of Parliament, the archbishop him- 
self, as head of the province, prorogues 
Convocation from period to period, until 
the address is adopted by both Houses; 
and then a further prorogation takes place 
until after the Christmas recess, usually 
until Parliament re-assembles in Feb- 
ruary, when the bishops and clergy are 
again brought together, simply for the pur- 
pose of receiving from the Queen an answer 
to their address. If a committee of mem- 
bers of either the Upper or Lower House 
of Convocation be formed, and ecclesiastical 
matters are therein discussed, and proposi- 
tions entertained, all such proceedings are, 
in point of law, null and void, and can be 
regarded only as the opinions of private 
individuals; for, without permission from 
the Crown, synodical action in the Church 
of England is illegal. 

An effort is being made by the High 
Church party to prevail on the Crown to 
restore the active functions of Convocation, 
but it is hoped by the great majority of 
English Churchmen, that, unless there be 
an entire change in the construction of this 
ecclesiastical body, the license to act will 
remain in abeyance. The principal objec- 
tions to Convocation being permitted to 
legislate for the Church may be mentioned 
— 1st, The Church of England is so essen- 
tial a part of the British Constitution, that 
it would be almost impossible for Convoca- 



* It is a point of dispute, in some quarters, 
whether the archbishop has by law this power, 
or whether Convocation cannot be prorogued i 
except by the united voices of the bishops of the 
province. Precedent is in favour of the arch- | 
bishop's right. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



33 



tion to proceed with any question of im- 
portance without the risk of placing itself 
in a position antagonistic to the two Houses 
of Parliament. 2d, The experience of for- 
mer ages shows that there is danger to the 
quietude and prosperity of the common- 
wealth whenever the State and the Church 
are brought into collision, through the 
agency of legislative power conferred upon 
synods purely clerical. 3d, In the present 
times, whilst polemical strife prevails within 
the Church, it would not be possible for 
Convocation to advance a step without ex- 
hibiting to the world a humiliating specta- 
cle of controversial bitterness, with its 
accompanying and lamentable results. 4th, 
Convocation, under present circumstances, 
does not truly represent the United Church 
of England and Ireland ; for Ireland is not 
represented, and the English Church in the 
colonies — although the colonial bishops are 
suffragans of the archbishop of Canterbury 
— is not represented; nor are the lay mem- 
bers of any portion of the Church repre- 
sented; and, even with respect to the eccle- 
siastics themselves, a mere fraction of the 
17,000 clergymen are represented by their 
proctors. For these and other reasons, it 
is not desirable that the dormant power of 
Convocation should be revived. 

We have now completed our first inquiry 
into the present aspect of the Church of 
England; we have examined the several 
points and features of her Constitution, and 
the subject next to be considered is the 
Character of her Teaching, as authorised 
in the formularies of the Church, and en- 
joined upon her bishops and clergy. 

The Doctrines. — 1. The Church of 
England is the Church of the Reformation. 
Her existence, indeed, as mentioned at the 
commencement of this article, can be traced 
back to an early period; for, long before 
Rome was in the ascendant, she was im- 
parting the light of the Gospel to the in- 
habitants of ancient and benighted Britain. 
The moral darkness, however, which spread 
over the continent of Europe, extended to 
the English Church ; and it was not until 
the Reformation in the sixteenth century 
that she recovered, from the midst of errors 
and superstitions, the primitive doctrines 
which she had lost. Whilst the leaven of 
scriptural principles was working in other 
countries, through a variety of channels, 



and whilst the people of Scotland were 
emancipating themselves from the spiritual 
thraldom of ages, the Church of England 
was feeling the effects of the labours pur- 
sued by Wickcliffe so early as the four- 
teenth century, and at a later period by the 
godly martyr Tyndale. The supremacy of 
the Pope was overthrown, the Book of 
Common Prayer was revised, articles of 
religion were framed, the Scriptures were 
translated and circulated, monasteries and 
superstitious ceremonies were suppressed, 
and, after a severe struggle in the reign of 
Queen Mary — accompanied by the sacrifice 
of a host of martyrs, including Cranmer, 
Ridley, Latimer, and Hooper, bishops of 
the English Church — the doctrines which 
characterised the general Protestant move- 
ment in Scotland and in other countries, 
were adopted by, and continue to be the 
fundamental principles of, the Reformed 
Church of England. 

" In the century of the Reformation, 
Catholic Spain, gorged with the blood of 
the children of God, fell, overthrown by 
the arm of the Eternal; and reformed 
England took -her place upon the throne 
of the seas, which has been justly called 
the throne of the world. The winds which 
engulphed the Armada, drew this new 
power from the abyss. The country of 
Philip II. — struck to the heart because she 
had struck the Lord's people — let fall from 
her hands the sceptre of the ocean; and 
the land of Elizabeth, strengthened by the 
Word of God, found it floating upon the 
seas, seized and raised it, being called upon 
to use it to subject all the people of the 
earth to the King of Heaven. It is the 
Gospel which has given our antipodes to 
England. All that she possesses has been 
given her by the Gospel. If the Gospel 
dies in these illustrious isles from the blows 
which Romanism and Puseyism now unite 
to give, then must be written upon their so 
long triumphant banner — " Ichabod ! the 
glory of the Lord is departed.^ * 

2. An appeal to the accredited Standards 
of a church is the only safe criterion by 
which we can judge of hor authorised doc- 
trines ; and when we have to enquire into 
the religious principles of a community 
where there are at least 17,000 ecclesiastics 



55. 



* " Geneva and Oxford," by D'Aubigne, page 



34 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



to direct and influence the lay members, it 
is the more imperative that our judgment 
should be formed, not from the opinions 
of individual divines, but from the for- 
mularies adopted and subscribed by the 
whole body. The Church of Scotland — 
recognized, as such, by the English Church, 
in the Canons of 1603 — has her Confession 
of Faith, and by this document all her 
members (Presbyterians) are strictly bound. 
In like manner, the Church of England 
gives expression to her principles in the 
Thirty-Nine Articles, and in the Liturgy ; 
and every clergyman ministering in her 
communion is inhibited from teaching 
any doctrine at variance with these for- 
mularies. 

At the period of the Reformation, it 
was considered expedient to prepare Arti- 
cles of Religion, in the hope that thereby 
peace and sound doctrine might be cherish- 
ed and preserved. The Protestants of 
Germany showed the example by prepar- 
ing the " Confession of Augsburg." In 
the year 1536, King Henry the Eighth, 
after much consultation with the clergy, 
authorised the publication of some articles, 
wherein certain popish dogmas were dis- 
claimed, but which still sanctioned several 
erroneous opinions. When Edward VI. 
ascended the throne, the Reformation was 
promoted in earnest; and, in the year 1552, 
forty-two articles, drawn up, probably, by 
Cranmer and Ridley, and based on the 
Augsburg Confession, were set forth by 
royal mandate. Queen Mary soon destroyed 
what had been effected by her illustrious 
predecessor. The articles of Edward were 
repealed. The reign of Elizabeth again 
turned the tide in favour of Protestantism. 
Archbishop Parker told the clergy that 
" they had now in their hands an opportu- 
nity of reforming all things in the Church. 
The queen did earnestly desire it, and so 
did many of the nobility. He sent them 
to choose a Prolocutor, and recommended 
Nowel, Dean of St. Paul's, to them. They 
chose him upon that; and on the 16th 
January, 1562, Parker exhorted them to 
consider against the next session what 
things wanted reformation."* The Arch- 
bishop proposed that the articles of 1552 
should be reviewed ; and, after deliberating 



* Bishop Burnet's History of the Reformation, 
vol. iii. p. 452, Dr. Nares' edition. 



at three different sittings of the Upper 
House of Convocation, the bishops unani- 
mously agreed, on the 29th of January, in 
adjusting the matter — the Articles of Ed- 
ward VI. were corrected, and reduced in 
number from forty-two to thirty-nine ; and 
these Thirty-nine Articles of the year 1562, 
were subscribed both by the prelates and 
the rest of the clergy. In the year 1571, 
the articles were again revised, a few slight 
emendations were made, and they were pub- 
lished in English and Latin. This business 
was transacted in Convocation, which opened 
on April 3d, and was dissolved on the 30th 
of May. The Queen also gave her assent, 
and issued her ratification. Since that 
period they have not been altered — they 
are now, as they were then ; although they 
passed under the notice of Convocation in 
1604, and were again solemnly subscribed 
by the clergy. In the year 1628, King 
Charles I. caused an edition to be published, 
and ordered to be prefixed a " Declaration," 
of which the following extract is a part : — 
" That, therefore, in these both curious and 
unhappy differences, which have for so 
many hundred years, in different times and 
places, exercised the Church of Christ, we 
will that all farther curious search be laid 
aside, and these disputes shut up in God's 
promises, as they be generally set forth to 
us in the Holy Scriptures, and the general 
meaning of the Articles of the Church of 
England, according to them. And that no 
man hereafter shall either print or preach, 
to draw the article aside any way, but shall 
submit to it in the plain and full meaning 
thereof, and shall not put his own sense or 
comment to be the meaning of the article, 
but shall take it in the literal and gram- 
matical sense." "j" It has been already 
shown that the ministers of the Church 
of England subscribe the Thirty-Nine Ar- 
ticles ; and it is obvious that they are bound 
to instruct their parishioners or congrega- 
tions in strict accordance with the literal 
meaning of the language in which these 
Articles were compiled by the Reformers, 
adopted by Convocation, and authorized by 
the Sovereign, as chief governor of the 
Church. 

The Book of Common Prayer must also 



+ For further information the reader is referred 
to " Bennet's Essay on the Thirty-Nine Articles," 
chapters iii., vi., xix., xxvii. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



35 



be noticed, because, by the Act of Uni- 
formity (13, 14 Car. II., cap. 4), every 
clergyman must adhere, in public worship, 
to the use of this Book ; and, moreover, he 
subscribes, as mentioned above, the follow- 
ing article, contained in Canon xxxvi : — 
"That he himself will use the form in the 
said Book prescribed, in public prayer, and 
administration of the Sacraments, and none 
other." Before the Reformation, the only 
liturgical service was in Latin, and consisted 
of prayers, partly ancient, and partly of 
more modern date, intermingled with many 
superstitious observances. In the reign of 
Henry VIII., the first attempt was made 
to correct the abuses of preceding ages. The 
Convocation appointed a Committee, in the 
year 1537, to compose a book, which was 
called " The Godly and Pious Institution 
of a Christian Man;" and it contained a 
declaration of the Lord's Prayer, the Ave 
Maria, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, 
and the Seven Sacraments. It was altered 
and again published in the years 1540 and 
1543, under the title of "A Necessary 
Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian 
Man." These publications indicated the 
dawn of a better period, but this is all 
that can be advanced in their favour. In 
the year 1540, a Committee of Bishops and 
divines was appointed by the King to re- 
form the rituals of the Church; and the 
labours of the Committee were reviewed 
by Convocation in 1542-3, and in the next 
year the improved offices were put forth in 
English and publicly used. Another book, 
called the King's Primer, containing, among 
other things, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, 
the Ten Commandments, Venite, Te Deum, 
and other hymns and collects in English, 
was published in 1545. In 1547, King 
Edward VI. having now come to the throne, 
the Convocation declared that the commu- 
nion ought to be administered to all persons 
in both kinds; a committee was appointed to 
" compose an uniform order of communion, 
according to the rules of Scripture, and the 
use of the primitive church ;" and a Li- 
turgy was compiled in the following year 
for Sundays and holidays, with special ser- 
vices for baptism, confirmation, matrimony, 
burial of the dead, &c, and embracing the 
office for the administration of the Lord's 
Supper. This Book of Common Prayer 
was approved by the two Convocations of 
Canterbury and York, and by the Parlia- 



ment. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, was one of those who assisted in its 
composition — so also was the godly and 
learned martyr, Bishop Bidley. It is dis- 
tinguished as the First Liturgy of Edward 
VI., A. D., 1549. 

Early in 1551, it was thought necessary 
to reconsider the Liturgy, and Cranmer in- 
vited Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr from 
Germany to assist in the important work. 
The book was revised, and again confirmed 
by Parliament; and it has been since dis- 
tinguished as the Second Liturgy of Ed- 
ward VI., A. D., 1552.* In the reign of 
Mary these Liturgies were both repealed ; 
but Elizabeth resumed the labours of the 
early Reformation. The several Offices of 
the Church were reviewed; the second 
Liturgy of Edward VI. was chosen as the 
model, and altered in a few particulars; 
some collects were added; and, in this 
state, the Book of Common Prayer con- 
tinued until the first year of James I., 
when some forms of thanksgiving were 
added, and the Catechism was enlarged on 
the subject of the Sacraments. In the 
reign of Charles II., the Liturgy was again 
slightly altered, and unanimously "sub- 
scribed by both Houses of Convocation of 
both provinces, on Friday, the 20th De- 
cember, 1661.""|' And, in the same year, 
the Parliament passed the Act of Uni- 
formity in Public Worship — (13, 14, Car. 
II., cap. 4) — by the authority of which all 
ministers of the Church of England are at 
this moment solemnly bound. 

3. We are now prepared to appeal to the 
authorised formularies of the Church of 
England. The quotations, selected exclu- 
sively from the Articles and Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, will prove what are her prin- 
ciples on all the fundamental or important 
points; and it will not be necessary to 
speak, in this place, of doctrines of minor 
consequence. 

I. The Holy Trinity. — " There is 
but one living and true God, everlasting, 
without body, parts, or passions; of infi- 
nite power, wisdom, and goodness; the 
Maker and Preserver of all things both 

* Those who desire to know in what consists 
the difference between these two Books, are re- 
ferred to the "Liturgies of Edward VI.," pub- 
lished by the Parker Society ; also to Wheatley on 
the Book of Common Prayer. 

t Wheatley. 



36 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



visible and invisible. And in unity of this 
Godhead there be three persons, of one 
substance, power, and eternity ; the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost." (Article 
Z) "The Catholic faith is this :— That we 
worship one God in Trinity ; and Trinity 
in Unity; neither confounding the Per- 
sons, nor dividing the Substance. For 
there is one Person of the Father, another 
of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. 
But the Godhead of the Father, of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; 
the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. 
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and 
such is the Holy Ghost." ( Creed of St. 
Athanasius.) u O God, the Father, of 
heaven, have mercy upon us, miserable sin- 
ners. God, the Son, Redeemer of the 
world, have mercy upon us, miserable sin- 
ners. God, the Holy Ghost, proceeding 
from the Father and the Son, have mercy 
upon us, miserable sinners. holy, 
blessed, and glorious Trinity, three persons 
and one God, have mercy upon us, mise- 
rable sinners." (The Litany.') " Almighty 
and everlasting God, who hast given unto 
us thy servants grace by the confession of 
a true faith to acknowledge the glory of 
the eternal Trinity, and in the power of 
the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity ; 
we beseech thee, that thou wouldest keep 
us steadfast in this faith, and evermore de- 
fend us from all adversities, who livest and 
reignest, one God, world without end. 
Amen." (Collect for Trinity Sunday.) 

II. The Divinity and Humanity of 
Christ. — " The Son, which is the Word 
of the Father, begotten from everlasting 
of the Father, the very and eternal God, 
of one substance with the Father, took 
man's nature in the womb of the blessed 
Virgin, of her substance ; so that two whole 
| j and perfect natures, that is to say, the God- 
j head and manhood, were joined together 
in one person, never to be divided, whereof 
is one Christ, very God, and very man; 
who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and 
buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and 
to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, 
but also for all actual sins of men." (Art. 
II.) " For the right faith is, that we be- 
lieve and confess, that our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Son of God, is God and man ; 
God, of the substance of the Father, be- 
gotten before the worlds ; and man, of the 
substance of his mother, born in the world : 



perfect God, and perfect man ; of a rea- 
sonable soul and human flesh subsisting; 
equal to the Father, as touching his God- 
head, and inferior to the Father, as touch- 
ing his manhood : who, although he be 
God and mau, yet he is not two, but one 
Christ; one, not by conversion of the God- 
head into flesh, but by taking of the man- 
hood into God; one altogether, not by 
confusion of substance, but by unity of 
person. For as the reasonable soul and 
flesh is one man, so God and man is one 
Christ." (Creed of St. Athanasius.) "Al- 
mighty God, who hast given us thy only 
begotten Son to take our nature upon Him, 
and as at this time to be born of' a pure 
virgin ; grant that we being regenerate, and 
made thy children by adoption and grace, 
may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit ; 
through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the 
same Spirit, ever one God, world without 
end. Amen." (Collect for Christmas 
Day.) 

III. The Holy Spirit. — " The Holy 
Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the 
Son, is of one substance, majesty, and 
glory, with the Father and the Son, very 
and eternal God." (Art. V.) "The 
Father is God, the Son is God, and the 
Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not 
three Gods, but one God." .(Creed of St. 
Athanasius.) " God, who as at this time 
didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, 
by the sending to them the light of thy 
Holy Spirit ; grant us, by the same Spirit, 
to have a right judgment in all things, and 
evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; 
through the merits of Christ Jesus our 
Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, 
in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, 
world without end. Amen." (Collect for 
Whitsunday.) " First, I learn to believe 
in God the Father, who hath made me and 
all the world; secondly, in God the Son, 
who hath redeemed me and all mankind ; 
thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanc- 
tifieth me and all the elect people of God." 
(Catechism.) 

IV. The Sinful Nature of Man. — 
" Original sin standeth not in the following 
of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk,) 
but it is the fault and corruption of the 
nature of every man that naturally is en- 
gendered of the offspring of Adam ; whereby 
man is very far gone from original righte- 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OE ENGLAND. 



37 



ousness, and is of his own nature inclined 
to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always 
contrary to the Spirit; and, therefore, in 
every person born into this world it de- 
serveth God's wrath and damnation. And 
this infection of nature doth remain, yea, 
in them that are regenerated ; whereby the 
lust of the flesh, called in Greek ^povtjfta. 
<japx6j ; which some do expound the wisdom, 
some sensuality, some the affection, some 
the desire of the flesh, is not subject to the 
law of God. And although there is no 
condemnation for them that believe, and 
are baptized, yet the apostle doth confess 
j that concupiscence and lust hath of itself 
the nature of sin." (Art. ix.) " Volun- 
tary works, besides, over and above God's 
commandments, which they call works of 
supererogation, cannot be taught without 
arrogancy and impiety : for by them men 
do declare that they do not only render 
unto God as much as they are bound to do, 
but that they do more for his sake than of 
bounden duty is required : whereas Christ 
saith plainly, ' When ye have done all that 
is commanded to you, say, We are unpro- 
fitable servants/" (Art. xiv.) "Almighty 
God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Maker of all things, Judge of all men, we 
acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins 
and wickedness, which we, from time to 
time, most grievously have committed, by 
thought, word, and deed, against thy Divine 
Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath 
and indignation against us. We do earn- 
estly repent, and are heartily sorry for 
these our misdoings ; the remembrance of 
them is grievous unto us ; the burden of 
them is .intolerable. Have mercy upon us, 
most merciful Father; for thy Son, our 
Lord Jesus Christ's sake, forgive us all 
that is past ; and grant that we may ever 
hereafter serve and please thee, in newness 
of life, to the honour and glory of thy 
name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen." General Confession, Communion 
Serviced) 

V. The Helpless Nature of Man. 
— "The condition of man, after the fall 
of Adam, is such that he cannot turn and 
prepare himself by his own natural strength 
and good works to faith and calling upon 
God : wherefore we have no power to do 
good works pleasant and acceptable to God, 
without the grace of God by Christ pre- 
venting us, that we may have a good will, 



and working with us when we have that 
good will." (Art. x.) " Works done 
before the grace of Christ and the inspira- 
tion of his Spirit are not pleasant to God ; 
forasmuch as they spring not of faith in 
Jesus Christ, neither do they make men 
meet to receive grace, or (as the school- 
authors say) deserve grace of congruity; 
yea, rather for that they are not done as 
God hath willed or commanded them to be 
done, we doubt not but they have the 
nature of sin." (Art. xiii.) "Almighty 
God, who seest that we have no power of 
ourselves to help ourselves, keep us both 
outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in 
our souls, that we may be defended from 
all adversities which may happen to the 
body, and from all evil thoughts which may 
assault and hurt the soul ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen." (Collect, 
Second Sunday in Lent.) 

VI. Christ without Sin. — "Christ, 
in the truth of our nature, was made like 
unto us in all things, sin only except, from 
which he was clearly void, both in his flesh 
and in his spirit. He came to be the 
Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of 
himself once made, should take away the 
sins of the world; and sin (as St. John 
saith) was not in him. But all we the 
rest (although baptized and born again in 
Christ) yet offend in many things ; and if 
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, 
and the truth is not in us." (Art. xv.) 
"Thou didst give Jesus Christ, thine only 
Son, to be born as at this time for us ; who, 
by the operation of the Holy Ghost, was 
made very man of the substance of the 
Virgin Mary his mother ; and that without 
spot of sin, to make us clean from all sin." 
( Comm union Serviced) 

VII. Justification by Christ. — " We 
are accounted righteous before God, only 
for the merit of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own 
works or deservings; wherefore, that we 
are justified by faith only, is a most whole- 
some doctrine, and very full of comfort, as 
more largely is expressed in the Homily 
of Justification." (Art. xi.) " They also 
are to be held accursed, that presume to 
say, that every man shall be saved by the 
law or sect which he professeth, so that he 
be diligent to frame his life according to 
that law and the light of nature. For holy 
Scripture doth set out unto us only the 



38 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must 
be saved." (Art. xviii.) "The Romish 
doctrine concerning purgatory, pardons, 
worshipping and adoration, as well of 
images as of reliques, and also invocations 
of saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, 
and grounded upon no warranty of Scrip- 
ture, but rather repugnant to the Word of 
God." (Art. xxii.) "The offering of 
Christ once made, is that perfect redemp- 
tion, propitiation, and satisfaction for all 
the sins of the whole world, both original 
and actual; and there is none other satis- 
faction for sin but that alone. Wherefore 
the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it 
was commonly said that the priest did offer 
Christ for the quick and the dead to have 
remission of pain or guilt, were blasphe- 
mous fables, and dangerous deceits.' ' (Art. 
xxxi.) "Almighty God, our heavenly 
Father, who of thy tender mercy didst give 
thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death 
upon the cross for our redemption ; who 
made there (by his one oblation of himself 
once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient 
sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the 
sins of the whole world," &c. {Com- 
munion Serviced) 

VIII. Salvation through Grace. — 
" Predestination to life is the everlasting 
purpose of God, whereby (before the foun- 
dations of the world were laid) he hath 
constantly decreed by his counsel, secret to 
us, to deliver from curse and damnation 
those whom he hath chosen in Christ out 
of mankind, and to bring them by Christ 
to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to 
honour. Wherefore they which be endued 
with so excellent a benefit of God, be 
called according to God's purpose by his 
Spirit working in due season, they through 
grace obey the calling : they be justified 
freely;- they be made sons of God by adop- 
tion ; they be made like the image of his 
only begotten Son, Jesus Christ; they walk 
religiously in good works, and at length, by 
God's mercy, they attain to everlasting 
felicity. As the godly consideration of 
predestination and our election in Christ is 
full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable 
comfort to godly persons, and such as feel 
in themselves the working of the Spirit of 
Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, 
and their earthly members, and drawing up 
their mind to heavenly things ; as well 
because it doth greatly establish and con- 



firm their faith of eternal salvation, to be 
enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth 
fervently kindle their love towards God ; 
so, for curious and carnal persons, lacking 
the Spirit of Christ, to have continually 
before their eyes the sentence of God's pre- 
destination, is a most dangerous downfall, 
whereby the Devil doth thrust them either 
into desperation, or into wretchlessness of 
most unclean living, no less perilous than 
desperation. Furthermore, we must re- 
ceive God's promises in such wise as they 
be generally set forth to us in Holy Scrip- 
ture ; and in our doings, that will of God 
is to be followed, which we have expressly 
declared unto us in the Word of God." 
(Art. xvii.) " Almighty God, who hast 
knit together thine elect in one communion 
and fellowship, in the mystical body of 
Thy Son Christ our Lord, grant us grace 
so to follow thy blessed saints in all virtu- 
ous and godly living, that we may come to 
those unspeakable joys which thou hast 
prepared for them that unfeignedly love 
Thee, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. 
Amen." (Collect, All Saints Day.) 

IX. Baptism. — " Baptism is not only 
a sign of profession, and mark of difference, 
whereby Christian men are discerned from 
others that be not christened; but it is also 
a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby, 
as by an instrument, they that receive bap- 
tism rightly are grafted into the Church ; 
the promises of forgiveness of sins, and of 
our adoption to be the sons of God by the 
Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; 
faith is confirmed, and grace increased by 
virtue of prayer unto God. The baptism 
of young children is in any wise to be re- 
tained in the Church, as most agreeable 
with the institution of Christ." (Art. 
xxvii.) — "Seeing now, dearly beloved 
brethren, that this child is regenerate, and 
grafted into the body of Christ's Church, 
let us give thanks unto Almighty God for 
these benefits; and with one accord make 
our prayers unto him, that this child may 
lead the rest of his life according to this 
beginning." (Baptismal Serviced) — "Not 
every sin, willingly committed after bap- 
tism, is sin against the Holy Ghost and 
unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of 
repentance is not to be denied to such as 
fall into sin after baptism. After we have 
received the Holy Ghost, we may depart 
from grace given, and fall into sin, and by 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



39 



the grace of God we may arise again and 
amend our lives. And therefore they are 
to be condemned, which say, they can no 
more sin as long as they live here, or deny 
the place of forgiveness to such as truly 
repent." (Art. xvi.) 

X. The Lord's Supper. — "The Sup- 
per of the Lord is not only a sign of the 
love that Christians ought to have among 
themselves one to another ; but rather is a 
Sacrament of our redemption by Christ's 
death; insomuch that to such as rightly, 
worthily, and with faith ^receive the same, 
the bread which we break is a partaking 
of the body of Christ; and likewise the 
eup of blessing is a partaking of the blood 
of Christ. Transubstantiation (or the 
change of the substance of the bread and 
wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot 
be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant 
to the plain words of Scripture, over- 
thrcweth the nature of a sacrament, 
and hath given occasion to many supersti- 
tions. The body of Christ is given, taken, 
and eaten in the Supper, only after an hea- 
venly and spiritual manner. And the mean 
whereby the body of Christ is received and 
eaten in the Supper is faith. The Sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper was not by 
Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, 
lifted up, or worshipped." (Art. xxviii.) 
— " Question : Why was the Sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper ordained? Answer: 
For the continual remembrance of the sac- 
rifice of the death of Christ, and of the 
benefits which we receive thereby. Ques- 
tion : What is the outward part or sign of 
the Lord's Supper ? Answer : Bread and 
wine, which the Lord hath commanded to 
be received. Question: What is the in- 
ward part or thing signified ? Answer : 
The body and blood of Christ, which are 
verily and indeed taken and received by the 
faithful in the Lord's Supper. Question : 
What are the benefits whereof we are par- 
takers thereby ? Answer : The strengthen- 
ing and refreshing of our souls by the body 
and blood of Christ, as our bodies are by 
the bread and wine. Question : What is 
required of them who come to the Lord's 
Supper ? Answer : To examine them- 
selves whether they repent them truly of 
their former sins, steadfastly purposing to 
lead a new life; have a lively faith in 
God's mercy through Christ, with a thank- 
ful remembrance of his death ; and be in 



charity with all men." ( Church Catechism^) 
— " The wicked, and such as be void of a 
lively faith, although they do carnally and 
visibly press with their teeth, as St. Au- 
gustine saith, the Sacrament of the body 
and blood of Christ, yet in no wise are they 
partakers of Christ, but rather to their 
condemnation do eat and drink the sign or 
sacrament of so great a thing." (Art. 
xxix.) 

XL Two Sacraments Only. — "Sa- 
craments ordained of Christ be not only 
badges or tokens of Christian men's pro- 
fession, but rather they be certain sure 
witnesses, and effectual signs of grace, and 
God's good will towards us, by the which 
he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not 
only quicken, but also strengthen and con- 
firm our faith in him. There are two Sa- 
craments ordained of Christ our Lord in 
the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism, and 
the Supper of the Lord. Those five com- 
monly called Sacraments, that is to say, 
Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, 
and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted 
for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such 
as have grown partly of the corrupt follow- 
ing of the Apostles, partly as states of life 
allowed in the Scriptures; but yet have 
not like nature of Sacraments with Bap- 
tism, and the Lord's Supper, for that they 
have not any visible sign or ceremony or- 
dained of God. The Sacraments were not 
ordained of Christ to be gazed upon or to 
be carried about ; but that we should duly 
use them. And in such only as worthily 
receive the same, they have a wholesome 
effect or operation : but they that receive 
them unworthily, purchase to themselves 
damnation,, as St. Paul saith." (Art. xxv.) 
— " How many sacraments hath Christ or- 
dained in his Church? Answer: Two 
only, as generally necessary to Salvation, 
that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of 
the Lord." (Church Catechism.') 

XIT. Both the Bread and the 
Wine. — " The cup of the Lord is not to 
be denied to the lay people ; for both the 
parts of the Lord's Sacrament, by Christ's 
ordinance and commandment, ought to be 
ministered to all Christian men alike." 
(Art. xxx.) 

XIII. The Holy Scriptures. — 
" Holy Scripture containeth all things 
necessary to salvation : so that whatsoever 
is not read therein, nor may be proved 



40 



HISTORY OP THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



thereby, is not to be required of any man, 
that it should be believed as an article of 
faith, or be thought requisite or necessary 
to salvation. In the name of the Holy 
Scripture we do understand those Ca- 
nonical Books of the Old and New Tes- 
tament, of whose authority was never any 
doubt in the church." (Art. vi.) " The 
Old Testament is not contrary to the New; 
for both in the Old and New Testament 
everlasting life is offered to mankind by 
Christ, who is the only mediator between 
God and man, being both God and man. 
Wherefore they are not to be heard which 
feign that the ancient fathers did look only 
for transitory promises. Although the law 
given from God to Moses, as touching cere- 
monies and rites, do not bind Christian 
men, nor the civil precepts thereof ought 
of necessity to be received in any common- 
wealth ; yet, notwithstanding, no Christian 
man whatsoever is free from the obedience 
of the commandments which are called 
moral." (Art. vii.) — " The Church hath 
power to decree rites or ceremonies, and 
authority in controversies of faith ; and yet 
it is not lawful for the Church to ordain 
any thing that is contrary to God's Word 
written, neither may it so expound one 
place of Scripture that it be repugnant to 
another. Wherefore although the Church 
be a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ, 
yet as it ought not to decree any thing 
against the same, so besides the same ought 
it not to enforce any thing to be believed 
for necessity of salvation." (Art. xx.) — 
" Nothing is ordained to be read but the very 
pure Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, 
or that which is agreeable to the same j 
and that in such a language and order as is 
most easy and plain for the understanding 
both of the readers and hearers." "The 
Old Testament is appointed for the first 



lessons at morning and evening 



prayer 



as the most part thereof will be read every 
year once, as in the calendar is appointed. 
The New Testament is appointed for the 
second lessons at morning and evening 
prayer, and shall be read over orderly 
every year thrice, besides the Epistles and 
Gospels, except the Apocalypse, out of 
which there are only certain proper lessons 
appointed upon divers feasts." (Preface 
to the Booh of Common Prayer.) " Bles- 
sed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scrip- 
tures to be written for our learning ; grant 



that we may in such wise hear them, read, 
mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, 
that by patience and comfort of thy Holy 
Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast 
the blessed hope of everlasting life which 
thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus 
Christ. Amen." (Collect, Second Sun- 
day in Advent.) 

XIV. The Church.— "The visible 
Church of Christ is a Congregation of 
faithful men, in the which the pure Word 
of God is preached and the sacraments be 
duly ministered according to Christ's ordi- 
nance, in all those things that of necessity 
are requisite to the same. As the Church of 
Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch have 
erred, so also the Church of Rome hath erred, 
not only in their living and manner of cere- 
monies, but also in matters of faith.' ' (Art. 
xix.) — "It is not lawful for any man to take 
upon him the office of public preaching, or 
ministering the Sacraments in the congrega- 
tion, before he be lawfully called and sent to 
execute the same. And those we ought to 
judge lawfully called and sent, which be 
chosen and called to this work by men who 
have public authority given unto them in the 
congregation, to call aud send ministers into 
the Lord's vineyard." (Art. xxiii.) — 
"Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy house- 
hold the Church in continual godliness; that 
through thy protection it may be free from 
all adversities, and devoutly given to serve 
thee in good works, to the glory of thy 
name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen." (Collect, Twenty-second Sunday 
after Trinity.) 

4. The above extracts prove the doc- 
trinal views of the Church of England to 
be in harmony with the principles of the 
glorious Reformation. It will be observed 
that, in common with all the Reformed 
Churches, the English Church maintains 
the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity ; the 
divine nature and proper manhood of Jesus 
Christ; the personality and divinity of the 
Holy Spirit; the universal corruption of 
human nature, occasioned by the fall of 
our first parents ; the impossibility of man 
turning to God of his own free will, as the 
effect of the introduction of the element 
of moral evil into his nature; aud the suffi- 
ciency of the one sacrifice, once for all, of 
the Lord Jesus Christ as an atonement for 
all the sins of his believing people. More- 
over, the doctrine of justification by faith, 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



41 



or that faith is the instrument whereby 
the benefits of the atonement are realized 
by the individual believer, is distinctly de- 
fined. The regeneration and sanctification 
of the people of God by the indwelling in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit; the sovereignty 
of God in the choice of his people, pre- 
destinated unto everlasting life, and fore- 
known and elected before the foundation 
of the world ; the authority and sufficiency 
of Holy Scripture to the exclusion of all 
traditions ; and the necessity of a renewed 
and holy life, not as preceding or meriting, 
but as resulting from, our incorporation by 
faith into the mystical body of Christ ; — 
these tenets were all held by the Reformers 
of the sixteenth century, and are set 
forth in the formularies of the Church of 
England. 

5. Unhappily, notwithstanding the care 
taken in the arrangement of the Thirty- 
nine Articles, and Book of Common Prayer, 
the English Church is periodically visited 
with a storm of religious controversy; and 
the chief points of contention are generally 
associated with an effort either to exalt the 
priesthood and sacraments, or to depress 
the doctrines of election and final perse- 
verance of the saints. It is not intended 
to enter upon disputation in this place. 
The reader must form his own judgment 
after a careful perusal of the quotations 
given. Let him consider Articles x. and 
xvii. cited above. Do they, or do they 
not, proclaim the sovereignty of God in 
the salvation of his people ? Every clergy- 
man of the Church of England subscribes 
those Articles, and is bound to subscribe 
them, ex animo, and to understand them 
in their grammatical sense. The Article 
on Baptism is also perspicuous and decisive. 
But the controversy on this point is severe. 
Does the Church of England teach that 
all infants, regularly baptized, are, at the 
time, regenerated by the Spirit? It is 
said that the minister pronounces the child 
to be " regenerate and grafted into the body 
of Christ's Church." But, in fact, the 
same principle of assuming that the prayers 
of the congregation are actually answered, 
pervades all the services of the Church of 
England; and the reason, whether sound 
or otherwise, is, that, resting implicitly on 
the Redeemer's words, "AH things what- 
soever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall 
receive" — she concludes that the baptized 



are regenerated, on the charitable hypo- 
thesis that the spiritual blessing was sin- 
cerely desired, and fervently sought with 
believing prayer. In the Church Cate- 
chism, it is said: — "What is required of 
persons to be baptized ? Answer — Repent- 
ance, whereby they forsake sin ; and faith, 
whereby they steadfastly believe the pro- 
mises of God made to them in that sacra- 
ment. Why then are infants baptized, 
when, by reason of their tender age, they 
cannot perform them ? Because they pro- 
mise them both by their sureties, which 
promise, when they come to age, them- 
selves are bound to perform." Repent- 
ance and faith, therefore, are demanded as 
pre-requisites even in the case of infant 
baptism. And before the ordinance is ad- 
ministered, prayer is enjoined to be offered 
on behalf of the child. One of the ap- 
pointed Collects contains this petition : — 
"We call upon thee for this infant, that 
he, coming to thy holy baptism, may re- 
ceive remission of his sins by spiritual re- 
generation. Receive him, Lord, as thou 
hast -promised, by thy well-beloved Son, 
saying, { Ask, and ye shall have ; seek, and 
ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened 
unto you :' So give now unto us that ask ; 
let us that seek find ; open the gate unto us 
that hnoch; that this infant may enjoy 
the everlasting benediction of thy heavenly 
washing, and may come to the eternal king- 
dom which thou hast promised by Christ 
our Lord." The church here pleads the 
promise of Christ, and assuming that the 
repentance, and faith, and prayer of the 
parties present are genuine, she praises 
God, after the child is baptized, for having 
bestowed, in fulfilment of his promise, the 
particular blessing that was asked. , No 
erroneous doctrine is taught. The Church 
of England, if she errs at all in this matter, 
errs simply by adopting an expression of 
charity more extensive than is warranted 
by the circumstances of her position. The 
blessing of regeneration, as shown in the 
Articles and Prayer-book, is a contingent 
blessing ; it is neither promised nor received 
absolutely in baptism, but promised, and 
affirmed to be received, when the adminis- 
tration of the rite is accompanied by prayer 
and faith. " In baptism," says Archbishop 
Cranmer, " those that come feignedly, and 
those that come unfeignedly, both be washed 
with the sacramental water, but both be 



42 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OE ENGLAND. 



not washed with the Holy Ghost and 
clothed with Christ." * 

The same hypothetical construction ap- 
pears in the Burial Service. God is there 
thanked for having delivered "this our 
brother out of the miseries of this sinful 
world;" and these words are repeated, 
without qualification, at the grave side of 
the wicked as well as over the remains of 
the pious. The reason, whether judicious 
or not, arises out of the supposition that 
all the nominal members of the Church 
are firmly grafted into Christ, and there- 
fore die in a state of acceptance with God. 
When, therefore, the minister pronounces 
the baptized infant to be " regenerate, and 
grafted into the body of Christ's Church," 
it should not be pretended that, in every 
case, regeneration is vouchsafed, any more 
than we believe that every individual, at 
whose burial the service is read, has passed 
into the enjoyment of heaven. The lan- 
guage used in the one case is not more ab- 
solute and unqualified than in the other. 
It is felt, however, that the adoption of ex- 
pressions founded on such illimitable hope 
is open to objection. The offices would 
probably have been further revised at the 
Reformation, if the opportunity had oc- 
curred. "We receive," said the Reform- 
ers, " or rather tolerate, until the Lord 
shall give us better times, the interrogations 
to infants, and the sign of the cross in bap- 
tism, and kneeling at the Lord's Supper."f 

The doctrine of baptismal regeneration 
is held by a large'body of English Church- 
men • but it is also denied by vast numbers 
both of the clergy and laity. The im- 
portant question — as far as the formularies 
of the Church are concerned — has recently 
been authoritatively settled. In the case 
of appeal (Gorham v. Exeter) the Judicial 
Committee of her Majesty's Privy Council 
declared that the rejection of the dogma 
does not disqualify a clergyman from being 
instituted to a benefice. The Archbishops 
of Canterbury and York were present, as 
members of Council, and gave their cordial 
assent to the judgment. If, therefore, any 



* Book on the Sacrament. Legh Richmond's 
edition, p. 492. 

f Letter from Bishops Grindal and Horn to 

Henry Bullinger and Ralph Gualter. February 

6th, 1567. Grindal was successively Bishop of 

I Londor and Archbishop of York and Canter- 

| bury 



point has ever been decided by authority, 
it is now definitely ruled that the uncondi- 
tional efficacy of baptism in the case of all 
infants is not the doctrine of the Church 
of England. 

6. It is not possible to embrace, in the 
present article, a more particular view of 
the several offices appointed to be used in 
the public worship. The rite of Confir- 
mation needs only to be mentioned. It is 
a valuable ceremony, when understood and 
applied in its simple meaning. The 
younger members of a congregation are 
hereby brought under the special notice of 
their minister; and, if he is a faithful 
guide, they are affectionately reminded of 
their baptismal vows, and are examined 
and prepared for the exhortations of the 
Bishop. It is thus, under the kind and 
scriptural advice of their pastors, succeeded 
by the fatherly counsel of the diocesan, 
that the Church designs to confirm the 
faith of the young believers. Since, how- 
ever, the administration of the ordinance 
is restricted to a bishop, and therefore not 
always attainable, and as the rite itself is 
of secondary importance, it is wisely pro- 
vided in the rubrical directions of the 
Prayer-book, that the absence of confirma- 
tion is not to prevent any persons from 
partaking of the Lord's Supper, if only they 
" be ready and desirous to be confirmed." 

Conclusion. — We have now laid before 
the reader a rapid sketch both of the doc- 
trinal teaching and of the constitutional 
aspect of the Established Church of Eng- 
land. Nothing of importance has been 
intentionally omitted. It might have been 
interesting to describe the progress of her 
missionary labours in almost every part of 
the world, and to speak of the energies of 
the laity, who contribute in England half a 
million of money yearly for the support of 
religious societies. Great indeed is the 
influence possessed by the English Church. 
She has been a powerful instrument, under 
the providence of God, for the extension 
of Christ's kingdom throughout the dark 
places of the earth ; and, with all her faults, 
she has been a bulwark since the sixteenth 
century against the inroads of superstition 
and infidelity. In her bosom have been 
reared martyrs faithful unto death. The 
principles of the Reformation were recovered 
and firmly established through the labour 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



43 



and sufferings of these martyrs. From 
that period to the present hour, although 
severe controversies have been sustained, 
and vital religion has been at times almost 
paralysed, she has never been without wit- 
nesses to the sublimity and simplicity of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ; and she has nur- 
tured in every department of theological 
literature a succession of scholars whose 
works will command respect as long as the 
British empire endures. In the early part 
of this century, evangelical religion was 
revived, and has continued to advance. 
The happy effects of the writings and 
preaching of Cecil, Romaine, Legh Rich- 
mond, John Newton, Thomas Scott, Simeon, 
and Edward Bickersteth, are seen and felt 
throughout the kingdom. These men 
sought not to exalt the priesthood — they 
sought the exaltation of Christ. They 
esteemed Christ their all in all : and God 



blessed their labours. Happy would it be 
for the English Church, and for the whole 
empire of England, if men like these were 
raised up and multiplied. But antagonistic 
principles are at this moment agitating the 
Church, so as not only to impede her vital 
action, but also to threaten her existence. 
Here may be noticed the value of a pre- 
scribed form of prayer; for, whatever may 
be the sentiments of individual ministers, 
the Liturgy must be used in public wor- 
ship, and erroneous teaching, through the 
agency of extemporaneous devotions, is 
hereby avoided. The Liturgy, moreover, 
as used in the English Church, is so con- 
structed as to destroy the notion, that the 
clergy are intercessors for the people; for, 
in conformity with the Prayer-book, the 
people pray, alternately, with the minister. 
A beautiful example occurs at the end of 
the Litany. It is as follows : — 



Minister. — From our enemies defend us, Christ. 

People. — Graciously loolz upon our afflictions. 

Minister. — Pitifully behold the sorrows of our hearts. 

People. — Mercifully forgive the sins of thy people. 

Minister. — Favourably with mercy hear our prayers. 

People. — Son of David, have mercy upon us. 

Minister. — Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us, Christ. 

People. — Graciously hear us, Christ ; graciously hear us, Lord Christ. 

Minister. — Lord, Let thy mercy be showed upon us. 

People. — As we do put our trust in thee. 



The Protestant members of the Church of 
England have, indeed, cause to appreciate 
their Liturgy. Every congregation must 
feel its value. It occasionally serves to 
correct the errors of the preacher. It 
brings forward a large portion of Holy 
Scripture, and directs that the lessons se- 
lected for public worship shall " be read 
distinctly with an audible voice." In all 
parts of the Prayer-book the people are 
reminded of each fundamental principle of 
the Gospel. The depths of human corrup- 
tion, the frailty of our nature, the justice 
and holiness of God, the perfection of the 
atonement, the mediatorial character of 
Jesus Christ, dependence on the Holy 
Spirit, and the necessity of a renewed and 
heavenly life, with the frequent assurance 
of a blessed immortality, are truths which 
engnge the attention in almost every page. 
And hence — considering the latitude tole- 
rated in the pulpit, and the certainty of 
great varieties of opinion where the clergy 



are so numerous — we may acknowledge 
with thankfulness that the devotions are 
sustained not only in a language intelligible 
to all, but through the medium of a Form 
which secures to every worshipper within 
her fold soundness and uniformity of 
doctrine. 

Still, whatever advantages she com- 
mands, the Church of England is passing 
through a period of severe trial. Her most 
dangerous enemies are not the strangers by 
whom she is surrounded — her chief diffi- 
culty in the present struggle has arisen 
from the folly and unfaithfulness of her 
own children. The same causes that in- 
duced the Reformers to anticipate perni- 
cious consequences are still operating in a 
similar manner to the prejudice of truth. 
The human mind is naturally superstitious. 
It is soon attracted by external symbols 
supposed to possess some religious efficacy 
or charm. People are apt to confound the 
sign with the thing signified. The gene- 



44 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



rality of men find it easier to prostrate 
their bodies before a visible shrine, than to 
humble the ' soul in the presence of the 
invisible Jehovah; and it better accords 
with the unregenerate heart to adore a ma- 
terial cross, and to kneel before the ele- 
vated figure, than to receive, so as to be 
influenced by, the world-denying doctrines 
of Christ crucified. And here is one 
aspect of our danger — a fondness for the 
ceremonials in preference to the substan- 
tialities of religion. 

The troubles of the English Church also 
arise, not from her connection with the 
State, nor on account of the supremacy of 
the Crown in the government of ecclesias- 
tical affairs, but the present danger has 
sprung out of a restless spirit manifested by 
certain portions of the Church in a desire 
to restore dominion to the priesthood. It 
is not in modern times that the Crown has 
interfered with the progress of vital reli- 
gion. There is no attempt on the part of 
the Government to restrain godly ministers 
from exhibiting to the people the truths of 
the Gospel in all their fulness and simpli- 
city. It is not the connection between 
Church and State that will prevent clergy- 
men from devoting all their faculties to the 
arduous work of rescuing their parishioners, 
or other fellow-creatures, from infidelity and 
vice. From what cause, then, arise our 
humiliation and our peril? The English 
clergy enjoy opportunities such as are pos- 
sessed by no other body of men, for pro- 
moting the glory of God in the evangeliza- 
tion of the world ; but, alas ! whilst the 
world lies at their feet, wrapped in hea- 
thenism and scepticism, and whilst spiritual 
destitution is visible in every parish of the 
kingdom, the proper duties of an evangelist 
are neglected in the effort to introduce 
ceremonies, and to familiarize the people 
with the notion that peculiar sanctity and 
extraordinary powers are the prerogatives 
of bishops and priests. The dogma of 
sacramental justification — or that the soul 
is saved through the medium of the Sacra- 
ments, when administered by an Episco- 
palian clergyman — involves the doctrine of 
apostolical succession, and exalts the min- 
ister to a position as dangerous to himself 
as it is detrimental to the spiritual interests 
of the nation. Yet, for the sake of obtain- 
ing this position, the peace of the church 
is disturbed, and her efficiency in certain 



quarters almost paralysed. " Do we mar- 
vel," said Bishop Andrews, " that the spirit 
doth scarcely pant in us? — that we sing 
and say, Come, Holy Ghost, and yet He 
cometh no faster ? Why, the day of Pen- 
tecost is come, and we are not all of one 
accord. Accord is wanting — the very first 
point is wanting, to make us meet for his 
coming." * 

How opposed were the Reformers, and 
how opposed is the Reformed Church of 
England, to all these elements of confusion ! 
" Where the devil is resident and hath his 
plough going/' said Bishop Latimer, 
"there, away with books and up with can- 
dles, away with Bibles and up with beads, 
away with the light of the Gospel and up 
with the light of candles, yea, at noon-day. "\ 
And the Homilies of the English Church 
are not less severe in condemning every 
practice that tends to materialise the per- 
ceptions of the devout worshipper. " Let 
us, therefore, of these latter days," such is 
the advice which they offer, "learn this 
lesson of the experience of ancient anti- 
quity, that idolatry cannot possibly be sepa- 
rated from images any long time ; but that, 
as an inseparable accident, or as a shadow 
followeth the body when the sun shineth, 
so idolatry followeth and cleaveth to the 
public having of images in temples and 
churches. And, finally, as idolatry is to 
be abhorred and avoided, so are images, 
(which cannot be long without idolatry) to 
be put away and destroyed."! Can any 
language be more condemnatory of the at- 
tempt to introduce crosses and pictures into 
places of worship? The Homilies are 
books of authority in the Church of Eng- 
land. The Thirty-Nine Articles enjoin that 
they " be read in churches by the ministers, 
diligently and distinctly, that they may be 
understanded of the people. " (Art. xxxv.) 
There are two books : the former was pub- 
lished in 1547, and the latter in 1560. We 
appeal to them, therefore, with confidence. 
And what is their estimate of apostolic suc- 
cession ? " What shall we say of him that 
came into his popedom like a fox, that 
reigned like a lion, and died like a dog ? 
Shall we say that he had God's Holy Spirit 
within him, and not rather the spirit of the 



* Sermons. Edition 1641, page 599. 

f Sermons. Edition 1575, page 18. 

X Homily on the Peril of Idolatry, part iii. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



45 



devil ? Such a tyrant was Pope Boniface 
the Eighth."* In this strain the Homily 
proceeds with other examples. The same 
opinion was common to the Reformers. " I 
deny, my lord/' said archdeacon Philpot, 
" that succession of bishops is an infallible 
point to know the Church by; for there 
may be a succession of bishops known in 
a place, and yet there be no Church, as at 
Antioch, and Jerusalem, and in other 
places, where the apostles abode, as well as 
at Rome. But if you put to the succes- 
sion of bishops, succession of doctrine 
withal, as St. Augustine doth, I will grant 
it to be a good proof for the catholic church : 
but a local succession is nothing available."')" 
In like manner taught Bishop Pilkington : 
— " So stands the succession of the Church, 
not in mitres, palaces, lands, and lordships, 
but in teaching true doctrine, and rooting 
out the contrary." J 

It is obvious that the Romanizing party 
in the Church of England have no encour- 
agement from the Formularies of the 
Church, unless, indeed, inferences are 
drawn from isolated expressions ; and it is 
the knowledge of the fact that the Church 
of England, in her Articles and Prayer-book 
and Homilies, is Protestant and Evangelical, 
that gives encouragement to her attached 
members, and fosters the hope of a brighter 
day. In the meantime, it is well to con- 
sider the admonition of the late Bishop 
Barrington : — " As Protestants, we are 
bound (from the king to the humblest of 
his subjects) by an imperious duty to the 
Reformation . If the Reformation was worth 
establishing, it is worth maintaining ; and 
it can only be maintained by a constant 
vigilance in support of those principles 
which effected it in the sixteenth century. "§ 
What these principles are ; has been admi- 



* Homily for Whitsunday. 

f Works published by Parker Society,, p. 139. 

X Works, Ibid, p. 603. 

§ Charges, p. 436. 



rably shown by a modern writer : — " The 
formal principle of Christianity may be 
expressed in these words — the Word of 
God, alone. That is to say, that the Chris- 
tian receives the truth only on the Word 
of God, and admits no other source of re- 
ligious knowledge. The material principle 
of Christianity may be as shortly expressed 
— the grace of Christ, alone. That is, 
the Christian becomes possessed of salva- 
tion only by the free grace of Christ, and 
acknowledges no other meritorious cause of 
eternal life. The personal principle of 
Christianity, indicated by the simplest terms, 
is — the work of the Spirit, alone. That is, 
that in every soul redeemed, there must be a 
moral and personal work of regeneration 
wrought by the Spirit of God, and not by 
mere admission to the Church and the 
magic influence of ceremonies." || As long 
as the Church of England appreciates these 
principles of the glorious Reformation, 
there will be hope of her deliverance from 
every peril. Let both the clergy and the 
laity unite in resisting, with firmness and 
yet with forbearance, whatever may possibly 
encourage a retrograde movement. The 
liberty and happiness of millions may be 
involved in the purity and stability of the 
Church of England. May she go forward 
and prosper — may her ministers exhibit, in 
their doctrine and in their lives, the power 
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ — and may 
harmony, and peace, and love be restored 
throughout the Church of England ; whilst 
every spiritual blessing descends upon every 
member of the Church Universal, by what- 
soever name distinguished, throughout the 
world ! " Lord, we beseech thee, let thy 
continual pity cleanse and defend thy 
Church ; and because it cannot continue in 
safety without thy succour, preserve it ever- 
more by thy help and goodness; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."*! 



|| D'Aubigne 

IT Collect for the Sixteenth Sunday after Tri- 
nity. 




HISTORY 



OF 



THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH 



BY THE REV. J. F. S. GORDON, M. A. 

8T. ANDREW'S, GLASGOW. 



The (Episcopal) Church in Scotland 
claims to be the Representative of the 
Church of Christ, locum tenens, as emanci- 
pated from the usurpations and corruptions 
of Papal thraldom on the one hand, and as 
uncontaminated by the novel developments 
of Genevan, or John Calvin heresies on 
the other. 

Those who contemplate without prejudice 
the conduct of religious partizans in Scot- 
land, during the sixteenth century, will 
find none of them exempt from serious 
faults, which gave rise to sad evils. The 
burning of Hamilton, Forrest, Grourlay, 
Straiton, Russell, Kennedy, Wallace, Mill, 
&c, (who were all Romish Clergy, and in 
whose minds the "Reformation" first was 
formed), for supposed heresy, together with 
innumerable imprisonments and banish- 
ments for the same offence, disgusted the 
majority of the nation; and the want of 
energy and ze 1 which the prelates of the 
i Romish party evinced when their oppo- 
nents gained the ascendancy, together with 
their immoral lives, threw almost the whole 
nation at once into the cause of the Re- 
formation. In 1560, the reforming party 
having petitioned for a relief from persecu- 
tion, until a lawful General Council might 
determine the pending controversies, were 
powerful enough to obtain, from a Conven- 
tion of Estates, a sanction of their faith, 
the suppression of the Spiritual Courts 
(which had aggrieved them for thirty 
years), and a proscription of the Office of 
the Mass. The reforming party had of 
course been treated as heretics by those 
who submitted to the authority of the 



Bishop of Rome (who never before the 
days of David I. had even the unwilling 
spiritual submission of Scotland), but ere 
long the whole nation, being disgusted with 
the lasciviousness, inconsistency, and op- 1 
pression of the Romish clergy, became 
unanimous for reform. The papal party 
soon dwindled to nothing — their bishops 
forsook their Sees and went abroad ; but 
the ancient churches of St. Andrews, Glas- i 
gow, &c, still continued, and were presided 
over by archbishops and bishops, some of 
whom had been constituted before the Re- 
formation, and others, with the consent of 
the Convention of the Church, in 1571, 
which agreed that the Sees then vacant 
should be filled, that the bishops should 
exercise spiritual jurisdiction in their dio- 
ceses, should be elected by the chapter, &c. 
Even the Convention of 1571 did not 
revive, far less introduce the Episcopate, 
but merely approved its continuance, as 
being the institution of the Church of 
Christ. The " Superintendents," who had 
been constituted in 1560, by Mr. Knox, 
waxed into extinction with their own ex- 
istence, being merely a human invention, 
like the so-called "Religion" over which 
the Order ruled. The novel principle of 
" unlawfulness of Episcopacy" was first in- 
troduced into Scotland by a Mr. Andrew 
Melville, about 1575, who had just returned 
from Geneva, and was eager for introducing 
the kind of discipline which had got esta- 
blished there. He succeeded in exciting 
great disturbances in the church ; and, in 
1580, an assembly of clergy at Dundee 
even declared the office of bishop unlawful ! 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



However, government by Episcopacy was 
never abolished until the Grand Rebellion 
under Charles II., when the nobility, irri- 
tated by the King's revocation of the grant 
of church lands, and jealous of the bishops, 
united themselves with the Melvillian 
party, which broke into insurrection against 
the King, abolished Episcopacy by Act of 
Parliament, and instituted " The Solemn 
League and Covenant" dooming the 
bishops to death and confiscation. 

During that moral hurricane of rebel- 
lions, treasons, and tumults, that at this 
era swept our land, the ancient line of 
Scottish bishops — (by whom the greater 
part of Saxon England had been first 
evangelized) — came to an end in the person 
of James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, 
who died April 24th, 1603. This is a fact 
in history which English readers should 
mark well, viz. — that in the seventh cen- 
tury (as fully narrated in Bede's Hist. 
Eccl.) the Scottish Church conveyed the 
gift of the Apostolical Succession to Eng- 
land, in the northern parts of which the 
lately-planted branch of the Church Ca- 
tholic had been overthrown. She then 
consecrated and sent forth, at the request 
of King Oswald, first, Aidan, and then in 
succession, Finan, and Colman, and Tuda, 
all from the island of Iona, to be Bishops 
of Landisfarne, by whose mission and la- 
bours Christianity was again restored in 
England. So, in the providence of God, 
did England repay the debt she owed ; for, 
in the seventeenth century, did she restore 
j that divine gift of succession which was 
| conveyed to her in the seventh. In Oc- 
I tober, 1610, the Christians in Scotland 
j received a fresh succession of bishops from 
I England ; when John Spottiswoode, An- 
drew Lamb, and Gavin Hamilton, were 
consecrated respectively Bishops of Glas- 
gow, Brechin, and Galloway, by the Bishops 
of London, Ely, and Bath. During the 
reign of hypocrisy and fanaticism which 
succeeded, this succession came likewise to 
an end, in the person of Thomas Sydserf, 
Bishop of Orkney, who died in 1663. 
But, previously to his death, another con- 
secration of Bishops for the Church of 
Scotland had been obtained from England ; 
for, on December 15, 1661, James Sharpe, 
Andrew Fairfull, Robert Leighton, and 
James Hamilton, were consecrated respec- 
tively to the Sees of St. Andrews, Glas- 



gow, Dunblane, and Galloway, by the 
Bishops of London, Worcester, Carlisle, 
and Llandaff. 

The legal establishment of Episcopacy 
under these prelates, and others consecrated 
by them, continued till the Revolution of 
1688, when Presbyterianism (founded by 
Andrew Melville), in its most absolute 
parity, without even "Superintendents," 
was finally established as "the national 
religion of Scotland." The persecution of 
the Episcopal Clergy at and after the Re- 
volution, cannot be paralleled in history. 
They were ruthlessly sacrificed by the new 
Government to the fanatical rage and fury 
of the Covenanters, who openly asserted 
that they were bound to persecute the 
clergy, by the obligations of that detestable 
instrument, " The Solemn League and Co- 
venant" — preserved till the present day as 
part of " The Confession of Faith" of the 
Kirk of Scotland ! Under this infamous 
Covenant, the Episcopal Clergy were 
rabbled out of their churches and houses — 
their furniture broken or burnt — what 
money or provision they possessed plun- 
dered by the rabble — and no means afforded 
them of recovering any part of their pro- 
perty. It has been attempted to excuse 
the merciless cruelties that were inflicted 
on the " Episcopal" Clergy, by pointing to 
the Covenanters; but the cases are essen- 
tially different. The Covenanters would 
neither accept toleration themselves nor 
tolerate others. They were of such sedi- 
tious and ungovernable tempers, that Par- 
liament was obliged to enact laws to curb 
and suppress them. Notwithstanding, they 
were in a constant state of rebellion. In 
three distinct cases they assembled in arms 
for the express purpose of overturning the 
Government. Not one of the traitors who 
were executed after these rebellions ever 
suffered for conscience* sake. They suf- 
fered as traitors and rebels, but not in any 
one instance on account of their religion. 

Although at the Revolution the Scottish 
bishops and clergy were deprived of all the 
power, rank, and emolument which they 
had enjoyed in virtue of their connection 
with the State, they did not lose their spi- 
ritual authority. The inherent gifts and 
powers of the church remain the same, be 
earthly power for or against her. That any 
religious community should have suffered 
in this country as the Scottish (Episcopal) 



48 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



Church suffered during the last century and 
more, appears now almost incredible and 
unaccountable. Its depression, too, after 
the Revolution, was much augmented and 
prolonged by the conscientious adherence 
of its members to " the exiled House" For 
it was not until the death of Prince Charles 
Edward Stuart, in 1788, that public prayers 
were offered up in the Scottish Church for 
the reigning family, and that she transferred 
to the House of Hanover that unshrinking 
loyalty which, during a century of extreme 
suffering for conscience' sake, she main- 
tained towards the House of Stuart. The 
Acts of 1746 and 1748, which, under the 
pretence of eradicating the " Scotch Episco- 
palians' " attachment to the House of Stu- 
art, were so contrived as to preclude such 
of their clergy as were willing to pay alle- 
giance to the reigning Sovereign, and to 
pray for the Royal Family by name, from 
reaping the smallest benefit from their loy- 
alty; — by taking the oaths to Government 
they were neither qualified to hold livings 
in England, or even to enjoy a toleration 
in Scotland. An " Episcopal " clergyman 
was prohibited from officiating to more than 
four persons besides his own family ; and 
any peer or freeholder who attended such 
twice in one year, forfeited all his political 
privileges. The clergy were subjected to 
the penalty of six months' imprisonment 
for the first offence, and transportation for 
life for the second ! The present Bishop 
of Aberdeen — Primus William Skinner's 
— grandfather (the author of " Tullochgo- 
rum "), when a very old man, was unex- 
pectedly apprehended and put in Aberdeen 
jail for six months, commencing 26th May, 
1753, for reading the Liturgy to more than 
four persons besides his own family! 
Many did duty on the same Sunday sixteen 
several times, keeping, so far as might be, 
within the law. 

From the Revolution in 1688 till the 
24th Cctober, 1804, no subscription of any 
kind was imposed on the clergy. Still, 
though the Church was reduced to the very 
lowest ebb — though there was no formal 
subscription — a strict attention was paid to 
all the ancient landmarks which guard the 
essentials of the Christian faith. In par- 
ticular, the holy Sacraments — with which 
the most vital truths of the glorious Gospel, 
doctrinal and historical, are necessarily as- 
sociated — were regarded with peculiar reve- 



rence. In like manner, the constitution, 
the faith, and the customs of the Church 
in the purest times of primitive Christian- 
ity, were held in peculiar estimation, the 
rather in that the proscribed state of the 
Church at the time resembled this more 
than that of any other branch of the 
Church Catholic in the world. 

The fate of the Scottish Liturgy, au- 
thorised by King Charles I., and ordered 
by him to be introduced in the several | 
churches in Scotland on Easter, 1637, is 
well known. Such was the reception it 
received from Presbyterian matrons, chiefly 
of the lower orders, who had been stirred 
up to commence an uproar and murmuring 
when the service commenced, that it must 
be admitted that it was a fatal error in Roy- 
alty to enforce its use on such a bigoted, 
ignorant, and sacrilegious people. 

The severity of the civil penalties did 
not succeed in altogether blasting the 
Church ; but a serious disaster now befel 
her from some of her own household, which 
to the present day has not altogether ceased 
to persecute her. Many who preferred the 
Liturgy to the extempore services of " the 
Establishment," but who, at the same time, 
preferred the enjoyment of their civil privi- 
leges to the maintenance of ecclesiasti- 
cal unity; and orthodoxy in the faith, pro- 
cured by the services of Irish or English 
men in Holy Orders, who held the anoma- 
lous position of professing to be " Episco- 
palian" without placing themselves under 
the jurisdiction of the Bishops of Scotland, 
or having Episcopal superintendence at all, 
or any benefit from any Episcopal or Apos- 
tolic rite. The places in which such offici- 
ated were styled "qualified chapels" I In 
1792, the penal laws were rescinded. By 
that time they had become a dead letter in 
the Statute Book; but still they enabled 
opponents to point to them as a memorial 
that the ancient Church was not recognized 
nor tolerated by the State, while every pro- 
perly-principled Churchman would have 
abhorred any attempt to triumph, for such 
a meagre protection and support at best. 
With a view to remove every remaining 
obstacle to the union of the "qualified 
chapels " with the Scottish Church, the 
Bishops and other Clergy resolved to meet 
together for the purpose of exhibiting some 
public testimony of their agreement, in 
Doctrine and Discipline, with " The United 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



49 



Church of England and Ireland,." Ac- 
cordingly, on the 24th October, 1804, a 
Convocation of the whole of the Scotch 
Clergy met in the Chapel of Laurencekirk 
(being the most central place to which they 
could all resort), and publicly subscribed 
their names to the "Articles of the United 
Church of England and Ireland " — of 
course adopting such as in unison with the 
other Doctrinal Formularies and Offices 
contained in the Book of Common Prayer. 
No sooner did the Revolution in 1688 
disunite the Church and State in Scotland, 
than the Bishops, betaking themselves 
solely to spiritual concerns, endeavoured to 
place all matters ecclesiastical on the foot- 
ing of Primitive and Original Indepen- 
dence. Early in the reign of Queen Anne, 
through the liberality of friends in Eng- 
land, a large supply of English Common 
Prayer-Books was obtained by the ejected 
Bishops and Clergy — not that the Church 
had relinquished her partiality to her own 
appointed edition, prepared at the desire of 
that Royal Martyr, Charles I., but because 
the English Prayer-Book was so easily pro- 
cured, while copies of the Scottish, after 
the ravages committed on it in St. Giles', 
Edinburgh, by Jenny Geddes and Co., 
were few in number, and the times would 
not admit of printing it, The effects of 
the Revolution were not merely confined to 
the overthrow of the Established Religion 
in Scotland. Many political differences, 
in consequence of that event, took place in 
England; and many eminently-learned di- 
vines, refusing allegiance to William, King 
of the Orangemen, were dispossessed of 
their preferments. Of similar political 
principles with their Episcopal brethren in 
Scotland, they naturally took a lively inte- 
rest in all their proceedings. Therefore 
the .chief Theologians in England have, in 
their correspondence and printed works, 
repeatedly asserted that " The /Scotch Com- 
munion Office" declared by the present 
Canons to be of " Primary Authority" 
has the decided advantage over the Commu- 
nion Office in the Prayer-Book of the 
Church of England now in use, inasmuch 
as it more clearly defines Eucharistic doc- 
trine, has a better arrangement of parts, 
from following the model of the Eastern 
Liturgies, and as indicating the powers 
which every Particular or National Church 
has to ordain its own Rites ; for the (Epis- 



copal) Church of Scotland, during no pe- 
riod of her existence, ever acknowledged 
subjection to the Church of England. 
Otherwise, the (Episcopal) Church of Scot- 
land in her Worship has adopted the Book 
of Common Prayer of the United Church 
of England and Ireland, adhering to seve- 
ral ancient Usages which were from time to 
time, in different versions therein omitted — 
such as the Use of the Sign of the Cross 
at Confirmation, the Mixture of Water 
with the Wine at the Eucharist, the Anoint- 
ing of the Sick, and some other minor dis- 
ciplinary acts, which several of the Scottish 
Clergy still keep up. Her National Com- 
munion Office (modelled upon that in 
Edward the Sixth's reign), is thoroughly 
opposed, both in arrangement and diction, 
to the Romish dogma of " Transubsta.n- 
tiation," or " Consubstantiation," as well 
as to the Purgatory of the Romish Church. 
But that Christ is "verily and indeed" 
present in the Lord's Supper, and " taken 
and received by the faithful ; ' in that Holy 
Sacrament, is not only the* doctrine of the 
Scottish (Episcopal) Church, but that of 
the Church of England (with whom she is 
in full communion), as also of every branch 
of the Church who uses her Catechism, 
Communion Office, and Articles. While 
she teaches and believes in the real pre- 
sence of Christ in the Sacrament of the 
Altar, she maintains that it is in a mysti- 
cal, spiritual, not in a corporeal manner. 
Real and Spiritual are not opposed to., nor 
inconsistent with each other ; for Christ's 
presence is not the less real in being spirit- 
ual, but rather the more real, as things 
spiritual are the only true realities. Hence, 
it is with the eye of 'faith, not with the 
eye of the body, that we can discern him. 
In common with the greatest Divines of 
the Church of England, her humble Scot- 
tish Sister asserts and maintains the doc- 
trine of the Commemorative Sacrifice of 
the Holy Eucharist, using, too, the present 
Liturgy of the English Church as compre- 
hending it — her own office reducing to prac- 
tice what is therein implied. 

After the Laurencekirk-Convocation, 
there existed then no longer any political 
reason for Irish or English-ordained clergy- 
men acting so contrary to the principles of 
Episcopacy as to set up altar against altar, 
instead of placing themselves and their 
congregations under the superintendence 



! 50 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



of those Bishops who were the Successors, 
in this country, of those Bishops who had 
been deprived of worldly status at the Re- 
volution. One difficulty was by some 
opined to be in the path to their doing so. 
As these immigrants were naturally desi- 
rous to retain the Form of administering 
the Holy Communion they had heretofore 
used, the " Articles of Union" drawn 
up therefor, gave express permission to 
their retaining the use of the English 
Office. This was an arrangement much 
more for the benefit of such ministers and 
their congregations than of the Church. 
It placed them in a position they had not 
enjoyed before : they were now to become 
truly Episcopalians, by being received into 
the bosom of an Episcopal Church ; while 
it only brought an increase of numbers — 
desirable in a worldly point of view, and 
advantageous to themselves — but adding 
nothing to the character of the Church as 
a pure and poor Branch of the " One Ca- 
tholic and Apostolic Church." Numbers 
do not always imply an increase of strength 
or purity of faith, and it may be feared the 
present is an example of this. 

On the 14th November, 1784, in the 
providence of God, it was given to the 
Scottish (Episcopal) Church to consecrate 
the first Bishop for America, when 
"from an upper room" in Aberdeen, Dr. 
Samuel Seabury, D.D., Presbyter in Con- 
necticut, was ordained Bishop, and there- 
from went forth to convey the grace of the 
Apostolate and the Voice of the Church to 
these far western lands. The consecration 
of Bishop Seabury reminded the Church 
of England that a forlorn and depressed 
branch of the Church Catholic existed in 
Scotland, having the same Orders and 
Book of Common Prayer ; and in order to 
perpetuate the Succession which had thus 
been begun, the Rev. Dr. White, Elect- 
Bishop of Philadelphia, and the Rev. Dr. 
Prevost, Elect-Bishop of New- York, were 
consecrated in the Chapel of Lambeth 
Palace, on the 4th February, 1787, by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the 
Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of 
Bath and Wells, and of Peterborough. 
So that, in the first instance, from Bishop 
Seabury, and thereafter from Bishops 
White and Prevost, are the Planting and 
Succession of the American Church derived; 
and from this intercommunion, to mention 



none other, is the full fellowship of the 
Scottish, American, and English Branches 
of the Church of Christ incontrovertibly 
manifested. In justice to this most flourish- 
ing and extensive American Church, to 
her gratitude be it said, she has ever kept 
fresh in the memory of her members, both 
clerical and lay, the benefit which Grod im- 
parted to her first from the primitive Rem- 
nant of the ancient Church of Scotland, 
while under the most oppressive persecu- 
tions. 

Ever since those foul blots (to which al- 
lusion has been made above) were erased 
from the Statu te-Book, and this Scottish 
Church was being restored to the use of 
her Apostolic Services without risk of in- 
curring the fearful, ludicrous penalties im- 
posed by an unholy race of legislators, her 
poverty and paucity of numbers kept her 
in such a state of obscurity that her very 
name and existence were unknown to the 
world at large. The first forty or fifty 
years of her freedom were spent in doing 
little more than congratulating herself that 
the power of the foe was snapped asunder. 
Nothing was done to forward the preva- 
lence of those holy Principles which were 
preserved to her through no ordinary diffi- 
culties. Although the Scottish Church is 
numerically a small body, compared with 
the flocking sects surrounding her, she is 
still composed of the wealthiest landed 
proprietors, whose united incomes exceed 
three millions sterling annually ! Yet 
the Scottish Clergy are the poorest in the 
Christian world, and in very many in- 
stances, have great difficulty in struggling 
through the year. Their minimum income, 
as fixed by the Episcopal Society, is £100 
per annum; and, as few of them have 
private incomes, in many cases that must 
be the maximum also. Some one or two, 
doubtless, have £300, or £400, or £500 
even; but the Country and Highland 
Charges are almost all upon the Society's 
resources. Some twenty years ago, the 
Clergy officiated in many places gratuitously 
to two or three stations, and even built 
and sustained the Chapels out of their own 
hard-earned finances. The strength of 
Dissenting Bodies lies in numerical force ; 
and although they have few of the high 
and rich classes among them, they include 
vast numbers of that middle rank, whose 
contributions are always more ready, and 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



51 



even proportionally infinitely more liberal 
than those of the aristocratic race. On 
the other hand, the Scottish Church has 
few of the middling class, consisting chiefly 
of the two extreme sections of society, 
whereof the one cannot, the other cares 
not to support her measures. To corro- 
borate the latter part of this assertion, let 
only an analysis be made of what the Scot- 
tish Episcopal Lairds do for their Church. 
Some of them, within the last dozen years, 
were content to roll along the way in va- 
rious sorts and shapes of curricles, and 
after depositing in a pewter plate at the 
door, one half-penny, found their way to 
an enclosure with cushioned seats in it, 
upon stepping-stones placed in the passages 
of the hovels in which they worshipped, by 
their foot-men, to admit of the ladies get- 
ting forward dry-shod. Indeed, many of 
the best country churches were little better 
than long barns, having square windows, 
with patched boards as outside shutters. 
Within the last few years, however, there 
have been a most wonderful revival and 
increase — the number of clergy and churches 
having tripled. The peculiar position of 
the Church prevented her Principles being 
fully carried into practice : now has she 
Daily Public Prayer, Weekly Commu- 
nion, Choral Services, Cathedrals, and 
Colleges. 

Trinity College, romantically situ- 
ated in Glenalmond, Perthshire, was pro- 
jected in 1841. Before this was in opera- 
tion, the Scottish Episcopal Students, after 
having attended one or other of the Scot- 
tish Universities, and completed the usual 
curriculum of four sessions, and taken a 
degree in arts, subsequently attended the 
lectures and other exercises given by the 
Professors of Divinity and Church History 
(founded by the Pantons and Dr. Bell, in 
Edinburgh), who were always Bishops. 
The candidate for Holy Orders, as the 
Canon No. 6. declares, " shall be properly 
examined as to his literature, by two or 
more Presbyters appointed for that purpose 
by the Bishop who is to Ordain him; and 
whom, as his examiners, he must satisfy 
of his being sufficiently acquainted with 
the whole of the New Testament in the 
original Greek, and at whose bidding he 
must compose a short treatise in Latin on 
some article of faith, as also a discourse in 
English on any text of Scripture which 



they shall prescribe, and answer such ques- 
tions connected with theology and ecclesi- 
astical history as they shall think proper 
to put to him ; and, before his admission 
to examination, the Bishop must, by suffi- 
cient Letters Testimonial, and by an attes- 
tation that the form usually called Si Quis 
has been publicly read, be satisfied of his 
good life and conversation, as well as his 
good learning. . . . And no one shall 
be promoted to the order of Priest until 
he shall have passed a more full and com- 
plete examination. 

Trinity College, to the extent it is 
finished, is the most magnificent pile of 
scholastic buildings in Scotland. Its ac- 
commodations and management will chal- 
lenge comparison with those of any similar 
establishment in England. It stands in 
the mountain valley of the Almond, one 
of the tributaries of the Tay, lying at the 
foot of the Grampians, about ten miles 
from Perth. The situation enjoys the ad- 
vantage of complete seclusion ; while, from 
the circumstance of so many railways 
having their termini at Perth, it is easily 
accessible from all parts of the kingdom. 
The climate is remarkably healthy, and the 
wide and beautiful scenery of the district 
cannot fail to affect beneficially the youthful 
hearts which are brought under its influ- 
ence. The buildings themselves (as de- 
signed for ultimate completion) form, apart 
from the Chapel, a quadrangle, 190 feet 
square, the entrance to which — an arched 
gateway surmounted by a tower — stands in 
the centre of the west side ; the south side 
of the square being merely a cloister lead- 
ing from the western front to the southern 
corner of the east front, from which latter 
point the Chapel of the College projects to 
the rear of the other buildings. The north 
side contains school-rooms, bed-rooms, and 
dormitories for the elder and younger boys 
of the school. The west side contains ad- 
ditional bed-rooms and dormitories, accom- 
modation for the students of the Theolo- 
gical Department, and the residences of the 
warden, and sub-warden. The master's 
rooms are placed in different parts of the 
building, so as to bring all the boys' bed- 
rooms and dormitories within reach of one 
or other of them. The south and east 
sides of the quadrangle are not yet erected. 
The latter is to contain a large school-room, 
and half the former is to be a cloister, 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOrAL) CHURCH. 



completing the quadrangle. The Grounds 
comprehend a space of twenty acres, which 
has been laid out in kitchen garden, walks, 
and play-ground for cricket, fives, &c, for 
the boys and students. The Works al- 
ready completed have cost £42,000. This 
sum was contributed by the munificence 
and piety of many friends in many lands. 
In the list are to be found the names of 
the revered Adelaide, the Queen-Dowager, 
the late Archbishops of Canterbury and 
York, the Archbishop of Armagh, the 
Bishops and Clergy of England and Scot- 
land, the Society for Propagating Christian 
Knowledge, &c.,&c. The Chapel for the 
use of the College, was consecrated on the 
1st May, 1851, and its cost, £8500, was 
solely defrayed by the present Warden, the 
Rev. Charles Wordsworth, A. M., who is, 
at the time the printer is waiting this 
Sketch, Bishop-elect of the See of St. 
Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane. This 
Chapel is one of the finest religious struc- 
tures the Scottish Church possesses, and 
will not shame us when our hungry English 
brothers come up to spy out the ecclesias- 
tical nakedness of our land. The two de- 
partments of the College — the Theological, 
intended exclusively for those who mean to 
take Holy Orders, and the Public School, 
which includes pupils of every variety of 
future profession — are both carried on in 
one building, under the same authority, 
and, to a great extent, with similar influ- 
ences. Many of those in School will, it is 
supposed, pass into the other department, 
and receive the whole of their education in 
the same place, and that particular train- 
ing suited to the especial calling of those 
who intend to have the cure of souls. 
With regard to the system pursued in the 
Theological Department, the following may 
serve to convey an idea of its character : — 
Every student is required, before admission, 
to undergo a preliminary examination, to 
ensure the possession of a certain amount 
of Scriptural and classical knowledge.. 
During the collegiate course, the main 
branches of study are — The Holy Bible, 
standard divinity works, moral philosophy, 
and church history. Each student has his 
own private room, with either a recess, or 
a small adjoining bed-room, which secures 
the privacy which is indispensable for 
study and retirement, and the practice, also, 
of that individual life which his future 



calling must involve. The Daily Public 
Prayers in the Chapel, the observation of 
those Fasts and Feasts which the Common 
Prayer-Book Kalendar marks, and the 
weekly Celebration of the Holy Commu- 
nion, are closely adhered to as indispen- 
sable portions of the system. The number 
of students of all kinds is not yet 100. 
They wear, ordinarily, the Oxford Scholars' 
Gown and Square Cap. The boys are at- 
tired in the Winchester Gown, and a round 
Black Cap, somewhat resembling the Prince 
Charlie Bonnet. On Sundays, Holy-Days, 
and Eves, the whole wear Surplices. Won- 
drous contrast, truly, with those Scarlet 
Bibs ordained for wear and tear at the 
Scotch Universities ! Query — Are such 
any relics of " The Scarlet Lady ?" We 
protest against such " Papal Aggression." 
There are scholarships, from £10 to £30 
per annum in value, which are awarded to 
those who deserve them. So much for the 
Theological College op the Scottish 
(Episcopal) Church, which has elicited 
so much envy, jealousy, and false assertion 
from those who detest the Church of 
Christ and all her holy ways. We come 
next to. 

St. Ninian's Cathedral and Col- 
lege, Perth. — This was the first Scottish 
Cathedral erected since the "Reforma- 
tion," and which was duly consecrated on 
the 11th December, 1851, by Dr. Forbes, 
the Lord Bishop of Brechin, acting for the 
aged Diocesan, Dr. Torry. This was cer- 
tainly a mighty work. Those who had 
been accustomed to worship in a loft above 
weavers' shops, or in mud-built, straw- 
thatched barns, might well marvel at such 
a transition, when they were able to ex- 
change these for embellishment and orna- 
ment at a cost of a half score thousands 
of pounds. The building occupies a pro- 
minent situation in the outskirts of Perth, 
and abuts upon the street which forms part 
of the road leading to Dunkeld. As yet, 
no more than the choir and transept, with 
a small portion of the nave and aisles, have 
been erected; but, when completed, the 
nave will be extended to four compartments, 
or bays, with two square towers at the 
western end of each aisle, 150 feet high. 
The roof of the interior of the nave is of 
simple stained open work; that of the choir 
carved and richly painted. The Font, 
(placed at the door, where it ought), is of 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



53 



Fifeshire stone, with pillars of Peterhead 
granite — a very tasteful combination of 
materials, which is also to be observed in 
the choir screen. The Altar is considered 
(by those whose opinion in architecture is 
worth the having) to be the finest in Great 
Britain. Since it was reared, however, the 
Altar in the College Chapel of Cumbrae 
rivals it. Perth, placed in the very centre 
of Scotland, being the capital of one of its 
largest and most populous counties, and 
having a great number of strangers con- 
stantly passing through it — for these rea- 
sons it was well adapted for manifesting to 
a large number of natives and strangers 
the beauty of the Church's Ritual, and 
her progressive advance towards her posi- 
tive and proper position. It is further 
pointed out, by its locality, as a most ap- 
propriate place for the residence of the 
Bishop of Dunkeld ; while, from its vicin- 
ity to Glenalmond, the seat of Trinity 
College, it must exercise a powerful in- 
fluence on the future destinies of the Church 
throughout the country. The Dean, Chan- 
cellor, Canons, &c, of this Cathedral, 
employ their whole time in the College, 
which is attached, for educating youth, or 
in the Services of the Cathedral, which are 
public twice every day, or in visiting the 
poor, whole and sick. The Clergy could 
not work half so well among the poor, nor 
could they stand the drudgery of their toil, 
nor the constant reproaches they meet 
with (which, by the way, strengthen the 
cords of the Church very wonderfully,) if 
they had not their elegaut and hope-in- 
spiring Church to soothe their spirits in 
the various acts of Worship. Men, who 
like to be " Free/' may use their Free- 
dom in blasting their smoke against what 
they call "Formalism?' but as long as 
the spirit is confined within a tabernacle of 
flesh, men will be deeply afflicted by ex- 
ternal things. An elegant Church, with 
characteristic and corresponding Worship, 
is a type of Heaven ; and no one who has 
the fear of God, and the hope of worship- 
ping as they in Heaven do, can enter such 
a Place without penitence, reverence, and 
awe. A very remarkable instance of the 
advance of the Scottish Church was sig- 
nally developed in this Cathedral by the 
Burial therein on the 13th Oct., 1852, of 
Dr. Torry, the Lord Bishop of St. An- 
drews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane. This 



venerable Prelate died at Peterhead on the 
3d of the month, in the seventieth year of 
his Priesthood, in the forty-fourth of his 
Episcopate, and in the eighty-ninth of his 
age. Ordained at a time when the Church 
in Scotland was "under cloud" he saw it 
pass through many changes of circumstance. 
From a state of prostration, it had come to 
be fawned upon by " the powers that be " 

— from a state of the most scanty pro- 
vision, it had become, in several instances, 
comparatively rich and exalted. Without 
one comely Edifice that she could call her 
own at the time when he took her yoke 
upon him, and voluntarily shared the burden 
of her sorrows, — Houses of Prayer had 
rapidly risen up, of the most stately pro- 
portions and exquisite workmanship. The 
good Bishop began his Ministry in a kit- 
chen, and continued without any better ac- 
commodation for several years; yet he 
lived to preside over the first Diocese in 
which the Cathedral System was revived, 
and his Funeral Obsequies were celebrated 
with a pomp and honour never equalled 
since the "Reformation." His Body lay 
in state in the nave of his own Cathedral 
the night prior to the Funeral, while the 
Cathedral Clergy relieved each other by 
turns in watching and singing Psalms. 
The Coffin was covered with a black pall, 
embroidered with a crimson Cross, having 
also the Mitre and Crosier laid thereon. 
On the piers of the arches, and over the 
west door, were hung the Arms of the 
three Dioceses. Six tapers, three on each 
side, were placed by the Body. The Sanc- 
tuary of the Cathedral, hung with black 
cloth, the bier, the hearse or canopy 
shrouding the Corpse, the funeral hatch- 
ments, the immense concourse of people 
who were admitted to pass round the bier 

— all seen by the dim light of the tapers 
- — it was, indeed, a sight to strike with awe, 
and one which will not be forgotten by 
those who witnessed it. On the day of 
the Funeral, the Bishop's Body was borne 
by aged and middle-aged men — all of them 
Communicants at the Altar of St. Ninian's, 
and many of them Converts within the 
last four years to the Church. As the 
procession moved up the nave from the 
western porch, the Sentences were chanted 
by the Choristers, the Cathedral Bell toll- 
ing every minute the while; and the whole 
of the Burial Office was so affectingly 



54 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



solemn, that very few eyes were dry during 
its performance. He that had executed 
his Office in a barn, was thus at last laid 
in his Grave at the North side of the Altar 
of his own Cathedral Church ; in the very 
city where that infuriated Demagogue, John 
Knox, first despoiled and pillaged the 
Church of God, seconded by a lawless 
mob ! ! 

St. Margaret's College, Crieff, is 
another evidence of zeal and success within 
the last half dozen years. This Institution 
was established for providing young ladies 
with superior training and education, in ac- 
cordance with the Principles of the Church. 
Heretofore Church families were at a loss 
to know what do in the education of their 
daughters, as, when they were boarded in 
Presbyterian and other boarding-houses of 
like quality, they were incessantly teazed 
and laughed to scorn by the majority of 
voices. Here, however, parents can pos- 
sess the highest possible guarantee that 
their children will be treated with the 
tenderest care, and their moral and reli- 
gious feelings watched over with the most 
sedulous solicitude, which are rarely to be 
met with, except under the parental roof. 
This is veritably a kind home. Crieff pos- 
sesses every advantage that can be desired 
for an establishment of this kind. Situ- 
ated in the beautiful vale of Strathearn, at 
the foot of the Grampians, the salubrity of 
its climate, and the grandeur of its scenery, 
can hardly be surpassed. 

Church and College of the Holy 
Spirit, Isle of Cumbrae. — On the 29th 
May, 1849, the Hon. G. F. Boyle, laid 
the first stone of these magnificent Build- 
ings, after the usual prefatory Services 
appointed for such occasions. This noble- 
man is probably the exception, in modern 
times, who has dedicated his fortune to 
holy purposes. These Piles have already 
cost him £30,000. Mr. Butterfield, (the 
architect of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, 
and of St. Ninian's, Perth,) designed the 
plans. The College Chapel very much re- 
sembles, in the interior, the Perth Cathe- 
dral. To it there is attached a steeple 
one hundred and sixty feet high, with a 
chime of twelve bells, and a clock that 
strikes the quarters : off the choir, in an 
arched recess there is placed a very valuable 
and large organ ; and adjacent, there is an 
Oratory, or private Chapel, where are kept, 



as in ancient Religious Houses, the " Seven 
Canonical Hours of Prayer/' in compliance 
with the saying of the Psalmist, " Seven 
times a-day do I praise Thee." The Col- 
lege and Choristers' House are contiguous : 
on the ground floor are the large Hall or 
Library, next the Lecture Room fitted up 
with School apparatus, and the private 
Studies for the Clergy. A Dining-Hall, 
or Refectory, is apart from the College, 
which is approached through a spacious 
cloister. In the upper storey are the dor- 
mitories for the students, infirmary, and 
rooms for the Founder, Provost, and 
Canons. In the belfry are the bells used 
for the Oratory and for other specialties 
connected with the College. The Com- 
munion Vessels got the prize at the Great 
Exhibition in London. The site occupies 
a rising ground in the rear of the Garri- 
son, (where Mr. Boyle resides, being also 
the residence of the Countess Dowager 
of Glasgow, bis mother,) commanding ex- 
tensive views down the Frith of Clyde, 
Ailsa Craig, the mountains of Arran, and 
having the watering-place of Millport at 
the foot. The laying out of the grounds 
in terraces is most tasteful. Besides the 
College and College Chapel, there are erected 
a School for the children in the village who 
may choose to attend the Services of the 
Church, together with a neat little Church, 
dedicated in honour of St. Andrew. The 
Founder being weightily impressed with 
the sad state in which the Scottish Nation 
is, through multifarious divisions, conceived 
it his duty to exalt the Worship of the 
Scottish Church to that degree of signifi- 
cant Ceremonial which might indicate the 
relationship which ought to be exhibited in 
the Church below, as fore-shadowing the 
adorations of the Hosts above — but which 
were hindered by the protracted sufferings 
and drawbacks which she had to undergo. 

High time was it that such Institutions 
as those of Cumbrae, Glenalmond, Perth, 
and Crieff should be in operation, as 
guardians of youth from such awful de- 
lusions as are taught by other systems. — 
God in no part of His Word teaches that 
He elects any particular persons, absolutely 
and unconditionally, unto eternal life. 
Those Texts which self-opinionated follow- 
ers seize hold of, with presumptuous as- 
surance, startling some and maddening 
others, amount to no more than this, viz., 



HISTORY OP THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



55 



that God does of His own free will, elect 
certain individuals into His visible Church 
upon earth, *. e. into the Kingdom of Hea- 
ven, or Kingdom of Grace, — or into that 
Net which gathers fish of every kind. 
There they are placed by God's choice, 
blest with the privileges and bound by the 
duties of the Catholic Faith; and being 
placed there, and distinguished by the seal 
of Holy Baptism from the heathen world, 
with whom he has made no covenant, 
(though we have no warrant from that to 
infer their condemnation,) these Baptised, 
or Regenerated by Water and the Holy 
Ghost, or Incorporated into Christ's Mys- 
tical Body (all which are synonymous terms) 
— 'these will, if they "make their calling 
and election sure/' finally reach their Hea- 
venly Inheritance. But, alas ! for their 
own wilful perverseness and neglect of the 
Means of Grace (which can alone ordinarily 
flow or come through Christ's Holy Church 
or Mystical Body) although " many be " 
thus "called," "few," comparatively, we 
are told, " will be chosen." 

In the administration of the affairs of 
earth, the Creator is often pleased to em- 
ploy the feeblest instruments, as they ap- 
pear to us, for the accomplishment of most 
important ends; and to select what we 
might deem the most unpromising spots, as 
centres of great attraction. Iona, one of 
the smallest of the British Isles, possessing 
no enticement but that of cheerless barren- 
ness, has obtained imperishable renown as 
| the conservatory of the Christian Faith at 
a time when the darkness of heathenism 
hovered over almost the whole of northern 
Europe, and as the fountain-head whence 
issued the evangelization of that empire, 
which, although a mere speck in the map, 
may justly sustain its designation as " Mis- 
tress of the World." So, in God's own 
good time, from the noble Fanes wondrously 
upreared on this other Western Isle, hope- 
ful are we that its well-nurtured inmates 
may yet stand rivals with those of ancient 
Icolumhill. 

Believing that Presbyterianism, with its 
multiform offshoots, is a mere human de- 
I vice, invented along with its credulities in 
these "'latter days;" — believing that its 
system of worship (if worship it is) is nei- 
ther Apostolic nor Primitive; — believing 
that its whole conglomeration is the inge- 
nuity of a Swiss; — untrammelled, in a 



great measure, as our youth now are from 
defective Educational Establishments, so far 
as Religion is concerned; — cheered with 
the revival and steady increase which have 
of late confounded " the army of the aliens;" 
— we are not faithless in believing in a 
glorious future, when our own members 
will appreciate more and more their once 
buried, but now risen Zion, and when a 
nominal Faith will be severely scrutinised, 
and birth-right adherence will give way to 
every candid and inquiring thinker. At 
present there is an evident current of events, 
which day by day advances the interests of 
the long-depressed Scottish Church, seem- 
ingly the more that she is reviled by those 
whose tongues are no slander. In the won- 
derful providence of God, her existence, 
character, position and claims, have become 
well known, and are now strongly advocated 
in England. Receut Acts of the Legisla- 
ture have not merely rescued her from ob- 
scurity and abasement, but have placed her 
in a position, by means of which she has 
struck more deeply and firmly her roots. 

Albeit the Legal recognition that the 
(Episcopal) Church of Scotland is in full 
Communion with the United Church of 
England and Ireland, (vide Act of 3d and 
4th Victoria, cap. 33, 1840, — to say nothing 
of the repeatedly printed Speeches in Im- 
perial Parliament, and Testimonies of her 
Bishops, Peers, &c.,) one unfraternal hin- 
drance is in the path of the Scottish Or- 
dained Clergyman ; viz., the Legal disa- 
bility to hold "Preferment" in England 
or Ireland. 

The deplorable nuisance exists in the 
Scottish (Episcopal) Church of having 
"Vestries" or a few individuals, titled 
"Managers" or "Proprietors," empowered 
with the "right of Presentation to any 
Chapel vacant." The usual test for a Can- 
didate is the reading the Service, and the 
preaching a Sermon or two ! 

Those parties who guarantee the Minis- 
ters' salary are the Patrons of a Charge, it 
has been said. In contravention of the 
Canon, rarely is any Stipulation given, 
which it is the Bishop's duty to insist upon ; 
a host of sundry officials is kept, who share 
in afar better ratio than the Minister, being 
frequently paid months before him, while 
he is left, as it were, residuary legatee. This 
arrangement oftentimes only affords godless 
individuals a convenience to rebuff their 



56 



HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



Clergyman with impudent, alliterate gibes 
at their meetings, if he happen to have 
pricked to the quick their guilty consciences 
in the discharge of Office. The chief 
avengement which they of low degree in 
Faith and Practice can award upon their 
Spiritual Guides, is shutting up the exche- 
quer, — "giving up their seats/' or rather 
by retaining them and sitting rent-free. In 
a body supported by optional offerings, the 
Clergyman is tempted to withhold sound 
Doctrine and needful Rebuke, and to curry 
the favour of the ignorant and profane. 
Pity him if he be so unfortunate as to 
reach his "three-score years and ten," when 
his faculties begin to wane, when his life 
of slavery will be only amnesty, resembling 
in definitive characteristic the position of a 
worn-out horse, whose former applauded 
value is now estimated at the lowest dis- 
count. 

The Revival which has been going on 
for nearly the last score years, more in Eng- 
land than in Scotland (the former having 
far the most need, inasmuch as there the 
hindrance was a lack of life, while in the 
latter it was circumstantial disability that 
intervened) has been by the popular voice 
(certainly far from being a trustworthy one) 
nicknamed " Puseyism" vel u Tractarian- 
ism" Prior to this Revival in England, 
the Services of the Church were too gene- 
rally coldly and irreverently Celebrated. 
Churches, especially those in large towns, 
which should ever be open, were closed day 
by day, as if Religion were to be attended 
to only one day out of seven, and neglected 
the rest. Holy Communion, in many 
places, was but rarely Celebrated — perhaps 
only three or four times a-year — whereas 
in the Apostles' days it was iveeJcly, if not 
daily. The occasional Offices were cur- 
tailed and mutilated to suit individual tastes, 
and square with peculiar views and theo- 
ries, and not with those laid down in the 
Book of Common Prayer. In the perform- 
ance of Divine Worship, little attention 
was paid to the Rubrics, or Directions for 
conducting the Services. Lukewarmness, 
apathy, and neglect, were the crying sins 
of the Church's Officers and Members. At 
length, the Voice of God called to the 
Church to awake from her lethargy. That 
Voice was heard, and awakened zeal and 
energy began to repair the waste places of 
the land. Churches, beautiful to look upon, 



and Schools for the young, rose up in every 
land. The bells — long silent but on Sun- 
days — sent forth their Daily summons to 
the House of God. On every Sunday and 
Festival, in numerous Churches, the Blessed 
Eucharist — the chief act of Christian Wor- 
ship — was now Celebrated. The Ritual 
Observances and significant Ceremonials 
have been restored — costly Decorations have 
been bestowed on God's House, as more 
worthy of such than any private domicile 
— and Ordination Vows solemnly made, 
have been scrupulously kept. It was not 
to be expected that such a change should 
take place without provoking remark and 
exciting hostility, not only from those with- 
out the Church, but from such within her 
as were adepts in fox-hunting, and similar 
Clerical (!) pastimes. Verily, many " dumb 
dogs were there that could not bark, — 
sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber; 
yea, greedy dogs:" — but no matter, for 
they surnamed themselves " Evangeli- 
cals ;" what did all this signify when suck 
were Cahinistically Elected, yea, Predes- 
tinated to be such glorious Shepherds? — 
Existing habits were broken in upon — 
old but authorized Customs revived. The 
unhappy conduct of some who have proved 
unfaithful to the Church of their Baptism, 
by joining the Romish Communion, has 
added fuel to the fire of virulency, and im- 
paired the endeavours of those who wished 
to adhere to the plain grammatical sense 
of the Church's Formularies. Now, the 
Scottish (Episcopal) Church thoroughly 
joined in all this Revival. However, 
there were not two Parties within her 
bosom, neither had she any clerical amuse- 
ments to subvert, nor Advowsons for dis- 
posal, nor Rectors sporting on the Conti- 
nent: the stigma upon her was and is in 
her lofty Patrons allowing those " who 
minister about Holy Things not to live of 
the Sacrifice," and in callously suffering 
those " who wait at the Altar not to be 
partakers with the Altar." 

The great stumbling-block of the present 
generation is the Doctrine of Sacramental 
Efficacy, and especially of Holy Baptism. 
For this, as for every other Doctrine, Rite, 
or Ceremony, our appeal is to the Formu- 
laries of the Church. Let any one read 
dispassionately the offices for Baptism in 
the Book of Common Prayer, and then 
form his judgment. Some who have en- 



HISTORY OP THE SCOTTISH (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 



57 



deavoured to force a non-natural interpre- 
tation upon our Articles of Faith to make 
them square with their own conceptions, 
have at length been driven from their false 
position, and compelled to acknowledge that 
there can be no doubt as to the teaching 
of the Church on Baptism. In his work 
on the Union of Church and State, The 
Hon. B. W. Noel says (p. 418,) " I once 
laboured hard to convince myself that our 
Reformers did not and could not mean that 
Infants are Regenerated by Baptism, — but 
no reasoning avails. This language is too 
plain." In a foot note Mr. Noel quotes 
from a Charge of the present Bishop of 
Worcester, in which the following passage 
occurs : — " It seems impossible in the face 
of the Articles of our Church, and of the 
above expressions directed to be used in 
the Catechism, and the Services for Bap- 
tism and Confirmation, to deny that the 
| Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration is dis- 
tinctively the Doctrine of the Church. " 
Baptist Noel was consistent in apostatising 
from the Church, when he could not con- 
scientiously believe in her Doctrines : and 
it would be well for the Church if those 
self- dotted "Evangelicals" or "Low 
Churchmen" would also retire from the 
Ministry of the Church whose Doctrines 
they don't uphold and teach; or rather be 
Excommunicated therefrom, as this latter 
process would make their earlier harvest 
of such cumberers. 

Think over these extracts from the 
writings of the "Reformers." The on 
dits of Scotch "Reformers" are only tissues 
of rank heresy and fanatical cant. Ridley 
(Bishop of London — martyr, 1555) says, 
in the Parker Society Edition of his works, 
p. 210 — "The water in Baptism hath 
grace promised, and by that grace the Holy 
Spirit is given : not that Grace is included 
in Water, but that Grace cometh by 
Water." Latimer (Bishop of Worcester 
— martyr, 1555), says, in P. S. Ed. of his 
works, vol. ii. p. 13-1 — "In what trouble 
and calamity soever we be let us remember 
that we be Baptized." Cranmer (Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury — martyr, 1556), says, 
in P. S. Ed. of his works, vol. i. p. 25 - " St. 
Paul says, 'as many as be baptized in 
Christ put Christ upon them;' neverthe- 
less, this is done in divers respects; for in 
Baptism it is done in respect of Regenera- 
tion, and in the Holy Communion in re- 



spect of Nourishment and Augmentation." 
Ibid, p. 176 — "What Christian man 
would say that we be not Regenerated, both 
body and soul, as well in Baptism as in the 
Sacrament of the Body and Blood of 
Christ ? or that in Baptism we be not 
united to Christ's Divinity by his Man- 
hood?" Ibid, p. 366 — "As in Baptism 
we must think that as the Priest putteth 
his hand to the child outwardly, and 
washeth him with Water, so must we think 
that God putteth to His hand inwardly, 
and washeth the infant with His Holy 
Spirit; and, moreover, that Christ Himself 
cometh down upon the child, and apparel- 
leth him with His own Self." "The 
Second Birth is by the Water of Baptism, 
which St. Paul calleth the Bath of Regene- 
ration, because our sins be forgiven us in 
Baptism, and the Holy Ghost is poured 
into us as into God's beloved children ; so 
that by the power and working of the Holy 
Ghost we be born again spiritually, and 
made new creatures. And so by Baptism 
we enter the kingdom of God, and shall be 
saved for ever, if we continue to our lives' 
end in the faith of Christ." Jewel 
(Bishop of Sarum — died, 1571) says, in 
Tracts of the Angl. Fathers, v. i. p. 80 — 
" Such a change is made in the Sacrament 
of Baptism. Through the power of God's 
working, the Water . is turned into Blood ; 
they that be washed in it receive the re- 
mission of sins. The grace of God doth 
always work His Sacraments ; but we are 
taught not to seek the grace of God in the 
Sign, but to assure ourselves, by receiving 
the Sign, that it is given us by the thing 
signified. For this cause are infants bap- 
tized, because they are born in sin, and 
cannot become spiritual but by this New 
Birth of Water and the Spirit." Notwith- 
standing the explicitness of this language, 
penned by men who burned at the stake 
for the Church of England, the Scriptural 
Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration is ac- 
tually denied, not only by many of the 
laity — (who may perhaps do so from igno- 
rance) but by Bishops even ! Although 
the Nicene Creed expressly sets forth the 
Article — " I acknowledge one Baptism for 
the Remission of Sins" — yet such heresi- 
archs as George Cornelius Gorham, B. D., 
now holding the Living of Brompford 
Speke, in the county of Devon, are sus- 
tained in their traitored office by the State, 



58 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



forsooth, composed of a covey of Pagans, 
deputed to give sentences about tenets 
which they don't believe in and know 
nothing about ! 

So the term " Puseyism," which News- 
paper-tyros exult in applying to Baptismal 
Regeneration, as also to a certain class 
of other Doctrines, to which may be ap- 
plied the testing Rule for the reception of 
all Doctrines, viz., Antiquity, Univer- 
sality, and Consent, may, with justice, 



be equally palmed on Cranmer, Latimer, 
Ridley, and Jewel, (including the Book of 
Common Prayer,) than to any person or 
party who may admire Dr. Pusey's Writ- 
ings ; (which, by the way, ought not to be 
condemned before having been read) as 
Baptismal Regeneration, is proved by the 
above quotations to have been unflinch- 
ingly held as Scriptural, Three Centuries 
before that holy and erudite Divine was 
born. 



HISTOKY 



THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 

BY THE REV. ROBERT JAMIESON, D.D. 

MEOSTEK OF ST. PAUL'S PARISH, GLASGOW. 



The Church of Scotland, or the Kirk, 
as it is often called, is that branch of the 
Church of Christ which is by law estab- 
lished in the northern part of Britain, and 
to the maintenance of which its inhabitants, 
amid many severe and protracted struggles, 
have clung with hereditary attachment for 
more than three centuries. From the time 
of the Reformation down to 1740, the 
great mass of the population professed the 
religion, and ranged themselves within the 
pale of that establishment. With the ex- 
ception of a very small number of Catho- 
lics, Episcopalians, and Cameronians, dis- 
sent was entirely unknown ; and even now 
that the ancient unity in ecclesiastical af- 
fairs has in form been broken up, there is j 
still a greater harmony of opinion and feel- ' 
ing on religious matters in Scotland, than 
is to be found perhaps in any other country 
of Christendom. Of the various sects that j 
have sprung into existence, the principal, i 
in point both of numbers and influence, ' 
while seceders from the communion, adhere | 



faithfully and zealously to the standards of 
the Established Church. In other words, 
though in a state of separation, they con- 
tinue amid their several peculiarities to fol- 
low her doctrine, discipline, and form of 
government; and, therefore, as she is the 
model from which so many of them have 
drawn their derivative forms of ecclesiasti- 
cal worship and polity, it may be expedient 
to give a full view of her constitution, such 
as may render unnecessary the repetition 
of similar details, in the subsequent notices 
to be given in this work of Presbyterian 
sects in Scotland. 

The form of worship is exceedingly sim- 
ple and solemn. The service is begun by 
the singing of a psalm, previously announced 
and read aloud by the minister. Then a 
prayer is offered, a chapter generally read 
from the Old or Xew Testament, and a 
smaller portion of a psalm sung. These 
preliminaries over, a discourse is addressed 
to the people assembled, which having been 
followed by prayer and praise as before, the 



HISTORY OP THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



59 



service is closed by the minister pronouncing 
with extended hands the apostolic benedic- 
tion. The service is usually finished in less 
than two hours. 

Such is the ordinary routine of worship 
in the Church of Scotland, and, as thus 
described, it seems to have been studiously 
arranged by its founders, in order that by 
the extreme simplicity of its forms it might 
be as far removed as possible from the pom- 
pous ceremonial of the Popish Church, 
which it supplanted at the Reformation. 
There is no altar, no liturgy, no organ or 
instrumental music of any kind — no cere- 
monies of human invention to engage the 
senses or imagination : every part of the 
service seems to have been ordered as with 
a jealous anxiety to exclude every thing 
that might prevent the great truths of reli- 
gion from reaching, through the medium 
of the understanding, the devotional feel- 
ings of the heart. Thus, at the very com- 
mencement of the service, in the depart- 
ment of sacred music, where it might be 
supposed that scientific taste might be in- 
dulged with less risk to piety than in any 
other part, the Presbyterian worship dis- 
plays the simplicity of her character. This 
interesting portion of the service, instead 
of being left to a choir of mercenary mu- 
sicians, is performed by the whole congre- 
gation present, who, with united voices, 
follow the precentor after he has commenced 
the first notes, or finished the first line, es- 
teeming it their privilege as well as their 
duty to take a personal share in singing the 
praises of their God and Redeemer. The 
words of this sacred music are furnished 
from two sources. The first is a metrical 
version of the Psalms of David, which, 
having been sanctioned by the Westminster 
Assembly of Divines, and still further im- 
proved by our General Assembly, was rati- 
fied by an act of the Scottish Parliament 
at Edinburgh, 8th January, 1650. It is a 
version in which, although there are many 
uncouth, quaint, and inharmonious lines, 
these blemishes are far outbalanced by the 
manifold excellencies that distinguish it — 
its simple versification, and the extraordi- 
nary closeness with which it approaches to 
the style of the prose translation, enabling 
the worshipper to employ in his devotional 
strains the very words which the Spirit 
indited. The second source of Scottish 
Psalmody is found in a collection of Met- 



rical Translations and Paraphrases of Scrip- 
ture, supplementary to the Psalms, and con- 
taining interesting announcements of the 
grand blessings of the Gospel, as well as 
plain statements of Christian duty — in 
short, embodying such, sentiments as an 
evangelical preacher is likely to enlarge 
upon, and expressed in that lively style 
which tends to quicken and elevate the tone 
of devotional feeling, which his previous 
exhortation may be supposed to have begun. 
This collection of hymns, original and se- 
lected, after having been for many years 
under the earnest consideration of the 
church, and subjected to the most rigid 
scrutiny to make it suitable both in senti- 
ment and language for the purposes of pub- 
lic worship, at length received the formal 
sanction of the General Assembly of 1781, 
which appointed it " to be used in public 
worship and in congregations, wherever the 
minister finds it for edification." This cau- 
tion was necessary — for the people at large 
and many even of the clergy of the period 
could not be reconciled to its introduction, 
on the ground of strong conscientious scru- 
ples, to employ in the praises of God any 
composition that flowed from an uninspired 
source. Such prejudices, however, have 
long ago died away, and the almost univer- 
sal suffrage of the Christian public in Scot- 
land is borne to the fact, that this selection 
of Metrical Translations and Paraphrases 
appointed to be used by the authority and 
sanction of the Church is, for beauty of 
sentiment, as well as a fine vein of Scrip- 
tural simplicity and devotional feeling, 
second to none in the English language. 
These are the sacred songs which are used 
in the worship of the Scottish Church. 
They are sung, not chanted; and the tunes 
which obtain the greatest favour every- 
where, even in the most educated and fash- 
ionable congregations, are, with the excep- 
tion of a few by modern composers, those 
slow, solemn, and impressive strains which 
have been hallowed by long and venerable 
associations with the memory of our Pres- 
byterian forefathers. To a stranger the 
Psalmody of the Presbyterian Church ap- 
pears dull and lifeless ; and Wesley, whose 
susceptible ear had been long habituated to 
the varied measures and light airs of the 
Methodist hymns, has recorded his feelings 
of surprise and disappointment at " the cold 
and uninteresting manner of singing in 



60 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



Scotland." But the tunes are sufficient to 
enliven the calm and reflecting minds of 
Scotsmen, and they awaken associations 
that find a repose in every bosom. So 
averse are the people generally to innova- 
tions in these melodies, that when early in 
the present century the "repeating tunes" 
were introduced, i. e., tunes in which one 
or another of the lines in a stanza were 
sung twice over, numbers of the old people 
refused to join in the praise, or left the 
place of -worship altogether. At a still 
earlier period, when, in consequence of the 
generally increasing ability to read amongst 
the church-going population, a strong de- 
sire arose in singing the praises of God, to 
go on without the intermission of the pre- 
centor reading each line before the congre- 
gation, the Assembly of 1746 resolved to 
introduce the change gradually, by recom- 
mending the adoption of the new method 
to the people, first, in their private houses 
and at family icorship. These facts illus- 
trate the strong hold which the forms of 
the national worship have taken of the 
Scottish mind, and show that the popular 
character is so strongly moulded by the 
simple genius of Presbytery, that the re- 
finements and artificial graces of composi- 
tion, either in Psalmody or Sacred Music, 
are entirely unsuitable and distasteful. One 
peculiarity, however, remains to be noticed, 
which is less worthy of commendation, 
viz., that the congregation continues seated 
while in the act of singing the Psalms; 
and whether this practice arose at first from 
the great distances people travelled to 
church, or from the long prayers that pre- 
cede and follow the psalmody, the impro- 
priety of the posture is so manifest, that 
nothing but the force of immemorial cus- 
tom could make it be overlooked. 

The people all rise at the prayer, which 
is offered by the minister standing also in 
front of the congregation, with clasped 
hands and with eyes shut, the better to se- 
cure his mind from being interrupted by 
external objects while in the solemn act of 
addressing God. The public prayers are 
always without the shackles of prescribed 
forms ; for the directory of public worship 
shows only the manner, and not, except in 
very general terms, the substance of the 
sentiments to be expressed. This custom 
of praying extempore is one of the reli- 
gious practices of their ancestors, of which 



the Scottish people have always been pecu- 
liarly tenacious, and there is nothing which 
they are universally less willing to endure, 
or more prone to ridicule, than repeated 
prayers. Hence, as the devotions are the 
momentary effusion, or, at least, the private 
composition of the speaker, and every 
man's thoughts are apt to run in a certain 
channel, and to be expressed in certain 
words or combinations of words that be- 
come familiar to his mind, ministers are 
obliged more or less to study variety in 
conducting the devotional part of the 
service. There is some difficulty in doing 
this in the opening prayer, which always 
includes a statement of those wants and 
feelings, and a supplication for those bless- 
ings which nature and Christianity lead us 
to reiterate at every approach to God. But 
the utmost variety is attainable in the con- 
cluding prayer, in which it is customary to 
recapitulate the leading topics that pervaded 
the discourse in the form of petitions for 
grace to enable the hearers to carry the 
lessons of heavenly wisdom into practice. 
These prayers usually last for a quarter of 
an hour — perhaps too great an effort for 
the generality of minds to engage with sus- 
tained attention in a pure act of devotion. 
But the people are accustomed to such pro- 
tracted standing, and, where the service is 
strictly of a devotional character, that space 
of time is not too long for overtaking all 
the topics which a public prayer ought to 
embrace. 

The discourse holds a prominent place 
in the worship of the Scottish Church. So 
much are the people accustomed to regard 
it of pre-emiuent importance, that this 
habit of thought has moulded their com- 
mon conversation ; and, while an inhabitant 
of England speaks of going to chapel, or 
attending service, a native of Scotland 
comprehends all the purposes of church 
attendance in the phrase of going to hear 
a particular minister. The forenoon's dis- 
course consists of a lecture or exposition 
of Scripture. The usual practice is to 
select a book, say one of the gospels or 
epistles, and to proceed from beginning to 
end regularly through its successive chap- 
ters, expounding a considerable portion, 
longer or shorter, as its connection with the 
context may indicate, on every Sabbath. 
This is a most useful species of instruction, 
which is almost peculiar to Scotland, and 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



01 



is attended with many advantages, — espe- 
cially as it both enables a minister, by 
bringing all his natural and acquired re- 
sources to bear on the illustration of a 
passage, to exhibit to his hearers a full and 
connected view of Divine truth, and affords 
him, at the same time, as diversified topics 
are brought in the course of review before 
him, an opportunity of admonishing his 
people on many faults in their life and 
practice, without incurring the charge of 
an invidious reference. The afternoon's 
discourse, which is always a sermon, is in 
like manner founded on a short'passage or 
single verse of Scripture, prefixed not as a 
motto, but a text, out of which the address 
is formed, and instead of being a superficial 



essay, 



or a loose h 



arangue, it is a 



solid, 



substantial discussion of one leading sub- 
ject — the burden of it being to blend doc- 
trine with duty, principle with practice, 
illustrations of faith with evangelical mo- 
tives to obedience. Where there is only 
one diet of worship on a Sabbath, as in the 
generality of country parishes, it is cus- 
tomary to give both a lecture and sermon 
at the same meeting, a short interval being 
afforded by the interposition of a psalm 
and a prayer. The preparation of two and 
sometimes three discourses a-week, each of 
which occupies from forty to fifty minutes 
in the delivery, makes the stated public 
duties of a Presbyterian minister a very 
onerous task, especially as the high mea- 
sure of intelligence that distinguishes the 
great body of the people forbids him to 
descend to a low colloquial strain, or to 
dole out merely stale and common-place 
truths. He is obliged — even when preach- 
ing to congregations in the country, where 
the people, through the medium of the 
parish schools, as well as family instruc- 
tion, acquire from their early years a more 
or less intimate acquaintance with the 
range of Biblical subjects — to aim at a 
dignified style of elocution, and variety and 
richness of illustration, as there are few 
places in Scotland where the hearers are 
not capable of appreciating the merits of 
a well-prepared and connected discourse. 
The labour of preparing those public dis- 
courses is immensely increased, by the 
necessity of delivering them as spoken 
addresses. Owing to the deep and long- 
prevailing dislike of written notes, the 
clergy — in a country where acceptability 



is indispensable to usefulness in their sacred 
office, feel themselves under a moral neces- 
sity of yielding to the popular prejudice; 
and accordingly from time immemorial, the 
practice in Scotland, down till a consider- 
able time after the Revolution in 1688, 
was, that sermons pronounced in Scottish 
pulpits were unread. In such circum- 
stances, however, one of two things is the 
inevitable result — that either the minister 
having confidence in himself, and in his 
power of extempore speech, will. abandon 
all idea of preparatory study, and content 
himself with going through the public 
service in a loose manner, and with the un- 
selected words of the moment; or, if he 
is not possessed of this natural fluency, he 
will be obliged first of all to write out his 
discourses, and afterwards commit them 
verbatim to memory. This latter method, 
judging from the average extent of ability 
in speaking, will be the most common ; 
and many, who have neither quick nor re- 
tentive powers of recollection, will find the 
effort so great as to occupy one or some- 
times two days a-week, to the neglect of 
other duties, and of the general improve- 
ment of their minds. To escape from this 
drudgery, an attempt was made early in 
the middle of the last century to depart 
from the ancient practice of delivering, 
sermons, and, in imitation of the preachers 
in the English Church, to read them from 
beginning to end. This innovation was 
introduced by a few of the moderate clergy, 
whose ministrations were extremely un- 
popular, and who affected to entertain the 
greatest contempt for the opinions and feel- 
ings of the people on this subject. For a 
long time the practice was confined to the 
boldest and most careless of that class, the 
more respectable adherents declining to 
give their countenance to a novelty which 
drew forth such general condemnation. 
Their scruples, also, gradually disappearing, 
the practice was adopted to a large extent 
by the clergy of this description, and finally 
became, for nearly half a century, a mark 
or criterion of the party in the church to 
which a preacher belonged. Many of the 
principal men among the moderate party, 
however, continued to oppose it as a dan- 
gerous innovation; and Blair, to the end 
of his life, directed against it the weight 
of his unmitigated censure, as destructive 
of all pulpit eloquence. In process of 



62 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



time, numbers of the evangelical ministers 
had recourse to it, on the ground of age, 
and bodily or mental infirmities. More 
recently, the examples of Sir Henry Mon- 
crieff and Dr. Andrew Thomson in Edin- 
burgh, and of Dr. Chalmers in Glasgow, 
whose fervid and sanctified eloquence car- 
ried captive the hearts of thousands in 
spite of their exhibiting the appearances of 
written preparation, had a most powerful 
effect in changing the popular views on 
this point; and now the practice of read- 
ing their sermons in the pulpit is quite 
general amongst the ministers of all parties 
in the large cities and towns. In the coun- 
try, however, the prejudice continues as 
wide-spread and inveterate as ever. Min- 
isters in the rural parishes, especially in 
the remoter parts of the land, are in the 
habit for the most part of delivering their 
discourses memoriter, and voluntarily im- 
pose on themselves the schoolboy task of 
mandating what they have previously writ- 
ten, as an indispensable means of render- 
ing their instructions acceptable and useful. 
But the matter of a discourse is of in- 
finitely more importance than the manner 
of its delivery ; and we hasten to remark, 
that the sermons delivered from week to 
week in the pulpits of the Church of Scot- 
land, are thoroughly pervaded by the leaven 
of that Calvinistic doctrine which is em- 
bodied in the Westminster Confession. 
For purity and soundness in the faith — for 
fulness in the exhibition of Divine truth — 
for the enforcement of duty by the pecu- 
liar motives of the Gospel, as well as for 
fervour and impressiveness in the delivery, 
the instructions given by the ministers of 
the Established Church generally, will 
stand a favourable comparison with those 
of any Christian denomination in the land. 
That this was not always the case, is un- 
happily a matter of fact which cannot be 
denied nor concealed. There were not a 
few in the latter half of the preceding cen- 
tury, who entertained sentiments at va- 
riance with the standards of their Church, 
as their published writings too plainly 
attest ; and it must be acknowledged, also, 
that the General Assemblies of that period 
were exceedingly remiss in taking notice 
of the progress of error, as well as guilty 
of dealing too leniently with the teachers 
of heretodox doctrine, instead of inflicting 
on them the sentence of expulsion. The 



Church of that period did to a great extent 
exhibit symptoms of degeneracy, both in 
the conduct of her ecclesiastical courts, 
and in the quality of the spiritual food 
that was dealt out from many of her pul- 
pits. This, however, was no more than is 
true of other religious denominations in 
the land, over all of which a blight, more 
or less noxious, was cast by the prevalence 
of French philosophy. But that period 
of temporary decline has long ago passed 
away, and ever since the commencement 
of the present century there has been a 
constant and rapidly advancing growth of 
evangelical principle and purity in all the 
departments of the Church's procedure. 
The old distinction of moderate or moral 
preachers has virtually or entirely ceased, 
and we believe it to be as undeniable as it 
is a gratifying fact, that there is at the pre- 
sent day but one Gospel preached in all 
the pulpits of the Church of Scotland. 

The duty of conducting public worship 
is committed to a minister, as he is univer- 
sally called in Scotland, trained by a regu- 
lar course of theological education, and 
ordained by an ecclesiastical court to the 
functions of the sacred office. The insti- 
tution of this ministerial order is a feature 
that distinguishes the Presbyterian, in 
common with the Episcopalian system, 
from that of Independents and Baptists, 
who, by a single act or vote, appoint any 
lay-member of their body, thought to be 
possessed of the proper qualifications, to be 
the pastor of a congregation. The whole 
worship in the Presbyterian Church is con- 
ducted by one minister; and when the 
charge is collegiate, or the clergyman of 
the parish is obliged from age or other in- 
firmities to employ the partial services of 
an assistant, instead of the service being 
performed partly by one and partly by an- 
other, the practice is for each to undertake 
a diet of worship, or to officiate on alter- 
nate Sabbaths. While performing their 
sacred duties, ministers in the Church of 
Scotland are attired in the Geneva gown 
and band, although in many remote dis- 
tricts, the band only is used, that being the 
external badge of an ordained clergyman ; 
and they occupy the same pulpit from the 
commencement to the close of the service. 

Along with the branches of public wor- 
ship enumerated above, we must class the 
dispensation of Baptism and the Lord's 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



63 



Supper. Baptism is, for the most part, 
administered publicly, and, although no 
objection is made to private baptisms in 
cases of sickness, inclement weather, or 
great distance, yet there is a strong feeling 
in favour of the ordinance being dispensed 
in the Church. The history of the primi- 
tive church, as recorded in the Acts of 
the Apostles, evidently sanctions baptism in 
private; but from the great abuses with 
which that practice was attended, both in 
early and in Popish times, as well as from 
its being solemnly denounced in the Arti- 
cles of Perth, the prevailing disposition in 
Scotland has always been to have the rite 
administered in the church. The time ap- 
propriated to this service is immediately 
after the discourse is concluded, while the 
minds of the assembled congregation, so- 
lemnized by the influence of the previous 
devotions, are supposed to be in a frame 
the best fitted to receive further benefit 
from witnessing the symbolical rite. It 
ought to be mentioned, that admission to 
this and the other sealing ordinance, though 
in theory an act of the kirk-session, is prac- 
tically committed to the minister, whose 
duty it is to have a private conference with 
the applicant, and who always acts accord- 
ing to his own discretion, except in peculiar 
or difficult cases. The general rule of pro- 
cedure, however, is clearly defined ; for the 
ecclesiastical laws do not allow him to 
refuse the ordinances of the Church to any 
except those lying under a charge of im- 
morality, or disqualified by gross ignorance. 
Where these obstacles do not intervene, 
the elder, after due inquiry, certifying the 
Christian morals of the applicant, and the 
minister being satisfied with the measure 
of his religious knowledge, he is admitted 
to the privilege; and while provision is 
made for the baptism of adults who require 
it, the ordinary practice of this Church is 
to baptize infants. This procedure she 
grounds on the general principle, that as 
religious privileges were transmitted from 
parents to children in the Old Testament 
Church, the same spiritual relation is pre- 
sumed to subsist in the New, since there is 
no statute of Christ dissolving it; and 
this principle is thought to afford a sat- 
isfactory explanation of many passages in 
the writings of the Apostles, as well as of 
their recorded acts in baptizing whole 



households on the conversion of their head. 
At the same time, the Church of Scotland 
sanctions the practice of infant baptism 
according to a very modified form : for 
she allows no sponsor but the parent or 
parents of the child; and, whereas in the 
Church of England, they solemnly promise 
in its name that it " will renounce the devil 
and all his works, the pomps and vanities 
of this wicked world," the Presbyterian 
Church only brings them under a promis- 
sory engagement to rear the infant in the 
principles of the Christian faith. It is 
justly esteemed a high privilege inherited 
by children, that while the parents are led 
by the ties of nature to make a provision 
suitable to their means and station in so- 
ciety for the temporal well-being of their 
offspring, they are bound, by the higher 
and more solemn obligations of religion, 
through the help of Divine grace, to train 
them up in the nurture and admonition of 
the Lord. Accordingly, on the appointed 
day, the child is brought into the church, 
when the parent, being requested to stand 
up in presence of the congregation, has the 
duties he owes to his infant shortly set 
before him. On the conclusion of this 
brief address, he is expected to bow assent 
to the obligations rehearsed. A short 
prayer having been offered, the child, held 
on the arms of its father, is baptized in the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; 
and it is common, in the act of baptizing, 
to pronounce aloud his Christian name — 
a practice borrowed from the usages of the 
ancient Jews at the time of circumcision, 
and which, although the name forms no 
part of the Christian rite, has the strong 
recommendation of associating that name 
in perpetual connection with his solemn 
introduction into the Church of Christ. 
The ordinance is dispensed by sprinkling, 
the water being contained in a vessel usually 
attached to one side of the pulpit, or, as in 
Glasgow, a small font placed on the floor 
in front of it. On such occasions, the 
early portion of the concluding prayer in 
the public service is dedicated to the case 
of this parent and child, who are particu- 
larly commended to the providential care 
and the sanctifying grace of God. Public 
thanks, at the same time, are always ren- 
dered for the recovery of the mother ; and 
it is considered, with right Christian feeling, 



64 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



a duty with women, after confinement, not 
to go abroad anywhere, until they have first 
appeared on this occasion in the church. 

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is 
dispensed less frequently in the Church of 
Scotland than in most other Protestant 
churches : being celebrated only once a-year 
in country parishes, and twice in the towns ; 
although, in many of the chapels connected 
with the Scottish Establishment, the prac- 
tice has for some years been introduced of 
having quarterly sacraments. This infre- 
quency has arisen from the numerous diets 
of worship which, according to venerable 
usage, accompany a communion season ; and 
which, from the interruption they occasion 
to general business, render a more frequent 
celebration of it inconvenient and imprac- 
ticable. The introduction of such a multi- 
plicity of services originated during the pre- 
valence of the religious wars of the seven- 
teenth century, when the people enjoyed 
only rare, and those frequently stolen op- 
portunities of social worship; and hence, 
when some brief interval of tranquillity, 
or the shelter of a sequestered spot, afforded 
to the persecuted adherents of Presbytery 
the much-prized luxury of attending their 
favourite pastors, they naturally sought to 
compensate for their previous privations by 
protracting the period of spiritual privilege. 
These circumstances investing a communion 
season with extraordinary interest, gave 
rise to many other services being associated 
with that solemnity — services which, by 
their reflex influence, tended to animate the 
minds of the worshippers with increased 
energy in adhering to their Presbyterian 
principles, and the hallowed recollection of 
which led to their continuance long after 
the period that had originated them had 
passed away. Nearly the whole week pre- 
ceding the communion was occupied with 
preparatory exercises. There was a meet 1 
ing on Tuesday, for the purpose of purging 
the roll of communicants — that is, review- 
ing the list of church members, in order to 
consider whether any since the last celebra- 
tion of the sacrament had rendered them- 
selves unworthy of being re-admitted to the 
privilege. There were three services on the 
fast day ; a meeting on Friday for special 
prayer in behalf of those who were to offi- 
ciate, that they might be imbued with the 
proper spirit of their office; two services 
on Saturday ; a sermon in the morning and 



another in the evening of Sabbath, besides 
the intermediate services at the table ; and 
these were followed by two services on 
Monday. Early in the last century, more 
than one decided attempt was made to cur- 
tail these services, with an ultimate view to 
pave the way for a more frequent dispensa- 
tion of the sacrament. But strenuous oppo- 
sition was made to the contemplated changes, \ 
as a dangerous innovation on the religious 
habits of the people, and, after a conside- 
rable agitation of the subject in the ecclesi- 
astical courts, as well as from the press, the 
whole result amounted only to a very slight 
abridgement of the services : permission 
being granted to the extent of having only 
one on Saturday and one on Monday, while 
all who chose were left at liberty to follow 
the ancient practice, which, in many places, 
is continued to this day. The fast day, as 
the designation indicates, was originally 
marked by a complete or partial abstinence 
from food j but, although the name remains, 
this part of the original observance is almost 
universally forgotten, or allowed to fall into 
desuetude; and the only object now con- 
templated is the dedication of the day to 
the preparatory duties of humiliation and 
prayer. The service of the fast day is 
commenced by the minister of the parish 
or congregation offering up a prayer, em- 
bracing a full and solemn confession of 
public and private sins: after which two 
sermons are delivered successively by other 
clergymen. The third sermon in the eve- 
ning, except it be announced in connection 
with some public or charitable object, is 
now generally discontinued. Tokens of 
admission to the table are usually distri- 
buted on this day to the ordinary members 
of the congregation, to strangers on the 
production of a certificate of Christian cha- 
racter, and lastly to young communicants, 
who, like the catechumens in the primitive 
Church, have been passing through a course 
of religious training for some time pre- 
viously, and who are suitably addressed by 
the minister on their formal admission into 
the Church of Christ. The distribution of 
these tokens, which are generally small, 
square, or oval pieces of lead, inscribed 
with the figure of a communion cup, and 
on the reverse the legend " do this in re- 
membrance of me/ 7 is an act of the kirk- 
session, and is done by the minister and 
elders respectively, as known parties apply 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



65 



1 to them, or as they take charge of different 
i portions of the parish. The ancient prac- 
j tice was for each elder to deliver the tokens 
; at the houses of the people in his district, 
| or for the members belonging to that divi- 
| sion to wait upon him. For a long time a 
! less troublesome method has been followed, 
j of inviting the congregation to repair, at 
I the conclusion of the service, to the minis- 
ter and elders, who take their station at the 
base of the pulpit. This is the general 
practice throughout the Church ; but it has 
been, for the most part, abandoned in the 
cities for a more quiet and orderly arrange- 
ment — according to which the elders, hav- 
ing divided the church into manageable 
sections, deliver the tokens to the people in 
their pews. The roll is still purged on 
this occasion, though it is not done in the 
same formal manner as in the times of our 
forefathers. The Saturday's service has 
nothing peculiar, except it be that a prac- 
tice, once universal, is still retained in 
many country places, for the minister to 
\ pirlekeu,* as it is called, i, e., to repair to 
his pulpit before the close of that day's 
I service, and recapitulate the leading topics 
I in the discourses addressed by the assisting 
I clergymen on that as well as the fast day, 
| and endeavour still further to animate the 
| devotions of his flock. The discourse that 
introduces the service, on a Communion 
Sabbath, is called the action sermon, and 
the subject is always selected with a view 
to bear on the intended solemnity : — the 
love of G-od, or the grace of the Saviour, 
i or the blessings conferred by the Gospel. 
1 The action sermon is followed by a prayer 
and the singing of a psalm, so as to com- 
plete the usual forenoon's service, and then 
it is that the peculiar services of the day 
are commenced, by the minister proceeding 
" to fence the tables" — that is, give a brief 
address, the purport of which is to debar 
the ignorant, the unbelieving, and the pro- 
fane, from the holy table, and, at the same 
time, to state the leading characteristics of 
worthy communicants. This duty is done, 
more or less, by the generality of minis- 
ters, on some Sabbath preceding , the com- 
munion. But the Church has appointed 
it, according to a venerable custom, to be 
formally done on that occasion, and it is 



* A corruption of the French parler a la queue 
■ — speaking at the end. 



considered an essential preliminary towards 
the dispensation of a Presbyterian sacra- 
ment. This introductory address is fol- 
lowed by an appropriate psalm, such as 
Psalm cxxxii. 7-10, or Par. xxxv; and, 
during the singing, the elders retire to 
bring forward the elements, while intend- 
ing communicants take their seats around 
the communion table, which, in the Scot- 
tish Church, is arranged to preserve as 
much as possible the idea of a supper — a 
social feast. On the seats being filled, the 
presiding minister descends from the pulpit 
to the communion table, and, having first 
read the detailed account of the institution 
of the Lord's Supper, from 1 Cor. xi. 23, 
invites the people to join with him, while, 
after the example of Christ, he offers up a 
prayer. This, in popular language, is 
called the "consecration prayer;" but as 
the Church teaches that " the sacrament is 
a means of grace effectual for salvation, 
neither from any virtue in it, nor in him 
who administers it," the true character of 
this prayer is a tribute of thanksgiving to 
Grod for his unspeakable gift. The prayer 
ended, the minister gives a brief appro- 
priate address to those occupying the table, 
which is called "serving the table." In 
the course of this exhortation, while re- 
peating the words of institution, he dis- 
penses the elements, giving them with his 
own hands to the persons, generally his 
assistant brethren, who are seated on each 
side of him, while the elders distribute to 
the rest of the communicants, going slowly 
round to see that all are supplied with the 
sacred viands. A short pause is made 
during the act of communicating, which is 
done by each communicant passing to his 
neighbour the bread and wine after par- 
taking of them : the most solemn and im- 
pressive silence reigns — all being left to 
their own private meditations. The act 
being finished, the minister rises to add a 
few words of suitable advice; after which 
he dismisses the communicants from the 
table with a benediction. It being impos- 
sible, according to the observances of the 
Scottish Church, that a whole congregation 
can engage in one simultaneous act, the 
communicants are admitted by companies, 
which, of course, occasions a succession of 
four, six, and sometimes even of ten ser- 
vices, to accommodate as many hundred 
communicants. At the end of the first 



66 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



service, the people rise to leave the table, 
which they are always desired at the outset 
to do by the passage opposite to that at 
which they entered ; for, while they are in 
the act of removing, another company are 
ready to occupy the seats vacated. During 
this process a psalm is sung, usually a few 
stanzas of the 103d, which, it is observ- 
able, is now almost the only occasion when 
the precentor reads the line in advance. 
The table being again filled, is addressed 
by one of the assisting ministers, on whom 
this part of the service devolves — the min- 
ister of the parish taking his seat in the 
character of a commuuicant. The addresses 
vary in length from ten to twenty minutes, 
though some injudiciously exceed these 
limits. They form a very peculiar part of 
ministerial duty, requiring a solemnity of 
manner, an elevation of language, and an 
unction with pathos of sentiment — in short, 
a combination of qualities not always found 
in the same individual; and, accordingly, 
there are comparatively few who excel in 
it. All having had an opportunity of join- 
ing in the act of communion, a hymn of 
thanksgiving, after the example of Christ, 
is sung; when the presiding minister re- 
ascends the pulpit, and addresses a final 
exhortation to all who, at the tables, pro- 
fessed their faith in the Saviour, to walk 
worthy of their Christian vocation — espe- 
cially to the lambs of the flock, whose 
names have that day been enrolled for the 
first time amongst the Lord's people. The 
solemn duties in which they have all been 
engaged make these concluding moments 
be felt peculiarly as mottia tempora /audi, 
— moments when their hearts, warmed to 
a high pitch of devotion, are more than 
usually open and susceptible of impres- 
sions; and therefore every minister who 
feels a lively solicitude for the spiritual 
welfare of his people, will endeavour, by a 
j judicious strain of exhortation, to improve 
them. After a fervent prayer for each 
class in the congregation, and the singing 
of the 122d Psalm, the people are dis- 
missed to re-assemble again in the evening. 
It frequently happened in former days, 
that in one parish the neighbouring churches 
being shut, in consequence of the minis- 
ters of those parishes being required to 
assist elsewhere, an immense concourse as- 
sembled on a communion occasion. In 
these circumstances, as the vast crowd 



could not be all admitted within the walls 
of the church, a small wooden tabernacle 
or tent, kept in readiness for the occasion, 
was erected in the churchyard or some ad- 
joining field, to serve the purpose of a 
pulpit, whence one of the assisting'minis- 
ters conducted worship, and preached to 
those that were without. During the 
whole day this tent-preaching was main- 
tained by ministers who undertook the 
duty in rotation, and who had to lay their 
account with a very fluctuating body of 
hearers, as some were engaged, while 
others were waiting to succeed them at the 
communion table in the church. The eve- 
ning sermon was generally preached, it 
being the summer solstice, to the whole 
united assemblage in the open air ; and it 
is scarcely possible for the imagination to 
conceive a more interesting and impressive 
spectacle than those meetings, so common 
in all parts of Scotland forty or fifty years 
ago, when congregations of several thou- 
sand people were seated, on a fine summer 
Sabbath eve, on the green grass, by the 
mountain side, listening, with all the visi- 
ble tokens of solemn devotion and lively 
interest, to the proclamation of the glad 
tidings of the gospel. But however much 
the people of God were delighted and 
edified by these impressive field gatherings, 
there was another, and unhappily too nu- 
merous, a class, who prostituted them as 
occasions of indulging in intemperance 
and vice. In course of time they gave 
rise to scandalous abuses, which afforded a 
fertile theme for the satirical pen of Burns, 
and filled the hearts of the godly with the 
deepest regret. Measures were, in conse- 
quence, taken to have the sacrament dis- 
pensed in many of the neighbouring 
parishes on the same Sabbath; and this 
judicious arrangement gradually leading 
to the discontinuance of tent-preaching, 
it is now known in the southern part of 
Scotland only as a matter of history. But 
the spectacle is still exhibited, with all its 
ancient accompaniments, in those parishes 
which lie in the embouchure of the High- 
lands, and which are inhabited by a mixed 
population, speaking partly the English 
and partly the Gaelic languages. The 
service of Monday, which is the same as 
that of an ordinary Sabbath, is called the 
thanksgiving service. It was introduced 
at Shotts in 1654, and, the practice speedily 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



67 



becoming general, has been continued ever 
since. 

The preceding details describe the ordi- 
nary as well as the merely occasional ser- 
vices of public worship in the Church of 
Scotland. These, however, do not com- 
prise the only, or, perhaps, the most im- 
portant duties which ministers in this 
church are expected to perform. For, not 
to dwell on calls for spiritual consolation to 
the sick and dying, as well as at the cele- 
bration of funeral ceremonials — there is a 
system of week-day instruction which every 
minister has to pursue in the private houses 
of his people, and in the different villages 
or farmsteads of his parish. The mode of 
conducting such diets of visitation may be 
briefly described as follows : — Once every 
year, the minister, accompanied by the elder 
of the district, makes the circuit of the 
whole parish . Having previously announced 
the time and place of the visitation, he en- 
ters into each house in succession, the in- 
mates being generally prepared to welcome 
him with a respectful reception ; and, after 
spending some little time in the interchange 
of friendly conversation, inquiring with 
paternal interest into the welfare of the 
household, the progress of education amongst 
the children, or the prospects of those who 
are setting out in life, he engages in a short 
religious service, either with the members 
of that family alone, or with a few of the 
contiguous families, congregated in some 
neighbouring house, capable of affording 
the requisite accommodation. This prac- 
tice of pastoral visitations from house to 
house has been co-existent with the history 
of the Church of Scotland, and is of incal- 
culable value, by affording rare opportuni- 
ties, of which a man of prudence and judg- 
ment knows well how to avail himself, for 
promoting the best interests of those com- 
mitted to his charge. They tend to strength- 
en the bonds between pastor and people, 
and to foster those genial influences that 
spring from the dear and tender associations 
of mutual acquaintance. Moreover, they 
enable a minister, when he is aware of any 
circumstances that call for special sympathy 
or warning admonition, to address "a word 
in season " to the mourner or the delinquent 
in the familiar manner most likely to be 
effective in reaching the heart; and, above 
all, they furnish him with that general 
knowledge of the character and habits, the 



state of intelligence and the progress of 
religion amongst his parishioners, which is 
indispensable for the practical adaptation 
of his instructions to the good of all who 
attend his public ministry. 

Another branch of the system of private 
instruction consists in the catechetical ex- 
amination of the parishioners. It used to 
be in public, and to embrace all classes, but 
it is now confined to the children and ser- 
vants of a house, who are convened in pre- 
sence of their parents or masters, to be 
examined by the minister with respect to 
their religious knowledge ; and, in perform- 
ing this part of his pastoral duty, it is 
usual for him, instead of adhering closely 
to the order or language of the church's 
catechism, to launch out into a wide and 
general range of inquiry, — into their ac- 
quaintance with the events and characters 
of sacred history, or with the great doc- 
trines and duties of Christianity. The 
peculiar advantage of this kind of meeting 
is, that it stimulates parents and heads of 
families to the Christian superintendence 
of their households, and trains the young 
especially, to the excellent habit of reading 
the Scriptures with care and intelligent 
reflection. It is held yearly, or on alternate 
years, with the pastoral visitations, although 
in many parts of the country it has been 
obliged to be discontinued, so far as adult 
servants are concerned, owing to the natural 
apprehensions of passing through the ordeal 
of a formal examination. But one or other 
of these visitations is made every year, and 
never at any former period with greater 
regularity than in the present day, through 
all the parishes of Scotland. The minis- 
ters offer their visits to all indiscriminately, 
although, by some of the Dissenters, these 
are not accepted ; for the clergy of the Es- 
tablishment conceive that they have a double 
duty to perform — a duty they owe to the 
State, by accepting her civil emoluments, 
to furnish all within the range of their 
parochial superintendence with the means 
of grace; while, on the other hand, they 
have another duty to discharge to the 
Church, in training up those, on whom 
they confer Christian privileges, to the 
standard of knowledge and character she 
requires. Of course the measure of pas- 
toral fidelity and zeal, as well as of good 
sense and judgment, with which those visi- 
tations are conducted, will differ consider- 



68 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OP SCOTLAND. 



ably in so large a body as that of the min- 
isters of the Church of Scotland; and, in 
like manner, there must be a corresponding 
diversity in the frequency of those domi- 
ciliary services, as it is much easier to over- 
take the population of a parish comprising 
only 500 inhabitants, than where they 
amount to 15,000 or 20,000, and one that 
is a compact lowland country parish, lying 
in an area of five square miles, than one 
divided by high mountainous ridges, or in- 
tersected by numerous arms of the sea. 
The detail of duties now given is specially 
applicable to rural parishes, and describes, 
we believe, with literal truth, the amount 
of pastoral labour which country ministers 
do generally perform every year throughout 
the Church of Scotland. The pastoral 
duties of a parish in large cities are, of 
course, substantially the same as in country 
parishes, but they are necessarily modified 
by a great variety of circumstances. While 
in a rural parish, the people who wait on 
the public ministrations of the minister on 
the Sabbath consist exclusively of those 
who reside within its legal boundaries, it is, 
for obvious reasons, very different in a town, 
where a congregation is often drawn from 
quarters totally unconnected with the imme- 
diate locality for which the church is pro- 
vided. And when it is considered how 
many demands will be made for his attend- 
ance on the sick and the dying amongst 
the members of a numerous congregation ; 
of how many educational and charitable 
institutions he is charged with the interests ; 
and how much more elaborate care the in- 
telligence of a city audience requires in the 
weekly preparation for the pulpit — it is im- 
possible that city ministers can render to 
their parishes the full benefits of the paro- 
| chial system, without a greater number of 
'j assistants or missionaries than they are 
i! able to command. 

In the discharge of these private duties 
i of their office, ministers in the Church of 
Scotland are left to their own discretion. 
They use their own liberty in determining 
both the times for visiting the sick and 
catechising the young, as well as the most 
suitable manner of conducting ministerial 
intercourse. But although invested with 
this discretionary power, they are under a 
constant and vigilant superintendence. Very 
different from the dignitaries in the Church 
of England, who can employ their curates 



to relieve them of much of their pastoral 
labour, they cannot delegate to another, for 
any considerable time, those duties for 
which they are personally responsible. Re- 
sidence is strictly enforced on all, and no 
minister is at liberty to absent himself from 
his parish for more than six consecutive 
weeks, without leave asked and obtained 
from the proper quarter. He is, in short, 
subject to the laws and ordinances of the 
Church ; and while every parochial minister 
of the Church of Scotland has his individual 
share in the ecclesiastical administration — 
the Presbyterian principle being that of 
universal parity in official rank and privi- 
leges, — yet the ministers of this Church, 
in their collective capacity, form a body of 
superiors to which each of them is person- 
ally bound to give subjection. These eccle- 
siastical courts, according to methods to be 
afterwards described, exercise over the mo- 
rals and pastoral functions of every minister 
in the Church a system of surveillance, 
which, instead of lying dead or dormant in 
the archives of constitutional law, is main- 
tained in vigilant and constant operation, 
and has proved a hundred times more effi- 
cient than the oversight of a single man 
can ever be. 

That ministerial parity which obtains in 
the Church of Scotland, is founded on the 
principle, that the words "bishop" and 
" elder" are, in the New Testament, used 
interchangeably and as synonymous terms 
to designate one class of office-bearers, who 
are appointed to perform the same spiritual 
duties. But, although this Church does 
not recognise a diversity of ranks amongst 
her clergy, nor any superiority except what 
is founded on character and talents, her 
general rule of equality admits of one 
slight modification in the case of the 
minister who presides at ecclesiastical meet- 
ings. This officer, who is called the 
moderator, is pj-imus inter pares during 
his occupation of the presidential chair, to 
which he is elevated by election, or in 
course of rotation. His sole distinction is, 
that he is invested with power for the pur- 
pose of maintaining order, and has a cast- 
ing vote in cases of equal division in the 
court. But even this superiority ceases 
when his term of office expires. He then 
falls back, as before, to a common level 
with the rest of his brethren; and the 
Church, in her anxiety to prevent all ten- 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



69 



dency to the encroachments of prelatic in- 
fluence, or the establishment of a prsestos 
ad vitam, ordains that the moderators shall 
be frequently changed. 

Besides the duty of preaching, every 
pastor is considered as possessing, for the 
full discharge of his sacred functions, the 
power of governing also ; and, along with 
the minister, there is, in this department 
of his duty, associated a body of lay elders 
— men esteemed for their Christian charac- 
ters and their respectable rank — so called, 
because they are not qualified to preach or 
to dispense the sacraments ; but their pro- 
vince is to assist him in wielding the reins 
of spiritual authority, and in the manage- 
ment of all matters relating to the general 
interests of the Church, they are invested 
with power co-ordinate and co-equal to his. 
The Church of Scotland founds this prac- 
tice on the bearing of the apostolic lan- 
guage in Rom. xii. 8; 1 Cor. xii. 28; and 
1 Tim. v. 17, interpreted by the light of 
the Jewish synagogue, which is thought to 
have been the model chiefly followed in the 
formation of the primitive churches, and 
in which discreet and pious men, not in 
the priestly ranks, frequently held office. 
The admission of ruling elders is an essen- 
tial feature in the constitution of the 
Church of Scotland, and experience shows 
it to be possessed of many advantages : the 
chief of which are, that it obviates a 
charge to which the exclusive exercise 
of power by ecclesiastics has been often 
exposed, of degenerating into spiritual 
tyranny — that it secures the benefit of 
counsellors who have a practical knowledge 
of the world as well as experience in the 
mode of conducting business — arid that 
their known character and intelligence, as 
well as their station in society, ensure 
respect and submission being given to all 
decisions which they assist in pronouncing. 

The government of the Church, de- 
posited in the bauds of this executive 
administration, is carried on by them 
through means of a graduated system of 
ecclesiastical courts. In the 15th chapter 
of the Acts of the Apostles, an account is 
given of a question which, having greatly 
agitated the church of Antioch, was referred 
to a general convocation of the apostles 
and elders at Jerusalem, and the judgment 
of that venerable council, having been em- 
bodied in writing, was transmitted as an 



authoritative decision for the guidance and 
regulation of all the churches "in Syria 
and Cilicia." This incident in the history 
of the primitive church is regarded by 
Presbyterians as sanctioning the principle 
of appellate jurisdiction, and forms the 
foundation on which their scheme of ec- 
clesiastical polity is erected. It differs 
from Independency in this respect, that 
instead of vesting in each congregation the 
exclusive right of managing her own affairs, 
it affords the privilege of appeal to the 
general body of associated Christians ; and 
it is recommended by the obvious advantage 
of transferring questions of difficulty or 
strife to the decision of a tribunal, exempt 
from the passions of interested parties, and 
beyond the influence of local prejudices. 
In a small canton like Geneva, where 
Calvin introduced this form of church 
government, it might be sufficient to have 
only one court of review, composed of 
delegates from its different congregations. 
But in an extensive and populous country 
like Scotland, such unity being impracti- 
cable, a multiplicity of appellate courts is 
obviously required, and this more length- 
ened course, — though it may postpone the 
period of final judgment, yet, by removing 
every case of appeal to a distance from the 
original seat of controversy, and increasing 
the number of intelligent and dispassionate 
judges, tends to give greater perfection to 
the system. 

The lowest ecclesiastical court is the 
kirk session. Every parish has a court of 
this description, consisting of the minister, 
who is, ex officio, moderator, and the 
elders, whose numbers ought to be propor- 
tioned to the population. They cannot be 
less than two : for it requires that number, 
along with the minister, to form a quorum ; 
and in some overgrown parishes, such as 
St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh, they have 
amounted to as many as seventy. New 
elders to fill up vacancies are nominated by 
the existing members of the court, whose 
duty it is to select persons of piety, intel- 
ligence, and general respectability; and 
where there are either no elders at all, or 
not enough to form a quorum, application 
is made to the presbytery, who appoint two 
of their number to restore the session to 
its legal functions, and to co-operate with 
the minister of the parish in the choice of 
lay persons competent for the office. Al- 



70 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



though, however, the nomination belongs 
to the members of session, no appointment 
can take place until the names of those 
proposed as eligible shall have been duly 
announced to the congregation. Accord- 
ingly, the minister having made this neces- 
sary intimation from the pulpit, which is 
called serving the edict, ten free days are 
allowed for objections to be stated, and on 
the lapse of this period, if no objections 
are made, or none but such as are considered 
frivolous, he proceeds to ordain, or set the 
nominees apart to the office of the elder- 
ship in that particular parish, by prayer 
without laying on of hands ; after this, by 
describing their duties, and adding some 
suitable admonitions. The ceremony is 
concluded by the newly-made elder3 then, 
or after retiring to the session house, re- 
ceiving from their brethren the right hand 
of fellowship : their names are added to 
the roll, and they are required further to 
sign, at least to declare their willingness to 
sign, if required, the Confession of Faith. 
The proper duty of the kirk-session is to 
provide for the due dispensation of the 
ordinances — to maintain a prudent over- 
sight over the general morals of the parish, 
especially over the Christian behaviour of 
those who are members of the Church — to 
exercise discipline on delinquents, except 
in cases of great atrocity, the disposal of 
which is reserved for the weightier judg- 
ment of the presbytery — to admit commu- 
nicants, which, although properly an act 
of the session, is practically left to the 
minister, who, from his previously training 
them, is presumed to be better acquainted 
with their character and qualifications — to 
attend to the wants of the poor, an ancient 
function of the elders, of which, however, 
the recent poor-law act has relieved them — 
and to superintend the interests of educa- 
tion in the parish. A kirk-session is con- 
vened by public intimation from the pulpit, 
or by private citation sent to each of 
the members. But although duly con- 
vened, and all the constituent members 
are present, it is not legally constituted, un- 
less it be both opened and closed by prayer, 
and this formality be inserted in the 
minutes. The meetings of this court are 
always private, there being no admission 
either of the general public, or even of 
counsel, — as it is justly thought that if 
agents were allowed to be present, they 



would, by the arts of legal subtlety, greatly 
obstruct the exercise of wholesome disci- 
pline. But although the proceedings of 
the kirk-session are, for prudential reasons, 
conducted in privacy, a record must be kept 
of the leading transactions ; for, as it is 
competent for a party aggrieved, by refer- 
ence, complaint, or appeal, to bring his 
case before the superior court, it is neces- 
sary to have a full and accurate register of 
the sederunt attested by the minister, ready 
to be produced if called for. At first the 
kirk-session met once every 'week; but the 
matters that come under the cognizance of 
this radical court being now of a much 
more limited description than they were in 
earlier times, such frequent meetings are 
no longer necessary. It is still requisite, 
however, to meet periodically at short in- 
tervals, and although, for the sake of con- 
venience in the country, it is not uncom- 
mon for the kirk-session to be convened at 
the close of divine service, it is generally 
thought better to keep the sacredness of 
the Sabbath unbroken, and the eldership 
secure more respect for their office when 
they hold their stated meetings on a week- 
day. 

The court immediately superior to the 
kirk-session is the presbytery, composed 
of the ministers of several contiguous 
parishes, who are ex officio members, and 
of one elder duly authorized to represent 
each session for a limited period. It varies 
in extent, some presbyteries being small, 
while others are very numerous; and as 
the Church possesses the exclusive power 
of erecting or disjoining presbyteries, she 
is guided by a regard to convenience and 
similar circumstances in determining the 
nnmber of adjacent parishes that shall 
thus be presbyterially associated in a given 
district. There are at present eighty-two 
presbyteries in the Church of Scotland, 
and they consist always of an equal num- 
ber of ministers and ruling elders, except 
where there is a collegiate charge, or a 
resident professor of divinity, who, though 
not in the actual superintendence of a 
parish, has, by virtue of his theological 
chair, a constitutional right to a seat in the 
presbytery. As a court of review, it be- 
longs to the presbytery to affirm,- amend, 
or reverse any proceedings of the kirk- 
session that are duly brought under its con- 
sideration. But, in addition to this right 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 



of supervision, the presbytery has a sphere 
of duty proper to itself. It performs, in 
fact, the office of a bishop : for it is the 
prerogative of this court to keep a vigilant 
inspection over the morals and the pastoral 
labours of every minister within its bounds, 
whom it is empowered to admonish, sus- 
pend, or even depose, as circumstances 
may demand. The presbytery is the court 
whose special business it is to examine 
students, to announce by circular letters to 
all other presbyteries of the synod the 
names of those students, to grant license 
to preach to those who on trial are found 
qualified, to take cognizance of all preachers 
who reside within their bounds, and to fur- 
nish them with a certificate of character at 
their departure. It is the court to which 
it pertains to maintain a regular dispensa- 
tion of ordinances in vacant parishes, each 
member of presbytery being appointed in 
rotation to preach and preside in the kirk- 
session, until the vacancy be permanently 
supplied; and this duty no member is at 
liberty to refuse or neglect performing, 
either in person or by deputy, on pain of 
being called to account for his conduct. 
It is the court before which presentations 
to benefices must be lodged, — which has 
the right of trying the qualifications of a 
presentee, even although he has received a 
license from another co-ordinate court, and 
to which belongs the power of induction. 
It is the province of this court to make an 
annual examination of all the schools 
within its bounds, and to transmit reports 
of these examinations to the General As- 
sembly. It is, moreover, the court which 
tries the qualifications of schoolmasters, 
which has the legal inspection of these 
functionaries, and which, in the event of 
continued dereliction of duty or gross im- 
morality, has the power of pronouncing a 
final sentence, even to the extent of depo- 
sition. But it is superfluous to enter into 
more minute details. It is sufficient to 
add, that the jurisdiction of this court 
extends to every thing affecting the con- 
duct and official duties of its members, as 
well as the religious and educational inte- 
rests of all the parishes that are within its 
bounds. The presbytery is presided over 
by a moderator, who must be a minister, 
and who, according to existing practice, is 
appointed every six months. At the end 
of the same period, also, the roll of mem- 



bers is made up, the newly-chosen elders 
from the various kirk-sessions appearing 
with certificates of their election to take 
their seats. The presbytery holds frequent 
and stated meetings, which in cities recur 
once a-month, in country districts some- 
what seldomer, in proportion to its amount 
of local business. But independently of 
the periodical sittings of this court, the 
moderator, on his own responsibility, or by 
a written requisition from several of its 
members, may call & pro re natd meeting 
of presbytery, when any matter of urgency 
occurs. In that case, the moderator is ex- 
pected at the commencement to explain 
the occasion of the extraordinary summons 
he has issued; after which, if the explana- 
tion is satisfactory, a motion is made to 
approve of the moderator's conduct in call- 
ing the meeting, and this judgment is re- 
corded. There are two stated meetings in 
the year which every presbytery must 
hold : one at which a resolution is publicly 
announced to elect members of the Gene- 
ral Assembly, and the other at which the 
election is made, which must not be less 
than ten days distant, and at least forty 
days before the meeting of the supreme 
court, except in the case of presbyteries 
situated in the northern and western isles, 
in behalf of which there is some relaxation 
of the rule. Whatever business is tran- 
sacted in this court is duly registered by 
the clerk of presbytery, as its proceedings 
are subject to the review of the provincial 
synod, unless the matter under its conside- 
ration relate to manses, glebes, &c, In 
that case, the presbytery sits in a civil ca- 
pacity, and its decisions can be carried by 
appeal to be reviewed by the Court of Ses- 
sion. All its meetings must be- opened 
and closed by prayer; and it is always ne- 
cessary before the court is dissolved to 
appoint and record the time of next meet- 
ing, otherwise the presbytery is considered 
defunct, and can only be restored to its 
legal character and functions by the inter- 
position of the superior court. 

The court next in gradation above the 
presbytery, is the provincial synod. Its 
constituent members are the ministers of 
the parishes, together with the ruling 
elders who represent their respective ses- 
sions — all, in short, whose names are en- 
rolled as members of all the contiguous 
presbyteries during the current half year. 



=11 



72 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



The number of ministers and elders ought 
generally to be equal, nor is this equality 
disturbed by a small addition that is often 
made to the roll through the admission of 
deputies from neighbouring synods, which, 
with the view of maintaining a friendly 
correspondence, possess the power of send- 
ing each a minister and elder as their re- 
presentatives. These strangers, on the 
production of the proper documents, have 
their names registered with the other 
members, and they are invited to sit, de- 
liberate, and vote on all matters brought 
under the notice of the court. A pro- 
vincial synod, as its name indicates, em- 
braces a much larger portion of the Church 
than a presbytery. The number of 
presbyteries it includes is determined 
by authority of the General Assembly, 
which appoints also the place and time of 
its meeting. There are sixteen synods in 
the Church of Scotland, and the majority 
of these meet twice, though those in the 
more distant and insulated parts of the 
country only once, in the year. The pro- 
ceedings of this court, in consequence of 
its being held but rarely, are opened by a 
public service, the last moderator preaching 
an appropriate sermon — a concio ad cleros. 
Worship being finished, and due intimation 
being given that an ecclesiastical court is 
about to be holden, he descends from the 
pulpit, and, on a convenient platform, con- 
stitutes the meeting by prayer. A new 
moderator is then chosen, who is always the 
oldest minister on the roll of those present 
who has not held the office, and then the 
proper business is commenced. Besides 
the power of affirming, amending, or re- 
versing any judgments of the presbytery 
that are brought before it, in the way for- 
merly explained as to the presbyteries re- 
viewing the sentences of kirk-sessions — a 
synod possesses a separate jurisdiction over 
the members of the court as well as the 
general interests of religion — it considers 
the circular letters addressed to it from 
its various presbyteries respecting the stu- 
dents they propose to take on trials, and, if 
satisfied with the evidence adduced of their 
character, authorizes the inftrior courts to 
proceed with the trials of the young men ; 
it appoints days of humiliation or thanks- 
giving, according to the afflicted or prospe- 
rous state of the Church and country ; and 
it takes measures through its own agency, 



or originates propositions, under the name 
of overtures, to the General Assembly on 
matters of great public interest and import- 
ance. Its proceedings are subject to the 
revision of the General Assembly, before 
which they can be brought according to the 
established forms of ecclesiastical procedure. 
But the judgments of the synod, consisting 
of so numerous a body of members, may 
generally be considered as affording a fair 
index of the fate of any overture or cause 
in the supreme court ; and, accordingly, if 
the sentence of the synod be acquiesced in, 
or no appeal taken, its decision is authori- 
tative and final. 

The General Assembly is highest in the 
gradation of ecclesiastical courts. Theoreti- 
cally, it includes all the parochial ministers 
of Scotland, with a proportionate number 
of ruling elders. But it is obvious, that 
were all the office-bearers of the Church to 
convene in this Assembly, it would be far 
too numerous and unwieldy a body for the 
transaction of business; and, besides, the 
age of many individuals, their distance from 
the metropolis, as well as the impropriety 
of vacating all the parochial churches in 
the country for such a length of time as 
the sittings of the supreme court last, pre- 
sent additional obstacles to the admission 
of all the clergy simultaneously into this 
annual convocation. Accordingly, neces- 
sity or convenience gave rise to a peculiarity 
in its character and composition ; for while 
in the presbyteries and synods all the min- 
isters and elders sit and act in their personal 
capacity, in the General Assembly they 
appear by representatives, — the system of 
representation adopted affording every pa- 
rochial minister an opportunity, in regular 
rotation, of becoming a member of that 
court. The several bodies which exercise 
the elective franchise, and the proportions 
according to which each of them sends 
representatives to this ecclesiastical parlia- 
ment, are still the same as arranged about 
the time of the Revolution settlement, and 
are as follows : — presbyteries, including 
twelve parishes or under, possess the right 
of appointing two ministers and one ruling 
elder; presbyteries containing between 
twelve and eighteen parishes, nominate 
three ministers and one ruling elder; pres- 
byteries comprising between eighteen and 
twenty-four parishes send four ministers 
and two ruling elders ; presbyteries having 



HISTOKY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



between twenty-four and thirty parishes 
send five ministers and two ruling elders ; 
presbyteries consisting of more than thirty 
parishes send six ministers and three ruling 
elders, and so on in proportion — collegiate 
charges being considered as distinct par- 
ishes, having their respective ministers. 
Besides the presbyteries, each of the royal 
burghs has the right of appointing a repre- 
sentative, Edinburgh alone sending two : 
each of the universities is represented by 
one of its own body, either a clergyman or 
a layman, and the Scotch Presbyterian 
churches in the East Indies, in connection 
with the Church of Scotland, by a minister 
and elder. According to these proportions, 
the number of members annually appointed 
to the General Assembly amounts to 363. 

From the presbyteries are sent, ministers.... 200 

Do. do. elders 89 

From the royal burghs, elders 67 

From the universities, ministers or elders... 5 
! From the churches in India, minister and 
elder 2 

363 

None but the ministers and bond fide elders 
of the Church are eligible, and those who 
are elected send in their commissions, drawn 
up in legal form, to the clerks of Assembly, 
in order that the roll of members may be 
as much as possible completed before the 
meeting of the court. 

The General Assembly enjoys the high 
distinction of having the sovereign repre- 
sented in her meetings by a nobleman, who 
is styled the Lord High Commissioner. 
The presence of this dignified official is an 
act of respect to the Church, and " the 
symbol," to use the words of Principal 
Hill, "of that sanction which the civil 
authority is ready to give to her legal acts." 
The dignity of his own rank, the liberal 
allowance granted him to maintain his high 
office,* the courteous receptions he gives to 
all the members of the Assembly, and the 
splendour of his mimic court, are amongst 
the only traces of her ancient grandeur and 
ceremonial which Scotland now retains; 
and his continued appointment, therefore, 



* 2000Z. a-year are given him to uphold his 
dignity. The members are invited in rotation of 
presbyteries to the State dinners of his Grace, 
given daily during the sitting of the court. The 
late Dr. Chalmers, in his moderatorship, had the 
merit of suggesting the discontinuance of the 
Sabbath entertainments. 



10 



the friends of the Church have reason to 
hail as a token of recognition by the State, 
of the high and important place she holds 
amongst the public institutions of the coun- 
try. But the deference that is naturally 
paid to this representative of royalty, and 
his personal attendance in the hall of the 
Assembly, where he sits in military cos- 
tume, on a raised and canopied throne, sur- 
rounded by a numerous retinue, and the 
gaudy emblems of pomp and pageantry, 
is liable to be misconstrued. In point of 
fact, it does create a suspicion amongst ig- 
norant persons and strangers, that he is 
there for the purpose of preserving order — 
of fettering the liberty of discussion, and 
keeping himself in readiness to interpose 
his authority whenever any thing is said or 
done, derogatory in his opinion to the power 
or prerogative of his royal master.f It is 
necessary, therefore, to state, that such im- 
pressions are altogether founded in error : 
for not only have most or all the subjects 
brought under cognizance of the Assembly 
been previously agitated with unfettered 
freedom in the inferior courts, but the his- 
tory of the Church, since the Revolution, 
has not recorded a single instance of inter- 
ference, on the part of the royal commis- 
sioner, with the proceedings of the court 
which is honoured with his presence. There 
were, indeed, two memorable occasions in 
1638 and 1692, when the royal representa- 
tive of these periods did, contrary to the 
wishes of the court, dissolve the Assembly, 
without naming any time for the meeting 
of another; but the Assembly, unawed by 
the abrupt departure of this dignitary, con- 
tinued its sederunt, and, by its own in- 
herent power, fixed a day on which the 
next Assembly should be held. The fact 
is, that the presence of the Lord High 
Commissioner, though a usual, is not an 
essential element in the constitution of the 
supreme court. In the years 1644 and 
1645 there was no commissioner, and yet 
this latter was the Assembly in which "the 
directory for the public worship of God, as 



t This mistake was made by no less a person 
than D'Aubigne, who, in describing his impres- 
sions of the General Assembly, makes the remark, 
which seems simply ludicrous to all acquainted 
with the subject, that the presence of the Royal 
Commissioner, &c, at once showed him that he 
was in the bond church. — D'Aubign^s England 
Scotland, and Germany. 



74 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, 
was unanimously approven, established, and 
ordered to be put in execution throughout 
this Church."* In 1798, the royal com- 
mission appointing a representative was 
laid on the table, and read at the opening 
of the Assembly, but he did not make his 
appearance till during the second week of 
its sittings. In later times there have 
been many instances when, in consequence 
of indisposition, the commissioner could 
not attend, or was obliged to retire before 
the conclusion of the business, when the 
court, resolving itself into a committee of 
the whole house, continued its deliberations 
independently of his absence. 

On the day appointed for the meeting of 
! the General Assembly, which is always on 
I a Thursday, and in May, the Lord High 
I Commissioner goes in state to St. Giles's 
, church, Edinburgh, where a sermon is 
preached by the last moderator, and at the 
I conclusion of the service, intimation being 
I given from the pulpit that the supreme 
j ecclesiastical judicatory is about to hold its 
I annual sittings, he repairs to the Assembly 
! hall, where he opens the court with prayer. 
j The first business transacted, after the roll 
: of members has been read, is the choice 
i of a new moderator. The present occupier 
! of the chair usually proposes his successor, 
i who, having been selected by the former 
| moderators acting as a committee for this 
! purpose, and his name having been pre- 
j viously communicated to the presbyteries, 
| is generally some well known and promi- 
S nent individual. It remains with the 
house to express their acquiescence in the 
person nominated from the chair, and it is 
only in peculiar circumstances that any 
opposition is made. The moderator now 
must always be a minister,f and it is of 
the greater consequence to make a good 
choice, as not only the respectability of the 
court is, to a great degree, affected by the 
character and capabilities of its president, 
but, especially, as during the year of his 
official existence, he is the organ of com- 
munication between the Church and the 
State. The new moderator having been 



* Stevenson's History of the Church and State 
of Scotland. 

f Laymen formerly were eligible, as both 
George Buchanan and A. Melville successively 
occupied the chair. The moderator is now al- 
lowed 200Z. to support the honour of the office. 



introduced and placed in the chair, receives 
from the throne the royal commission, 
which is read, — the whole assembly stand- 
ing, — and ordered to be recorded. The 
commissioner addresses the court, and the 
moderator makes a suitable reply. These 
preliminaries being gone through, the busi- 
ness is commenced by the Assembly divi- 
ding itself into a number of committees, 
1st, to answer the royal letter; 2d, to ex- 
amine commissions, both of which meet on 
Thursday evening; 3d, a committee on 
bills; 4th, on overtures. These two last 
are composed of an equal number of the 
members of court chosen indiscriminately, 
and they are of great importance, as their 
duty is to select and arrange the subjects 
that are to be publicly brought before the 
Assembly. On Friday, the house dedi- 
cates the sederunt to devotional exercises ; 
two ministers, members of court, being 
appointed to conduct the service, who are 
expected to direct their prayers especially 
for divine light and guidance to the Assem- 
bly in all its deliberations, and for a bless- 
ing on the office-bearers and members, the 
work of the ministry, and the missionary 
schemes of the Church both at home and 
abroad. It is satisfactory to mention, that 
for many years there has been an increasing 
attendance on these devotional occasions, 
nearly as much so as at other meetings of 
the court. The Assembly adjourns on 
Friday at an early hour. The committees 
on bills and on overtures respectively hold 
their first meeting on the Thursday eve- 
ning, which is generally long, and full of 
anxious feelings to many. The members 
of these committees have a delicate and 
sometimes difficult task imposed on them : 
their duty being to enumerate and consider 
all the papers which have been transmitted 
from the inferior courts of the Church for 
judgment, or which, containing new pro- 
positions originating in the Church itself, 
are intended to be brought before the As- 
sembly in its legislative capacity. The 
proper functions of these committees con- 
sist in an examination of the forms of these 
documents, and the language in which they 
are expressed — to judge whether the one is 
regular and the other respectful — to weigh 
the comparative merits of all of them — 
and form a judgment, which of them ought 
to receive precedence — which ought to be 
recommended to the notice of the Assem- 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



75 



bly — and which must be postponed or re- 
jected. These committees, therefore, are 
invested with great discretionary power; 
and it is easy to perceive that in times of 
danger or party strife they might be very 
formidable, — be led through secret in- 
fluences to suppress what they might deem 
inconvenient to be publicly heard, or to 
strangle in the dark what they do not wish 
should see the light. But there is an 
effectual check to any indiscreet- or partial 
exercise of their powers in the public dis- 
cussion which the reports of those two com- 
mittees undergo before the house, and in 
which all who feel aggrieved by their deci- 
sion have an opportunity of expressing the 
grounds of their dissent or dissatisfaction. 
A judgment adopted unanimously, or by a 
large majority of either of these com- 
mittees,' is justly allowed to have great 
weight; and in general it may be remarked, 
that the intrinsic merits of every case are 
so carefully considered in committee, and 
objections to their decision so candidly and 
fully heard in the house, that the utmost 
impartiality is shown in arranging the busi- 
ness of the Assembly. A report on this 
subject, so far as it has been matured, is 
usually given at the meeting of Saturday, 
as also on the same day a draft of the an- 
swer prepared to the royal letter is read for 
consideration, and an examination made 
into commissions that have been reported 
faulty or on some grounds objectionable. 
It is customary at this meeting also to 
appoint preachers to preach on the two 
Sabbaths the Assembly sits. All these 
arrangements are but preliminary, and, 
being completed, the Assembly is prepared 
to proceed on Monday, and during the rest 
of the sittings, to the hearing of private 
causes, as well as the consideration of any 
proposed alteration in her ecclesiastical 
laws or practice. 

It may be proper to observe that the 
mode of conducting the proceedings of the 
General Assembly is in form similar to 
what is followed in public meetings where 
the business is carried on by discussion. 
The moderator is armed with all requisite 
authority, and should any irregularities, 
such as are incidental to all popular assem- 
blies, occur to disturb the tranquillity or 
interrupt the decorum of the court, the 
general feeling of the house is enlisted in 
aid of his efforts to restore order. The 



sense of the house is taken by voting. 
When a division is about to take place, the 
doors are ordered to be locked, in order 
that no member may be admitted merely 
for a purpose to influence the decision. 
The names on the roll are called over by 
oncof the officers of the house, while the 
others are occupied in marking the votes, 
under the eye of the moderator. Each 
member, according to an established rule, 
is expected to rise from his seat, that his 
vote may be distinctly heard, and, when the 
roll is exhausted, the result is publicly 
announced. In considering private causes, 
the Assembly allows an accused member to 
plead at the bar by counsel, on the merciful 
ground that, where character and interests 
are at stake, the defendant should be al- 
lowed the privilege of the best advice he 
can command. Counsel are also admitted 
in similar circumstances to plead at the bar 
of the synod and the presbytery. But it 
must be confessed, that however comfort- 
able and important it may be for a person 
under libel to enjoy the aid of an expe- 
rienced lawyer, the admission of counsel 
frequently produces, by the arts of legal 
ingenuity, unexpected obstructions to the 
course of substantial justice. This incon- 
venience is felt particularly in the General 
Assembly, where a counsel may have 
brought the case by appeal on a mere point 
of form. This, of course, being ail that 
is contained in the record, is decided with- 
out the merits being entered into; and 
thus a bad case may be prolonged till ano- 
ther, and even a third assembly, before a 
final judgment can be pronounced. But 
in the discussion of overtures, that is, pro- 
positions for the repeal or amendment of an 
existing law, or for the introduction of a 
new one, counsel are never admitted to take 
part. The consideration of these, as of all 
else that relates to the internal government 
of the Church, is the province of members 
exclusively ; and in whatever quarter they 
may have originated, — although the author 
of the project may not be present, or the 
presbytery who transmitted it cannot fur- 
nish a supporter of their own measure, — 
yet, in the event of its being sanctioned by 
the committee of overtures, some member 
of the house undertakes the duty of intro- 
ducing it. A debate ensues, in the course 
of which it either receives unanimous sup- 
port, or, a counter motion being made, its 



76 



HISTORY OP THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



approval or rejection is determined by the 
result of a vote. 

Such is the usual course of proceeding 
in this court. But the General Assembly 
being the highest judicatory of the Church, 
and meeting only once a-year, is invested 
with full powers to decide all matters that 
properly fall within the jurisdiction of a 
spiritual court; and though the cases that 
are submitted to its decision are, for the 
most part, purely ecclesiastical, and fre- 
quently even of local and limited interest, 
yet, as in every assembly, questions do also 
occur of a more public and general nature, 
affecting the interests of religion and mo- 
rality, it may be proper to describe, with a 
little more minuteness, the nature and ex- 
tent of its constitutional authority. 

Its judicial power includes the infliction 
or removal of spiritual censures, and it 
extends to every case of that description 
connected with the character and morals 
of the parochial instructors, with the exer- 
cise of discipline among the people, as well 
as with the conduct of the inferior courts. 
The right of finally determining causes 
which seriously affect the usefulness, and 
even the status and worldly interests of par- 
ties, is a dangerous power to be lodged in 
a body constituted as the General Assembly 
is, composed of men of various powers of 
judgment and degrees of intelligence, un- 
accustomed to weigh evidence, apt to follow 
the example of some bold or skilful leader, 
and liable to those sudden impulses which 
are so apt to move a popular assembly. 
Hence, in the administration of justice, 
this court is not left to the arbitrary will or 
momentary impressions of its members, 
but is obliged to regulate its procedure ac- 
cording to fixed and well-defined rules. 
Theses rules are embodied in the Form of 
Process which received the sanction of the 
Church in 1707, and which describes every 
step from beginning to end that must be 
taken in criminal processes instituted in the 
ecclesiastical courts. According to this 
code of laws, it is enacted, that whenever 
a fama clamosa prevails, the Church, as 
constituted guardian of religion and morals, 
is bound to investigate the grounds of the 
rumour, by instituting a process, — if the 
case relate to a layman, in the kirk-session, 
— if to a minister, in the presbytery. An 
accusation must be drawn out in the form 
of a libel or indictment, containing specific 



charges, and duly served upon the accused. 
When a case of this nature comes before 
the Assembly from one of the inferior 
courts, the party is cited to the bar, and 
must appear either personally or by his 
agent; and although a court like the As- 
sembly is, in many respects, ill-suited for 
the calm and dispassionate hearing of pri- 
vate causes, yet, its freedom from local pre- 
judices, the previous agitation of the case 
in a succession of inferior courts, the im- 
perative obligation to prepare the cases in 
a printed form, and the consciousness that ! 
the eye of the public is watching their pro- 
ceedings — all these circumstances tend to 
pave the way for a decision, in which the 
cause of justice is secured, and the purposes 
of edification promoted. The sentence of 
the Assembly has always been final, even 
when it involves deprivation of office, as 
well as of all the civil emoluments attached 
to it. In consequence of the occurrence in 
1843, however, there was a prevalent im- 
pression which, to all who had examined 
the subject, was known to be utterly ground- 
less and absurd, that this ancient preroga- 
tive of the Assembly had been taken away, 
and that her judgments, whenever any one 
chose to incur the trouble and expense of 
further litigation, were subject to revision 
by the Court of Session. Opportunity for 
dispelling this popular delusion fortunately 
occurred, in which the case of a deposed 
minister was appealed last summer before 
that civil tribunal, and on its being called, 
the judges unanimously declared that they 
had no jurisdiction, nor did they, when the 
Assembly kept within its own province, 
possess any legal title to interfere, even 
though the sentence it pronounced might 
be wrong. Thus the judicial authority of 
the spiritual courts was declared to be en- 
tirely independent of the civil, and the 
most unchallengeable evidence afforded, 
that a case brought regularly from the pres- 
bytery and synod to the supreme court of 
the Church shall "there tak' end/' 

The General Assembly also possesses the 
power of an ecclesiastical parliament, as 
well as of a judicial court : for to her be- 
longs the prerogative of passing all those 
enactments which are called the " rules of 
the Church :" — not only bye-laws and sets 
of regulations for guiding practice in some 
delicate department, but all those general 
laws which govern the practical working 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



77 



of the Presbyterian system. But, in a 
court of brief duration and ephemeral au- 
thority like the Assembly, in which many 
persons are found displaying an irrepressible 
fondness for legislation, measures are likely 
sometimes to be proposed and adopted, 
which subsequent experience may show to 
be inexpedient or wrong. To prevent pre- 
cipitation and afford time for the full con- 
sideration of all new propositions, an act 
was passed in Assembly 1697, by which it 
was provided that the legislative power of 
that supreme court was to be exercised 
within certain limits ; and these limits, as 
defined, were, that every measure sanctioned 
by the General Assembly should be trans- 
mitted to presbyteries, by whom it should 
be deliberately considered before the meet- 
ing of another Assembly, — when, if it 
appear to have gained the approval of forty 
presbyteries, it should be enacted into a 
law. This act, which was not legalized till 
itself had run the course it recommended 
for general practice, received the name of 
the Barrier act; and, according to its pro- 
visions, every overture, which is honoured 
with the legal support, is henceforth ranked 
amongst the permanent laws of the Church. 
It is an important enactment — so important 
as often to be called the bulwark of the 
Church's safety : and as a prudent as well 
as simple expedient to prevent a sudden or 
indiscreet exercise of power from what- 
ever quarter, it deserves the highest com- 
mendation. It is, in fact, an appeal by 
the members of the ecclesiastical parliament 
to their constituents. But experience, ere 
long, showed that it is not easy to secure the 
immediate attention of so large a majority 
of presbyteries, as is specified in the Bar- 
rier act; and hence the Assembly, by 
virtue of its own authority, converts every 
measure intended for transmission into an 
interim act. This arrangement gives it at 
once the force of a law which is binding 
on the office-bearers ; and it is recommended 
by its undoubted influence in stimulating 
the attention of presbyteries to report on 
it to the ensuing Assembly, in order to ex- 
punge it if bad, or register it in the statute- 
book, if found excellent and workable. 

But neither the judicial nor legislative 
power of the General Assembly would be 
of much avail, if she did not possess further 
the right of superintendence and control in 
directing all ecclesiastical affairs. The 



ordinary business of the Church, such as 
licensing probationers, inducting ministers, 
&c, she commits to presbyteries, who, in 
the regular performance of their duties, act 
as the officers of the church. A consider- 
able amount of discretion, of course, is 
granted to them ; and as they are presumed, 
from their local knowledge, to be the best 
judges of what is for edification, they en- 
joy, in ordinary circumstances, full freedom 
in conducting their proceedings as to their 
wisdom may seem fit. But, from the first, 
the powers of presbyteries and synods were 
minutely defined in the second Book of 
Discipline, which was adopted by the As- 
sembly in 1578, and ratified by Act of 
Parliament 1592 ; and, according to this 
work, which still continues an authority in 
the Church, it is a fundamental principle 
in Presbyterian government, that all the 
inferior courts are amenable to the tribunal 
of the General Assembly. In that court 
is vested the supreme executive authority, 
which she exercises with steady, constant) 
and, at the same time, vigilant activity; 
and by virtue of which she has appointed, 
with a view of ensuring uniformity, as well 
as regularity and accuracy of proceeding, 
that the records of the inferior judicatories 
shall undergo a periodical examination, — 
the books of presbytery at each meeting 
of synod, and those of the synods during 
the sitting of the Assembly, so tnat by 
this means the whole ecclesiastical ma- 
chinery is maintained in practical efficiency. 
Moreover, with a view of enforcing her 
judgments, and carrying her laws into exe- 
cution, the General Assembly, in all her 
deliverances, enjoins the inferior courts 
always to proceed according to the rules of 
the Church. Nay, in the exercise of her 
nobile officiiim, she occasionally summons 
judicatories and individuals to her bar, to 
receive admonition or censure, as circum- 
stances may demand ; and in the event of 
her perceiving a presbytery refractory, and 
determined on pursuing a course, which 
the collective wisdom of the Church disap- 
proves, she prescribes special directions for 
their observance, describes the place, time, 
and manner of their duties, with a minute 
particularity that deprives them of all dis- 
cretionary power, and imposes on them the 
merely ministerial duty of executing her 
commands. Such a right of executive 
power, exercised with wisdom, and in the 



78 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



spirit that should characterize a Christian 
court, is calculated to be of the greatest 
utility, as not only a check to the influx 
of irregularities, but a preservative of 
soundness and purity in doctrine, as well as 
of an orderly and uniform practice in all 
parts of the Church. 

In the disposal of matters so extensive 
as those, which, according to the preceding 
view of its great constitutional powers, it 
is the province of the General Assembly 
at its annual meeting to discuss, much di- 
versity of opinion may be expected to 
appear amongst its members. Indeed, 
considering the elements of which it is 
composed, ministers and elders, — the latter 
of whom, besides being certified as bond 
fide acting in that capacity in a church, 
are always distinguished by their status in 
society, as well as their literary qualifica- 
tions, — Professors of universities, and re- 
presentatives of town councils, members 
of the aristocracy, the bar, and, till lately, 
of the bench, — it is impossible but that its 
councils should exhibit the most varying 
shades of sentiment and feeling, according 
as the subjects brought before it are viewed 
by a body of men moving in such different 
walks, and accustomed to such different 
habits of thought. As a popular Assembly, 
j it presents a noble arena for eloquence ; 
and we do not know any other court in 
Scotland at least, which can exhibit a spec- 
tacle of equal interest, — as when on a 
field day, the peer and the untitled country 
gentleman, the learned lawyer and the 
humble parish minister, are seen commin- 
gling on the same floor, in the eager but 
bloodless strife of intellectual gladiatorship. 
It is sometimes alleged as a discreditable 
fact, that there are two parties in the As- 
sembly, and that as all its members, with 
the exception of a few, who may be said, 
in parliamentary phrase, to occupy the 
cross benches, range themselves under the 
banners of a well-known leader on one or 
the other side of the house, — one can al- 
most always anticipate in every great ques- 
tion what the result will be. It cannot be 
denied, that there have long been two par- 
ties, the moderate and the evangelical or 
high flyers, as they have been sometimes 
derisively styled. But this circumstance 
— the existence of sect or party, unless the 
triumph of one over the other is maintained 
in the worst spirit of partizanship — is no 



just cause of reproach ; for party, in the 
present condition of our nature, is una- 
voidable in every highly cultivated state 
of society ; and it may be safely affirmed, 
that there has been no period, in the his- 
tory of the Church of Sootland, or indeed 
of any other church, which has been with- 
out such divisions. The ground of sepa- 
ration between the two parties may be said 
to have ceased, for a long series of years, 
to be a religious one ; it narrowed, for some 
time previous to 1843, to a difference in 
their theoretical views on the constitutional 
law and practice of the Church; while 
there were very many who, shrinking from 
the holders of extreme principles on either 
side, approached each other by varying 
shades of opinion. And yet even then, 
when party strife had reached its culmi- 
nating point, it was said by the late Dr. 
Welsh, in his concluding address from the 
moderator's chair in the Assembly, 1842, 
that however much the members might be 
divided on other points, there was but one 
mind and one spirit in the house, in main- 
taining purity of doctrine, and supporting 
the missionary schemes of the Church. 
Since that time, party has been in a great 
measure forgotten, or sunk in a common 
effort to promote the weal of the Church j 
and certainly nothing has occurred to affect, 
but much to confirm, the memorable ver- 
dict of Dr. Welsh. 

It remains only to add, that on Monday, 
the tenth free day of its meeting, the 
General Assembly is brought to a close. 
In the evening of that day it is dissolved 
by the commissioner, as to its civil capacity, 
in the name of Her Majesty, and then by 
the moderator, as to its spiritual jurisdic- 
tion, in the name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, as the head of his Church. 

Many subjects, which properly fall under 
its cognizance, cannot be overtaken in the 
limited period during which the Assembly 
sits, and a portion of the business is re- 
served for the commission of the General 
Assembly. This is a supplementary court, 
consisting of a committee of all the mem- 
bers of the house, the moderator having 
the power to add one more. It is invested 
with full power to decide all cases as in the 
Assembly itself, and from its judgments 
there is no appeal. But there is a means 
of redress against any alleged injustice in 
the decisions of this commission, — in the 



power which belongs either to the party 
aggrieved, or to any member of court on 
complaining to the next Assembly; and 
on hearing such complaint, that Assem- 
bly may reverse or change the sentence, 
as to its wisdom may appear right. The 
Commission holds its first meeting gene- 
rally for three days, on the dissolution of 
the Assembly. Besides the disposal of 
the cases remitted to it by the supreme 
court, it is invested with a high responsi- 
bility ; for, remaining in existence during 
the whole year, it receives general instruc- 
tions to watch over every occurrence that 
affects the interests of the Church, or of 
religion and education in the land. It also 
holds stated meetings every quarter, on the 
second Wednesday of August, the third 
Wednesday of November, and the first 
Wednesday of March. But should any 
emergency arise, or a requisition be ad- 
dressed to the moderator by a sufiicient 
number of members of last Assembly, it 
is competent for that officer to call an ex- 
traordinary meeting. It requires thirty- 
one to constitute a quorum of the Commis- 
sion, of whom twenty-one must be minis- 
ters. It holds only a delegated authority, 
and it is answerable to the Assembly in 
the event of having exceeded its powers, 
of interfering in public matters without a 
strong necessity, or of neglecting its im- 
portant trust to take care, ne quid detri- 
menti respublica caper 'ct. 

Such is a general view of the worship, 
constitution, and practice of the Church of 
Scotland, as it has existed since the Revo- 
lution. An Act of the Scottish Parliament 
was passed in 1592, which ratified the 
second Book of Discipline, as well as the 
whole system of Presbytery j and that has 
generally been considered the law of the 
land establishing our ecclesiastical consti- 
tution. At the Revolution in 1688, which 
restored order after the religious wars, and 
the long unsettled state in which the coun- 
try had been in the seventeenth century, 
an Act was passed " for securing the Pro- 
testant religion and Presbyterian church 
government/' which was afterwards incor- 
porated with the Treaty of Union, and 
became a fundamental article and condition 
thereof, in which it " is provided and de- 
clared, that the true Protestant religion, 
contained in the Confession of Faith, with 
the form and purity of worship then in 



use within the Church of Scotland, and its 
Presbyterian church government and dis- 
cipline, that is to say, the government of 
the Church by kirk-sessions, presbyteries, 
provincial synods, and General Assem- 
blies, all established by the Acts of Par- 
liament be/ore referred to, pursuant to the 
Claim of Right, shall remain and continue 
unalterable ; and that the said Presbyterian 
government shall be the only government 
of the Church within the kingdom of 
Scotland." During the long period of 
more than 160 years, since that memorable 
era in our country's history, the Church of j 
Scotland has been associated in friendly 
alliance with the State; nor has she, in 
our opinion, suffered from that union in 
the slightest degree in her spiritual cha- 
racter, or been subjected to any limitation 
of her powers, except what is inseparable 
from her existence in the form of an es- 
tablishment. The public standards that 
embody her views of Christian doctrine 
and duty, and the platform of Presbyterian 
worship and government she erected, con- 
tinue precisely the same as when she first 
gave them " a local habitation and a name" 
in Scotland. But they were also adopted 
by the State, and from the moment she 
became an Established Church, and her 
Confession of Faith, with the Directory of 
Worship, was ratified by the State, she 
could not alter either of these without a 
violation of the compact. She holds them 
now by the same tenure by which she holds 
her civil emoluments : and every part of 
them is declared by the secular authority, 
so long as she retains her national endow- 
ments, to be an essential and unalterable 
part of her constitution. But we do not 
see how, by the fact of an alliance at first 
in which she, with her recognised creed 
and existing form of government, and all 
its oganization, was incorporated among the 
public institutions of the land, she sur- 
rendered any portion of what properly 
belongs to her as a Church of Christ. 
Still less do we see how, by the Scottish 
Benefices Act, passed in 1843, — which was 
not a new settlement, but merely an act 
declaratory of what the law was, it can be 
said that the jurisdiction of the Church 
was prostrated, and her spiritual independ- 
ence infringed. We are aware that this 
view of her present constitution will meet 
with a denial : — a denial that was practi- 



80 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



cally given in 184-3 by the secession of a 
large number of ministers, among whom 
were some of high character and talents — 
who, while within the pale of the church, 
were its brightest ornaments, and whose 
withdrawal into the ranks of dissent must 
ever be the subject of deep regret. But, 
agreeing with them to a great extent, we 
have all along been of opinion, that, in the 
words of the Duke of Argyle,* they pushed 
their principles to an extreme which in no 
Established Church was ever practically 
reached. Not certainly in the Church of 
Scotland, — for every one, who has ever 
been present at the discussion of the poli- 
tico-ecclesiastical questions that are agitated 
in the General Assembly, is aware that 
particular measures are often objected to 
as being ultra vires; and that reference is 
ever and anon made to Acts of Parliament, 
that define her duties as well as hex privi- 
leges. Besides, it is the doctrine of the 
Church's own standard, that the civil ma- 
gistrate, i. e., the State, has a right to call 
Assemblies as well as to preside in them ; 
and surely it is common sense, that if the 
State has guaranteed important benefits to 
her, it has a right to see that she carries 
out her ecclesiastical system, or that she 
should be called to perform her duties, if 
she neglect them. The sovereign's pre- 
sence, by an accredited commissioner, is 
the method by which satisfactory evidence 
of their performance is obtained. But he 
has nothing to do with the internal manage- 
ment of the Church. That duty belongs 
to her office-bearers alone, to whom is com- 
mitted the power of the keys. In matters 
established by human authority, their judg- 
ments may be appealed from and reversed 
by the civil courts; but, in the manage- 
ment of all business of a purely ecclesias- 
tical nature, conducted in a church court 
that is duly constituted, they possess a 
spiritual independence complete and invio- 
lable : — all the more complete and invio- 
lable that it rests on the securities of fixed 
and clearly-defined law. Moreover, not 
only does the spiritual independence of the 
Church remain, in our humble opinion, un- 
diminished and entire, but greatly increased 
facilities have been given since 1843 for 
the practical working of her system as an 
Establishment. Patronage continues on 



* Endowment Meeting, City Hall, 1852. 



the statute-book of the land, but by Lord 
Aberdeen's bill, commonly called the Scotch 
Benefices Act, provision is made that the 
Presbytery shall pay regard to the cha- 
racter and number of objectors, and have 
power to judge whether, in all the circum- 
stances of the case, it be for edification 
that the settlement shall take place; so 
that, unless the ecclesiastical courts are un- 
faithful to their trust, there can be no in- 
trusion of a minister on a reclaiming 
parish. Chapels of Ease, or quoad sacra 
churches, there are in great numbers — an 
inferior kind of churches or auxiliary 
places of worship, which the necessities of 
an increasing population have called into 
existence. But, Sir James Graham's Act 
provides, that instead of the concurrence 
of three-fourths of the heritors, which the 
law formerly required, the consent of a 
majority only, together with security for a 
competent endowment, is sufficient to raise 
those chapels to the dignity and territorial 
privileges of Parish Churches. In fine, 
however the Church of Scotland may at 
times, since the Revolution of 1688, have 
exhibited a secular character, or been open 
to the charge of laxity in discipline, or want 
of zeal in evangelizing, those deficiencies are 
traceable to the conduct of her ecclesiastical 
courts alone, and cannot with truth be said 
to be the natural or necessary result of her 
position as an Establishment. In no de- 
gree is she fettered, by the terms of her 
alliance with the State, in the discharge of 
her proper functions as a Church of Christ; 
and, in the words of the nobleman already 
alluded to, she has never as yet used the 
tenth part of the freedom she possesses. 

It remains now only to advert to the ar- 
rangements by which the ecclesiastical 
system, described in this brief sketch, is 
carried out into practical operation; and 
this part of the subject embraces the qual- 
ifications of ministers, the mode of their 
settlement, the legal provision made for 
them, as well as the number of parishes. 

Candidates for the ministry are required 
to pass through an extensive course of 
preparation at one of the Scottish univer- 
sities. Four years must be successively 
devoted to the study of Latin and Greek, 
Logic, Moral Philosophy, and Natural 
Philosophy, together with such other 
branches as are usually comprehended in a 
liberal education. The literary and philo- 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



81 



sophical curriculum being completed, the 
student, on the recommendation of a parish 
minister, is admitted into the divinity hall, 
and spends other four sessions in prosecut- 
ing the study of theology. During two 
of these sessions, he must also include 
Church History and Hebrew, while the 
last of the four is called a partial session 
— that is, a regular and daily attendance 
on the prelections during the full sessional 
period is not compulsory. These rules, as 
to the education of students in divinity, 
have been long in force — although, during 
the emergency that arose in 1843, they 
were for a few years relaxed, the last or 
partial session having been dispensed with. 
But the Church has lately re-enacted the 
old regulations, and wisely considering that 
a well-furnished ministry is of the greatest 
importance to the character and usefulness 
of the Church, is taking steps to raise the 
standard of professional qualifications. 

When the student has finished the pre- 
scribed course, he is proposed to be taken 
on trials for license before the presbytery 
within which he resides. The proposal, 
accompanied by his college tickets, and 
containing a recommendation from not less 
than six ministers, is made in private, and 
must lie a month on the table. If no pre- 
liminary objections are made, the clerk is 
then directed to address circular letters to 
all the presbyteries within the bounds of 
the provincial synod, announcing the name 
of the student, the documentary evidence 
he has produced of having gone through 
the required course of education, and the 
intention of the presbytery to take him on 
trials. If that court of supervision grant 
leave, the presbytery proceed to try the 
qualifications of the student, by examining 
him first in private by a committee, then 
publicly in presence of the court, on all 
branches of his preparatory studies, and 
lastly, hearing him deliver a series of five 
discourses, viz., an essay on some theolo- 
gical subject, called a homily ; a Latin dis- 
course on a controverted doctrine ; an ex- 
ercise and addition, containing a critical 
exegesis of a passage in the Greek text ; a 
lecture and sermon, such as are adapted to 
a popular audience. The presbytery, on a 
conjunct view of the trials, declare whether 
or not they have been satisfactory, and if 
approved, the student, having heard the act 
against simony read over, and signed the 



11 



formula of the Church, is licensed to 
preach the Gospel, by the moderator ad- 
dressing him in suitable terms, and the 
members of court giving him in turn the 
right hand of fellowship. He then ac- 
quires the name of probationer, that is, he 
is capable of exercising a ministerium 
vagum, and preaching in any place in con- 
nection with the Scottish Establishment; 
but he cannot administer sealing ordinances, 
nor perform the ceremony of marriage — in 
short, he is not invested with the full power 
and privileges of a minister until he obtain 
ordination, which this Church confers only 
with a view to a specific charge, in which 
the ministerial duties are to be exercised. 

When a presentation to a benefice is laid 
on the table of a presbytery in favour of a 
particular licentiate, the first thing that 
falls to be considered is, if the document 
is a proper instrument emanating from the 
undoubted patron, — whether the crown, 
private individual, town council, or com- 
municants in a parish, — and is drawn up 
in legal form. The next thing for conside- 
ration is, the presentee's letter of accept- 
ance, and an extract, on stamped paper, of 
his license to preach the Gospel, together 
with a certificate of his having taken the 
oaths to government. These preliminaries 
being satisfactorily gone through, the pres- 
bytery proceed to examine his qualifica- 
tions; and although he is a licentiate of 
another presbytery, this court, within which 
the parish lies to which he has been pre- 
sented, has a right to try him again, by 
prescribing the same course as in the case 
of students for license. No presbytery is 
at liberty to refuse : for, by the Act of the 
Scottish Parliament, 1592, which is still in 
force, " presbyteries are bound and astricted 
to receive and admit whomsoever is pre- 
sented by the proper patron, if they find 
him qualified." Intimation, which is gene- 
rally done by the moderator, and is called 
"serving the edict," is made from the 
pulpit of the parish concerned, that the 
presentee will preach on a particular Sab- 
bath before the congregation ; and also, 
according to recent regulations, next day in 
the same church, in presence of the pres- 
bytery. The discourses thus preached are 
at the conclusion of the service, enclosed 
in a sealed packet, and put into the hands 
of the moderator or clerk, to be ready for 
reference, if occasion should arise. A day 



82 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



is afterwards fixed for the presbytery again 
meeting in the vacant church, and of this 
previous notice must be given from the 
pulpit at least ten free days. At the time 
appointed, a sermon is preached by the 
moderator, and, at the conclusion of the 
service, the people, being informed of the 
steps already taken towards the settlement 
of a minister, are afforded an opportunity 
to express their sentiments with respect to 
the presentee — first, by their being invited 
to sign a call in his favour ; and, secondly, 
by the question being publicly asked, 
whether any present have objections. This 
is the way in which the evils that may 
arise from the abuse of patronage are 
sought to be prevented in the Church of 
Scotland. It was from the neglect or con- 
temptuous disregard of these checks by 
the ecclesiastiaal courts, that the secessions 
of last century took place; that the Er- 
skines with their associates, and subse- 
quently Gillespie, were driven into dissent, 
because they would not be accessory to the 
settlement of obnoxious presentees, — al- 
though it must be confessed, that these 
good men wished to carry the popular ele- 
ment to a greater extent than had ever 
existed in the Church since the establish- 
ment of Presbytery. The call is an an- 
cient and indispensable rule of the Church; 
and, although Lord Brougham declared, 
that in the eye of the civil law, it had no 
more effect than u the recalcitration of the 
champion's horse on the day of coronation/' 
it is an excellent practice — of the greatest 
utility and importance in affording to the 
people an opportunity of welcoming their 
new minister, and to him an evidence of 
their willingness to " submit to him in the 
Lord." Formerly, objections could be 
lodged against a presentee only in reference 
to life and doctrine, and in rare cases, in 
which physical defects were alleged to 
exist, such as the wanting of Gaelic in a 
Highland parish, or total deafness, weak- 
ness of voice, and such infirmities, as ren- 
dered it impossible to discharge the minis- 
terial functions. But by the existing law, 
objections of every kind can be received; 
and the presbytery, having regard to 
the character and number of the ob- 
jectors, as well as all the circumstances 
of the case, are empowered, if they see 
fit, to stop the settlement. The presentee, 
of course, can appeal to the superior 



courts. But if the Assembly — the court 
of last review — homologates the decision, 
there the matter " taks end," and the pre- 
sentee is set aside. 

When the way is paved for a settlement, 
the presbytery, on a day previously an- 
nounced, meet in the vacant church, a ser- 
mon is preached by one of their number 
who is appointed to preside, — after which, 
having narrated the various steps that have 
been taken, he puts to the presentee, in 
presence of the congregation, a series of 
questions as to his belief in the Scriptures, 
his approval of the Confession of Faith, 
his willingness to submit to the rules of the 
Church, and his acceptance of the call to 
be minister in that place. Satisfactory 
answers having been received to these in- 
terrogatories, the preacher descends from 
the pulpit to a space in front, where he en- 
gages in prayer, and, in the course of it, he 
and the brethren of presbytery, forming a 
circle round the presentee, who is in the 
attitude of kneeling, lay their hands on his 
head. This forms the whole ceremony of 
ordination to the office of the minister, and 
it is one of the most solemn and impressive 
spectacles that can be witnessed. At the 
conclusion, he is declared minister of that 
church, in the name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and receives the right hand of fel- 
lowship. This done, the preacher, return- 
ing to the pulpit, addresses suitable advices 
both to the new minister and his flock. At 
the conclusion of the service, an opportunity 
is given to the people to shake hands with 
th'eir pastor at the door as they retire. 
When left alone with the presbytery, he 
signs the formula, and his name is there- 
after added to the roll. 

In the case of a presentee who is already 
discharging the duties of the ministry, the 
same general course is observed, with a due 
regard to the difference of circumstances. 
On his presentation being lodged, the pres- 
bytery who receive it appoint one or two of 
their number to repair as their commission- 
ers to the presbytery, within whose bounds 
the minister presented is at present offici- 
ating, and to state such reasons as may seem 
good to them for urging his translation to 
a new sphere. That presbytery appoint 
one of their members to officiate in his pulpit 
on a specified Sabbath, for the purpose of 
intimating to his people, at the close of the 
service, that their minister is contemplating 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



83 



a removal, and that if the congregation 
have any objections to urge against it, they 
must compear at the next meeting of the 
presbytery. It remains with that court to 
determine whether it is for the majus bo- 
num ecdesias that he should be translated. 
It may be that the people compear to object, 
and then the presbytery, taking into consi- 
deration the circumstances of the two com- 
peting parishes, may refuse to sanction his 
translation. Several instances of such re- 
fusals have occurred at no distaut date. 
But if presbytery discern that his removal 
will place him in a greater sphere of use- 
fulness, they convey an expression of their 
concurrence to the presbytery, before whom 
his new presentation has been laid. Steps 
are forthwith taken to proceed with this 
translation according to the rules of the 
Church, and the same forms are observed 
as in the settlement of a presentee, except 
that the act of ordination is not repeated. 
On a church or parish becoming vacant, 
by death or otherwise, a member of the 
presbytery is appointed on the ensuing Sab- 
bath to declare it so, and, at the same time, 
formal intimation of the vacancy is sent to 
the patron. Six months are allowed him 
by law to make his selection; and if, on 
the expiry of that period, he has failed to 
exercise his privilege, the right of presenta- 
tion comes tanquam jure devoluto, into the 
hands of the presbytery. Patronages are 
well known to be sold and bought with or 
without the possession of property in the 
parish in which the right of advowson is to 
be exercised. But in a country where the 
greatest horror of simonaical practices is 
entertained, provision is made that the sale 
of a patronage shall be null and void, if it 
be made during a vacancy ; and probation- 
ers are warned, as we have already said, at 
the time of receiving their license, that the 
Church will scrutinize with the greatest 
jealousy, every charge of a pecuniary com- 
pact. A patron, in order to present to a 
vacant parish, must qualify to government, 
and an extract of his having done so must 
be laid on the table of the presbytery, along 
with the presentation. Persons of any 
evangelical denomination may be patrons, 
but a Papist cannot. In general, patronage 
is held as a trust by a superior for the bene- 
fit of the parish in which he possesses a 
patrimonial interest; and the attachment 
which resident proprietors naturally feel 



towards the people amongst whom they 
dwell, together with the influence of public 
opinion, affords a security for the judicious 
and careful exercise of the right. This 
observation is especially applicable to the 
patronages vested in the crown, which has 
for many years shown a strong disposition 
to settle vacant parishes in accordance with 
the wishes of the people, wherever there 
appears a general agreement, or unanimity 
in their choice. 

The care of vacant churches devolves on 
the presbytery of the bounds, who send one 
of their number to officiate in rotation every 
alternate Sabbath, leave being usually given 
to the people, when they apply for it, to 
provide, at their own expense, a preacher 
for the intermediate days. It is strongly 
recommended, that members of presbytery 
who are appointed to supply vacant parishes, 
appear in propria persona, as there are fre- 
quently baptisms or other duties that de- 
mand the services of an ordained minister; 
and expecially on those occasions when 
presbyterial intimations have to be made, 
no cause but one of strong necessity is ad- 
mitted to justify the employment of a sub- 
stitute. 

Every parish must have a church in 
which divine worship may be celebrated. 
The size of a parochial church must be pro- 
portioned to the number of inhabitants, and 
the law has fixed that it shall be capable 
of accommodating two-thirds of the exami- 
nable population, that is, two-thirds of the 
parishioners above twelve years of age. It 
is for the permanent population, however, 
that this provision requires to be made ; for 
if a manufactory or a mining establishment 
should suddenly spring up to occasion, by 
the influx of workmen, a great increase in 
the number of inhabitants, the requisite 
church accommodation must be provided by 
the erection of a chapel, through means of 
voluntary subscription or private munifi- 
cence. The parish church is designed for 
the use of the permanent residents, and the 
amount of accommodation must be provided 
for the whole inhabitants, however much 
dissent may prevail, and even although a 
part of the population consist of Highland- 
ers, who require a Gaelic chapel for them- 
selves. 

The duty of building and repairing a 
parish church devolves upon the heritors 
or proprietors; and the rule usually fol- 



84 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



lowed in apportioning the amount of assess- 
ment on each, in a purely landward parish, 
is, according to the valued rent of his es- 
tate ; but in a parish partly rural, partly 
burghal, according to the real or actual 
rent of the properties. The heritors, when 
convinced of the urgent necessity for repair- 
ing an old or building a new church, may 
assess themselves ; but if they fail to dis- 
charge their legal obligation, it is the duty 
of the presbytery, on the report of compe- 
tent tradesmen, to ordain the necessary 
repairs, or an entirely new building; and 
this decree of the presbytery, sitting in a 
civil capacity, and issued in due form, has 
all the force of law. It is not the pro- 
vince of the ecclesiastical court to interfere 
with the proposed site of the church, with 
the style of its architecture, or with the 
amount of expenditure. They have to 
determine only whether it be sufficient for 
the wants of the population ; and even 
should it be contemplated to remove the 
church from one part of the parish to an- 
other, to the inconvenience of the minister 
and some of the people, the right of deci- 
ding in such a case belongs not to the pres- 
bytery, but to the lords of session, who 
act as commissioners, and by whom a pur- 
pose of removal, if backed by three-fourths 
of the heritors, and the general voice of 
the inhabitants, may be sanctioned. The 
church sittings are distributed according to 
the same rules which determine the pro- 
portion of expense each heritor has to pay 
in the erection or repair of the building. 
The heritors first of all choose their family 
seats. After the patron, the chief heritor 
has the right of choice, and all the rest ac- 
cording to the relative amount of their 
valued rents. Then the area of the church 
is divided in conformity with the same 
rules; different parts are appropriated to 
different heritors, and as the sittings are 
intended for the accommodation of their 
respective tenantry, it is not competent for 
any proprietor to lease them, or to bestow 
them on strangers. Should he sell his 
estate, or portions of his estate, the sittings 
in the church are transferable along with 
the property, either in whole or in part. 
This division of the area of a church is 
sometimes made by the kirk-session or by 
the presbytery ; but as disputes may arise, 
and a single proprietor has it in his power 
to dispute their arrangement, it is usual to 



invite the services of the Sheriff, whose 
judicial distribution carries the force of a 
legal enactment. In landward parishes 
the church accommodation is free, but in 
towns magistrates are entitled to let the sit- 
tings in churches, — only, however, for the 
purpose of levying rent sufficient to keep 
the edifice in proper repair, as well as 
defray the necessary expense of ordinances. 

The custody of the church is, for ordi- 
nary purposes, committed to the minister, 
as without his consent or permission, — 
subject of course to that of the presbytery, 
no worship can be celebrated, and no min- 
ister, whether of a different persuasion, or 
even of the Established Church, can occupy 
the pulpit. But the church, being not 
considered in Scotland as a res sacra, as in 
other countries where such edifices are 
formally consecrated, is used sometimes 
during the week for other purposes than 
those of worship — for meetings of heritors, 
of kirk-sessions, of law courts, or of free- 
holders for municipal or parliamentary 
elections. 

The provision made for parish ministers 
by the law of Scotland consists of a sti- 
pend, arising from a tax on land. It is 
raised on the principle of commuting tithes 
or teinds into a modified charge, — the fifth 
of the land produce, according to a method 
introduced in the reign of Charles I., rati- 
fied by William III., and unalterably es- 
tablished by the treaty of union. To make 
this intelligible, we may observe, that at 
the Reformation the teinds were appro- 
priated by the crown, with the burden of 
providing for the minister. They were in 
after times often bestowed as gifts on pri- 
vate individuals totally unconnected with 
the parish, and who thus came so far in 
place of the crown. These persons re- 
ceived the name of titulars, from being en- 
titled to collect from the heritors the un- 
appropriated teinds ; but they were also 
bound, on demand, to sell to any heritor 
the titularship to his own teinds at nine 
years' purchase. From the collective land- 
produce of a parish, the court of teinds 
determines how much is to be allotted for 
the support of the minister. This gene- 
ral decree having fixed the amount, a com- 
mon agent, appointed by the court, proceeds 
to divide it proportionally among the land- 
holders, and this division, when fully made, 
is sanctioned by the court. It is called a 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



85 



decree of modification , and forms the au- 
thority or rule, according to which alone 
the minister collects his stipend. Accord- 
ing to this system, which has proved a 
very happy settlement of a ausestio vexata, 
the burden falls not on the farmer or tenant, 
as in other countries where tithing exactions 
are made, but on the landholder or titular 
of the teinds, to whom a privilege of relief 
is opened by having them fixed. He may 
value them, that is, to use the words of 
Principal Hill, "lead a proof of their 
present value before the Court of Session, 
and the valuation, once made by authority 
of that court, ascertains the quantity of 
victual, or the sum of money in the name 
of teind, payable out of his lands in all 
time coming." The advantage of this 
system is, that it enables proprietors to 
know exactly the extent of the public 
burdens on their estate, and the teind ap- 
propriated to the maintenance of the min- 
ister, or to educational and other pious 
uses, being sacred and inviolable, is always 
taken into account, and deducted in the 
purchase or sale of lands. But that would 
not be so advantageous to the minister by 
fixing his income at one invariable standard, 
were it not that provision is made for an 
augmentation of stipend every twenty 
years in parishes where there are free 
teinds. This is done by the minister in- 
stituting a process before the judges of the 
Court of Session, who act as commissioners 
for the plantation of kirks, and valuation 
of teinds; and in this process the act 
1808 requires that he shall summon not 
only the heritors of the parish, but also 
the moderator and clerk of presbytery as 
parties. In the event of the minister being 
able to prove a great advance in the social 
and agricultural state of the parish, the 
judges grant his application, allocating 
some additional chalders; but where the 
arguments pleaded appear to them unsatis- 
factory, they give a small addition, or refuse 
altogether. In many parishes, however, 
from the teinds being exhausted, miuisters 
had no prospect of augmentation in the 
ordinary way; but redress was afforded 
through the liberality of Mr. Percival's 
government in 1810, which used their in- 



fluence in procuring an act of parliament 
to be passed, according to which all stipends 
in the Establishment should, out of the ex- 
chequer, be made up to £150. This, 
though but a poor and inadequate provision 
for men of a liberal profession, was felt 
and gratefully received at the time as a 
great boon. But such is the mutability of 
human society, that these stipends which 
in 1810 formed the minimum, are now 
greatly superior to many which at the same 
period were considered, for Scotland, rich 
benefices ; but, which being wholly paid in 
grain, have, through the late agrarian law, 
fallen far below that standard.* The in- 
comes of city ministers are paid wholly 
in money. Besides the stipend, every 
parish minister has a right to a manse or 
parsonage-house, garden, and offices, — the 
style as well as the extent of accommoda- 
tion being generally proportioned to the 
value of the benefice and the character of 
the neighbourhood. According to law, 
the glebe consists of four acres of arable 
land, although, in point of fact, it gene- 
rally exceeds that measure; and, besides, 
most ministers have a grass glebe, sufficient 
for the support of a horse and two cows. 
x\ll these, by a late decision of the Court 
of Session, are exempt from poor rates and 
similar public burdens. Ministers in royal 
burghs are entitled to manses, but those in 
other cities and towns have none. 

There are 963 parish churches, 42 par- 
liamentary churches, in all 1005. In this 
enumeration, collegiate churches are reck- 
oned one parish, There are, besides, a 
great many Chapels of Ease and quoad 
sacra churches, fourteen of which have 
recently been erected into new parishes, in 
terms of Sir James Graham's Act, and 
seventeen additional districts are in the 
course of erection. " In only five parishes 
is the minister chosen by the people; in 
581 he is selected by individual noblemen 
or gentry, in 289 by the crown, in 52 by 
town councils, in 31 by the crown in con- 
junction with nobles or gentry, in 10 by 
universities," &c. 



* A sum of £8 6s. 8d. is generally allowed 
over and above for communion elements. 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



HISTORY 



THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 

BY REV. WILLIAM WILSON, 

DUNDEE. 



The Free Church of Scotland was organ- 
ized as a distinct religious community in 
May, 1843. The General Assembly of 
the National Church was appointed to be 
held in Edinburgh on the 18th day of May 
in that year. When its members had 
all assembled in the ordinary place of meet- 
ing, and her Majesty's Commissioner, ac- 
companied by the principal officers of State 
in Scotland, had taken his place, the Mode- 
rator of Assembly, instead of constituting 
the meeting in the usual form, rose and 
read the following protest, which had been 
previously prepared : — 

Whereas it is an essential doctrine of 
this Church, and a fundamental principle 
in its constitution, as set forth in the Con- 
fession of Faith thereof, in accordance with 
the Word and law of the most Holy God, 
that " there is no other Head of the Church 
but the Lord Jesus Christ" (ch. xxv. sec. 
6) j and that, while God, the supreme 
Lord and King of all the world, hath or- 
dained civil magistrates to be under him 
over the people, for his own glory, and the 
public good, and to this end hath armed 
them with the power of the sword" (ch. 
xxiii. sec. 1) j and while "it is the 
duty of people to pray for magistrates, to 
honour their persons, to pay them tribute 
and other dues, to obey their lawful com- 
mands, and to be subject to their authority 
for conscience' sake," " from which eccle- 
siastical persons are not exempted" (ch. 
xxiii. sec. 4); and while the magistrate 
hath authority, and it is his duty, in the 
exercise of that power which alone is com- 
mitted to him, namely, "the power of the 
i sword," or civil rule, as distinct from "the 



power of the keys," or spiritual authority, 
expressly denied to him, to take order for 
the preservation of purity, peace, and unity 
in the Church, yet " The Lord Jesus, as 
King and Head of His Church, hath 
therein appointed a government in the 
hand of church officers, distinct from the 
civil magistrate" (ch. xxx. sec. 1); which 
government is ministerial, not lordly, and 
to be exercised in consonance with the 
laws of Christ, and with the liberties of 
his people : 

And whereas, according to the said 
Confession, and to the other standards of 
the Church, and agreeably to the Word of 
God, this government of the Church, thus 
appointed by the Lord Jesus, in the hand 
of church officers, distinct from the civil 
magistrate or supreme power of the State, 
and flowing directly from the Head of the 
Church to the office-bearers thereof, to the 
exclusion of the civil magistrate, compre- 
hends, as the objects of it, the preaching 
of the Word, administration of the Sacra- 
ments, correction of manners, the admission 
of the office-bearers of the Church to their 
offices, their suspension and deprivation 
therefrom, the infliction and removal of 
Church censures, and, generally, the whole 
"power of the keys," which, by the said 
Confession, is declared, in conformity with 
Scripture, to have been committed" (ch. 
xxx. sec. 2) to church officers, and which, 
as well as the preaching of the Word and 
the administration of the Sacraments, it is 
likewise thereby declared, that " the civil 
magistrate may not assume to himself" 
(ch. xxiii. sec. 3) : 

And Whereas this jurisdiction and 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



87 



government, since it regards only spiritual 
condition, rights, and privileges, doth not 
interfere with the jurisdiction of secular 
tribunals, whose determinations as to all 
temporalities conferred by the State upon 
the Church, and as to all civil consequences 
attached by law to the decisions of Church 
Courts in matters spiritual, this Church 
hath ever admitted, and doth admit, to be 
exclusive and ultimate, as she hath ever 
given and inculcated implicit obedience 
thereto : 

And whereas the above-mentioned 
essential doctrine and fundamental prin- 
ciple in the constitution of the Church, and 
the government and exclusive jurisdiction 
flowing therefrom, founded on God's Word, 
and set forth in the Confession of Faith 
and other standards of this Church, have 
been, by diverse and repeated Acts of 
Parliament, recognized, ratified, and con- 
firmed ; — inasmuch as — 

(l First, The said Confession itself, con- 
taining the doctrine and principles above 
set forth, was 'ratified and established, and 
voted and approven as the public and 
avowed Confession of this Church/ by the 
fifth Act of the second session of the first 
Parliament of King William and Queen 
Mary, entitled, ' Act ratifying the Confes- 
sion of Faith, and Settling Presbyterian 
Church-Government' (1690, c. 5); to which 
Act the said Confession is annexed, and 
with it incorporated in the statute law of 
this kingdom. 

Second, By an Act passed in the first 
Parliament of King James VL, entituled, 
' Of admission of ministers : of laic patro- 
nages' (1567, c. 7), it is enacted and de- 
clared, ' That the examination and admis- 
sion of ministers within this realm be only 
in the power of the Kirk, now openly and 
publicly professed within the same;' and, 
while the ' presentation of laic patronages' 
was thereby ' reserved to the just and an- 
cient patrons/ it was provided, that, if the 
presentee of a patron should be refused to 
be admitted by the inferior ecclesiastical 
authorities, it should be lawful for the 
patron ' to appeal to the General Assembly 
of the whole realm, by whom the cause 
being decided, shall take end as they decern 
and declare.' 

Third, By an Act passed in the same 
first Parliament, and renewed in the sixth 
Parliament of the said King James VL, 



entituled, ' Anent the jurisdiction of the 
Kirk' (1567, c. 12, fol. edit), the said 
Kirk is declared to have jurisdiction 'in 
the preaching of the true Word of Jesus 
Christ, correction of manners, and adminis- 
tration of the holy sacraments' (1579, c. 
69) ; and it is farther declared, " that 
there be no other jurisdiction ecclesiastical 
acknowledged within this realm, other than 
that which is and shall be within the same 
Kirk, or that flows therefrom, concerning 
the premises ;' which Act, and that last 
before-mentioned, were ratified and appro- 
ven by another Act passed in the year 
1581, entituled, 'Ratification of the liberty 
of the true Kirk of God and religion, with 
confirmation of the laws and Acts made to 
that effect before' (1581, c. 99); which 
other Act, and all the separate Acts therein 
recited, were again revived, ratified, and 
confirmed by an Act of the twelfth Parlia- 
ment of the said King James VL, enti- 
tuled, ' Ratification of the liberty of the 
true Kirk/ &c. (1592, c. 116); which 
said Act (having been repealed in 1662) 
was revived, renewed, and confirmed by 
the before mentioned statute of King Wil- 
liam and Queen Mary (1690, c. 5). 

" Fourth, The said Act of the twelfth 
Parliament of King James VL, ratified 
and approved the General Assemblies, Pro- 
vincial Synods, Presbyteries, and Kirk 
Sessions ' appointed by the Kirk' (1592, 
c. 116), and ' the whole jurisdiction and 
discipline of the same Kirk; cassed and 
annulled ' all and whatsoever acts, laws, 
and statutes, made at any time before the 
day and date thereof, against the liberty 
of the true Kirk, jurisdiction, and disci- 
pline thereof, as the same is used and exer- 
cised within this realm ;' appointed pre- 
sentations to benefices to be directed to 
Presbyteries, ' with full power to give col- 
lation thereupon, and to put order to all 
matters and causes ecclesiastical within 
their bounds, according to the discipline of 
the Kirk; providing the foresaid Presby- 
teries be bound and astricted to receive and 
admit whatsoever qualified minister, pre- 
sented by his majesty or laic patrons' (the 
effect of which proviso and of the reserva- 
tion in the act of the first Parliament of 
King James VL, above-mentioned (1567, 
c. 7), is hereinafter more fully adverted to) ; 
and farther declared that the jurisdiction 
of the sovereign and his courts, as set forth 



88 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



in a previous Act (1584, c. 129), to extend 
over all persons his subjects, and £ in all 
matters/ should ( noways be prejudicial nor 
derogate anything to the privilege that God 
has given to the spiritual office-bearers of 
the Kirk, concerning heads of religion, 
matters of heresy, excommunication, colla- 
tion, or deprivation of ministers, or any 
such like essential censures, grounded and 
having warrant of the Word of God ;' by 
which enactment, declaration, and acknow- 
ledgment, the State recognized and estab- 
lished as a fundamental principle of the 
constitution of the kingdom, that the juris- 
diction of the Church in these matters was 
1 given by God ' to the office-bearers thereof, 
and was exclusive, and free from coercion 
by any tribunals holding power or authority 
from the State or supreme civil magistrate. 

"Fifth. The Parliament holden by 
King Charles II. (1662, c. 1), immediately 
on his restoration to the throne, while it 
repealed the above-recited Act of the 
twelfth Parliament of King James, and 
other relative Acts (1592, c. 116), at the 
same time acknowledged the supreme and 
exclusive nature of the jurisdiction thereby 
recognized to be in the Church, describing 
the said acts as 'Acts by which the sole 
and only power and jurisdiction within this 
Church doth stand in the Church, and in 
the general, provincial, and presbyterial as- 
semblies and kirk-sessions/ and as Acts 
' which may be interpreted to have given 
any Church power, jurisdiction, or govern- 
ment to the office-bearers of the Church, 
their respective meetings, other than that 
which acknowledgeth a dependence upon, 
and subordination to, the sovereign power 
of the King, as supreme/ 

" Sixth. The aforesaid Act of King 
William and Queen Mary (1690, c. 5),— 
on the narrative that their Majesties and 
the estates of Parliament conceived i it to 
be their bounden duty, after the great de- 
liverance that God hath lately wrought for 
this Church and kingdom, in the first place, 
to settle and secure therein the true Pro- 
testant religion, according to the truth of 
God's Word, as it hath of a long time been 
professed within this land; as also the 
government of Christ's Church within this 
nation, agreeable to the Word of God, and 
most conducive to true piety and godliness, 
and the establishing of peace and tranquil- 
lity within this realm/ — besides ratifying 



and establishing as aforesaid the Confession 
of Faith, did also l establish, ratify, and 
confirm the Presbyterian Church govern- 
ment and discipline ; that is to say, the 
government of the Church by Kirk- Ses- 
sions, Presbyteries, Provincial Synods, and 
General Assemblies, ratified and established 
by the 116 Act of James VI., Parliament 
12, anno 1592, intituled, ' Ratification of 
the liberty of the true Kirk/ &c. (1592, 
c. 116), and thereafter received by the gene- 
ral consent of this nation, 'to be the only 
government of Christ's Church within this 
kingdom;' and revived and confirmed the 
said Act of King James VI." 

And whereas not only was the exclu- 
sive and ultimate jurisdiction of the Church 
Courts, in the government of the Church, 
and especially in the particular matters, 
spiritual and ecclesiastical, above-mentioned, 
recognized, and ratified, and confirmed — 
thus necessarily implying the denial of 
power on the part of any secular tribunal, 
holding its authority from the sovereign, to 
review the sentence of the Church Courts 
in regard to such matters, or coerce them 
in the exercise of such jurisdiction ; but all 
such power, and all claim on the part of 
the Sovereign to be considered supreme 
governor over the subjects of this kingdom 
of Scotlaud in causes ecclesiastical and spi- 
ritual, as he is in causes civil and tempo- 
ral, was, after a long-continued struggle, 
finally and expressly repudiated and cast- 
out of the constitution of Scotland, as incon- 
sistent with the Presbyterian Church govern- 
ment established at the Revolution, and 
thereafter unalterably secured by the Treaty 
of Union with Eugland ) by the constitu- 
tion of which latter kingdom, differing in 
this respect from that of Scotland, the 
Sovereign is recognized to be supreme 
governor, "as well in all spiritual and eccle- 
siastical things and causes as temporal ;" 
Thus :— 

"First, the General Assembly having, 
in the year 1582, proceeded to inflict the 
censures of the Church upon Robert Mont- 
gomery, minister of Stirling, for seeking 
to force himself, under a presentation from 
the King, into the archbishopric of Glas- 
gow, contrary to an act of General Assem- 
bly discharging the office of prelatic bishop 
in the Church, and for appealing to the 
secular tribunals against the infliction of 
Church censures by the Church Courts, and 



HISTOEY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



89 



seeking to have these suspended and inter- 
dicted — and having deposed and excommu- 
nicated him, notwithstanding of an interdict 
pronounced by the privy council of Scot- 
land, the then supreme secular court of the 
kingdom — and having at the same time 
declared it to be part of the subsisting dis- 
cipline of the Church that any ministers 
thereof who t should seek any way by the 
civil power to exempt and withdraw them- 
selves from the jurisdiction of the Kirk, or 
procure, obtain, or use any letters or 
charges, &c, to impair, hurt, or stay the 
said jurisdiction, discipline, &c, or to make 
any appellation from the General Assembly 
to stop the discipline or order of the eccle- 
siastical policy or jurisdiction granted by 
God's Word to the office-bearers within the 
said Kirk/ were liable to the highest cen- 
sures of the Church; although their sen- 
tence of excommunication was declared by 
one of the Acts of Parliament of the year 
1584, commonly called the ' Black Acts/ 
to be void, yet ultimately the King and 
Privy Council abandoned their interference. 
Montgomery submitted to the Church 
Courts, and the statute of the twelfth Par- 
liament of King James VI., already men- 
tioned (1592, c. 116), cassed and annulled 
'all and whatsoever acts, laws, and statutes 
made at any time before the day and date 
thereof, against the liberty of the true Kirk, 
jurisdiction, and discipline thereof, as the 
same is used and exercised within this 
realm ? since which enactment, no similar 
interference with the discipline and the 
censures of the Church was ever attempted 
till the year 1841. 

" Second, It having been declared by 
another of the ' Black Acts ' aforesaid 
(1584, c. 129), entitled, ' An Act confirm- 
ing the King's Majesty's royal power over 
all the estates and subjects within this 
realm/ that ' his highness, his heirs and 
successors, by themselves and their coun- 
cils, are, and in time to come shall be, 
judges competent to all persons his High- 
ness' subjects, of whatsoever estate, degree, 
function, or condition that ever they be of, 
spiritual or temporal, in all matters wherein 
they or any of them shall be apprehended, 
summoned, or charged to answer to such 
things as shall be inquired of them by our 
sovereign lord and his council/ it was by 
the said before-mentioned Act of the twelfth 
Parliament of King James VI. (1592, c. 



12 



116), declared that the said Act last above 
mentioned ' shall noways be prejudicial, 
nor derogate any thing to the privilege that 
God has given to the spiritual office-bearers 
of the Kirk, concerning heads of religion, 
matters of heresy, excommunication, colla- 
tion or deprivation of ministers, or any 
such like essential censures, specially 
grounded and having warrant of the Word 
of God. 

" Third, It having been enacted, on the 
establishment of Prelacy in 1612 (1612, 
c. 1), that every minister, at his admission, 
should swear obedience to the Sovereign 
as ' the only lawful supreme governor of 
this realm, as well in matters spiritual and 
ecclesiastical as in things temporal/ the en- 
actment to this effect was repealed on the 
restoration of Presbyterian Church govern- 
ment (1640, c. 7.) 

"Fourth, A like acknowledgment, that 
the Sovereign was ' the only supreme go- 
vernor of this kingdom over all persons 
and in all causes' (1661, c. 11), having 
been, on the second establishment of Pre- 
lacy consequent on the restoration of King 
Charles II., required as part of the ordi- 
nary oath of allegiance, and having been 
also inserted into the 'Test Oath' (1681, 
c. 6), so tyrannically attempted to be forced 
on the subjects of this realm during the 
reigns of Charles II. and James II., and 
the same doctrine of the King's supremacy 
in all causes, spiritual and ecclesiastical, as 
well as temporal and civil, having farther 
been separately and specially declared by 
the first Act of the second Parliament of 
the said King Charles II. (1669, c. 1), en- 
tituled, 'Act, asserting his Majesty's su- 
premacy over all persons and in all causes 
ecclesiastical,' whereby it was 'enacted, 
asserted, and declared, that his Majesty 
hath the supreme authority and supremacy 
over all persons, and in all causes ecclesi- 
astical, within this kingdom' (Estates, 
1689, c. 18), — the Estates of this kingdom, 
at the era of the Revolution, did set forth, 
as the second article of the 'Grievances' 
of which they demanded redress under 
their ' Claim of Bight/ ' That the first Act 
of Parliament, 1669, is inconsistent with 
the establishment of Church-government 
now desired, and ought to be abrogated.' 

"Fifth, In compliance with this claim, 
an Act was immediately thereafter passed 
(1690, c. 1), of which the tenor follows: 



90 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



— ' Our Sovereign Lord and Lady the King 
and Queen's Majesties, taking into their 
consideration that, by the second article of 
the G-rievances presented to their Majesties 
by the Estates of this kingdom, it is de- 
clared, that the first Act of the second 
Parliament of King Charles the Second, 
entituled, ' Act asserting his Majesty's su- 
premacy over all persons and in all causes 
ecclesiastical/ is inconsistent with the 
establishment of the Church government 
now desired, and ought to be abrogated : 
Therefore their Majesties, with advice and 
consent of the estates of Parliament, do 
hereby abrogate, rescind, and annul the 
foresaid Act, and declares the same, in the 
whole heads, articles, and clauses thereof, 
to be of no force or effect in all time com- 
ing/ In accordance also therewith, the 
oath of allegiance above-mentioned, requir- 
ing an acknowledgment of the King's 
sovereignty ' in all causes' (1689, c. 2), 
was done away, and that substituted which 
is now in use, simply requiring a promise 
to be ' faithful, and bear true allegiance' to 
the Sovereign ; and all preceding laws and 
Acts of Parliament were rescinded, ' in so 
far as they impose any other oaths of alle- 
giance and supremacy, declarations and 
tests, excepting the oath de fideli.' By 
the which enactments, any claim on the 
part of the Sovereigns of Scotland to be 
supreme rulers in spiritual and ecclesias- 
tical, as well as in temporal and civil causes, 
or to possess any power, by themselves or 
their judges holding commission from 
them, to exercise jurisdiction in matters or 
causes spiritual and ecclesiastical, was repu- 
diated and excluded from the constitution, 
as inconsistent with the Presbyterian 
Church-government then established, and 
secured under the statutes then and subse- 
quently passed, ' to continue, without any 
alteration, to the people of this land, in all 
succeeding generations' " (1706, c. 6.) 

And whereas, diverse civil rights and 
privileges were, by various statutes of the 
Parliament of Scotland, prior to the Union 
with England, secured to this Church, and 
certain civil consequences attached to the 
sentences of the Courts thereof, which were 
farther directed to be aided and made 
effectual by all magistrates, judges, and 
officers of the law ; and in particular : — 

" It was, by an Act of the twelfth Par- 
liament of King James VI. (1592, c. 117), 



enacted, 'That all and whatsoever sen- 
tences of deprivation, either pronounced 1 
already, or that happens to be pronounced 
hereafter by the Presbytery, Synodal or 
General Assemblies, against any parson or 
vicar within their jurisdiction, provided 
since his Highness' coronation, is, and shall 
be in repute in all judgments, a just cause 
to seclude the person before provided, and 
then deprived, from all profits, commodi- 
ties, rents, and duties of the said parsonage 
and vicarage, or benefice of cure; and that 
either by way of action, exception, or 
reply ; and that the said sentence of depri- 
vation shall be a sufficient cause to make 
the said benefice to vaike thereby. 

"As also, by the fifth Act of the first 
Parliament of King William and Queen 
Mary (1690, c. 5), it was enacted, 'that 
whatsoever minister, being convened before 
the said general meeting, and representa- 
tives of the Presbyterian ministers or 
elders, or the visitors to be appointed by 
them, shall either prove contumacious for 
not appearing, or be found guilty, and 
shall be therefore censured, whether by 
suspension or deposition, they shall, ipso 
facto, be suspended from, or deprived of 
their stipends and benefices/ 

"As also, by an Act passed in the fourth 
session of the first Parliament of King 
William and Queen Mary (1693, c. 22), 
entituled an ' Act for settling the peace and 
quiet of the Church,' it was provided, that 
no minister should be admitted, unless he 
owned the Presbyterian Church govern- 
ment, as settled by the last recited Act, 
' to be the only government of this Church/ 
' and that he will submit thereto, and con- 
cur therewith, and never endeavour, di- 
rectly or indirectly, the prejudice or sub- 
version thereof;' and it was statute or 
ordained, 'that the lords of their Majesties' 
Privy Council, and all other magistrates, 
judges, and officers of justice, give all due 
assistance for making the sentences and 
censures of the Church, and judicatories 
thereof, to be obeyed, or otherwise effectual 
as accords :' 

" As also, by an Act passed in the fifth 
session of the foresaid Parliament (1695, 
c. 22), entituled an 'Act against intruding 
into churches without a legal call and ad- 
mission thereto/ on the narrative, 'that 
ministers and preachers, their intruding 
themselves into vacant churches, possessing 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



91 



of manses and benefices, and exercising any 
part of the ministerial function in parishes, 
without a legal call and admission to the 
said churches, is an high contempt of the 
law, and of a dangerous consequence, tend- 
ing to perpetual schism ;' such intrusion, 
without an orderly call from the heritors 
and elders — the right of presentation by 
patrons being at this time abolished — and 
' legal admission from the Presbytery/ was 
prohibited under certain penalties; and the 
lords of the Privy Council were recom- 
mended to remove all who had so intruded, 
and ' to take some effectual course for stop- 
ping and hindering those ministers who 
are, or shall be hereafter deposed by the 
judicatories of the present Established 
Church, from preaching or exercising any 
act of their ministerial function, which' 
(the said statute declares) ' they cannot do 
after they are deposed, without a high 
contempt of the authority of the Church, 
and of the laws of the kingdom establishing 
the same.' 

And whereas, at the Union between the 
two kingdoms, the Parliament of Scotland, 
being determined that the " true Protestant 
religion/' as then professed, "with the 
worship, discipline, and government of 
this Church, should be effectually and un- 
alterably secured/' did in their act appoint- 
ing commissioners to treat with commis- 
sioners from the Parliament of England 
(1705, c. 4), as to an union of the king- 
doms, provide " That the said commision- 
ers shall not treat of or concerning any 
alteration of the worship, discipline, and 
government of the Church of this king- 
dom, as now by law established ;" and did, 
by another Act, commonly called the Act 
of Security (1706, c. 6), and entituled, 
"Act for securing the Protestant religion 
and Presbyterian Church government/' 
| establish and confirm the said true Pro- 
testant religion, and the worship, disci- 
pline, and government of this Church, to 
continue without any alteration to the 
people of this land in all succeeding gene- 
rations /' and did " for ever confirm the 
fifth Act of the first Parliament of King 
William and Queen Mary" (1690, c. 5), 
entituled, " Act ratifying the Confession of 
Faith, and settling Presbyterian Church 
government, and the whole other Acts of 
Parliament relating thereto;" and did 
W expressly provide and declare, That the 



foresaid true Protestant religion, contained 
in the above-mentioned Confession of Faith, 
with the form and purity of worship pre- 
sently in use within this Church, and its 
Presbyterian Church government and dis- 
cipline, that is to say, the government of 
the Church by Kirk-Sessions, Presbyteries, 
Provincial Synods, and General Assem- 
blies, all established by the foresaid Acts 
of Parliament, pursuant to the Claim of 
Right, shall remain and continue unalter- 
able ; and that the said Presbyterian govern- 
ment shall be the only government of the 
Church within the kingdom of Scotland :" 
And farther, " for the greater security of 
the same," did, inter alia, enact, "That, 
after the decease of her present Majesty, 
the sovereign succeeding to her in the royal 
government of the kingdom of Great 
Britain, shall, in all time coming, at his or 
her accession to the crown, swear and sub- 
scribe, That they shall inviolably maintain 
and preserve the foresaid settlement of the 
true Protestant religion, with the govern- 
ment, worship, discipline, rights, and privi- 
leges of this Church, as above established 
by the laws of this kingdom, in prosecu- 
tion of the Claim of Right;" which said 
Act of Security, " with the establishment 
therein contained," it was specially thereby 
enacted, " should be held and observed in 
all time coming as a fundamental and es- 
sential condition of any treaty or union to 
be concluded betwixt the two kingdoms, 
without any alteration thereof, or deroga- 
tion thereto, in any sort, for ever :" It 
being farther thereby provided, that " the 
said Act and settlement therein contained 
shall be inserted and repeated in any Act 
of Parliament that shall pass, for agreeing 
and concluding the foresaid treaty of union 
betwixt the two kingdoms; and that the 
same shall be therein expressly declared 
to be a fundamental and essential condition 
of the said treaty of union in all time 
coming." In terms of which enactment, 
this Act of Security was inserted in the 
Treaty of Union between the two king- 
doms, as a fundamental condition thereof, 
and was also inserted in the Act (1706, 
c. 7) of the Parliament of Scotland rati- 
fying and approving of the said Treaty, 
and likewise in the corresponding Act of 
the Parliament of England, entituled, 
" An Act (5 Anne, c. 8) for a Union of the 
two kingdoms of England and Scotland :" 



92 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



And whereas, at the date of the said 
Treaty of Union, the right of patrons to 
present to churches stood abolished by 
statute, after the following manner — viz., 
By the Act of King William and Queen 
Mary (1690, c. 5), herein-before-men- 
tioned, the Act of James VI. (1592, c. 
116), also herein-before-mentioned, then 
standing totally repealed, was only revived, 
subject to the express exception of "that 
part of it relating to patronages," which 
consequently remained repealed and un- 
restored, and "which," the Act (1690, 
c. 5), farther bore, " is hereafter to be taken 
into consideration." The part of the said 
Act thus left repealed and unrevived, was 
the provision, that Presbyteries " be bound 
and astricted to receive whatsoever quali- 
fied minister presented by his Majesty or 
laic patrons," — a provision which, while it 
subsisted, was held to leave the Church 
free to proceed in the collation of ministers, 
"according to the discipline of the Kirk;" 
and non-compliance with which implied 
only a forfeiture of the fruits of the par- 
ticular benefice, which it did by virtue of 
the immediately succeeding statute (1592, 
c. 117), whereby it was enacted, that, " in 
case the Presbytery refuses to admit any 
qualified minister presented to them by 
the patron, it shall be lawful to the patron 
to retain the whole fruits of the benefice in 
his own hands." This subject having ac- 
cordingly been thereafter taken into con- 
sideration in the same session of Parlia- 
ment, was definitively settled by an Act 
(1690, c. 23), entituled, " Act concerning 
Patronages," whereby the right of presen- 
tation by patrons was " annulled and made 
i void," and a right was vested in the heritors 
I and elders of the respective parishes " to 
I name and propose the person to the whole 
congregation, to be approven or disap- 
proven by them," the disapproves giving 
in their reasons " to the effect the affair 
may be cognosced upon by the Presbytery 
of the bounds, at whose judgment, and by 
whose determination" (as is declared by 
the said Act), " the calling and entry of a 
particular minister is to be ordered and 
concluded." 

And whereas the said Act last mentioned 
formed part of the settlement of the Pres- 
byterian Church government effected at the 
Revolution, and was one of the " Acts re- 
lating thereto," and to the statute (1690, 



c. 5), especially confirmed and secured by 
the Act of Security and Treaty of Union ; 
yet, notwithstanding thereof, and of the 
said Treaty, the Parliament of Great Bri- 
tain, by an Act passed in the 10th of 
Queen Anne (10 Anne, c. 12), repealed J 
the said Act, "in so far as relates to the j 
presentation of ministers by heritors and 
others therein mentioned," and restored to J 
patrons the right of presentation, and en- j 
acted that Presbyteries should be "obliged ! 
to receive and admit in the same manner, 
such qualified person or persons, minister j 
or ministers, as shall be presented by the j 
respective patrons, as the persons or minis- j 
ters, presented before the making of this 
Act ought to have been admitted :" 

And whereas, while this Church pro- 
tested against the passing of the above- j 
mentioned Act of Queen Anne, as "con- 
trary to the constitution of the Church, so 
well secured by the late Treaty of Union, 
and solemnly ratified by Acts of Parlia- | 
ment in both kingdoms," and for more I 
than seventy years thereafter uninterrupt- 
edly sought for its repeal, she at the same 
time maintained, and practically exercised, 
without question or challenge from any 
quarter, the jurisdiction of her Courts to 
determine ultimately and exclusively, under i 
what circumstances they would admit can- 
didates into the office of the holy minis- 
try, or constitute the pastoral relationship 
between minister and people, and, gene- 
rally, " to order and conclude the entry of 
particular ministers :" 

And whereas, in particular, this Church 
required, as necessary to the admission of 
a minister to the charge of souls, that he 
should have received a call from the people 
over whom he was to be appointed, and 
did not authorize or permit any one so to 
be admitted till such call had been sustained 
by the Church Courts, and did, before and 
subsequent to the passing of the said Act 
of Queen Anne, declare it to be a funda- 
mental principle of the Church, as set forth 
in her authorized standards, and particu- 
larly in the Second Book of Discipline (ch. 
iii. sec. 5), repeated by Act of Assembly 
in 1638, that no pastor be intruded upon 
any congregation contrary to the will of 
the people : 

And whereas, in especial, this funda- 
mental principle was, by the 14th Act of 
the General Assembly, 1736 (c. 14), re- 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



93 



declared, and directed to be attended to in 
the settlement of vacant parishes, but 
having been, after some time, disregarded 
in the administration of the Church, it was 
once more re-declared by the General As- 
sembly, 1834 (c. 9), who established cer- 
tain specific provisions and regulations for 
carrying it into effect in time to come : 

And whereas, by a judgment pronounced 
by the House of Lords, in 1839,* it was, 
for the first time, declared to be illegal to 
refuse to take on trial, and to reject the 
presentee of a patron (although a layman, 
and merely a candidate for admission to 
the office of the ministry), in consideration 
of this fundamental principle of the Church, 
and in respect of the dissent of the con- 
gregation ; to the authority of which judg- 
ment, so far as disposing of civil interests, 
this Church implicitly bowed, by at once 
abandoning all claim to the jus devolutum, 
— to the benefice, for any pastor to be set- 
tled by her, — and to all other civil right 
or privilege which might otherwise have 
been competent to the Church or her 
Courts; and anxiously desirous, at the same 
time, of avoiding collision with the Civil 
Courts, she so far suspended the operation 
of the above-mentioned Act of Assembly, 
as to direct all cases, in which dissents 
should be lodged by a majority of the con- 
gregation, to be reported to the General 
Assembly, in the hope that a way might 
be opened up to her for reconciling with 
the civil rights declared by the House of 
Lords, adherence to the above-mentioned 
fundamental principle, which she could not 
violate or abandon, by admitting to the 
holy office of the ministry a party not 
having, in her conscientious judgment, a 
legitimate call thereto, or by intruding a 
pastor on a reclaiming congregation con- 
trary to their will ; and farther, addressed 
herself to the Government and the Legis- 
lature for such an alteration of the law 
(as for the first time now interpreted), 
touching the temporalities belonging to 
the Church (which alone she held the 
decision of the House of Lords to be 
capable of affecting or regulating), as might 
prevent a separation between the cure of 
souls and the benefice thereto attached : 

And whereas, although during the cen- 
tury which elapsed after the passing of the 



* Auchterarder Case, 1839. 



said Act of Queen Anne, Presbyteries re- 
peatedly rejected the presentees of patrons 
on grounds undoubtedly ultra vires of the 
Presbyteries, as having reference to the 
title of the patron or the validity of com- 
peting presentations, and which were held 
by the Court of Session to be contrary to 
law, and admitted others to the pastoral 
office in the parishes presented to, who 
had no presentation or legal title to the 
benefice, the said Court, even in such cases, 
never attempted or pretended to direct or 
coerce the Church Courts in the exercise 
of their functions in regard to the collation 
of ministers, or other matters acknow- 
ledged by the State to have been conferred 
on the Church, not by the State, but by 
God himself. On the contrary, they 
limited their decrees to the regulation and 
disposal of the temporalities which were 
derived from the State, and which, as the 
proper subjects of "actions civil," were 
within the province assigned to the Court 
of Session, by the Constitution refusing to 
interfere with the peculiar functions and 
exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the 
Church. Thus — 

" In the case of Auchtermuchty,-)- where 
the Presbytery had wrongfully admitted 
another than the patron's presentee, the 
Court found, ' That the right to a stipend 
is a civil right; and there/ore that the 
Court have power to cognosce and deter- 
mine upon the legality of the admission of 
ministers in hunc ejfectum, whether the 
person admitted shall have right to the 
stipend or not; and simply decided, that 
the patron was entitled to retain the stipend 
in his own hands/ 

" So also, the same course was followed 
in the cases of Culross, Lanark, and 
Forbes; J in reference to one of which 
(that of Lanark), the Government of the 
country, on behalf of the Crown, in which 
the patronage was vested, recognized the 
retention of stipend by the patron, as the 
only competent remedy for a wrongful re- 
fusal to admit his presentee; the Secretary 
of State having, in a letter to the Lord 
Advocate of Scotland, (January 17, 1752,) 
signified the pleasure of his Majesty, 
' directing and ordering his lordship to do 



t Moncrieff ». Maxton, Feb. 15, 1735. 

X Cochrane v. Stoddart, June 26, 1751. Dick 
v. Carmichael, March 2, 1753. Forbes v. M' Wil- 
liam, February, 1762. 



94 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



everything necessary and competent by 
law, for asserting and taking benefit in the 
present case of the said right and privilege 
of patrons by the law of Scotland to retain 
the fruits of the benefice in their own hands 
till their presentee is admitted.' 

" So farther, in the before-mentioned 
case of Culross,* the Court refused, ' as in- 
competent/ a bill of advocation presented 
to them by the patron, for the purpose of 
staying the admission by the Presbytery of 
another than his presentee. 

" So likewise, in the case of Dunse,f the 
Court would not interfere in regard to a 
conclusion to prohibit the Presbytery 'to 
moderate in a call at large, or settle any 
other man/ because ' that was interfering 
with the power of ordination, or internal 
policy of the Church, with which the Lords 
thought they had nothing to do.' 

" And so, in the same manner, in the 
case of Unst,J where the party concluded 
to have the Presbytery ordained to proceed 
to the presentee's settlement, as well as to 
have the validity of the presentation and 
the right to the stipend declared, the Court 
limited their decree to the civil matters of 
the presentation and stipend." 

Therefore, the General Assembly, while, 
as above set forth, they fully recognise the 
absolute jurisdiction of the Civil Courts in 
relation to all matters whatsoever of a civil 
nature, and especially in relation to all the 
temporalities conferred by the State upon 
the Church, and the civil consequences at- 
tached by law to the decisions, in matters 
spiritual, of the Church Courts, — Do, in 
name and on behalf of this Church, and 
of the nation and people of Scotland, and 
under the sanction of the several statutes, 
and the Treaty of Union herein before re- 
cited, claim, as of right, That she shall 
freely possess and enjoy her liberties, 
government, discipline, rights, and privi- 
leges, according to law, especially for the 
defence of the spiritual liberties of her 
people, and that she shall be protected 
therein from the foresaid unconstitutional 
and illegal encroachments of the said Court 
of Session, and her people secured in their 



* Cochrane, November 19, 1748. 

t Hay v. Presbytery of Dunse, February 26, 
1749. 

t Lord Dundas v. Presbytery of Shetland, 
May 15, 1795. 



Christian and constitutional rights and 
liberties. 

And they declare, that they cannot, 
in accordance with the Word of God, the 
authorized and ratified standards of this 
Church, and the dictates on their conscien- 
ces, intrude ministers on reclaiming con- 
gregations, or carry on the government of 
Christ's Church, subject to the coercion 
attempted by the Court of Session as above 
set forth ; and, that, at the risk and hazard 
of suffering the loss of the secular benefits 
conferred by the State, and the public ad- 
vantages of an Establishment, they must, 
as by God's grace they will", refuse so to 
do : for, highly as they estimate these, they 
cannot put them in competition with the in- 
alienable liberties of a Church of Christ, 
which, alike by their duty and allegiance 
to their Head and King, and by their or- 
dination vows, they are bound to maintain, 
" notwithstanding of whatsoever trouble or 
persecution may arise." 

And they protest, that all and what- 
soever Acts of the Parliament of Great 
Britain, passed without the consent of this 
Church and nation, in alteration of, or de- 
rogation to the aforesaid government, dis- 
cipline, right, and privileges of this Church 
(which were not allowed to be treated of 
by the Commissioners for settling the terms 
of the union between the two kingdoms, 
but were secured by antecedent stipulation, 
provided to be inserted, and inserted in the 
Treaty of Union, as an unalterable and 
fundamental condition thereof, and so re- 
served from the cognizance and power of the 
federal Legislature created by the said 
Treaty), as also, all and whatsoever senten- 
ces of Courts in contravention of the same 
government, discipline, right, and privi- 
leges, are, and shall be, in themselves void 
and null, and of no legal force or effect ; 
and that, while they will accord full sub- 
mission to all such acts and sentences, in 
so far — though in so far only — as these 
may regard civil rights and privileges, 
whatever may be their opinion of the 
justice or legality of the same, their said 
submission shall not be deemed an acqui- 
escence therein, but that it shall be free to 
the members of this Church, or their suc- 
cessors, at any time hereafter, when there 
shall be a prospect of obtaining justice, to 
claim the restitution of such civil rights 
and privileges, and temporal benefits and 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



95 



endowments, as for the present they may- 
be compelled to yield up, in order to pre- 
serve to their office-bearers the free exer- 
cise of their spiritual government and 
discipline, and to their people the liberties, of 
which respectively it has been attempted, so 
contrary to law and justice, to deprive them. 
And, finally, the General Assembly 
call the Christian people of this kingdom, 
and all the Churches of the Reformation 
throughout the world, who hold the great 
doctrine of the sole Headship of the Lord 
Jesus, over his Church, to witness, that it 
is for their adherence to that doctrine, as 
set forth in their Confession of Faith, and 
ratified by the laws of this kingdom, and 
for the maintenance by them of the juris- 
diction of the office-bearers, and the free- 
dom and privileges of the members of the 
Church from that doctrine flowing, that 
this Church is subjected to hardship, and 
that the rights so sacredly pledged and 
secured to her are put in peril ; and they 
especially invite all the office-bearers and 
members of this Church, who are willing 
to suffer for their allegiance to their adorable 
King and Head, to stand by the Church, 
and by each other, in defence of the doc- 
trine aforesaid, and of the liberties and 
privileges, whether of office-bearers or 
people, which rest upon it ; and to unite in 
supplication to Almighty God, that he 
would be pleased to turn the hearts of the 
rulers of this kingdom, to keep unbroken 
the faith pledged to this Church, in former 
days, by statutes and solemn treaty, and 
the obligations, come under to God himself, 
to preserve and maintain the government 
and discipline of this Church in accordance 
with his Word; or otherwise, that He 
would give strength to this Church — office- 
bearers and people — to endure resignedly 
the loss of the temporal benefits of an 
Establishment, and the personal sufferings 
and sacrifices to which they may be called, 
and would also inspire them with zeal and 
energy to promote the advancement of His 
Son's kingdom, in whatever condition it 
may be His will to place them ; and that, 
in His own good time, He would restore 
to them these benefits, the fruits of the 
struggles and sufferings of their fathers in 
times past in the same cause ; and, there- 
after, give them grace to employ them 
more effectually than hitherto they have 
done for the manifestation of His glory. 



We, the undersigned ministers, and 
elders, chosen as commissioners to the 
General Assembly of the Church of Scot- 
land, indicted to meet this day, but pre- 
cluded from holding the said Assembly by 
reason of the circumstances hereinafter set 
forth, in consequence of which a Free As- 
sembly of the Church of Scotland, in ac- 
cordance with the laws and constitution of 
the said Church, cannot at this time be 
holden — 

Considering that the Legislature, by 
their rejection of the Claim of Right 
adopted by the last General Assembly of 
the said Church, and their refusal to give 
redress and protection against the jurisdic- 
tion assumed, and the coercion of late re- 
peatedly attempted to be exercised over the 
Courts of the Church in matters spiritual 
by the Civil Courts, have recognized and 
fixed the conditions of the Church Estab- 
lishment, as henceforward to subsist in 
Scotland, to be such as these have been 
pronounced and declared by the said Civil 
Courts in their several recent decisions, in 
regard to matters spiritual and ecclesias- 
tical, whereby it has been held inter 
alia, — 

" First, That the Courts of the Church 
by law established, and members thereof, 
are liable to be coerced by the Civil Courts 
in the exercise of their spiritual functions ; 
and in particular in the admission to the 
office of the holy ministry, and the consti- 
tution of the pastoral relation, and that 
they are subject to be compelled to intrude 
ministers on reclaiming congregations in 
opposition to the fundamental principles 
of the Church, and their views of the 
Word of God, and to the liberties of 
Christ's people. 

" Second, That the said Civil Courts 
have power to interfere with and interdict 
the preaching of the Gospel and adminis- 
tration of ordinances as authorised and 
enjoined by the Church Courts of the 
Establishment. 

"Third, That the said Civil Courts 
have power to suspend spiritual censures 
pronounced by the Church Courts of the 
Establishment against ministers and pro- 
bationers of the Church, and to interdict 
their execution as to spiritual effects, func- 
tions, and privileges. 

"Fourth, That the said Civil Courts 
have power to reduce and set aside the 



96 



HISTORY OP THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



sentences of the Church Courts of the 
Establishment deposing ministers from the 
office of the holy ministry, and depriving 
probationers of their license to preach the 
G-ospel, with reference to the spiritual 
status, functions, and privileges, of such 
ministers and probationers — restoring them 
to the spiritual office and status of which 
the Church Courts had deprived them. 

"Fifth, That the said Civil Courts have 
power to determine on the right to sit as 
members of the supreme and other judica- 
tories of the Church by law established, 
and to issue interdicts against sitting and 
voting therein, irrespective of the judg- 
ment and determination of the said judi- 
catories. 

" Sixth, That the said Civil Courts have 
power to supersede the majority of a 
Church Court of the Establishment, in re- 
gard to the exercise of its spiritual func- 
tions as a Church Court, and to authorize 
the minority to exercise the said functions, 
in opposition to the Court itself, and to the 
superior judicatories of the Establishment. 

" Seventh, That the said Civil Courts 
have power to stay processes of discipline 
pending before Courts of the Church by 
law established, and to interdict such 
Courts from proceeding therein. 

"Eighth, That no pastor of a congrega- 
tion can be admitted into the Church 
Courts of the Establishment, and allowed 
to rule, as well as to teach, agreeably to 
the institution of the office by the Head of 
the Church, nor to sit in any of the judi- 
catories of the Church, inferior or supreme 
— and that no additional provision can be 
made for the exercise of spiritual discipline 
among the members of the Church, though 
not affecting any patrimonial interests, and 
no alteration introduced in the state of 
pastoral superintendence and spiritual dis- 
cipline in any parish ; without the sanction 
of a Civil Court. 

"All which jurisdiction and power on 
the part of the said Civil Courts severally 
above specified, whatever proceeding may 
have given occasion to its exercise, is, in 
our opinion, in itself inconsistent with 
Christian liberty, and with the authority 
which the Head of the Church hath con- 
ferred on the Church alone/ ; 

And farther considering, that a General 
Assembly, composed, in accordance with 
the laws and fundamental principles of the 



Church, in part of commissioners them- 
selves admitted without the sanction of the 
Civil Court, or chosen by Presbyteries 
composed in part of members not having 
that sanction, cannot be constituted as an 
Assembly of the Establishment without 
disregarding the law and the legal condi- 
tions of the same as now fixed and de- 
clared ; 

And farther considering, that such 
commissioners as aforesaid would, as 
members of an Assembly of the Estab- 
lishment, be liable to be interdicted from 
exercising their functions, and to be sub- 
jected to civil coercion at the instance of 
any individual having interest, who might 
apply to the Civil Courts for that purpose; 

And considering farther, that civil coer- 
cion has already been in divers instances 
applied for and used, whereby certain com- 
missioners returned to the Assembly this 
day appointed to have been holden, have 
been interdicted from claiming their seats, 
and from sitting and voting therein; and 
certain Presbyteries have been, by interdicts 
directed against their members, prevented 
from freely choosing commissioners to the 
said Assembly, whereby the freedom of 
such Assembly, and the liberty of election 
thereto, has been forcibly obstructed and 
taken away ; 

And farther considering, that, in 
these circumstances, a free Assembly of the 
Church of Scotland, by law established, 
cannot at this time be holden, and that an 
Assembly, in accordance with the funda- 
mental principles of the Church, cannot be 
constituted in connection with the State 
without violating the conditions which must 
now, since the rejection by the Legislature 
of the Church's Claim of Right, be held 
to be the conditions of the Establishment; 

And considering that, while hereto- 
fore, as members of Church judicatories 
ratified by law and recognized by the con- 
stitution of the kingdom, we held ourselves 
entitled and bound to exercise and maintain 
the jurisdiction vested in these judicatories 
with the sanction of the Constitution, not- 
withstanding the decrees as to matters spi- 
ritual and ecclesiastical of the Civil Courts, 
because we could not see that the State had 
required submission thereto as a condition 
of the Establishment, but, on the contrary, 
were satisfied that the State, by the Acts 
of the Parliament of Scotland, for ever and 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



97 



unalterably secured to this nation by the 
Treaty of Union, had repudiated any power 
in the Civil Courts to pronounce such de- 
crees, we are now constrained to acknow- 
ledge it to be the mind and will of the 
State, as recently declared, that such sub- 
mission should and does form a condition 
of the Establishment, and of the possession 
of the benefits thereof; and that as we 
cannot, without committing what we believe 
to be sin — in opposition to God's law — in 
disregard of the honour and authority of 
Christ's Crown, and in violation of our own 
solemn vows — comply with this condition, 
we cannot in conscience continue connected 
with it, and retain the benefits of an Es- 
tablishment to which such condition is 
attached. 

We, therefore, the Ministers and 
Elders foresaid, on this the first occasion 
since the rejection by the Legislature of the 
Church's Claim of Right, when the com- 
missioners chosen from throughout the 
bounds of the Church to the General As- 
sembly appointed to have been this day 
holden are convened together, DO protest, 
that the conditions foresaid, while we deem 
them contrary to, and subversive of the 
settlement of church-government effected 
at the Revolution, and solemnly guaranteed 
by the Act of Security and Treaty of Union, 
are also at variance with God's Word, in 
opposition to the doctrines and fundamental 
principles of the Church of Scotland, in- 
consistent with the freedom essential to the 
right constitution of a Church of Christ, 
and incompatible with the government 
which He, as the Head of his Church, hath 
therein appointed distinct from the civil 
magistrate. 

And we farther protest, that any As- 
sembly constituted in submission to the 
conditions now declared to be law, and 
under the civil coercion which has been 
brought to bear on the election of commis- 
sioners to the Assembly this day appointed 
to have been holden, and on the Commis- 
sioners chosen thereto, is not, and shall not 
be* deemed, a lawful and free Assembly of 
the Church of Scotland, according to the 
original and fundamental principles thereof; 
and that the Claim, Declaration, and Pro- 
test, of the General Assembly which con- 
vened at Edinburgh in May, 1842, as the 
Act of a free and lawful Assembly of the 
said Church, shall be holden as setting 



13 



forth the true constitution of the said 
Church ; and that the said Claim, along 
with the laws of the Church now subsist- 
ing, shall in nowise be affected by whatso- 
ever acts and proceedings of any Assembly 
constituted under the conditions now de- 
clared to be the law, and in submission to 
the coercion now imposed on the Establish- 
ment. 

And, finally, while firmly asserting the 
right and duty of the civil magistrate to 
maintain and support an establishment of 
religion in accordance with God's Word, 
and reserving to ourselves and our success- 
ors to strive by all lawful means, as oppor- 
tunity shall in God's good providence be 
offered, to secure the performance of this 
duty agreeably to the Scriptures, and in 
implement of the statutes of the kingdom 
of Scotland, and the obligations of the 
Treaty of Union as understood by us and 
our ancestors, but acknowledging that we 
do not hold ourselves at liberty to retain 
the benefits of the Establishment while we 
cannot comply with the conditions now to 
be deemed thereto attached — we protest, 
that in the circumstances in which we are 
placed, it is, and shall be lawful for us, and 
such other commissioners chosen to the 
Assembly appointed to have been this day 
holden as may concur with us, to withdraw 
to a separate place of meeting, for the pur- 
pose of taking steps for ourselves and all 
who adhere to us — maintaining with us the 
Confession of Faith, and Standards of the 
Church of Scotland, as heretofore under- 
stood — for separating in an orderly way 
from the Establishment; and thereupon 
adopting such measures as may be compe- 
tent to us, in humble dependence on God's 
grace and the aid of the Holy Spirit, for 
the advancement of His glory, the exten- 
sion of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour, 
and the administration of the affairs of 
Christ's house, according to his Holy Word; 
and we do now, for the purpose foresaid, 
withdraw accordingly, humbly and solemnly 
acknowledging the hand of the Lord in the 
things which have come upon us, because 
of our manifold sins, and the sins of this 
Church and nation ; but, at the same time, 
with an assured conviction, that we are not 
responsible for any consequences that may 
follow from this our enforced separation 
from an Establishment which we loved and 
prized — through interference with con- 



98 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



science, the dishonour done to Christ's 
crown, and the rejection of his sole and 
supreme authority as King in his Church. 



After reading the above document, the 
Moderator and other Members of Assembly, 
together with those who adhered to the 
views and principles embodied in the Pro- 
test, withdrew to another place of meeting, 
and were constituted as the Free Church of 
Scotland. They elected Dr. Chalmers as 
their moderator, and proceeded with the 
business before them according to the usual 
forms. 

The Free Church originated nothing; it 
adopted no new article of faith , it organ- 
ized no new ecclesiastical constitution ; it 
prescribed no new forms of worship. The 
ecclesiastical laws — the Confession of Faith 
and Catechisms — the form of Church-Go- 
vernment — the Ritual of Worship, which 
had been received and observed in the 
National Church, were all retained as they 
were, not by any specific enactment to that 
effect, but in virtue of the position the Free 
Church had been forced to assume. In 
fact, though dis-established, they held them- 
selves to be the true National Church of 
the Reformation — the church which had 
hitherto been protected and supported by 
the State, and to which the great bulk of 
the population of Scotland belonged. The 
Free Church abandoned nothing but the 
endowments which the State had conferred; 
and its ministers abandoned these not be- 
cause they had changed their views of the 
relation which ought to subsist between 
Church and State, or adopted the opinion 
that it was unlawful to receive the pay of 
the State, but solely because the State, 
through its Parliament and the decrees of 
its Civil Courts, had essentially changed 
the conditions under which the Establish- 
ment had hitherto acted. The Ministry, 
Eldership, and Communion of the Free 
Church thus consisted, originally, exclu- 
sively of those who had occupied a similar 
position in the Establishment. They did 
not regard themselves as a Church newly 
organized and instituted. They necessarily 
assigned this character to the Establish- 
ment, as accepting the New Conditions 
imposed by the State, and consenting to act 
under them. In the course of its history, 
the National Church of Scotland has been 
more than once dis-established. This hap- 



pened after the middle of the seventeenth 
century, when the State assumed an entire 
control over the Church, and expelled all 
those ministers who refused to acknow- 
ledge the king's supremacy in ecclesiastical 
causes. The State at that period had set 
up a new institution, which it recognized 
as the Church of Scotland. The Church 
of the Reformation was in the mean time 
dis-established and persecuted, and con- 
tinued in that state until the period of the 
Revolution, in 1688, when it was again re- 
stored to its former position. The Free 
Church regards herself as occupying to- 
wards the existing Establishment very 
much the same relation as their persecuted 
fathers did to the Establishment in their 
day, and they believe that this new eccle- 
siastical Revolution involves essentially the 
same principles. 

Different views will be and have been 
entertained regarding the magnitude and 
vital importance of these principles. It is 
almost needless to say that the Free Church 
considers them to be most vital and essen- 
tial. The proof of this is to be found in 
the sacrifices they willingly made for the 
maintenance of them. It is not credible 
that nearly five hundred ministers would 
abandon entirely their means of temporal 
subsistence for a mere trifle. When these 
ministers renounced the emoluments they 
had hitherto received from the State, and 
consented to abandon their comfortable 
homes, and relinquish the respectable 
status they had hitherto occupied, they did 
not know what was to become of them, 
and we have reason to believe that many 
of them contemplated no other resource 
than emigration to some distant land. 
Were the questions at issue, moreover, 
between the Free Church and the Estab- 
lishment, to be determined, either as to 
their truth or their importance, by the evi- 
dence of testimony, they admit but of one 
answer. The Free Church embraced from 
its commencement, all the ministers who 
were best known in Scotland for talent, 
learning, and devoted piety ; nearly all'the 
elders who constituted the ornament and 
support of the Church throughout the dif- 
ferent parishes of the land; almost the 
whole body of Sabbath-school teachers in 
town and country ; and the great bulk of 
the pious families of Scotland. They knew 
the nature of the questions at issue, and 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



99 



formed their own estimate of the import- 
ance to be attached to them, and it is no 
exaggeration to say that the protest was 
virtually subscribed by the religion of Scot- 
land, in so far as that had been hitherto 
found within the pale of the Established 
Church. And, what the Christians of 
Scotland felt and believed, was found to be 
just what the Christians of other lands 
felt and believed. The value and truth of 
the peculiar principles of the Free Church, 
have been joyfully attested by nearly all 
the Christian churches, both of Europe 
and America. 

To understand what these principles are, 
and to show the, position which the Free 
Church occupies, it will not be necessary 
that we should describe her form of govern- 
ment, and mode of worship, and Confession 
of Faith. We propose to confine our at- 
tention to a statement as brief as we can 
make it, consistent with clearness, of the 
character and grounds of the Protest which 
we have inserted above. 

The Protest of the Free Church is 
grounded on facts of such recent occur- 
rence, and so notorious, that nothing can 
be more easy than to establish them. It 
would not be necessary even to do this, but 
fqr the very equivocal position of the Es- 
tablishment, which, professing to remain 
unchanged in its constitution, has a very 
obvious interest in inducing the people 
either to forget the facts which issued in 
the disruption, or to regard them as quite 
trivial. As set forth in the Protest, these 
facts assume a character of great import- 
ance, and it must appear that if what is 
there alleged be true, the Church as now 
Established, is denuded of all Christian 
liberty, and has consented in every depart- 
ment of her functions to be subject to the 
dictation of the Civil Magistrate. 

1. The Protest alleges that the Courts 
of the Established Church are liable to be 
coerced by the Civil Courts " in the admis- 
sion to the office of the holy ministry, and 
the- constitution of the pastoral relation, 
and that they are subject to be compelled 
to intrude ministers on reclaiming congre- 
gations." 

Proof. The Presbytery of Dunkeld was 
interdicted by the Court of Session from 
admitting a licentiate of the church to a 
pastoral charge in the parish of Lethendy, 
when about to be done irrespective of the 



civil benefice. The Presbytery of Irvine 
was interdicted by the Court of Session 
from admitting a licentiate of the church 
to a pastoral charge in Stewarton " when 
there was no benefice — no right of patron- 
age — no stipend — no manse or glebe — and 
no place of worship or any patrimonial 
right connected therewith. " The Court 
of Session issued "a decree requiring and 
ordaining the Presbytery of Strathbogie to 
take on trial and admit to the office of the 
holy ministry" at Marnoch " a probationer 
or unordained candidate for the ministry 
contrary to the will of the people/' which 
had been repeatedly and emphatically ex- 
pressed. 

2. The Protest alleges that the Civil 
Courts have power to interfere with, and 
interdict the preaching of the Gospel, and 
administration of ordinances, as authorised 
and enjoined by the Church Courts of the 
Establishment/' 

Proof. By repeated interdicts granted 
by the Court of Session at the instance of 
ministers of the Presbytery of Strathbogie, 
who were first suspended and finally 
deposed from the office of the holy minis- 
try, the ministers of the Established 
Church were prohibited under the pains of 
law from preaching the Gospel or adminis- 
tering the sacraments in these parishes* 
the Court of Session " thus assuming to 
themselves the regulation of the preaching 
of the Word and administration of the sa- 
craments, and at the same time invading 
the privilege common to all the subjects of 
the realm, of having freedom to worship 
God according to their consciences, and 
under the guidance of the ministers of the 
communion to which they belong." 

3. The Protest alleges " that the Civil 
Courts have power to suspend spiritual 
censures pronounced by the Church Courts 
of the Establishment against ministers and 
probationers of the church, and to interdict 
their execution as to spiritual effects, func- 
tions and privileges." 

Proof. Seven ministers in the Presby- 
tery of Strathbogie had been suspended 
from exercising the functions of the minis- 
try by the Courts of the Church. This 
sentence of suspension did not in any way 
interfere with the civil rights or the emolu- 
ments of the ministers. On an applica- 
tion to the Court of Session, the ecclesias- 
tical sentence was removed, and the seven 



100 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



ministers continued to exercise their func- 
tions as if it had never been passed. At a 
subsequent period, and in the regular 
| course of ecclesiastical discipline, the seven 
ministers were deposed from the office of 
the ministry. The Court of Session inter- 
dicted the execution of this sentence, and 
assumed the power of reponing the parties 
to the status of which they had been de- 
prived, and of authorizing them to continue 
in the exercise of their ministerial func- 
tions. 

4. The Protest alleges that the " Civil 
Courts have power to reduce and set 
aside the sentences of the Church Courts 
of the Establishment, deposing ministers, 
and depriving probationers of their license." 

Proof. A probationer, who had received 
a presentation to the Church and parish of 
Lethendy, was accused of drunkenness, 
obscenity, and profane swearing. The Pres- 
bytery of Dunkeld proceeded in the usual 
form to take proof of the charges laid 
against him. The Court of Session first 
interdicted the Presbytery from proceeding, 
and when the probationer had been, on the 
proof of these charges, deprived of his 
license, the sentence was set aside, and the 
status of the party restored. The seven 
Strathbogie ministers, who had been de- 
posed by the General Assembly, were rein- 
stated in their office by the Court of Ses- 
sion. 

5. The Protest alleges that the Civil 
Courts have power to determine on the 
right of persons to sit as members of Church 
Courts, and to interdict u their sitting and 
voting therein, irrespective of the judgment 
and determination" of the Courts thein- 



Proof. The Court of Session affirmed 
the right of the deposed ministers of Strath- 
bogie to sit as members of the General 
Assembly. The same Court granted inter- 
dicts to all who applied for them against 
ministers of unendowed Churches sitting 
and voting in Presbyteries, Synods, or the 
General Assembly. 

6. The Protest alleges that the Civil 
Courts have power to supersede the majo- 
rity of a Church Court, and to authorize 
the minority to exercise its functions, in 
opposition to the Court itself, and to the 
superior judicatories of the Establishment. 

Proof. The Court of Session granted 
authority to a minority of the Presbytery 



of Dunkeld, to proceed with the settlement 
of a minister at Lethendy, against the in- 
structions both of that Presbytery and of 
the General Assembly. 

7. The Protest alleges that the " Civil 
Courts have power to stay processes of dis- 
cipline pending before Courts of the Church 
by law established, and to interdict such 
Courts from proceeding therein." 

Proof. The Court of Session interdicted 
the Presbytery of Hamilton from pronounc- 
ing sentence of deposition upon the minister 
of Cambusnethan, who had been found 
guilty of theft. The Presbytery of Stran- 
raer was interdicted in like manner from 
proceeding in the trial of the minister of 
Stranraer, who was accused of fraud and 
swindling. The Presbytery of Dunkeld was 
interdicted from proceeding with a libel 
against the presentee to Lethendy, charging 
him with drunkenness, obscenity, and pro- 
fane swearing. 

8. The Protest alleges that no pastor can 
be admitted into the Church Courts of the 
Establishment ; and that no additional pro- 
vision can be made for the exercise of spi- 
ritual discipline among the members of the 
Church, without the sanction of a Civil 
Court. 

Proof. The Court of Session interdicted 
the Presbytery of Irvine from admitting an 
additional minister, in Stewarton, to meet 
the wants of an increasing population ; from 
constituting a new Kirk Session in that 
parish, to exercise discipline, and from in- 
novating on its existing state, " as regards 
pastoral superintendence, its Kirk Session, 
and jurisdiction, and discipline thereto be- 
longing." 

By these, and such like acts, those who 
formed the Free Church believed that the 
Establishment had been deprived of those 
liberties which are essential to a Christian 
Church, and that the constitution which the 
Church of Scotland had hitherto enjoyed 
in its connection with the State was entirely 
overthrown. In the Protest which we have 
cited above, reference is made to a Claim 
of Right which the Church had presented 
to the legislature. To understand aright 
both the position of the Free Church and 
of the Establishment, it is necessary to look 
to the nature of that claim. This will be 
best seen by presenting the more important 
sections of it to our readers. 

This Claim of Right was presented to 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



101 



the legislature in 1842. It was considered 
in both Houses of Parliament, and con- 
clusively rejected. It would be out of 
place here to consider whether an Estab- 
lished Church ought to possess the rights 
and immunities which are set forth in that 
document. The one thing with which we 
are concerned at present, is the fact, abund- 
antly demonstrated by the document itself, 
that the Church of Scotland was possessed 
of these rights and immunities, and had 
them secured to her by the most ample 
guarantees which it is possible for a State 
to give, or a Church to receive. The State 
did not, it is true, through its legislature, 
abolish them all, but, in refusing the Claim 
of Right, it expressly warranted and sanc- 
tioned their abolition by the Court of Ses- 
sion. When King Charles II. was restored, 
he boldly passed an Act, rescinding all the 
privileges and liberties which had been pre- 
viously enjoyed by the Presbyterian Church. 
The same thing was as effectually accom- 
plished by successive decisions of the 
Court of Session in 1843, and preceding 
years. The Established Church no longer 
had a guaranteed constitution. Its relation 
to the State was entirely changed. It was 
no longer the friendly ally, but the crea- 
ture, of the civil government. Its liberties 
had been invaded at every point. It was 
no longer free to institute to the office of 
the ministry, or to deprive of that office 
those who were unworthy. It was bound 
to violate the fundamental articles of its 
eode of discipline, prohibiting the intrusion 
of ministers against the will of the people, 
and practically to deny its own Confession 
of Faith which affirms that " Christ has 
instituted a government in his Church, in 
the hands of Church-officers, distinct from 
the civil magistrate." 

The Establishment, consenting to act in 
obedience to such decisions, and to occupy 
the new relation to the State which they 
constitute, has become a new institution — 
formed, it is true, not by any solemn com- 
pact with the legislature, but by a series of 
harmonious decisions of the Civil Courts, 
by which it has been denuded of its inde- 
pendence and power of self-action, and in 
all departments of its government subjected 
to the control of the State. These deci- 
sions of the Civil Courts have been ac- 
cepted, both by the State and the Estab- 
lished Church, as expressing the law of the 



land regarding the constitution of the 
Church. 

To the attentive reader of the preceding 
pages, it will appear that the Protest of the 
Free Church, in 1843, was in every parti- 
cular well-grounded; and that those who 
had adopted the constitution of the Scottish 
Church could no longer consent to remain 
members or office-bearers, in an institution 
which had been so thoroughly revolution- 
ized. It still remains to be considered, 
however, whether any relief has been grant- 
ed by the legislature against the oppressive 
decisions of which the Free Church com- 
plained. After the Disruption had taken 
place, an Act of Parliament was passed, 
entitled, "An Act to remove doubts re- 
specting the admission of ministers to bene- 
fices in Scotland." That Act was alleged 
by many to contain an ample guarantee for 
the liberties which the Scottish Church had 
hitherto enjoyed, and to remove all just 
ground of complaint. A very brief consi- 
deration of its character and provisions will 
enable us to ascertain whether such an alle- 
gation was j ust, 

1. The Act professes to be simply de- 
claratory. It establishes nothing new. It 
merely intimates what the law is, and has 
been, and that only on one single point. It 
was an act passed by a legislature which had 
already vindicated and asserted as legal all 
the decisions of the Civil Courts, which had 
refused to listen to the Church's Claim of 
Right, expressly on the ground that the de- 
cisions of these courts must be held in all 
cases as conclusively indicating what the state 
of the law is. This Act, then, so far from 
removing any grounds of complaint, or re- 
asserting the liberties which these courts had 
invaded, was as formal a confirmation as 
could well be given of the law as declared 
by those very decisions of which the 
Church had complained. 

2. The Church had complained that her 
jurisdiction had been invaded on every 
conceivable point — that she had been in- 
terdicted from sending ministers to preach 
the Gospel — that hundreds of her minis- 
ters had been interdicted from sitting in 
presbyteries, synods, and assemblies — that 
,her sentences of suspension and deposition 

had been reduced and set aside — that her 
presbyteries had been superseded, and new 
courts formed to exercise their functions — 
that, in short, she had been deprived of all 



102 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



the powers of government and discipline 
which had belonged to her. The Act of 
1843 does not profess to deal with any of 
these grounds of complaint. It takes no 
notice of them whatever. It leaves the 
law, as declared by the decisions of the 
Civil Courts, complained against, intact 
and entire. 

3. The Church had complained that, 
contrary to her own fundamental laws of 
discipline, she was compelled, under heavy 
penalties, to intrude ministers upon con- 
gregations against their will. The Act of 
1843 takes up this subject of complaint 
and this only. But does it remove the 
ground of complaint? It does the very 
reverse. It makes the intrusion of minis- 
ters the law of the Establishment. It 
provides "that it shall not be lawful for 
any presbytery, or other judicatory of the 
Church, to reject any presentee on the 
ground of any mere dissent or dislike ex- 
pressed by any part of the congregation of 
the parish to which he is presented/' 

The principles maintained by the Scot- 
tish Church were classified under the two 
heads of Non-intrusion and Spiritual Inde- 
pendence. She believed that, in order to 
act as a Christian Church at all, it was ne- 
cessary for her to be at liberty to conform 
to the instructions of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, as revealed in His Word. She 
believed that she had no right to force a 
minister upon a Christian congregation. 
She believed that to her had been com- 
mitted what is called the power of the 
keys, that is, that to her belonged the 
right of investing with the ministerial 
office those whom she thought fit, or de- 
priving of that office those whom she 
thought unfit, and of determining the kind 
of functions they should exercise. This 
belief has been openly renounced by the 
present Establishment. It has adopted 
the law by which it is compelled to intrude 
ministers, without a call from, and in the 
face of a dissenting congregation. It has 
received as members of its judicatories 
those ministers who had been deposed by 
the General Assembly, without any eccle- 
siastical act reinstating them in their office, 
but by holding that they were so reinstated 
by the decision of the Court of Session. 
It has thus denuded itself of the right of 
ordination to the ministerial office, and has 
committed the right of deposition to the 



Civil Courts. It has been guilty of de- 
stroying " the parity of ministers, which is 
a fundamental principle of Presbyterians, 
and is asserted in the standards of the 
Church of Scotland; of taking away, or 
attempting to take away, at the bidding of 
the civil power, from between two and 
three hundred pastors, the function of 
church-government which the Lord Jesus 
has authorized and commanded all pastors 
to exercise ; and of dissolving, or attempt- 
ing to dissolve, likewise at the bidding of 
the civil power, between two and three 
hundred courts of Christ's Church, (the 
Kirk Sessions of quoad sacra churches,) 
which had been organized in bis name, and 
had enjoyed his presence and blessing 
during years of a zealous and faithful exe- 
cution of his laws, among those over whom 
the Holy Ghost had made them overseers." 

The Protest was subscribed by two hun- 
dred and three members of the General 
Assembly, who, when it had been read, 
left the place of meeting and adjourned to 
a large hall, capable of accommodating 
about three thousand persons. The first 
General Assembly of the Free Church of 
Scotland, was then constituted on the 18th 
May, 1843. They elected Dr. Chalmers 
as their Moderator, and proceeded to tran- 
sact their business in the ordinary way. 
They had parted with nothing but their 
emoluments, derived from the State, and 
they had parted with these, in order to 
maintain the integrity of their principles. 

One of the first things to be done was to 
complete their separation from the Estab- 
lishment. This was effected by a " deed 
of demission," and no fewer than 474 
ministers and professors completed their 
separation from the Establishment, by 
means of this solemn legal instrument, re- 
nouncing all the temporal benefits they had 
hitherto enjoyed. It was an act which 
moved many to tears, which made others 
proud of their country, and which gave a 
fresh impulse to the cause of religious 
truth, not only in Scotland, but throughout 
the civilized world. Of the ministers who 
thus constituted the first General Assembly 
of the Free Church, 12 had been ordained 
previous to the year 1800; 27 from 1800 
to 1810; 59 from 1810 to 1820; 109 
from 1820 to 1830; 208 from 1830 to 
1840 ; 39 from 1840 to 1843. 

The Free Church had obviously a very 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



103 



arduous work to accomplish. If these 
ministers were to be retained in the office 
and in the service of the church at home, 
it was necessary to make provision for their 
maintenance. Some steps had been taken 
towards this, previous to the meeting of 
Assembly, and a scheme had been matured 
and adopted for securing even to the 
poorest congregations the benefits of a 
Gospel ministry. It was arranged that all 
the contributions which might be given for 
the maintenance of the ministry should be 
put into one common fund, out of which 
an equal payment should be made to each 
minister of the Free Church. This has 
been called the Sustentation Fund, and it 
constitutes the chief means of support 
which the ministers of the Free Church 
enjoy. Each congregation is called upon 
to contribute to this fund what its mem- 
bers may be able or willing to bestow; and 
at the end of every year an equal distribu- 
tion of it is made among the ministers of 
the Church. During the first year it 
yielded £100 to each minister, and since 
that period it has afforded to them an 
average stipend somewhat exceeding £120. 
This does not represent the whole income 
enjoyed by all ministers of the Free 
Church. A considerable number of them 
receive directly from their respective con- 
gregations a supplemental sum, which, ac- 
cording to a law of the General Assembly, 
is appropriated to them out of the ordinary 
churchndoor collections. 

Besides the maintenance of her minis- 
ters, the Free Church had to contemplate 
the erection of churches for her congrega- 
tions, and that not merely for the 470 
ministers who had abandoned the Estab- 
lishment, but also for the congregations 
which took the same step, and abandoned 
the ministers who were left in the Estab- 
lishment. These congregations, in all, 
amount to between 700 and 800. To 
build so many churches, even on the most 
economical plan, within a year, involved an 
enormous cost. The Free Church was not 
staggered at the difficulty. The hearts of 
men were remarkably opened to devise 
liberal things. For building and other 
purposes they contributed in 1843-4 no 
less a sum than £366,719 14s. 3d. A 
general building fund was formed, in order 
that the wealthier might aid the poorer 
congregations. This fund was distributed 



in aid of local efforts ; and so successfully 
was the work prosecuted, that, when sites 
could be obtained, the building of no 
church was delayed for want of funds. 

This was not all that the Free Church 
set herself to accomplish. It was a prime 
necessity with her to provide a college for the 
education of her future ministry. That Col- 
lege has been completed, at a cost approach- 
ing £40,000, and is provided with a more 
complete staff of professors than any 
similar institution in Scotland, and with 
more effectual means of training an edu- 
cated ministry than elsewhere is to be 
found in Britain. It has attached to it a 
Hebrew tutor for initiating the students in 
the knowledge of the Oriental languages. 
A professor of logic and a professor of 
moral philosophy, to secure efficient mental 
training in those branches of knowledge 
which are related more immediately to 
theological science. A professor, whose 
function it is to instruct the students in 
natural theology and the evidences of Chris- 
tianity, and also in homiletics and pastoral 
theology, in two distinct classes. A pro- 
fessor of dogmatic theology, who has also 
a senior and junior class, suited to the pro- 
gress of the students, who attend his pre- 
lections during two successive years. A 
professor of church history, who conducts 
also two classes, and whose prelections the 
students attend for two successive years. 
A professor of exegetic theology, who has 
also two classes j and a professor of natural 
science. This institution, so richly pro- 
vided with living teachers, has already ac- 
cumulated a library which contains upwards 
of 25,000 volumes, and is believed to be 
the most valuable theological library in 
Scotland. A divinity hall has also been 
built at Aberdeen, and is already partially 
endowed. It has two professors of divin- 
ity and a Hebrew tutor, and embraces the 
same provision for the training of theo- 
logical students which the Universities of 
Scotland had previous to the Disruption. 
These two institutions are attended by 
about 250 students. 

Nor was this all. In October, 1843, it 
was resolved to erect schools in connection 
with the congregations of the Free Church ; 
and the educational scheme which has, in 
consequence, sprung up, is co-extensive 
with the parochial school system of Scot- 
land. ' It embraces upwards of 600 schools, 



104 



HISTORY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



and has an attendance of about 70,000 
scholars. It has two Normal Schools — 
one in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow, for 
the training of schoolmasters. The teach- 
ers receive a salary from a general fund 
which is raised by monthly contributions 
in all the congregations, and which is 
divided at the end of the year, according to 
a certain scale, proportioned to the qualifi- 
cations of the respective teachers. This 
fund amounts to upwards of £12,000 an- 
nually. About £80,000 has been expended 
in the building of schools, and nearly 
£20,000 in the purchase or erection of 
Normal Schools. 

Besides all this, in 1845, it was resolved 
to make an effort for the erection of manses 
(houses for the residence of ministers) in 
connection with all the Free churches. 
As the result of an appeal made during 
that year to the members of the Free 
Church, a sum was subscribed for this 
object amounting to upwards of £100,000. 
There have been built about 500 manses, 
at a cost averaging at least £500 each, in- 
volving an expenditure of £250,000. 

Without waiting for the accomplishment 
of these extensive operations at home, the 
Free Church resolved not to abandon any 
of the missionary enterprizes in which she 
had been, as an Established Church, en- 
gaged in foreign lands. At the time of 
the Disruption she had in her employment 
14 ministers and catechists in India. These 
all adhered to the Free Church, and their 
number has not only been maintained, but 
largely increased. In 1843 she had 8 
missionaries labouring among the Jews, 
all of whom also abandoned the Establish- 
ment, which was left without a single mis- 
sionary in any part of the world. The Free 



Church has maintained this mission also in 
all its integrity. Her stations in the colo- 
nies have been likewise greatly increased 
since the Disruption. From no depart- 
ment of labour has she been obliged to 
withhold her hand, and with a humble yet 
thankful heart, she may say, the Lord has 
blessed her in them all. 

The Free Church, mainly through the 
device of her Sustentation Fund, has been 
enabled to spread her ministrations over 
the whole kingdom. She has not merely 
occupied the cities and populous villages, 
but has penetrated into the most remote 
rural parishes. " Her ministrations extend 
to every district, and nearly to every parish 
in the land, from the Solway to the Shet- 
land islands, and to the furthest Hebrides, 
and there are whole islands and even large 
counties in Scotland, where hardly any 
other church is named or known." It is 
believed that she embraces in her commu- 
nion about one-third of the whole popula- 
tion of the kingdom. She has seven hun- 
dred and fifty ministerial charges, and 
about one hundred mission stations besides. 
From year to year she has been extending 
her borders, and adding to the number of 
her congregations. God has every where 
honoured her testimony, and is making it 
an instrument in reviving the cause of re- 
ligious truth and liberty over the earth. 
Her cause is Christ's Crown, and her 
motto Nee tamen consumebatur. They are 
closely allied. If she have grace faithfully 
to maintain the cause God has given her to 
plead, she will not perish. 

During the year ending 31st March, 
1852, it was found that the congrega- 
tions had contributed the following 



Sustentation Fund 

Building Fund 

Congregational Fund .... 
Missions and Education. 
Miscellanous 



£91,468 


15 





37,510 


4 


H 


80,334 


2 


3| 


48,785 


18 


-2 


9,380 


12 


10 



Total £267,479 12 5* 

The following Table will show the revenue of the Free Church, year by year, since 
the Disruption : — 



Total, 1843—4 £366,719 14 3 

9 



1844—5 334,483 

1845—6 301,067 

" 1846—7 311,695 



1847-! 



276,465 



18 

5 

18 

14 



1848—9 275,081 4 

1849-50 306,622 

1850-51 303,484 6 

1851-52 267,479 12 



51 
If 

H 






£2,743,099 15 6 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



105 



HISTORY 



THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

BY REV. ANDREW SYMINGTON, D.D., 

PAISLEY. 



The term Presbyterian in this designa- 
tion indicates, of course, the system of 
ecclesiastical polity to which the commu- 
nity so denominating itself adhere; and 
the epithet Reformed is prefixed to ex- 
press their adherence to the Reformation, 
particularly the principles of what has been 
called, in the history of Scotland, the 
Second Reformation. This community re- 
gard Presbyterian church-government as 
divinely instituted ; and appreciating highly 
the goodness of God in the Reformation from 
Popery, and in the subsequent Reforma- 
tion from Prelacy, they regard the latter 
of these as greatly in advance of the 
former; and to testify their adherence to 
its scriptural principles, as contrasted with 
what they consider departures from these 
principles at the Revolution, they have 
assumed the above designation. They do 
not regard the Second Reformation as per- 
fect; but, testing its leading principles by 
the word of God, comparing it with the 
Reformation which preceded, and contrast- 
ing it with the relinquishment of some of 
its special excellencies at the Revolution, 
they have been constrained to assume and 
maintain the position of dissent and protest 
which was taken by their fathers. It is in 
this connection, and not as arrogating to 
themselves any superiority of character, 
that they have taken the designation of 
Reformed. 

This church took its rise, as a dissenting 
and protesting body, at the Revolution. 
They are deeply sensible of the Divine 
goodness in terminating the reign of terror 
and blood which preceded, in restoring 
civil and religious liberties which had been 



14 



ruthlessly invaded and borne down, and in 
defeating the design to restore the British 
isles to the dominion of the Roman Pontiff. 
It is not to be wondered if a people long 
goaded with cruel persecution, and sighing 
for relief, embrace deliverance on more 
easy terms than they would have submitted 
to in circumstances more propitious to calm 
reflection and deliberate resolve; and it 
was so at this interesting juncture. To 
a considerable minority, however, the set- 
tlement of both Church and State was far 
from satisfactory. They saw the preceding 
ecclesiastical and civil Reformation over- 
looked and left under the infamous ban of 
Recissory Acts — Prelacy re-established in 
England and Ireland — Supremacy over the 
church restored to the crown — Presbyterian 
government granted to Scotland upon the 
principle of its being more agreeable to the 
taste of the people, without the security 
given to it between 1638 and 1650, and with 
ominous reference to its imperfect estab- 
lishment in 1592 — the Westminster Con- 
fession, enacted without any reference to 
the Act of Assembly, 1647, explicitly as- 
serting the inherent right of the church to 
call her own assemblies — the National 
Covenants left under the odium which had 
been attached to them in the preceding 
persecution — persons who had conformed 
to Prelacy, and who had been accessary to 
the persecution admitted into the Supreme 
Court. On these accounts, and others of 
kindred complexion, a small minority dis- 
sented from the proceedings of the church, 
and protested against the actings of the 
state; and in doing this they felt them- 
selves much in the position and feeling of 



106 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



the few who, when the foundations of the 
second temple were laid, having seen the 
former house in its glory, wept when the 
many were shouting for joy. This mi- 
nority were joined by three ministers of 
the same views, who preached and dis- 
pensed ordinances among them for a time. 
These ministers united in submitting a 
paper to the General Assembly, stating 
their grievances, and craving relief, which 
paper the Committee of Bills refused to 
transmit. Some concessions or explana- 
tions were made to exonerate the con- 
sciences of the complaining ministers, and 
they acceded to the Establishment. The 
dissenting minority were thus left without 
public ordinances, they met in Fellowship 
Societies, and maintained correspondence 
with one another. They prepared a peti- 
tion to the General Assembly, which the 
Committee of Bills refused to lay before 
it. They published their Declaration and 
Protest, and continued their fellowship 
meetings and correspondence, in the hope 
that the Head of the church would yet 
send them ministers who would dispense 
the ordinances of religion according to 
their views of truth and duty. After a 
long trial of their faith and patience, they 
obtained this in the accession of the Rev. 
John Macmillan, minister of Balmaghie, 
in the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, who 
sympathized much with their views. Hav- 
ing, with two of his brethren in the Pres- 
bytery, given in a paper, craving redress 
of grievances, the two brethren were pre- 
vailed upon to withdraw their complaints, 
and submitted to admonition. Mr. Mac- 
millan, refusing to drop the prosecution of 
his grievances, protested and appealed to 
the first free Assembly. He was after- 
wards in an irregular and summary way 
deposed. He refused to acknowledge the 
sentence ; and after waiting for a little in 
the expectation of redress, but finding this 
hopeless, excepting on conditions to which 
he could not submit, he resumed his public 
ministry, with the cordial welcome of his 
people. The Society people, satisfied that 
his views of the Reformation in Church 
and State and of the evils of the Revolu- 
tion harmonized with their own, gave him, 
in 1706, a harmonious call to become their 
pastor, to which he cordially acceded. Mr. 
Macmillan was joined by Mr. John M'Neil, 
a licentiate of the Church of Scotland, who 



entertained the same views with himself 
and his people, and they laboured together 
in preaching the gospel. In 1708 they 
concurred in laying before the Commission 
of the Assembly a joint Protestation and 
Declinature, stating explicitly the grounds 
of their separation from the Establishment. 
In 1712 they renewed the public covenants. 
Mr. M'Neil died in 1732. Mr. Macmillan 
continued his ministrations alone, till he 
was joined by the Rev. Mr. Nairne, when 
the two Ministers, along with Ruling 
Elders, constituted a presbytery in 1743, 
under the designation of the Reformed 
Presbytery. Mr. Alexander Marshal, who 
had received the regular education of stu- 
dents in divinity, was soon after this li- 
censed; and, having received a call, was 
regularly orclained, and took his seat as a 
co-presbyter. The Presbytery received 
small accessions from time to time, and 
soon obtained a footing in Ireland and 
America. Before presenting the statistics 
of this community, we shall submit a brief 
statement of their principles. 

From the above statements, it must be 
apparent that the difference between the 
Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the 
church established at the Revolution, 
did not turn on abstract points of doc- 
trine, but respected mainly the actings of 
the State and the Church, in depart- 
ing from the reformations from Popery 
and Prelacy, particularly the latter. These 
principles will be best brought out by 
historical reference to the public pro- 
ceedings of the times. There was, in the 
first place, the renovation of the Na- 
tional Covenant of Scotland in applica- 
tion to the innovations of Prelacy; then 
followed the meeting of the General As- 
sembly in Glasgow, its protest in behalf 
of the intrinsic power of the Church to 
bold her assemblies, its bold and decisive 
acts in condemnation of the Five Articles 
of Perth, the Service Book, and the Book 
of Canons, the restoration of Presbyteries. 
and vindication of the order and rights of 
Ruling Elders, and the acts to prevent the 
intrusion of ministers and otherwise ad- 
vancing reformation. Then followed the 
Solemn League and Covenant, with a view 
not only to promote the union of the three 
kingdoms, but sympathising with other 
kingdoms groaning still under the Anti- 
christian yoke, and contemplating the en- 



n 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



107 



largement of the kingdom of Christ, and 
the peace and tranquillity of Christian 
kingdoms and commonwealths. Next fol- 
lowed the preparation of the Westminster 
Standards, as they are called, received by 
the Church of Scotland, declaring her 
views of the intrinsic authority of the 
Church, and the form of her ecclesiastical 
polity. With these we have the Acts of 
Assembly and Parliament, and after them, 
the testimonies of the martyrs that suffered 
in the following persecution. 

From the above historical facts and docu- 
ments it is easy to gather the views of the 
fathers in the Second Reformation on the 
supreme and ultimate authority of the Word 
of God — the universal authority of Jesus 
Christ, as given to be the Head over all 
things to the Church — the spiritual inde- 
pendence of the Church — the subjection of 
the nations to God and his Christ, and the 
obligation of religious covenants. While 
the above and other documents show that 
the great public actings of these times 
turned particularly on the polity, institu- 
tions, and freedom of the Church, and on 
political affairs in connection with the inte- 
rests of religion, we are not warranted to 
conclude that the precious doctrines of the 
gospel and interests of spiritual religion 
and personal godliness were overlooked ; the 
documents themselves supplying ample evi- 
dence of a prevailing sound theology, 
founded on the Scriptures, and directed 
acutely against Papal, Socinian, Arminian 
and other errors. And let it be observed, 
that those who have aimed to follow them 
in the work of Reformation do not pledge 
themselves to an approbation of all the 
Acts, either of Assembly or of Parliament. 

" Something is due to the memory of 
those who have done worthily in Ephratah, 
and been famous in Bethlehem, in the mag- 
nanimous struggle for civil and religious 
liberty. Still they were men, and are not 
to be held up as perfect in all they said and 
did. In judging of the public conduct of 
the Scottish Reformers, it is but fair to take 
into account the very trying circumstances 
in which they were placed, the persecutions 
they endured, the plots which were fre- 
quently contrived for the subversion of re- 
ligion and liberty at home, and the formid- 
able combinations established 'among the 
Popish powers on the continent to over- 
throw the Protestant interest throughout 



Europe. When these things are duly con- 
sidered, it will be conceded by every can- 
did mind that measures may have been 
necessary in their peculiar circumstances 
which would be unwarrantable in a more, 
tranquil state of society. Yet, that they 
may guard against all danger of being mis- 
understood, the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church has deemed it proper to state dis- 
tinctly that she neither can give herself, 
nor require from others, an unqualified ap- 
probation of all the Acts of Parliament or 
of Assembly, during the Reforming period." 
This may be the proper place to introduce 
a quotation from their authorized Testi- 
mony : — " The Reformed Presbyterian 
Church has been organized on an adherence 
to the principles of the Protestant Presby- 
terian Covenanted Church of Scotland. 
Those principles have been exhibited in the 
Covenants, Westminster Confession, Cate- 
chisms, Form of Presbyterian Church-Go- 
vernment, Directory for Worship, and in 
the Testimonies of the Martyrs; and we 
believe them to be substantially founded on 
the Bible. When we specify these writ- 
ings, we are not pledged to every sentiment 
or expression to be found in them. We 
have given a declaration of the Scriptural 
principles to which we adhere ; and, while 
we endeavour to give the reason of our faith 
from the Holy Scriptures, we cheerfully 
refer to the Testimonies of the Church of 
Scotland, in proof that these principles 
were embraced by her, and in testimony of 
our approbation of her zeal and fidelity/' 

We subjoin some general observations on 
the Doctrine, Worship, and Government of 
the Reformed Presbyterian Church. It is 
her first principle that the Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments are the Word of 
God, and the alone infallible rule of faith 
and practice ; and, as subordinate standards, 
they adopt the Westminster Confession of 
Faith, and Catechisms, Larger and Shorter, 
as well-digested summaries of what should 
be taught in the Church. Their Doctrines 
are those generally distinguished by the 
names Evangelical or Calvinistic. With 
respect to Worship, they consider the fol- 
lowing as divinely-instituted ordinances : — 
Public Prayer, with the understanding and 
the heart, in a known tongue, and not in 
written, or humanly prescribed forms. 
Singing Psalms of Divine inspiration, and 
these alone. Reading and expounding the 



108 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



Holy Scriptures. Preaching and hearing 
the Word. Administering Baptism and the 
Lord's Supper, in their scriptural simpli- 
city, and as the alone instituted Sacraments 
of the Church. Public Fasting and Thanks- 
giving, as circumstances may call. They 
reject all rites, and ceremonies, and holi- 
days of human appointment. They strongly 
inculcate the duties of Family religion, and 
of Private social worship ; and they follow 
substantially the Westminster Directory. 
In government and discipline they are 
strictly Presbyterian. They find in the 
Bible the distinction between rulers and 
ruled — the work of rule committed to eld- 
ers — a plurality of elders in every church 
— and a distinction between elders that 
only rule, and others who labour in word ; 
and they consider Presbyterianism as having 
not only a foundation in the very nature of 
society, and recommended by the wisdom 
and profession of their forefathers, but as 
sanctioned, in its elementary principles of 
representation, union and subordination, by 
approved apostolical example and precepts. 
While they regard it as divinely authorized 
in its great principles, respecting the minu- 
tias of its forms they admit the acknow- 
ledged principle " that there are some cir- 
cumstances concerning the worship of God, 
and government of the Church, common to 
human actions and societies, which are to 
be ordered by the light of nature and Chris- 
tian prudence, according to the general 
rules of the Word, which are always to be 
observed." 

From the above statements, it must ap- 
pear that the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
aims to preserve a connexion with the Re- 
formed Church of Scotland, at the Second 
Reformation, and to follow the martyrs who 
adhered to its principles. These principles 
they regard as having been overlooked, and 
unfaithfully dealt with at the Revolution, 
the State giving in 1690, and the Church 
receiving as her charter of Presbytery, the 
Act 1592, without any reference to the Act 
of Assembly in 1647. They proceed upon 
the admitted principle that, When the pre- 
vailing part of a church make any addition 
to, or alteration of the Scripture system of 
faith, worship, discipline or government, an 
essential condition of fellowship with them, 
in this case the prevailing party are the 
real separatists, and they who are obliged to 
withdraw from their communion, rather than 



sin, are the true adherents to the Church, 
cleaving to her constitutional laws. Schism, 
a reproach often cast upon the few, is not to 
be tried by arithmetic ; it is not a question 
of number, but of truth and principle. The 
Reformed Presbyterian Church, while im- 
pressed with a sense of many benefits result- 
ing from the Revolution, are affected with 
a sense of the guilt that was contracted in 
it, and cannot regard it with the overween- 
ing and unqualified approbation by which 
it is often spoken of as glorious. The re- 
vival of the Erastian supremacy over the 
church, the establishment of prelacy in 
England and Ireland, and things connected 
with them, were in violation of Scripture 
truth, attained reformation, and solemn en- ! 
gagement ; and if the Revolution be viewed 
in the light of history, in the subsequent 
state of religion in England and Ireland, 
and even in Scotland, it does not afford 
ground of unmingled gratulation. — This 
church has also felt it her duty to recog- 
nize the Public Covenants in their matter 
and obligation. They are facts in the page 
of history — they are founded on Scriptural 
truth — they bear upon the public interests | 
of the church and society — they told with 
great effect upon the Reformation — they 
imply obligations acknowledged in the na- 
tional and international transactions of 
mankind — they were the means of protect- 
ing and transmitting to us liberty — they 
were the terror of the enemies of truth 
and liberty, and cannot be innocently ne- 
glected and overlooked, because involving 
special obligations and implying aggravating 
guilt on the part of the civil and ecclesias- 
tical society, as well as of individuals. — 
They hold peculiar and strong views on 
the subject of civil society, asserting from 
the Word of God, the obligation of indi- 
viduals and society, in all places enjoying 
Divine Revelation, to regulate their consti- 
tution, legislation, and obedience according 
to the principles and precepts of the Word 
of God. They are sensible of the great 
evil that has accrued by the usurpations of | 
civil authority over the church on the one 
hand, and by the servile submission of the 
church on the other; and they are also 
sensible of the great evil that has accrued 
from the usurpations of ecclesiastical power 
in the church and over civil society; but 
they do not think that the remedy of these 
two evils is to be found in an absolute dis- 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



109 



sociation of the two powers, but by a 
mutual and well executed instrument, de- 
fining distinctly the respective province 
and duties of each, and acknowledged by 
both as a mutual stipulation to co-operate 
in their respective provinces in the cause 
of religion and morality. They entertain 
decided views on the obligation of the 
Word of God on civil society, and on the 
subjection of the kingdoms of the world 
to the Redeemer. When these obligations 
are grossly violated on the part either of 
church or state, they feel an obligation to 
dissent and protest. They have expressed 
themselves as follows : — " In parts of the 
world enjoying Revelation, when a people, 
in framing their civil constitutions and 
appointing magistrates, overlook, reject, or 
relinquish the Scripture standard, enact 
laws inimical to the kingdom of Christ, and 
favour the interests of antichrist, the con- 
stitution becoming thus immoral and anti- 
christian, cannot innocently be recognized. 
In this case, the church entering her pro- 
test and continuing to testify against au- 
thority so constituted and administered, 
still regarding the ordinance of Grod as it 
is delivered in the Scriptures, will conscien- 
tiously perform things moral and just, and 
promote the peace and good order of society. 
But they cannot give allegiance to au- 
thority immoral and antichristian. And 
they consider that Christians living in 
peace, and in their private capacity further- 
ing the ends of government and good order, 
while they do not incorporate with the 
national society, and submit to disabilities 
and privations on this account, are never- 
theless entitled to protection in their lives, 
property, and liberty, having contributed 
their proportion of the common taxations." 
In this matter they can appeal to history 
for the peaceful and orderly deportment of 
their people. They are aware that, in the 
days of the Reformation, this subject was 
taken up, not so much in an abstract view 
of it from the Scripture, as in its imme- 
diate and obvious bearing upon the inte- 
rests of religious liberty ; our fathers trem- 
bling for themselves and their children at 
the danger arising from immoral and anti- 
christian power. 

We now subjoin a few things in the way 
of statistics. The Reformed Presbyterian 
Church has increased but slowly, but has 
not yet in this respect fallen back. They 



have in Scotland at present thirty-seven 
ordained ministers, thirty-four of these 
having charges. They have three or four 
vacant congregations, five preaching sta- 
tions, and, eight preachers. A great num- 
ber of the congregations have Sabbath 
schools attached to them, and are contri- 
buting to the support of missions. They 
have six presbyteries, forming a synod. 
They have sent missionaries again and 
again to Canada; they have a missionary 
in New Zealand, another in the New 
Hebrides, and a missionary to the Jews in 
London. In these operations, while they 
have nothing of which to boast, they will 
stand a favourable comparison with Chris- 
tian friends around them. 

This church has, from an early period, 
had a footing in Ireland ; and it has been 
upon the increase. In numbers, they are 
about equal to their brethren in Scotland. 
They have suffered in some respects, by 
divisions among themselves and by emigra- 
tion, but still maintain a respectable status ; 
and they have sent and supported mission- 
aries ordained to charges in New Bruns- 
wick, and have made an effort in behalf of 
England, in the city of Manchester. 

In America this church has a greater 
number of congregations and ministers 
than either in Scotland or Ireland. They 
are, perhaps, double in number of any of 
the churches in the mother country. They 
have also suffered from division, but still 
maintain a respectable position among the 
churches. One department has originated 
and supported a prosperous mission in 
India, which has reached to the organiza- 
tion of a presbytery. 

It may be proper to add, that while the 
ministers of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in Scotland were subjected for a 
long time to laborious travelling, and had 
not leisure to devote themselves largely to 
labour for the press, they have not alto- 
gether failed in this particular. We can 
speak only of the authorized publications 
of the Church. In 1741 they emitted a 
Declaration and Testimony. In 1753, A 
Defence of the Atonement, in opposition 
to two ministers and a few persons adhering 
to them, who had embraced, in one respect 
of it, the doctrine of a universal atonement. 
In 1761, Act, Declaration, and Testimony, 
for the whole of the Covenanted Reforma- 
tion, &c, which has gone through four 



110 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



editions. Also, a Warning against Popery. 
In 1793, a Warning against Socinian and 
Unitarian errors. In 1801, Explanation 
and Defence of the Terms of Communion. 
In 1805, Testimony and Warning against 
Prevailing Immoralities. In 1817, Testi- 
mony against the Evil and Danger of 
Popery. In 1829, Resolutions against the 
Admission of Roman Catholics into legis- 
lative power. In 1830, Resolutions on 
the subject of Missions, on occasion of 
forming a Missionary Society in connection 
with the Synod. Also Book of Ecclesias- 
tical Government and Discipline. In 1831, 
Resolutions against Slavery. In 1833, 
Resolutions on the Sabbath. In 1837, 
! Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in Scotland, Historical and Doc- 
trinal. In 1841, Lectures on the Princi- 
ciples of the Second Reformation. In 
1843, Commemoration of the Bicentenary of 
the Westminster Assembly, and Centenary 
of the Reformed Presbytery. Besides 
these, there have been published Pastoral 
Letters on Private Social Worship, Direct- 
ory for Fellowship Societies, Overtures re- 
specting the Education of Students of 
Divinity. Besides these, they have had 
for some years past a Monthly Magazine. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church 
has participated, more or less, so far as 
consistency admitted, with the great 
movements of church and society in 
these latter days, and she holds herself 
in readiness to co-operate in promoting 
great Christian objects, when this can be 
done without compromise. Her ministers 
and members have given evidence of this. 
They lament over the divisions of the 
Church, and sometimes console themselves 
with the thought that they have not origi- 
nated them. They regard the Second 
Reformation as contemplating union upon 
the soundest principles and the largest 
scale, aspiring not only after a happy union 
of the Three Kingdoms, and of the Church 
in them, but contemplating a grand Pro- 
testant union throughout Christendom. 
They dissent not from this great object, 
they protest not against it, but regard it 
with approbation and delight. Departure 
from these principles and their great object 
has necessitated, on their part, dissent and 
protest. But with the Bible, and the eccle- 
siastical books of the Church in the Second 
Reformation, in their hands, they repel 



the charge of schism ; and, with the Cove- 
nants in their hands, as well as in the just 
interpretation given of them by competeut 
authority, they repel the charge of rebellion, 
if any one shall prefer it against them, and 
they approve themselves the lovers of their 
country's prosperity by their peaceable lives, 
their prayers, and their active usefulness. 

In a document of this kind, they are 
aware that the thing required is statement 
not argumentation ; and as they deprecate 
nothing more than ignorance and prejudice, 
they refer inquirers to the authorized 
" Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in Scotland, Historical and Doc- 
trinal." — In common with others, the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church reckon their 
public profession" as Scriptural, acknow- 
ledging no other supreme authority beside 
the Divine Word. — They trust that their 
doctrines are Evangelical, in the strictest 
sense of the term. They regard their pro- 
fession as Protestant, and have testified 
against the legal establishment of Popery 
in the colonies, alliances with anti-Christian 
powers, expending the public treasury in 
the maintenance of Popery, and the viola- 
tion of the constitution in the admission 
of Papists into the legislative councils; 
and in those last days they consider Divine 
Providence as giving a special emphasis to 
the call, "Come out of her, my people, 
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and 
that ye receive not of her plagues." — Their 
ecclesiastical government, as stated above, 
is Presbyterian. They view Presbyteri- 
anism as the law of Christ, providing for 
the unity, extension, and perpetuity of the 
Church, in a happy medium between the 
extremes of Episcopacy and Independency. 
— The profession of the Reformed Presby- 
terian Church embraces the civil relations 
of mankind. It is not political, in the 
popular sense of this term ; but they hold 
the sentiment that the Word of God is the 
supreme standard of the political conduct 
of men in everything respecting morality 
and religion. Christianity, they believe, 
does not interfere with previous moral rela- 
tions, obligations, and institutions, except- 
ing in so far as it sheds upon them a 
clearer light, and confirms them with its 
peculiar sanctions, supplying the surest 
bond of social union, cherishing the social 
virtues, exerting the most salutary check 
on the abuse of power, and promoting obe- 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



Ill 



dience and dutiful subordination. — They 
cannot regard their sentiments as either 
unpatriotic or anarchical. They love their 
country, and know not how to consult 
better for its prosperity and happiness than 
by the dissemination of pure and undefiled 
religion, and the adjustment and subordi- 
nation of society by a faithful application 
of Scripture principles in all their impar- 
tiality and amplitude. — The leading truths 
of their profession have been embraced in 
public solemn covenants with God, with a 
view to the preservation of the reformed 
religion in Scotland, and the reformation 
of religion in England and Ireland. 
Popery and Prelacy are condemned by the 
letter and spirit of the holy Scriptures, and, 
contemplated in the light of history, have 
had a pernicious influence upon the Church 
and upon Society. Their fathers were 
imperatively called to put themselves in the 
attitude of defence against that ascendancy 
which these systems plotted to obtain under 
the countenance of rank and wealth ; and 
we owe to them, under God, our civil and 
religious liberties. These public deeds 
were treated with profane contempt, and 
their adherents persecuted unto death; 
and when Providence put a stop to bloody 
persecution, the nation set them aside, and 
the Church suffered them to fall into 
neglect. — Their testimony, in its great 
principles, has been sealed by the blood of 
martyrs. Those who suffered in the per- 
secution preceding the Revolution, could 
not submit to the Episcopal hierarchy and 
superstitions — they could not renounce as 
treasonable and unlawful the covenants in 
which Prelacy had been abjured, nor give 
allegiance to power invested by national 
acts with supremacy over the Church, and 
persecuting her members to the death. — 
Important truths and interests embraced 
in the one testimony have been publicly 
departed from, and the cause of reforma- 
tion seriously impeded and injured. They 
are constrained, from conviction, to adhere 
to the views of the minority that dissented 
from the conduct of the nation and the 
Church at the Revolution. The inde- 
pendence and liberty of the Church were 
important matters surrendered to its serious 
injury, as has appeared in the results. 
They rejoice to observe that the public 
mind has awakened on this important sub- 
ject, and they shall rejoice to observe 



faithful efforts prosecuted and crowned with 
success, and the scattered friends of the 
Redeemer and his church rallied and united 
under one banner against the common foe. 
— They view the principles which they 
have exhibited as forming an excellent 
ground- work for further reformation. The 
Reformation had not time to be completed 
and consolidated. When just begun, in 
the mysteries of providence, it was arrested, 
undermined and persecuted. But it con- 
tained great elementary principles lying at 
the basis of the prosperity expected in 
future days, providing for the duty and in- 
terest of man as an individual, and as a 
member of society, and for the prosperity 
of the Church and the kingdoms of the 
earth. And it provides for all this by 
placing man in all relations under a clear 
and perfect rule, and under one rightful 
Sovereign, and by bringing the original 
and immutable law of love to God and to 
man into full exhibition and operation, in 
appropriate institutions, offices, relations 
and duties, it promises to bind up the 
wound of the daughter of Zion, and to 
heal the breaches of society under the 
reign of Him who is Truth and Peace. 
They cannot think that their views are 
contracted, illiberal, unpracticable. Those 
principles comprehend the whole range of 
truth and duty, of faith and practice, and 
provide for the personal, social, temporal, 
and eternal interests of the human family; 
and they will adhere to them, till a more 
excellent system — one more comprehensive 
and faithful — be shown them. They ap- 
preciate the piety, talent, labours, benevo- 
lence, and enterprise of Christians in other 
churches, and desire to emulate them in 
all that is good ; and while lamenting the 
divisions which unhappily prevail, they 
pray, and shall endeavour, by every con- 
sistent means, that they may be healed in 
truth and peace. They do not charge 
themselves with committing a breach upon 
the unity and peace of the Church, by ad- 
hering to her constitution and privileges, 
as asserted in the Second Reformation; 
and, without asserting its perfection, but 
viewing it as a ground-work upon which to 
proceed, they are fain, in abiding by its 
spiritual excellencies, to extend the bless- 
ings of religion, liberty, union, and peace, 
to the Church of God, to their beloved 
land, and to all the nations of the earth. 



112 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

BY THE REV. PROF. EADIE, D.D. LL.D., 
GLASGOW. 



The United Presbyterian Church con- 
sists of those two religious denominations 
recently known by the names of " United 
Secession" and "Relief." 

I. — UNITED SECESSION CHURCH. 

The Secession Church had its origin in 
a faithful and prolonged struggle for purity 
of doctrine, and freedom of administration. 
Ever since the settlement of the Church 
of Scotland at the revolution of 1688, 
there had been a gradual and marked dete- 
rioration in her pulpits and her ecclesias- 
tical courts. The facile remnant of the 
old Episcopalian clergy, had, as a measure 
of policy, been admitted to her communion. 
Parliament had so willed it, and the 
General Assembly at length, and not with- 
out murmurs, acquiesced. These curates 
so easily and opportunely converted into 
Presbyterian pastors, now read ethical 
homilies instead of printed prayers, and 
many of them, as Burnet testifies, were 
the dregs and refuse of the northern parts, 
were openly vicious, " wretched preachers, 
and ignorant to a reproach." But in the 
course of twenty years, what had been 
sullenly submitted to on the part of the 
Church, was in a spirit of vain servility 
openly boasted of. " We cannot," says the 
Assembly to Queen Anne, in 1712, "we 
cannot but lay before your Majesty this 
pregnant instance of our moderation, that, 
since our late happy establishment, there 
have been taken in and continued hundreds 
of dissenting ministers, upon the easiest 
terms." A sad confession of an unfaithful 
compromise, but a frank avowal of the ex- 
traordinary and fatal facility with which 



such Dissenters or prelatical incumbents 
retained their parishes and their salaries. 
The only condition required of those men 
who had served in a church which had 
shed the best blood of Scotland, was the 
simple acknowledgment of the fact, "that 
the church government, as now settled by 
law, is the only government of this 
Church." The great reason for such pro- 
cedure, was the wish, on the part of the 
government, either to bribe into acquies- 
cence, or at least to place under control, 
the notorious Jacobitism of the Episcopa- 
lian clergy of Scotland. The accession of 
so many pliant aliens in spirit and doctrine, 
was viewed with suspicion by the country, 
for it was soon found to exercise a delete- 
rious influence over the preaching and the 
policy of the National Church. The leaven 
so intruded, seemed to leaven with ominous 
rapidity the whole lump. 

In 1712, the act of patronage was 
passed,* by which the cherished right of 
the parishes to choose their pastors, was 
forcibly wrested from them. The Assem- 
bly remonstrated with the Legislature, but 
in vain, — pleaded long usage and constitu- 
tional right, but to no purpose. The First 
and Second Books of Discipline, though 
somewhat varying as to the mode of elec- 
tion, are equally explicit against the intru- 
sion of a minister on a reclaiming congre- 
gation. In 1690, the right of election 
was vested in the session and Protestant 



* The oath of abjuration had already created 
no little aversion of opinion, and many good 
men scrupled to take it. — M'Kerrow's History, 
vol. i. p. 7, 8. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



113 



heritors; and the people, if not satisfied 
with the choice made for them, possessed 
an effective veto, but now such privileges 
were entirely and summarily superseded. 
The result was, that the aristocracy became 
; parochial dictators, and thrust upon unwil- 
i ling churches, their y own creatures and no- 
minees — men, in many cases, wholly unfit 
to be spiritual teachers. Violent settle- 
ments became frequent throughout the 
country, the military were summoned in to 
preserve peace, and the obnoxious pre- 
sentee with the officiating Presbytery were 
protected from menaced or apprehended 
danger by the sword and scarlet of dra- 
goons. Appeals on the part of the insulted 
parish against such oppression were a com- 
mon resort, but they generally failed in 
obtaining redress from the General As- 
j sembly. The Church bowed to the civil 
! authority, and Acts of Parliament tri- 
umphed over popular franchise. The spirit 
of independence was bribed or vanquished 
in the large and dominant majority of the 
rulers of the Church of Scotland, and at 
length, in 1729, the Assembly, in violation 
of its constitutional forms, introduced a 
new machinery, and appointed committees 
of unbounded power, to superintend and 
execute their tyrannical acts of intrusion. 
So keenly and widely, however, was such 
oppression felt, that in the following year, 
the Supreme Court had twelve cases of 
complaint and appeal to dispose of. During 
these discussions, one of the Presbyteries 
had been enjoined to proceed with a violent 
settlement, but several of its members 
resolutely protested, and craved that their 
dissent might at least be recorded. The 
request was sharply refused, and it was 
then enacted as a general law that, in 
future, " no reasons of dissent against the 
determination of church judicatories' ' 
should be entered on record. The very 
power of complaint was taken away, and 
the injured were shut up to a dumb resig- 
nation. Constitutional freedom was virtu- 
ally at an end — the last trace of right and 
privilege was gone — and the despotism of 
the General Assembly ceased at length to 
blush at its own rapacity and treason. 
Nay, in its haste to strengthen the law of 
patronage, it transferred from its own keep- 
ing the jus devolution, (a privilege which 
many Presbyteries had employed so as to 
I favour popular election), and did so by an 



15 



express violation of the Barrier Act. In 
such circumstances, forty-two ministers ad- 
dressed a paper to the Assembly of 1732, 
stating a number of grievances, but the 
document was not allowed to be read, and 
a similar manifesto, signed by 1700 elders 
and laymen, met, of course, with a similar 
fate. Tyranny so gross and wanton, cre- 
ated a powerful hostility to itself in the 
national mind. The excitement and alarm 
were prodigious, — the disaffection of the 
pious people had been created and aug- 
mented by repeated provocations. A crisis 
had come, and on the 10th October of the 
same year, Ebenezer Erskine delivered that 
sermon which led to the Secession. 

But parallel to all this usurpation and 
oppression, there was another and melan- 
choly cause of growing discontent. The 
Church of Scotland had not only been 
rapidly secularized, but doctrinal laxity 
seems to have kept pace with obsequious- 
ness to the court and Parliament. Christ's 
crown was bartered away, and the cross on 
which he won it with his blood was also 
dishonoured. Disloyalty to the one King 
and Head, was accompanied by indifference 
in the, maintenance of the doctrine of his 
divinity, and in the exhibition of his aton- 
ing work. 

In 1717, Professor Simson of Glasgow 
was arraigned at the bar of the Assem- 
bly for error, involving in it no little of 
the Pelagian heresy; but the venerable 
court " prophesied smooth things," and 
dismissed the culprit with a bland advice 
to be more chary and cautious in time 
to come. But the same Assembly which 
tolerated such deviations from ortho- 
doxy, attempted also to stifle evangelical 
truth. The Presbytery of Auchterarder, 
in their desire to check the growth of 
Arminianism, had drawn up certain pro- 
positions to be subscribed by candidates 
for license. One of these testing articles 
was thus announced : — "I believe that it 
is not sound and orthodox to teach that we 
must forsake sin in order to our coming to 
Christ, and instating us in covenant with 
God." The proposition is not happily 
worded, though its reasoning could not be 
mistaken, but the General Assembly so- 
lemnly condemned this statement, and so 
were supposed to give virtual countenance 
to the delusion, that men must save them- 
selves ere they come to the Saviour, — must 



114 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



heal themselves before they resort to the | 
physician. 

An English book, named the " Marrow 
of Modern Divinity/' had been republished 
in 1718 by some friends of the Gospel in 
Scotland. That treatise, consisting of 
quaint and stirring dialogues, throws into 
bold relief the peculiar doctrines of grace, 
occasionally puts them into the form of a 
startling proposition, and is gemmed with 
quotations from eminent Protestant divines. 
Its appearance in Scotland threw the clergy 
into commotion, and by many of them it 
was violently censured and condemned. 
Not a few of the evangelical pastors gave 
it a hearty welcome; and among multi- 
tudes of the people it became a favourite 
book, next in veneration to the Bible and 
Catechism. Its Scottish editor, Mr. Hog 
of Carnock, printed, in 1719, some expla- 
nations of its peculiar statements, and the 
same year was attacked with special keen- 
ness in a Synod sermon by Principal 
Haddow of St. Andrew's. The Synod of 
Fife, before whom the assault was made, 
requested the publication of the pithy dia- 
tribe. The Assembly of 1719, acting in 
the same spirit, instructed its commission 
to look after books and pamphlets, pro- 
moting such opinions as are contained in 
the Marrow (though in the act the Marrow 
was not formally named), and to summon 
before them the authors and recom menders 
of such publications. The Commission 
appointed a committee, of which Principal 
Haddow was the life and mover, and before 
it four ministers were immediately cited. 
This committee reported to the Assembly 
of 1720, classified in their report the doc- 
trines of the Marrow, and solemnly con- 
demned them. This paper was prepared 
with a malignant dexterity. It selected 
special passages, some of which were not 
happily expressed, severed them from the 
context, and held them up as contrary to 
Scripture and the Confession of Faith. 
The report was discussed, and the result 
was a stern reprobation of the "Marrow," 
and a prohibition of all ministers from re- 
commending the book, or preaching its 
doctrines. The "Marrow" was put into 
the Index Expurgatorius, and " the people 
in whose hands it is, or may come, are ex- 
horted not to read or use the same." This 
rigid decision only fomented the contro- 
versy which it was intended to allay, for 



the forbidden book became more and more 
an object of intense swxirty, :md prevalent 
study. The popular party m the Church j 
at once concerted measures to have that 
Act repealed. Consultations were repeat- 
edly held by a section of the evangelical 
clergy, and at length it was agreed to hand 
in a representation to the Court, complain- 
ing of the obnoxious finding, and of the 
injury which had been done by it to pre- 
cious truth. The representation was signed 
by twelve ministers, and it briefly called 
the Assembly's attention to the fact that it 
had condemned the following propositions, 
which are in accordance at once with the 
Bible and the symbolical books. The me- 
morialists complain that the Assembly had 
branded as unscriptural and heretodox such 
statements as those : — " That in the Gospel, 
the Father hath made a free, unlimited 
offer of Christ and of salvation to all men, 
by virtue of which every individual who 
hears the Gospel has a warrant to take hold 
of said offer, and apply salvation to his own 
soul; that an assured persuasion of the 
truth of God's promise in the Gospel, with 
respect to one's self in particular, is in- 
cluded in the very nature of saving faith ; 
that the believer's holiness is in no way 
the price nor condition of his salvation; 
that believers, in yielding obedience to the 
law as a rule of life, ought not to be in- 
fluenced, either by mercenary hopes of 
heaven, or by slavish fears of hell; that 
the believer is not, in any respect, under 
the law as a covenant of works; and that 
it is a just and Scriptural distinction which 
is made betwixt the law as a covenant of 
works, and the law as a rule of life in the 
hand of Christ." This representation was 
dealt with by the Commission of the As- 
sembly of 1721, and a series of queries 
were put into the hands of the representers, 
to which questions answers were prepared 
by Ebenezer Erskine, and Mr. Wilson of 
Maxton, and given to the Commission in 
March, 1722. The same business had a 
prominent place in the following Assem- 
bly, and an Act was passed intended to 
explain, and at the same time to modify, j 
the previous findings regarding the Marrow. 
But the Assembly forbade all to teach the 
portions already condemned, "either by 
writing, printing, preaching, catechising, 
or in any other way." And not only so — 
they cited the Marrow-men before them, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



115 



and solemnly rebuked them. In four 
years from this date Professor Simson's 
case again attracted public notice. The 
previous lenity of the Assembly had only 
emboldened him, and a species of Arian- 
ism had been taught" from the chair of 
Theology in the College of Glasgow. Still, 
though the various Presbyteries urged his 
deposition, he was merely suspended from 
ecclesiastical functions, but at the same 
time continued in fellowship with the 
Church, and in the enjoyment of his wonted 
emoluments. Against such flagrant conni- 
vance with error Boston had the courage to 
protest. 

Similar indifference to truth was shown 
in the case of Professor Campbell of St. 
Andrew's — a case that occurred between 
the suspension and deposition of the se- 
ceding ministers. His logic and theology 
were truly eccentric and contradictory, 
flimsy in substance, and arrogant in spirit, 
the product of an ill-balanced mind that 
deemed originality to consist in extreme 
opinions. In his Oratio de vanitate lumi- 
nis naturse, he had, by the excess of a 
juvenile logic, so exaggerated his theme, 
as to affirm that the light of Nature cannot 
enable men to discover the existence of a 
God, — a statement in utter opposition to 
the Apostle's argument in the first chapter 
of the Epistle to the Romans, when he 
affirms that the Gentile world is without 
excuse in refusing to recognise and worship 
the one Supreme Creator. Again in an- 
other publication, where he attempts to 
prove that " the Apostles were no enthu- 
siasts," Campbell carried his argument to 
the absurd length of maintaining that they 
were so ignorant of their Master's character 
and claims, between his death and resur- 
rection, as to deem him an impostor, and 
thus, in maintaining that they Were not 
visionaries, he thought it requisite to make 
them foois and sceptics. He missed the 
mark by the boyish feat of overleaping it. 
When we reflect on the terrible explo- 
sion caused by the Marrow, and compare 
the earnest sincerity of the dominant fac- 
tion against its precious and distinctive 
tenets, with the tardy and indulgent pro- 
cesses against Simson and Campbell, we 
cannot but feel the depth and rapidity of 
that degeneracy which had fallen on the 
Church of the second Reformation. The 
power of the pulpit was gone, — the preach- 



ing of a free and unrestricted Gospel was 
frowned upon, — the sermon full of doctrine, 
reproof, correction, and instruction in right- 
eousness, had degenerated into a brief and 
pithless essay, disguised from Seneca or 
diluted from Epictetus. It had no spirit- 
uality of tone or unction, — and brought no 
comfort or satisfaction to the weary and 
anxious sinner. It neither moved the care- 
less nor refreshed the godly. Pious people 
Went to church and came home again, feel- 
ing that in their sad experience the words 
of the prophet had been realized, for their 
anticipations so often disappointed reminded 
them of the scene thus described, — " It 
shall be even as when an hungry man 
dreameth and behold he eateth, but he 
awaketh and his soul is empty j or when a 
thirsty man dreameth and behold he drink- 
eth, but he awaketh and behold he is faint 
and his soul hath appetite."* But the dere- 
liction was not universal. Good men and 
true were found in various parts of the 
country, — "faint yet pursuing," " per- 
plexed but not in despair, persecuted but 
not forsaken." By their prayers and min- 
istrations the best of the laity were greatly 
blessed and edified, and often -felt them- 
selves on the eve of adopting the old 
thanksgiving of Ezra, — " And now for a 
little space grace hath been showed from 
the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant 
to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy 
place, that our God may lighten our eyes, 
and give us a little reviving in our bond- 
age."-)" The " swatches" which Mr. Wilson 
of Perth gives of many of the ministers 
are truly mournful, proving that the ma- 
jority were reckless of principle, the mere 
abettors of a supple policy, and the haters 
of evangelical truth, while many were by 
no means either consistent in their conduct 
or exemplary in their lives. Not only, as 
we have seen, did they refuse any dissent 
against their ecclesiastical proceedings, but 
they even ventured to interfere with the 
freedom of the pulpit, and the sermon of 
Mr. Erskine was selected for the experi- 
ment. 

Mr. Erskine, as moderator of the pre- 
vious Synod, preached in Perth, at the 
opening of the Synod of Stirling and 
Perth, 10th Oct. 1732. His text was 
Psalm cxviii. 22 : — " The stone which the 



* Isaiah xxix. 8. 



t Ezra ix. 8. 



116 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



builders refused is become the head stone 
of the corner." The sermon was a noble 
protest against prevalent defection and 
error — a bold and magnanimous appeal for 
the rights of the Christian people, and the 
purity and freedom of the Christian pulpits. 
The majority of the Synod condemned him, 
and proudly doomed him to a formal cen- 
sure. The preacher would not submit, but 
openly vindicated his sentiments. The 
case was carried to the Assembly, and 
Erskine stood forth, surrounded by his 
three friends, Wilson of Perth, Moncrieff 
of Abernethy, and Fisher of Kinclaven. 
The principal culprit alone was heard, and 
his fellow-protesters were bluntly refused. 
His dignified self-vindication only enraged 
the Court, which now "refused to be 
ashamed," and he was again sentenced to 
be rebuked, "in order to terminate the 
process." The termination of the process 
was very different from the Assembly's an- 
ticipations. The rebuke, however, was ad- 
ministered. St. Giles mimicked the Vati- 
can. The Reformer protested, but the 
protest was refused, and indignantly thrown 
upon the table. It was found there inad- 
vertently among the papers, was read by 
him who accidentally found it, and the 
Assembly was immediately made aware of 
the awful discovery. At eleven o'clock 
that night the four brethren received a 
peremptory citation to appear at the bar to- 
morrow. They were summarily dealt with, 
and handed over to the mercies of the 
Commission, by which, in August, they 
were first suspended from ministerial func- 
tions, and then, in November, were formally 
severed from their ministerial charges. 
The following is the sentence : — " The 
Commission of the General Assembly did, 
and hereby do, loose the relation of Mr. 
Ebenezer Erskine, minister at Stirling, Mr. 
William Wilson, minister at Perth, Mr. 
Alexander Moncrieff, minister at Aber- 
nethy, and Mr. James Fisher, minister at 
Kinclaven, to their said respective charges, 
and do declare them no longer ministers 
of this church : And do hereby prohibit 
all ministers of this church to employ 
them, or any of them, in any ministerial 
function ; and the Commission do declare 
the churches of the said Mr. Erskine, Mr. 
Wilson, Mr. Moncrieff, and Mr. Fisher, 
vacant from and after the date of this sen- 
tence; and appoint that letters from the 



Moderator, and extracts of this sentence, 
be sent to the several Presbyteries within 
whose bounds the said ministers have had 
their charges, appointing them, as they are 
hereby appointed, to cause intimate this 
sentence in the foresaid several churches, 
any time betwixt and the first of January 
next : and also that notice of this sentence 
be sent by letter from the Moderator of 
this Commission to the Magistrates of 
Perth and Stirling, to the Sheriff Prin- 
cipal of Perth, and to the Bailie of the 
Regality of Abernethy." Against such a 
sentence the four brethren protested in the 
following magnanimous terms: — "We 
hereby adhere to the protestation formerly 
entered before this Court, both at their 
last meeting in August, and when we ap- 
peared first before this meeting : and 
further, we do protest in our own name, 
and in the name of all and every one in 
our respective congregations adhering to 
us, that notwithstanding of this sentence 
passed against us, our pastoral relation 
shall be held and reputed firm and valid : 
and likewise, we protest, that notwithstand- 
ing of our being cast out from ministerial 
communion with the Established Church 
of Scotland, we still hold communion with 
all and every one who desire with us to 
adhere to the principles of the true Pres- 
byterian Covenanted Church of Scotland, 
in her doctrine, worship, government, and 
discipline ; and particularly with every one 
who are groaning under the evils and who 
are affected with the grievances we have 
been complaining of, who are in their 
several spheres wrestling with the same. 
But in regard to the prevailing party in 
this Established Church, who have now 
cast us out from ministerial communion 
with them, are carrying on a course of 
defection from our Reformed and Cove- 
nanted principles, and particularly are 
suppressing ministerial freedom and faith- 
fulness in testifying against the present 
backslidings of the Church, and inflicting 
censures on ministers for witnessing, by 
protestations or otherwise, against the 
same : Therefore we do; for these and 
many other weighty reasons, to be laid 
open in due time, protest that we are 
obliged to make a Secession from them, 
and that we can have no ministerial com- 
munion with them, till they see their sins 
and mistakes, and amend them : And in 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



117 



like manner we protest, that it shall be 
lawful and warrantable for us to exercise 
the keys of doctrine, discipline, and go- 
vernment, according to the Word of God, 
and Confession of Faith, and the princi- 
ples and constitution of the Covenanted 
Church of Scotland, as if no such censure 
had been passed upon us. Upon all which 
we take instruments; and we hereby 
appeal to the first free, faithful, and re- 
forming General Assembly of the Church 
of Scotland/' 

For such weighty reasons, the sufferance 
of error without adequate censure — the 
infliction of the law of patronage — the 
neglect of discipline — the restraint of min- 
isterial freedom in testifying against malad- 
ministration — the four brethren made a 
Secession from the prevailing party of 
the Church of Scotland by law established. 
A few weeks afterwards, the expelled 
brethren met at Gairney-Bridge, near Kin- 
ross, and the Associate Presbytery was 
formally constituted. Dissent was then 
a novelty, and a perilous experiment ; but 
God and a good conscience upheld the Re- 
formers. They prepared a " Testimony," 
or vindication of their conduct, in which 
they boldly justify their procedure, and 
adduce an overwhelming mass of evidence 
in their favour. The Assembly of 1734 
appears to have been alarmed, for several 
intolerant decisions were rescinded, and the 
Synod of Perth and Stirling was empow- 
ered to take off the sentence of censure 
from Mr. Erskine and his associates. But 
the brethren would not conform under such 
circumstances, and with such charges yet 
uncancelled against them. They would 
not appear as re-respited or pardoned trans- 
gressors, nor tamely belie the mighty in- 
terests which they represented. 

It has been sometimes alleged that the 
Seceders ought, at this period, to have gone 
back to the Church. The terms proposed 
by the Assembly have been recently de- 
scribed as " honourable"* terms. Such a 
view of the matter is naturally entertained 
by one who does not think that there was 
any tenable ground for a secession at all. 
The conditions proposed to the seceders 
were such as no honourable mind could have 
listened to. Their conduct was still con- 



* « The Ten Years' Conflict." By Robert Bu- 
chanan, D. D. Vol. i. p. 182. 



demned, but professedly forgiven. Its 
decisions respecting liberty of administra- 
tion were repealed, but not a word was said 
in favour of evangelical truth, and no mo- 
dification of the sentences against the 
" Marrow" had been so much as hinted at. 
If the seceders had re-entered the Church 
in such circumstances, they must have 
sadly stultified themselves, and their subse- 
quent advocacy of sound doctrine must 
have been feeble and spiritless. Such an 
open departure and public protest as theirs 
was needed in the juncture, for the friends 
of truth and freedom who remained in the 
Assembly seem to have made no effort to 
obtain the repeal of its Arminian acts and 
decisions, and to this day they remain 
uncancelled on the records of the General 
Assembly. That the proposals of return 
were made to the seceders " under evan- 
gelical influence," f is very much to be 
doubted. It was rather policy and fear of 
further schism that sought to win back 
Erskine and his friends. Where was this 
powerful "evangelical influence" in future 
years, when the seceders were scorned by 
the Assembly as wretched and turbulent 
demagogues, and no voice was uplifted in 
their behalf — when the people who waited 
on their ministry were alleged "to come 
with other views than to promote religion ;" 
and when the Venerable Court of 1741 
sanctioned a grant of £60 to Mr. Currie, 
for his unscrupulous and -virulent assault 
on the men and motives of the Secession ? J 
Two other Assemblies passed away. But 
the seceders were not idle; they published 
a judicial Testimony, and churches were 
formed by them in various parts of the 
country. One of the four, Mr. Wilson of 
Perth, was chosen Professor of Theology. 
In 1737 the famous Ralph Erskine of 
Dunfermline acceded to the Presbytery; 
young men were licensed to preach, and 
Secession was rapidly becoming a popular 
and organized community. The acquies- 
cence of the Established Church in the 
proceeding of the Government on the occa- 
sion of the Porteous mob, when it was en- 
acted that a State paper should be read in 
all the pulpits, showed how. Erastian she 

t "The Ten Years' Conflict." By Robert 
Buchanan, D.D. Vol. i. p, 182. 

X See Wilson's " Defence," and his " Continua- 
tion," for a full refutation of the arguments 
against the first seceders. 



118 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



had become. Complaints were made of 
the seceders before the Assembly of 1738. 
The case was entrusted to the Commission, 
by whom a libel was framed against each 
of the seceding ministers, and they were 
cited to appear at next Assembly. These 
ministers, now amounting to eight, obeyed 
the summons, appeared before the Court as 
a constituted Presbytery, and formally dis- 
claimed the Assembly's authority. Sen- 
tence of deposition against them was passed, 
and was solemnly pronounced by the As- 
sembly of 1740, on the fifteenth day cf 
May. 

Thus ran the decree : — " And, therefore, 
the General Assembly, in respect of the 
articles found revelant and proven against 
the persons therein and hereafter named by 
the last and this Assembly, as aforesaid, 
did, and hereby do, in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, the sole king and 
head of the Church, and by virtue of the 
power and authority committed by Him to 
them, actually depose Messrs. Ebenezer 
Erskine at Stirling, William Wilson at 
Perth, Alexander Moncrieff at Abernethy, 
James Fisher at Kinclaven, Ralph Erskiue 
at Dunfermline, Thomas Mair at Orwell, 
Thomas Nairn at Abbotshall, and James 
Thomson at Burntisland, ministers, from 
the office of the holy ministry, prohibiting 
and discharging them, and every one of 
them, to exercise the same, or any part 
thereof, within this Church in all time 
coming, and the Assembly did, and hereby 
do declare all the parishes or charges of 
the persons above named, vacant, from and 
after the day and date of this sentence, 
and ordains copies hereof to be sent to the 
several Presbyteries of Stirling, Perth, 
Dunkeld, Dunfermline, and Kirkaldy; and 
the said respective Presbyteries are hereby 
ordered to send copies hereof to the Kirk 
Sessions of Perth and Dunfermline, and 
Session-clerks of the other respective 
parishes hereby declared vacant, to be com- 
municated to the elders. And the Assem- 
bly appoints that letters be wrote by their 
Moderator to the magistrates of the re- 
spective burghs concerned, with copies of 
this sentence; and the Assembly recom- 
mends to the Presbyteries within whose 
bounds the parishes or charges declared 
vacant do lie, to be careful in using their 
best endeavours for supplying the same 
during the vacancy, and for promoting 



the speedy and comfortable settlement 
hereof."* 

The majority of the deposed ministers 
were ejected by this sentence from their 
places of worship. Two of them, however, 
by the kindness of the heritors, retained 
their churches till new ones were built for 
them. Moncrieff preached during the 
whole winter in the open air. The magis- 
trates of Stirling fastened the church 
against Mr. Erskine, while the venerable 
patriarch, on being refused admission, lift- 
ing thrice his pulpit Bible, which he car- 
ried, solemnly protested, in front of the 
sanctuary, to which access was denied him, 
that he followed conscience, and that his 
opposers were responsible at the judgment- 
seat of God. The scene at Perth has been 
already described by the writer in his Life 
of Wilson, and may be appended in a foot 
note.f 



* Acts of Assembly 1740. 

t The civic authorities in Perth were obse- 
quious to the kirk — they received the edict on 
the Sabbath morning-, and that very day they re- 
solved to enforce it ! Their anxious haste proved 
that they were afraid of reflection. 

Mr. Wilson had been made aware of this 
movement, and fortified himself by prayer. An 
unusual thoughtfulness was that morning visible 
on his countenance. The church in which he 
had laboured for four-and-twenty years was now 
to be shut against him. His conscience acquitted 
him of rash and sectarian procedure. He had 
suffered insult without a murmur, willing still 
to preach to an affectionate people. His charac- 
ter had been aspersed, yet he humbly discharged 
his duty as one of the ministers of Perth. But 
from that pulpit, hallowed by so many sacred 
associations, he was at length to be forcibly ex- 
cluded. His private exercises on this eventful 
morning were somewhat protracted. He sought 
grace to be faithful when the crisis had come. 
The domestic meal was postponed to an unwonted 
season, if not altogether neglected. His house- 
hold servants gathered that something strange 
was about to fall upon them, and whispered to 
one another their ominous forebodings. From 
his closet, nerved and resolved, Mr. Wilson went 
to the church. Its doors were shut, and the 
civic magnates proudly guarded them with rnace 
and halberts. An immense assemblage, filled with 
amazement and perplexity, crowded the streets, 
musing in their minds what might be the issue. 
Mr. Wilson passed through the throng, who 
made way for him with profound obeisance, went 
up to the principal entrance of the church, and 
confronting the municipal authorities, boldly re- 
quested admission into the house of God, — "In 
the name of my Divine Master, I ask admission 
into his temple." Once — a second time — a third 
time he repeated the solemn demand, and was 



HISTORY OF TEE UIslTED PRE8EYTERIAN CHURCH. 



119 



Application for supply of sermon had 
already been made to the new parties from 
many distressed quarters. Seventy such 

met with a curt and firm denial. The expectant 
multitude were confounded and irritated. A 
low murmur ran along them, — "Mr. Wilson's 
kept out of the kirk." The aged wept, the 
younger heaved with indignation. There was a 
movement — a muttered menace, then a yell — 
"Stone them, stone them." The storm was ris- 
ing — a minute more, and it would have burst. 
But the popular fury was suddenly hushed. 
Wilson turned to the vast assemblage, heaving 
in wrathful commotion around him. His serene 
countenance and tranquil attitude commanded 
their attention. "No violence," he exclaimed, 
in tones of earnest and impressive calmness, "no 
violence, my friends : the Master whom I serve 
is the Prince of Peace." Their rage was stayed. 
The man of God triumphed, and the victory was 
sealed — when shrill and clear these words of 
power rang again over the wedged masses, and 
were heard to their utmost verge, — "no vio- 
lence, my friends, I implore you ; the Master 
whom I serve is the Prince of Peace." During 
the lull, the deacon of the Glover's Corporation 
interfered, and spontaneously offered to Mr. 
Wilson the Glovers' yard as a place of temporary 
meeting. The proposal was immediately ac- 
cepted, and the vast concourse at once adjourned. 
The yard was immediately filled. The services 
commenced with Mr. Wilson's solemn reading 
of a few verses of the fifty-fifth Psalm. His vast 
audience felt how appropriate were the words 
which the minister slowly recited : — 
" He was no foe that me reproach'd, 
Then that endure I could ; 
Nor hater that did 'gainst me boast, 
From him me hide I would. 

But thou, man, who mine equal, guide, 
And mine acquaintance wast: 

We join'd sweet counsels, to God's house 
In company we pass'd." 

Hundreds who sung these words were thrilled by 
the truth of them — felt how bitter was the pang 
of exile from the dominant church — and how 
that church, in ejecting them, had renounced its 
own principles, and violated all its sacred profes- 
sions. It was not the world, but the church that 
"reproached" them. It was not a "foe" that 
afflicted them, but an " equal," " guide," and 
"acquaintance," often revered in the ties of 
Christian fellowship. Wilson's text was one also 
of peculiar adaptation to the scene and circum- 
stances, Heb. xiii. 13, " Let us go forth, there- 
fore, unto him without the camp, bearing his re- 
proach." The deep solemnity in which the words 
were uttered, and the immediate sensation which 
they awakened among the people, were, perhaps, 
the most vivid commentary which the text ever 
received. The Glovers' yard was a living illus- 
tration of the duty which the Apostle inculcated, 
and the sermon had its echo in the experience of 
the auditors. The meeting at length quietly dis- 
persed, carrying with them those impressions 



applications were presented in the years 
1737-38. But the Secession encountered, 
as might be expected, violent opposition. 



which ripened into decided attachment to the 
Secession and its interests. Round many a 
hearth was the scene described to wondering 
listeners, while the text was repeated times with- 
out number. Old men delighted to tell to their 
children's children, how Mr. Wilson looked and 
spoke in the Glovers' yard, and how at the very 
reading cf the text each one held his breath, and 
a spell so deep and awful lay upon them, that not 
a stir or rustle was heard in all the great con- 
gregation. Two anecdotes, handed down by 
family tradition, in connection with these events, 
are recorded by Dr. Ferrier. Mr. Wilson's father 
had lain hid for a season in the Mearns' Moor, in 
the days of former persecution, and a young girl 
carried his food to his place of retreat. She 
seems to have become an inmate of the family, 
and she was treated with peculiar and tender 
deference in Mr. Wilson's household at Perth. 
On the morning of this trying Sabbath, the aged 
domestic was somewhat apprehensive and un- 
easy. Her busy memory brought back the scenes 
of her youth, when she glided away stealthily, 
both morning and evening, to the wild and 
gloomy morass. The privations of the father 
made her anxious for the welfare of the son. 
And as the tide of these sad recollections filled 
her heart, she could not help looking wistfully 
in her master's face, as he was leaving his home 
on his way to the church, and saying to him — 
" Tak' tent, Mr. William, tak' tent what ye're 
doing, for I fear, if things gang on this way, I'll 
get ye're meat to carry to the moor, as I did 
ye're guid father's afore ye." When Mr. Wilson 
returned from the services of the day, he retired 
at once to his chamber. Many thoughts might 
press upon him, and he sought quiet and unin- 
terrupted meditation. His eldest daughter, a 
girl about twelve years of age, had witnessed 
with natural curiosity the strange proceedings, 
had seen her father seek admission to his own 
church, and had heard the gruff refusal which 
the magistrates gave him. She had been also in 
the Glovers' yard, and had beheld thousands of 
faces looking up to her sire with intense excite- 
ment. But she was sorely puzzled to under- 
stand these novelties. Her natural wish was to 
hear them explained by her father. The matter 
appeared to her young mind so solemn that she 
was afraid to ask what she coveted. But with 
restless anxiety she "hung about" the door of 
the study, anxious to obtain at least a glimpse of 
his countenance. Her father at last observed 
her, and reading her wishes in her features, 
called her to him, and patting her kindly on the 
head, said to her, — " Bell, this has indeed been a 
day of trial, but we have reason, great reason, to 
be thankful, that it has not been a day of shame. 
If any body ask you, Bell, my dear, why your 
papa lost his kirk, you may just say, as good Mr. 
Guthrie before his execution bade my mother say 
of him, if any one asked her why he lost his 
head, — it was in a good cause." 



120 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



Popular disturbances sometimes menaced 
them, sites for building places of worship 
were refused them, and the Duke of 
Argyle in the House of Lords, more than 
insinuated their guilty connection with the 
Porteous riots. Their own misunderstand- 
ing with Whitefield, led him to ridicule 
them, their extreme views of the " Cam- 
buslang" work, exposed them to merited 
animadversion, and their terms of commu- 
nion embodied too much of their mere 
denominational tenets. Yet their cause 
"grew and multiplied," funds were col- 
lected for the purpose of enabling pious 
young men to enter upon preparatory 
studies, and a teacher of philosophy was 
appointed. Missionaries were sent over to 
Ireland, the cause was introduced into 
London, and even from America there came 
a request for supply of sermon. The Pres- 
bytery expanded into a Synod, consisting 
of thirty settled congregations, and thirteen 
vacancies, and held its first meeting at 
Stirling, in the memorable year — 15. 
The loyalty of the Seceders during the re- 
bellion was both signal and effective : min- 
isters and people were found active and 
undaunted in scenes of danger. The Se- 
ceders naturally hated a Popish pretender, 
and their patriotism won them, from high 
quarters, many commendations. But, an 
unhappy controversy was introduced into 
the Synod, about the propriety of the bur- 
gess oath.* The members could not agree 
in their interpretations of one of its clauses. 
The oath was imposed on burgesses in 
Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Perth. He who 
swore it, pledged himself " to profess and 
allow the true religion presently professed 
within this realm, and authorised by the 
laws thereof." Some held, naturally, that 
swearing such an oath, was virtual approval 
of the Established Church with all its cor- 
ruptions, for to the men who framed the 
oath, the religion presently professed, 
"was the religion by law established;" 
others maintained that the oath only re- 
ferred to the true religion as professed, but 

* The following was the clause of the oath to 
which the Dissenters referred : — " Here I protest 
before God, and your Lordships, that I profess, 
and allow with my heart, the true religion pre- 
sently professed within this realm, and authorised 
by the laws thereof: I shall abide thereat, and 
defend the same to my life's end ; renouncing 
the Roman religion called papistry." 



did not imply any approval of the mode of 
its settlement. The oath was bad in every 
sense, for it made citizenship depend upon 
saintship, and associated the bribe of civil 
right with religious profession. After long 
and unhallowed wrangling, and not a little 
ecclesiastical thunder, the sharp contention 
ended in a separation in 1747. The party 
who disapproved of the religious clause in 
the oath, were named the General Asso- 
ciate Synod and vulgarly styled the Anti- 
Burghers — the other division kept the title 
of Associate Synod and were commonly 
known as the Burghers. Both Synods 
pursued their aims of Evangelization with 
undeviating fidelity in their separate state 
— both sent many ministers to Nova Scotia 
and the American States — and both con- 
tributed to the support of missions in 
various forms. Both Synods were also dis- 
turbed with the questions of the magis- 
trate's power in matters of religion, and 
from both, half a century after the first 
breach, seceded small parties, holding the 
right of the civil power as it is thought to 
be defined in the Confession of Faith. In 
the testimony emitted at that period by the 
Anti-Burgher Synod, the question is dis- 
cussed with singular accuracy and propriety. 
" 1. That the Church is a spiritual king- 
dom. Her members, as such, are con- 
sidered as spiritual persons. The same 
character belongs to her doctrines, ordinan- 
ces, and office-bearers. But the kingdoms 
of this world are secular and earthly socie- 
ties; the members of which, as such, are 
considered as capable of performing the 
duties, and of enjoying the privileges, be- 
longing to a civil state. The power of the 
Church is wholly spiritual, and is exercised 
by her office-bearers, in its whole extent, 
solely with respect to the spiritual interests 
of men, and in no other name but that of 
Christ. But the power competent to 
worldly kingdoms is wholly temporal, re- 
specting only the temporal interests of 
society. Their rulers can have no spirit- 
ual power, because this cannot reside in a 
civil body, and therefore cannot be com- 
municated to them by those who have en- 
trusted them with power. The rulers of 
the Church are bound to publish and exe- 
cute the laws given her by Christ; but 
have no right to make new laws, or in the 
least to deviate from his. But civil society 
may choose what form of government, and 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



121 



may make what civil laws they please, if 
they do nothing contrary to the eternal 
law of righteousness, which is the rule of 
civil society, as such. The glory of God, 
in the salvation of elect sinners, is the end 
of the erection of the church, and of all 
her doctrines and ordinances. The end of 
civil government, in subordination to the 
Divine glory, is the public and temporal 
good of civil society. 

"2. That neither of these kingdoms 
has power over the other. The Church 
hath a spiritual authority over such of the 
subjects and rulers of earthly kingdoms, as 
are in her communion ; and the civil powers 
have the same authority over the members 
and office-bearers of the Church, as over 
the rest of their subjects. But she hath 
no power over earthly kingdoms, in 
their collective and civil capacity ; nor have 
they any power over her as a church. 
Christ, her Head, while on earth, disclaimed 
all exercise of civil authority* and there 
is not the least evidence from the New 
Testament, that he entrusted his servants 
with any. So far from this, it is given as 

j the character of the Man of Sin, that he 
should arrogate authority over earthly 

! kingdoms. On the other hand, neither 
these kingdoms, nor their sovereigns, have 
any power in or over the Church. Christ, 
her only sovereign, hath neither directly 
nor indirectly, given them any spiritual au- 
thority. The Christian religion lays every 
one who professes it, under the strongest 
obligations to the faithful discharge of the 
duties of his station. But it annexes no 
new powers to any office or relation founded 
in nature; therefore Christian magistrates 
have no power to give laws to the Church ; 
to appoint her office-bearers, or dictate to 
them in the discharge of their office; to pre- 
scribe a Confession of Faith, or form of wor- 
ship, to the Church, or their subjects in gene- 
ral • authoritatively to call meetings of church 
judicatories, in ordinary cases, or to direct 
or control them in their judicial procedure. 
In matters purely religious, civil rulers 
have no right to judge for any but them- 
selves. " 

These views show, that what in recent 
times has been called Voluntaryism, is no 
novelty in Scotland. The Burgher Synod 
in the preamble to their formula of ordina- 
tion, were no less explicit. 

Both Synods found too much reason to 



16 



justify their continued separation from the 
Established Church. Some of these are 
enumerated in the "Act and Testimony of 
the United Secession Church. "* The de- 
position of Gillespie inaugurated the rule 
of Principal Kobertson, and, during his 
era, oppression was at its height. Such 
was the progress made by many of his 
followers, that he became alarmed, and, in 
1781, retired from the Assembly, for some 
of the Moderates had formed the idea of 
getting rid of the Confession of Faith alto- 
gether. Many publications containing doc- 
trines at variance with the " Confession/' 
met with no rebuke, and patronage was 
exercised without modification or control. 
Even under Dr. Hill's ascendancy, no 
reforms were tolerated, and in 1796, during 
a debate on missions, the Rev. Mr. Hamil- 
ton of Gladsmuir, affirmed that the propa- 
gation of the Gospel was " highly prepos- 
terous in as far as it anticipates, nay, 
reverses the order of nature/' Dr. Hill 
himself said, that missionary societies were 
highly dangerous in their tendency to the 
good order of society at large, while Mr. 
Bryce,f one of the eldest, thought the As- 
sembly should give the overtures recom- 
mending such associations, " their most 
serious disapprobation and their immediate, 
most decisive opposition. "J Nay, later 
still, the General Assembly of 1830, ho- 
mologated the famous Act of 1720, against 
the Marrow, and in saying that the doc- 
trines of Mr. Campbell of Bow, had been 
condemned by that old decision, identified 
his glaring errors with those precious 
truths, the defence of which was one 
means of originating the Secession. The 
United Secession Church is a permanent 
protest against this act of 1720; an act, 
the repeal of which was the object of 
fondest hope to Ebenezer Erskine and his 
brethren. Such being the case in 1830, 
how could the Seceders have returned to 
the Church in 1834 — as the author of the 
" Ten Years' Conflict" imagines they ought 
to have done ? 

Both Synods adhered to the same plat- 
form of doctrine and government, took a 
deep and deepening interest in all that per- 



* Pp. 70-73. 

t Afterwards Lord President of the Court of 
Session. 

X Buchanan's Ten Years' Conflict, vol. i. pp. 
201, 202. 



122 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN -CHURCH. 



tained to the good of their country, the 
welfare of the world, and the glory of G-od ; 
and were especially captivated by the insti- 
tution of Bible and missionary societies, 
which hallowed the commence men t of the 
present century.* The ministers and 
people belonging to both Synods, were fre- 
quently thrown into contact in pursuit of 
a common object, the animosities of the 
olden times had gradually subsided, Sece- 
ders of both communions looked each other 
in the face, and mutual sympathy was 
created. The stumbling-block was in some 
burghs taken out of the way, and there 
was no difference save on this minor point. 
By and bye, joint prayer meetings were 
held, the desire of union spread with 
amazing celerity, so that, at the spring 
meeting of both Synods in 1819, their 
tables were covered with petitions praying 
for union, and that the u Breach" might 
be healed. Both Synods looked on these 
promising appearances with deep emotion 
and gave thanks to God. The various pre- 
liminary arrangements occupied some time, 
a basis of union was ultimately agreed upon, 
and the union was at length consummated 
in September, 1820. Seventy-three years 
had passed away since the breach, and in 
the churchf where it occurred, re-union was 
sealed. A few ministers of the General 
Associate Synod stood aloof from the union, 
and, protesting against it, formed a separate 
fellowship. 

Thus was formed the United Secession 
Church which continued under this hon- 
oured name, till its union with the Relief 
in 1847. At the breach, the Secession 
numbered 32 congregations ; at the union 
it comprised 262 — 139 connected with the 
Associate Synod, and 123 with the General 
Associate Synod. In the next twenty 
years from the date of this union, 100 new 
congregations were added to the number. 
The rate of measure up to the period of 
the union, was as follows : — 

From the year 1733, when the Associate 
Presbytery was first constituted, till 

1740, 22 congs. 



* When Dr. Waugh of London, visited Scot- 
land in 1815, in behalf of the London Missionary 
Society, he collected £1420, principally in Se- 
cession Churches. 

t U. P. Church, Bristo Street, Edinburgh. 



(Both years inclusive.) 

From 1740 till 1749, 27 congs. 

... 1750 ... 1759,., 27 ... 

... 1760 ... 1769,... 23 ... 

... 1770 ... 1779, 24 ... 

... 1780 ... 1789, 33 ... 

... 1790 ... 1799, 47 ... 

... 1800 ... 1809, 22 ... 

... 1810 ... 1819, 24 ... 

... 1820 ... 1829, 48 ... 

... 1830 ... 1839, 35 ... 

... 1840 ... 1847, 41 ... 



373 



There are 29 congregations, the dates of 
whose formation are not ascertained ; and 
these, of course, are not included in the 
above enumeration. 

In 1841, and some following years, the 
peace of the Church was interrupted by 
disputes on the extent of the Atonement. 
Some parties had fallen into serious errors 
on this subject, and were at several Synods 
cut off, one after another, from communion. 
At the same time, sad misconception pre- 
vailed among the ministers of the Synod, 
heresy was charged on some without the 
slightest foundation, as was proved by 
formal trial, and the most prominent of the 
accusers subsequently withdrew from the 
jurisdiction and fellowship of the United 
Secession Church. The United Secession 
Church, on that and other doctrines, holds 
by the Confession, and her style of illus- 
trating those truths, finds its prototype in 
the writings of Erskine and Boston. For 
a full historical illustration of this contro- 
versy from the period of Mair in 1754, to 
that of Morison in 1841, the reader may 
turn to an excellent volume — "History 
of the Atonement Controversy, in connec- 
tion with the Secession Church, from its 
origin till the present time/' by the Rev. 
Andrew Robertson of Stow. Edinburgh, 
1846. 

In the course of a hundred years, half a 
million sterling was expended in the erec- 
tion of churches and manses, and that 
chiefly by the working classes, and a few of 
the middle classes, in the country. At the 
time of the junction with the Relief, the 
United Secession Church, was raising annu- 
ally for congregational, benevolent, and mis- 
sionary purposes, above £70,000. It had 
also mission premises, with a regular secre- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



123 



tary, and was supporting a band of sixty 
missionaries and teachers in foreign lands. 
It had four chairs of theology, to wit herme- 
neutics and criticism, exegesis, systematic 
theology, and homiletics with pastoral 
theology. Ninety-three students were at- 
tending its theological institute, and it had 
a staff of sixty-five probationers. 

During the last five years of its separate 
existence, it had been paying off the debt 
on its churches and manses at the rate of 
more than twenty thousand pounds per 
annum. At the period of the Union in 
1847, £110,000 had already been raised 
for this purpose, and by the process of 
liquidation then in operation, and soon to 
be completed, above £141,000 of debt 
were ultimately cancelled. 

The discipline, government, and ritual 
of the United Secession Church, being 
the same as that of the Relief Church, 
and being still continued in the United 
Presbyterian Church, will be described 
under it. The history of the Secession 
will be found in full detail in the work of 
Dr. M'Kerrow, already quoted. In the 
first vol. of the " United Presbyterian 
Fathers/' may be found also a brief and 
popular account by Dr. A. Thomson, of 
the United Presbyterian Church, Broughton 
Place, Edinburgh. 



II. — RELIEF CHURCH.* 

There is less reason for a full sketch of 
the llelief Church than there would have 
been, had it continued a separate denomi 7 
nation. It appears in this work as one of 
the branches of the United Presbyterian 
Church ; and, while the Secession branch 
had an earlier origin, both of them, with a 
few exceptions, have uniformly maintained 
the same great principles. 

Mr. Thomas Gillespie was the founder 
of the Relief Denomination. He was 
born in 1708, and, in early youth, received 
his first religious impressions from Mr. 
Thomas Boston of Ettrick, the author of 
" the Fourfold State, " which has had so 
great an influence upon the religious mind 
of Scotland. Having nearly finished the 
usual literary and theological curiculum in 



* This ("Relief") portion of the sketch of 
the United Presbyterian Church has been fur- 
nished by the Rev. Prof. M'Michael, D. D., Dun- 
fermline. 



the University of Edinburgh, he joined 
the Divinity Hall of the Secession Church, 
then under the superintendence of the 
Rev. Mr. Wilson of Perth. Being, how- 
ever, dissatisfied with " their plan of prin- 
ciples," he remained only a short time, and 
repaired to Northampton, where his opin- 
ions were expanded and matured by the 
theological prelections of Dr. Doddridge. 
In 1741 he was licensed and ordained in 
England to the sacred office by a number 
of dissenting ministers ; his distinguished 
tutor acting as moderator. In the same 
year he returned to Scotland, and before 
its close he was inducted into the parish 
of Carnock, with the cordial consent of all 
parties. Before his settlement, he objected 
to the doctrine of the Confession of Faith, on 
the power of the civil magistrate in reli- 
gion, and he was permitted to sign it, with 
an explanation of its meaning. It is of 
the more importance to record this inci- 
dent, as well because it proves how decided 
were his views on this question, at so early 
a period, as because it throws much light 
on his subsequent conduct, in asserting the 
rights of the individual conscience, in oppo- 
sition to the mandates of his superiors. 
The Confession of Faith, upon the one 
hand, inculcates the principle of passive 
obedience to all authority, civil or ecclesi- 
astical ; and, upon the other hand, it de- 
clares that the publication of erroneous 
opinions is to be punished, not merely with 
the censures of the church, but also with 
the sharp edge of the magisterial sword. 
The doctrine of the Confession is thus ex- 
pressed : " Because the powers which God 
hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ 
hath purchased, are not intended by God 
to destroy, but mutually to uphold and pre- 
serve one another j they who, upon pretence 
of Christian liberty, shall oppose any 
lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, 
whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist 
the ordinance of God. And for their pub- 
lishing of such opinions, or maintaining of 
such practices as are contrary to the light 
of nature, or to the known principles of 
Christianity, whether concerning faith, 
worship, or conversation ; or to the power 
of godliness; or such erroneous opinions 
or practices, as either in their own nature, 
or in the manner of publishing or main- 
taining them, are destructive to the external 
peace and order which Christ hath estab- 



124 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



lished in the church; they may lawfully 
be called to account, and proceeded against 
by the censures of the church, and by the 
power of the civil magistrate ."* A docu- 
ment of this character Mr. Gillespie could 
not have subscribed, with his ideas of 
religious freedom. 

He laboured for about twelve years in 
Carnock, beloved and esteemed by the 
people of his charge, distinguished for his 
eminent holiness, his Catholic spirit, and 
his experimental preaching. He carried 
on a correspondence with President Ed- 
wards, with Dr. Doddridge, and the Kev. 
James Harvey, author of " Theron and 
Aspasio," men who could appreciate his 
meek unpretending goodness and apostolic 
excellence. In this small parish he might 
have lived and died in comparative obscu- 
rity, had not persecution chased him into 
fame, and given him a prominent place in 
the history of the church, of which before 
he had no conception. It took place in 
consequence of a disputed settlement, a 
frequent occurrence in these times. 

The Church of Scotland had by this 
time somewhat recovered from the alarm 
she experienced at the rise of the Seces- 
sion in 1733, and the work of reformation 
upon which she then entered, in order to 
check the spread of dissent, was now sus- 
pended. The unhappy controversies on 
the burgess oath, which divided the Seces- 
sion Church into two branches in 1747, 
encouraged a feeling of security, and the 
rights of the Christian people were invaded 
with less reluctance and a bolder front than 
ever. In this respect, at least, the Estab- 
lished Church was more corrupt than she 
had been, when the fathers of the Seces- 
sion abandoned her communion ; and in 
the General Assembly, the members of 
independent speech and action were fewer 
than ever. It was the evident intention 
of the majority in the church courts to 
allow no pleas of conscience on the part 
of the minority, and to compel them to the 
performance of thqse official acts which 
were required for the settlement of minis- 
ters. It was in 1752 that matters came 
to a crisis. Mr. Richardson of Broughton 
had received, in 1749, a presentation to 
Inverkeitbing. Only a few signed the 
call, and these were principally non-resident 



* Chap. xx. § 4. 



heritors. The Presbytery of Dunfermline 
refused to induct him in these circum- 
stances ; believing that his settlement 
would prove injurious to the interests of 
religion. The question was brought several 
times before the Synod of Fife and the 
Commission of the Assembly, but the ma- 
jority of the Presbytery maintained their 
original position. The case was again re- 
ferred to the Commission, in March, 1752. 
A compromise was made ; the scruples of 
the recusants were respected; and the 
Synod of Fife was appointed as a com- 
mittee of the Commission, to proceed with 
the settlement of Mr. Richardson. Dr. 
Robertson, the celebrated historian, with 
some others, dissented from this decision 
of the Commission, mainly on the ground 
that it encouraged insubordination, and 
was a violation of the Presbyterian consti- 
tution. A great principle was now at stake 
— is passive obedience the law of the 
Church of Scotland? — and its issues were 
most momentous. On Monday, the 18th 
May, the Inverkeithing case was taken up 
by the General Assembly. The doctrine 
of Principal Robertson was triumphantly 
asserted ; the Presbytery of Dunfermline 
were ordered to proceed with the settle- 
ment of Mr. Richardson on Thursday first, 
five being appointed a quorum ; and they 
were also commanded to appear upon 
Friday, to give an account of their conduct. 
This was peremptory enough ; and it was 
also a superfluous excess of tyranny. Three 
form a legal quorum ; and it was well known 
that there were three members of Presby- 
tery, who were quite willing to take part in 
the induction of Mr. Richardson ; but yet, 
with the view of concussing good men into 
a deed of which they disapproved, the 
quorum was arbitrarily enlarged. On 
Friday, the Presbytery of Dunfermline 
appeared before the bar of the Assembly. 
No settlement had taken place in Inverkei- 
thing, on the day before. Three ministers 
were present, but as these were not a 
quorum, according to the decision of the 
Assembly, nothing was done. Six still re- 
fused to comply with the appointment of the 
supreme court, and read a representation 
declaring that " they had acted as honest 
men, willing to forego every secular advan- 
tage for conscience' sake." It was resolved 
that one of these six should be deposed, 
but that the selection of the victim should 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



125 



be deferred till next day. On Saturday, 
each of the six was siogly placed before 
the bar of the house. Three seemed to 
yield, two remained firm : Gillespie came 
forward with another protestation defending 
his conduct. There could be no doubt 
now. if there ever had been, as to the re- 
sult. Prayer was blasphemously offered 
up for the Divine direction, in accordance 
with the usual practice. The votes were 
taken : 56 voted for deposition ; 102 de- 
clined voting. The moderator, Dr. Cum- 
ming, pronounced the following sentence : 
— " The General Assembly did, and hereby 
do, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
the sole King or Head of the Church, and 
by virtue of the power and authority com- 
mitted by him to them, depose you, Mr. 
Thomas Gillespie, minister at Carnock, 
from the office of the holy ministry, pro- 
hibiting and discharging you to exercise 
the same or any part thereof, within this 
church, in all time coming : and the As- 
sembly did, and hereby do declare the 
church and parish of Carnock vacant, from 
and after the day and date of this sen- 
tence." Meekly and composedly did the 
Christian confessor listen to this sentence 
of deposition ; and he replied : — " Mode- 
rator, I desire to receive this sentence of 
the General Assembly of the Church of 
Scotland pronounced against me with real 
concern and awful impressions of the 
Divine conduct in it, but I rejoice that to 
me it is given on behalf of Christ, not only 
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his 
sake." It is not easy to write a calm com- 
ment on this disgraceful transaction, and 
we prefer quoting the language of Dr. Ers- 
kine, a pious and able minister of the 
church which deposed him. il In the space 
of twenty-four hours, without a libel or any 
formal process, he was arraigned, cast and 
condemned, merely for non-compliance with 
a particular order of the Assembly, ap- 
pointing him to have an active hand in 
carrying a sentence into execution, which, 
in his apprehension, he could not have 
done, without disregarding the true inte- 
rest, the constitution, and standing laws of 
the church, and thus violating the solemn 
vows he had come under when he was ad- 
mitted minister of Carnock.' ' 

Rightly judging that he was illegally 
and unrighteously deposed, Mr. Gillespie 
preached, next Lord's day, in the open air, 



at Carnock. He removed a few months 
afterwards to the neighbouring town of 
Dunfermline, and thus was laid the foun- 
dation of a new Secession in Scotland. 
At this lapse of time, it may seem sur- 
prising that he did not cast in his lot with 
his brethren of the first Secession, who 
were suffering, like himself, for conscience' 
sake, and who were so conspicuous for up- 
holding evangelical truth, and for defend- 
ing the rights of the people, as to the elec- 
tion of their ministers. No one who is 
acquainted with his character can suppose, 
for a moment, that he was inspired with 
the ambition (such as it is) of becoming 
the leader of a new religious sect in Scot- 
land. It is evident from one of his own 
letters that the painful disputes, with re- 
gard to Covenanting and the burgess oath, 
which had divided the Secession into two 
contending sects, afforded him no aid in 
overcoming the difficulties which, perhaps, 
in any circumstances, he might have felt in 
joining the ranks of those, with whom', in 
other respects, he had so much in common. 
Had it not been for these things, the pro- 
babilities are, that there never would have 
been a Relief church in Scotland. And, 
hence, with a soul yearning for the brother- 
hood of the saints, he was constrained, as 
he thought, to set up his tabernacle alone. 
At the first dispensation of the Lord's 
Supper, in the following year, he declared 
his catholic principles. — "I hold commu- 
nion with all that visibly hold the Head, 
and with such only." This was new 
ground to take up in Scotland ; for though 
this declaration is only an epitome of the 
doctrine of the 26th chapter of the Confes- 
sion of Faith, on the communion of saints, 
which had been drawn up more than a 
hundred years before, it was not generally 
understood in this sense ; and this precious 
truth was almost repudiated. For six 
years he stood alone, none of his former 
friends in the Established Church affording 
him aid, on communion occasions, though 
he sought it from them. An attempt was 
made next year to remove the sentence of 
deposition by the supreme court, but two 
things were required, to which he could 
never submit, — " a personal application for 
restoration," and his " acknowledgment 
and submission as an offending brother." 
The attempt was, of course, unsuccessful. 
After six years of arduous and solitary 



126 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



labour, help came at last to Mr. G-illespie ; 
and it came from a quarter of peculiar in- 
terest, from the son of his own spiritual 
father. The Rev. Thomas Boston, jun., 
was settled at Oxnan, and was one of the 
most popular ministers in Scotland. He 
had for a considerable time been much dis- 
satisfied with the defections and oppressions 
of the National Church. He saw that a 
cold, worldly, irreligious spirit had taken 
possession of the church courts ; and that 
an earnest piety, a faithful inculcation of 
the doctrines of the cross, and a resolute 
defence of the Divine right of the Christian 
community to choose their pastors, were 
ministerial qualifications absolutely frowned 
upon by the leading authorities in the 
church. The people of Jedburgh had set 
their hearts on having Mr. Boston for their 
spiritual overseer, and when another person 
was presented by the Crown, the whole 
parish, with the exception of five, refused 
to receive him. The ecclesiastical courts 
were determined to carry matters with a 
high hand, and to set at defiance the wishes 
of an exasperated people; and Mr. Boston 
was induced to accept a call to Jedburgh, 
and to renounce his connexion with the 
National Establishment. The case was 
peculiar; how could an induction take place 
in these circumstances? A proposal of 
Mr. Boston's was adopted to the effect, 
" that he should meet the congregation of 
Jedburgh precisely on the principles of the 
Presbyterian Dissenters in England. He 
dissents from the Church of Scotland, upon 
the footing of their departure from the 
ancient policy and discipline with respect 
to planting vacant parishes with Gospel 
ministers; and he is willing still to hold 
communion in every thing excepting church 
judicatures with such ministers in the 
church as are sound in the faith, faithful in 
the discharge of their duty, and opposers 
of violent settlements." The standards 
of the Euglish Presbyterians were then the 
Confession of Faith, and the Larger and 
Shorter Catechisms, and these alone. At 
his admission to the pastoral charge in Jed- 
burgh, a presbytery was constituted by the 
aid of Mr. M'Kenzie, a dissenting minister 
lately from England; and "the questions 
usually put to ministers at their admission, 
were put to Mr. Boston on this occasion, 
with a small variation in one or two of 
them, arising from the peculiarity of his 



case, which was so supplied as to bind him 
to hold communion with, and be subject to 
his brethren in the Lord, if an opportunity 
shall be afforded him ; and he was, more- 
over, taken bound against Episcopacy and 
supremacy on the one hand, and sectarian- 
ism on the other, and to maintain the suc- 
cession of the Crown of the realm in the 
illustrious house of Hanover. Mr. Boston 
answered all the questions agreeable to the 
ecclesiastical constitutions of the Church 
of Scotland." In this settlement, which 
took place on the 9th December, 1757, 
two great principles are laid down. There 
is a protest against " supremacy " on the 
one hand, and " sectarianism" on the other. 
There is a denial of the supremacy of the 
power of the civil magistrate in matters of 
religion. There is also a denial of sec- 
tarianism, of the principle which refuses to 
acknowledge as Christian brethren, those 
who do not belong to the particular section 
of the church with which we may be our- 
selves connected. These were the prin- 
ciples which Mr. Gillespie had proclaimed 
a few years ago, on the north bank of the 
Forth, and now they are asserted in the 
south of Scotland, by the son of the cele- 
brated Boston. With such a remarkable 
coincidence of sentiment and of circum- 
stances, these two brothers could not be 
kept long separate. Mr. Boston requested 
Mr. Gillespie to assist him at the dispensa- 
tion of the Lord's Supper, in the following 
year. They met then for the first time in 
the pulpit on the morning of the commu- 
nion Sabbath. It was a meeting of thrill- 
ing interest. Henceforth they were in- 
separable, and encouraged each other to 
carry on the work of glory and of suffering 
which had been committed to their care by 
the Head of the church. 

The first Belief Presbytery was formed 
in 1761. It was formed at the induction 
of the Bev. Thomas Colier in Colinsburgh, 
which had its origin in a disputed settle- 
ment. We here insert the original minute, 
as also the analysis of this important docu- 
ment, from the able pen of the Bev. Dr. 
Struthers, to whose " History of the Relief 
Church" this sketch is so largely indebted. 

" Colingsburgh, 1761. October, 22d 
day, being formally fixed for Mr. Colier' s 
admission to be minister of this congrega- 
tion — a day immediately after a solemn 
fast. The elders met in the morning; 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



127 



found it necessary that one of their number 
should be chosen by them to be a member 
of the intended Presbytery; so for that 
purpose they called Mr. Colier, and, after 
constituting a session, made choice of Alex- 
ander Scott to be a member of this in- 
tended presbytery. The members present, 
besides the minister, are as follows : viz., 
William Ramsay, Thomas Russel, Andrew 
Wilson, George Taylor, and Alexander 
Scott, elders. 

" This 22d October, 1761, the Rev. Mr. 
Thomas Boston, minister of the Gospel at 
Jedburgh, preached the admission sermon 
from 1 Cor. ii. 2. ' For I determined not 
to know anything among you save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified ;' and afterwards 
proceeded to all the other parts of the so- 
lemnity according to Scripture ; and then 
the elders, principal managers, and whole 
body of the people, received him as their 
minister. 

" In the evening of this day the perse- 
cuted ministers met with Mr. Colier, and 
an elder from each of their congregations 
met in the session-house here, and formed 
themselves into a presbytery, called the 
Presbytery of Relief, for the reasons fol- 
lowing : — 

11 Whereas Thomas Gillespie, minister of 
the Gospel at Carnock, was deposed by the 
General Assembly, 1752, 'in the name of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole King and 
Head of the church, and by virtue of the 
power and authority committed by him to 
them, from the ofiice of the holy ministry, 
and prohibited and discharged to exercise 
the same or any part thereof within this 
Church — the Established Church of Scot- 
land — in all time coming. And they 
thereby did and do declare the church and 
parish of Carnock vacant from and after 
the date of that sentence,' merely because 
he would not settle Mr. Andrew Richard- 
son, then minister at Broughton, as minis- 
ter of the Gospel at Inverkeithing, contrary 
to the will of the congregation. Thus, in 
contradiction to Scripture, in opposition to 
the standing laws of the Church of Scot- 
land, what had therefore been a manifest 
violation of the solemn oath and engage- 
ments he came under when admitted min- 
ister of Carnock — therefore a presump- 
tuous sin. Thus (a) highly aggravated 
transgression of the law of the great God 
and our Saviour. 



" Mr. Thomas Boston, then minister of 
the Gospel at Oxnam, received a scriptural 
call from the parish and congregation of 
Jedburgh, to minister among them in holy 
things, the which call he regularly accepted 
according to Christ's appointment : and as I 
the presbytery of Jedburgh refused to 
loose his relation 'twixt him and the parish 
and congregation of Oxnam, and establish 
a relation 'twixt him and the parish and 
congregation of Jedburgh, though required. 
He thought they refused to do their duty. 
He was bound to do his by the Divine au- 
thority. Therefore peaceably and orderly 
gave in to that presbytery a demission of 
his charge of Oxoam, and took charge of 
the congregation of Jedburgh. 

u Mr. Thomas Colier, late minister of 
the Gospel at Ravenstondale, in England, 
has accepted a call from the oppressed con- 
gregation of Kilconquhar, and others 
joined with them, to fulfil among them 
that ministry he has received of the Lord. 

" These three ministers think themselves 
indispensably bound by the authority of 
the Lord Redeemer, King and Head of his 
church, to fulfil every part of the ministry 
they have received from him, and for that 
end, in concurrence with ruling elders, to 
constitute a presbytery as Scripture directs; 
for committing that ministry Christ has in- 
trusted them with, to faithful men, who 
shall be able to teach others ; and to act 
for (the) relief of oppressed Christian con- 
gregations — when called in providence. 
And therein they act precisely the same 
part they did when ministers, members of 
the Established Church of Scotland. 

" In consequence whereof, Mr. Thomas 
Colier, late minister in Ravenstondale, 
having got a unanimous call from the con- 
gregation at Colingsburgh to be their min- 
ister, was this day admitted to the office, 
after sermon preached from 1 Cor. ii. 2, by 
Mr. Thomas Boston, minister at Jedburgh. 
And the same day, at four of the clock in 
the afternoon, Messrs. Boston, Gillespie, 
and Colier, with an elder from their re- 
spective congregations; viz., from the con- 
gregation of Jedburgh, George Ruther- 
ford; from the congregation of Dunferm- 
line, Provost David Turnbull; from the 
congregation of Colingsburgh, Alexander 
Scott; convened in the meeting house of 
Colingsburgh, and by solemn prayer by 
Mr. Thomas Gillespie, formed themselves 



128 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



into a presbytery for the relief of Chris- 
tians oppressed in their Christian privi- 
leges. 

" The presbytery, thus constituted, chose 
Mr. Thomas Boston for their moderator, 
and the above Alexander Scott for their 
clerk pro tempore. The presbytery ad- 
journed to the house of Alexander Scott. 

" The presbytery appoints the seven- 
teenth day of December next to be ob- 
served in the congregations under their 
inspection as a day of solemn thanksgiving 
unto God for his goodness in the late har- 
vest, and agreed their next meeting should 
be when Providence calls. 

" The sederunt closed with prayer." 

u This minute is a very important docu- 
ment in the history of the Belief body, 
and is the only authentic record of its con- 
stitution as a presbytery. The portion of 
it which is properly the minute of presby- 
tery, and which begins with giving the 
reasons of their forming themselves into 
an ecclesiastical court, is evidently given at 
the dictation of Mr. Gillespie. It is cast 
in his strong, rugged, and somewhat in- 
volved style. The point studiously brought 
out in the narration is the fact, that they 
were all suffering persecution and oppres- 
sion in their religious rights and privileges, 
and therefore necessitated, from a respect 
to the authority of Christ, the King and 
Head of his Church, to take the step of 
forming themselves into a separate presby- 
tery. Very particular prominence is given 
to the sentence of deposition passed upon 
Mr. Gillespie. It is placed in two lights. 
First, it is represented as a gross outrage, 
performed in the name of Christ as the 
Head of his Church ; and, secondly, it is 
pointed out as being a sentence of depo- 
sition, limited merely to the Church of 
Scotland; so that Gillespie was still war- 
ranted to exercise out of the Church of 
Scotland, the office of the ministry. It is 
very remarkable, that both in the ordina- 
tion of Mr. Colier, and in the constitution 
of themselves as a presbytery, the minute 
bears, 'that the solemnity was performed 
according to Scripture;' and farther, they 
' constitute a presbytery as Scripture directs/ 
There is not a single phrase recognising the 
laws and canons of the Church of Scotland. 
The Confession of Faith is not even men- 
tioned. The following are the principles 
embodied evidently in the minute, as cha- 



racterizing this new denomination : — 1. It 
was to be called the Presbytery of Relief. 

2. It was to be a Presbyterian denomina- 
tion, composed of ministers and ruling 
elders, with churches under their inspection. 

3. It recognised the i Lord Redeemer King 
and Head of his Church/ 4. Its rule 
was the Scriptures. 5. It claimed the 
power, as a scripturally constituted presby- 
tery, to license and ordain others for the 
work of the ministry. 6. It particularly 
proffered assistance and relief to all op- 
pressed Christian congregations. 7. Under 
Christ, as the Head of his Church, it ap- 
pointed its own seasons and forms of wor- 
ship, and therefore, at its very first meeting, 
appointed a day of thanksgiving l in all the 
congregations under their inspection/ " 

This ecclesiastical organization was an 
important step in the history of the Relief 
Church. It conferred upon it unity and 
strength. Numerous applications were 
made for preaching by forming congrega- 
tions, who were desirous to enjoy the pure 
gospel, in connexion with the liberal prin- 
ciples of the new denomination, which for 
a time could not be granted. Aid came 
at last, in the accession of a considerable 
number of ministers from all the religious 
parties in Scotland, and from the Presby- 
terian Dissenters of England. Many flour- 
ishing churches were organized. Two 
presbyteries were speedily formed, called 
the Eastern and Western Presbyteries; 
and these met, in 1773, for the first time 
as a Synod, in Edinburgh. 

The great success of this new religious 
movement awakened no small measure of 
opposition ; and it must be acknowledged, 
that the peculiar ground which the Relief 
Church took up was too much in advance 
of the age, not to occasion much misappre- 
hension. Her very existence was a protest 
against the errors and defections of the 
Established Church ; and many could not 
perceive, how this was consistent with 
holding ministerial and Christian commu- 
nion with good men in that church. She 
went far beyond this. She protested not 
merely against the corruptions of an Estab- 
lished Church, but against the very prin- 
ciple of an Established Church. She did 
not confine her testimony to the errors and 
defections of the National Church, but she 
clearly and unequivocally denied the doc- 
trine contained in the Confession of Faith, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



129 



and in the Solemn League and Covenant 
— that the civil magistrate had any power 
in religious matters. It is common enough, 
in the present day, to call these persecuting 
and intolerant principles; but in the times 
of which we write, they were characterised 
as great reformation principles. We have, 
assuredly, no wish to revive old controver- 
sies, except in so far as it is demanded by 
the requirements of history ; but it cannot 
be concealed that the greater part of the 
"abuse which was heaped upon the Relief 
Church was owing to her assertion of the 
principle of Christian brotherhood, and to 
her abjuration of the binding obligation 
of the National Covenants. Nor should 
it be forgotten, as a lesson for the future, 
that much of this opposition had its origin 
in this apprehension. Free communion 
was confounded with promiscuous commu- 
nion — the communion of saints with the 
communion of the ungodly. The distinc- 
tion between ecclesiastical and Christian 
communion was altogether lost sight of — 
between a member of the family circle and 
an occasional guest; and it was gravely 
argued, that you could not allow an Epis- 
copalian or Independent brother to partake 
of the Lord's Supper in the church with 
which you were connected, without approv- 
ing of hia peculiar views. The question 
was never presented in its true light — Who 
is the Founder of the Feast, and for whom, 
is the table spread ? Are we at liberty to 
impose terms of Christian communion, 
which have no countenance in the Scrip- 
ture ? Is there no sin in excluding those 
from the Lord's Table on earth whom 
Christ hath received, and with whom we 
expect to be associated for ever, in the 
pure and delightful enjoyments of heaven? 
And it might, moreover, be added — Would 
Paul have expelled from the Lord's table at 
Corinth a member of the church in Jerusa- 
lem, because this Christian Jew believed in 
the everlasting obligation of the Mosaic law, 
and observed the seventh day as a day of 
sabred rest ? These statements have now 
very much the appearance of truisms, the- 
ological aphorisms which obtain the assent 
of almost all evangelical Christians the 
moment they are enunciated; but their 
adoption as first principles was not obtained, 
without a severe struggle and bitter contest. 
It is delightful to remember, that on this 
great question the fathers of the Relief 



17 



Church maintained their integrity, amidst 
much temptation to the contrary. There 
were a few even within the Church, who, 
either not perceiving the legitimate conse- 
quences of their own principles, or terrified 
with the clamours and reproach which as- 
sailed them on all sides, disputed the pro- 
priety of holding communion with Episco- 
palians and Independents. The Synod, in 
1773, when the matter came before them, 
thus recorded its deliberate and unanimous 
judgment : " With respect to the overture 
concerning ministerial and Christian com- 
munion, the Synod are unanimously of 
opinion, that it is agreeable to the Word 
of God and their principles occasionally to 
hold communion with those of the Epis- 
copal and Independent persuasion who are 
visible saints." In 1774, in consequence 
of a perversion of this judgment, the fol- 
lowing explanation was given. After re- 
ferring to the 26th chapter of the West- 
minster Confession of Faith, sections first 
and second, where this opinion is fully set 
forth, it is added: "Nor have we been 
less injured by any who have alleged, as if 
by that judgment we had opened a door to 
fellowship with the unsound in the essen- 
tials of the Christian faith, or the immoral, 
or even with the Episcopalians in their 
hierarchy or unscriptural ceremonies, or 
even with Independents in their peculiar 
notions of church-government. While, at 
the same time, we scruple not to affirm, 
because we believe there are of both these 
denominations, who, from the most satisfy- 
ing marks, appear to be received by Christ, 
and therefore we dare not deny them. 
Though, when they join in communion 
with us, we do not conform to them, but 
they to us." 

In the controversies into which the 
Relief Church was thrown, in consequence 
of its peculiar principles, the Rev. Patrick 
Hutchison, then of St. Ninian's, and after- 
wards of Paisley, was of eminent service. 
He defended her principles from reason, 
from Scripture, and from history ; and to 
him, more than to any other man, the 
merit is due, of having given a logical 
form, consistency, and completeness, to 
what he called the Relief system. And, 
probably, we cannot do better than select a 
few sentences from his writings, as one of 
the ablest exponents of the doctrines of the 
Church with which he was connected. It 



130 



HISTORY OE THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



would be of no use whatever, in a short 
sketch like this, to give an epitome of the 
doctrinal creed and ecclesiastical govern- 
ment of the Relief Church, which she 
holds in common with the other Presbyte- 
rian churches in Scotland. Her creed is 
Calvinistic, the Calvinism which is con- 
tained in the Westminster Confession of 
Faith, and the Shorter Catechism, and 
which has secured the homage of the 
loftiest minds, from the sublimity of its 
theology, and the grandeur of its philo- 
sophy. The form of church-government is 
Presbyterian, the Christian republic which 
John Knox brought with him from the 
free state of Geneva. Our quotations, 
brief as they are, shall be confined to four 
points : — 

I. The civil magistrate has no power in 
matters of religion. 

" The civil magistrate has no more 
right to dictate a religious creed to his 
subjects than they have a right to dic- 
tate a religious creed to him. By being 
placed at the head of the civil state, 
to give law to the subjects of the state, he 
is not therefore placed at the head of the 
church, to give law to the body of Christ. 
If ever he assumes this character and 
power, he trangresses the just limits of his 
authority, which is civil, not religious ; in- 
vades the dominions of another prince ; 
and arrogantly claims the power of giving 
laws to a community that knows, and ought 
to know, no king but Jesus, This is a 
stretch of prerogative as unreasonable and 
absurd as it would be for the French king 
to pretend to give law to the British sub- 
jects, or for the king of Britain to assume 
the power of prescribing laws to the sub- 
jects of a foreign prince. 

" Earthly kings may be nursing fathers, 
and their queens nursing mothers to the 
church, without interfering with the rights 
of her members. By their own example 
they may recommend religion to their sub- 
jects. They may exert their influence in 
promoting the interests of Christ's kingdom 
a great variety of ways, without abridging 
the rights of conscience, and private judg- 
ment in matters of religion. They may 
encourage piety, by promoting good men to 
offices in the state, and withholding them 
from bad men. They may be fathers to 
their people, and guardians of their reli- 
gious and civil liberties, by preserving 



Church and State from foreign enemies, 
and not suffering one part of their subjects 
to oppress and disturb the rest, in the 
quiet and peaceable possession of their 
rights, as men and as Christians. But, if 
they countenance one part of their subjects, 
in harassing and distressing the rest, as 
was too much the case in the cruel state- 
uniformities of the last century, they are 
rather tyrants than nursing fathers and 
mothers to the Church, as they invade the 
sacred prerogative of Christ, and the rights 
of his people. And every such invasion is 
a step towards the overturning of their 
throne." 

II. National covenanting is not a reli- 
gious duty. 

" Are the covenants, National and Solemn 
League, binding upon us, the posterity of 
those who swore them ? I answer, All 
those religious truths and duties sworn to 
in these covenants, are binding upon us, 
by divine authority, enjoining these to be 
believed and obeyed; but they are not 
binding upon us, because our forefathers 

swore them I am so far from 

thinking that it is any real loss to religion, 
that no such oaths are now required of the 
British subjects by the united authority of 
church and state, that I esteem it a real 
blessing to those nations and the interest 
of religion, that these national oaths are 
now laid aside. Instead of making this a 
ground of humiliation, as some weak, ig- 
norant people do, I rather esteem it ground 
of mourning and humiliation before God, 
that so many in these lands swore these 
oaths, in which there were sundry things 
incapable to be sworn, and other things 
which not one hundred of the whole British 
subjects sufficiently understood. After the 
closest attention to the national oaths of 
the last century enforced upon the subjects 
of these kingdoms, I ingenuously declare, 
that I do not think that ever any part of 
the church of Christ, since the commence- 
ment of the Christian era, was more deeply 
involved in the guilt of ignorant and false 
swearing than the British subjects in the 
last century." 

III. It has ever been the principle and 
the practice of the Relief Church, that the 
Christian people have a scriptural right to 
choose their own office-bearers. Patronage, 
in all its forms, has been constantly repu- 
diated. All the members of the Church, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



131 



whether heads of families or not, whether 
rich or poor, whether male or female, have 
always enjoyed the privilege of election. 
There is no distinction as to office, to rank, 
or to sex. After defining the different 
classes of office-bearers in the Presbyterian 
system, it is said, " The way in which 
office-bearers of this kingdom (of the Mes- 
siah) are to be installed into their office is 
by election and ordination. Their election 
belongs to the members of the church, or 
to the visible subjects of His kingdom. 
This is evident from the election of an apos- 
tle to supply the place of Judas by the 
hundred and twenty disciples. It is evi- 
dent from the election of the first deacons 
by the multitude; and from the instalment 
of presbyters teaching and ruling after the 
multitude had chosen them by the stretch- 
ing out of hands. All these instances of 
popular elections are recorded in Scripture 
for the imitation of the Church of Christ 
in after ages, or to point out the scriptural 
manner in which the office-bearers in Mes- 
siah's kingdom are to be chosen to the end 
of the world. And after they have been 
chosen in a regular and scriptural manner, 
they are to be ordained, or put into office, 
by the presbytery or rulers of the church. " 
IV. All believers have a right to the 
communion of the church. As God alone 
knows the heart of men, the conditions of 
admission to the sacraments of Baptism 
and the Lord's Supper may be correctly 
expressed in this manner: — The conditions 
" are the reality of saintship, or the visi- 
bility of it. By the first, men are entitled 
to the seals of the covenant in the sight 
of God; and, by the second, in the eye of 
the Church. As the Church is to judge 
of men by their fruits, or outward appear- 
ance, she may lawfully admit the vilest of 
men into her communion, if they are visi- 
ble saints, and maintain a fair outward pro- 
fession and deportment; as their real and 
internal character is concealed from her 
view, and does not come under her rule of 
judgment. And if she presumes to refuse 
the seals of the covenant to visible saints, 
she is equally guilty of maladministration 
as if she dispensed them to visible sinners. 
Her latitudinarianism, or deviation from 
the scriptural rule of judging, is equally 
great, when she shuts the door of her com- 
munion against those who appear to be the 
children of God, by exhibiting the fruits 



of the Spirit to view in a holy practice, as 
if she opened the door of her communion 
to the openly immoral and profane. It 
were to be wished those would attend to 
this who confine their communion to the 
votaries of their own party, or boldly ex- 
clude many precious saints in the sight of 
God, and visibly so before the world. 

" On the subject of communion, it is of 
importance to enquire, Whose table the 
sacramental table is? This is a question 
so plain, that a child of eight years old 
could answer it, and yet its import is un- 
known to thousands arrived at the state of 
manhood. It is a mean, unworthy pros- 
titution of this table to call it the table of 
a party. It is the Lord's table. For 
whom is the table covered by the generous 
Entertainer? Is it covered for Burgher 
or Antiburgher? for Church people or 
Relief people ? for Independents or Epis- 
copalians as such ? No. For whom, then ? 
For the children of God, not as they be- 
long to any particular denomination of 
professors, but as they are his children in 
reality, and appear to be so by their deport- 
ment. It is the most daring presumption 
in any to deny the children's bread to the 
children of God." 

These may be regarded as the principles 
of the Relief Church; and her subsequent 
career was one of almost uninterrupted 
prosperity. She possessed, to a krge ex- 
tent, the inestimable blessing of internal 
peace. In 1794, a Hymn Book was sanc- 
tioned by the Synod, with the view of af- 
fording greater variety to the expressions 
of devotional feeling in the church's songs 
of praise. A Widow's Fund was insti- 
tuted, which makes provision for the chil- 
dren as well as for the widows of deceased 
ministers. Originally it had something of 
a charitable character, but, in 1819, it was 
placed upon the scientific and self-support- 
ing basis of an insurance office. In 1823 
a Divinity Hall was instituted, under the 
superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Thomson, 
Paisley. Formerly the Relief students re- 
ceived their theological as well as their 
literary education in the National Univer- 
sities ; but an increasing sectarian spirit in 
the Established Church made it impera- 
tive, that the Relief Church should have a 
Theological Institution of her own. It 
was enacted, " That the literary and scien- 
tific qualifications for admission into the 



132 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



Divinity Halls of the Established Church 
shall be requisite in Relief students, viz., 
a regular course of attendance on the Greek, 
logic, moral, and natural philosophy classes, 
in any of the Universities in Scotland. " 
On these departments of study "he shall 
be examined by the Presbytery before ad- 
mission, and the Presbytery shall also attest 
their satisfaction with his moral and reli- 
gious character." The course of study at 
the Divinity Hall embraced a period of 
four years. This was a decided advance, 
and the only regret is that this step had 
not been taken many years before. The 
benefits were at once perceived in the in- 
creased number of the students, and in a 
larger measure of denominational zeal. In 
1827 a Home Missionary Society com- 
menced operations for preaching the Gospel 
in destitute localities, and for aiding small 
churches. As regards Foreign Missionary 
effort, the Relief Church had no association 
which could be called exclusively her own. 
The Caffrarian Society, was, however, one 
in which she always took a deep interest ; 
and for a considerable time it was de- 
pendent principally upon her for its funds 
and missionaries. The contemplated union 
with the Secession Church was the sole 
reason why the Caffrarian Society was not 
formally connected with the Relief Church j 
and hence the old Catholic basis of the 
Society was preserved, until the consumma- 

I tion of this union, when it became one of 
the missions of the United Presbyterian 

l Church. 

At the union, the Relief Church had 7 
presbyteries, and 114 congregations. The 
members (persons in full communion) were 

j upwards of forty-five thousand. The 
number of members and adherents may be 
set down as sixty thousand. 

The catholic principles of the Relief 
Church may be looked at from a double 
point of view. There are few subjects 
which have not both a dark and a bright 
side. The Relief Church was deficient in 
the aggressive spirit She was not suffi- 
ciently alive to the importance of diffusing 
her own principles. And, in the earlier 
part of her history at least, she neglected 
many opportunities of forming churches, 
which were laid before her by Providence. 
She too seldom offered her aid, and even 
when that aid was sought, in very favour- 
able circumstances, it was not always 



granted. One consequence of this was, 
that her congregations, especially the older 
ones, were generally large ; and that she 
had a smaller proportion than is eommon 
of weak and struggling ones. Had the 
aggressive spirit which manifested itself 
after the institution of the Divinity Hall, 
and when the field was comparatively occu- 
pied, been in existence forty years earlier, 
it admits of no question that the Relief 
Church would have been a much larger 
and more powerful denomination. 

But if the catholic principles of the 
Relief Church were not so favourable to 
her own extension and aggrandisement, 
they exerted a most beneficial influence on 
other denominations, and on the religious 
character of Scotland. Our country, with 
all its unanimity in doctrine and govern- 
ment (an unanimity which has no parallel 
on earth) has acquired an unhappy noto- 
riety, for its sectarian dissensions. It was 
something — it was a great deal, amidst the 
hoarse voices and fierce contentions of sects, 
to have one church which, while preaching 
a pure gospel, and exercising a godly dis- 
cipline, proclaimed the brotherhood of the 
saints, and made a full development of the 
principle in practice. It was no small 
matter to have a church in the midst of us 
which, from the very commencement of its 
history, declared that national conformity 
of religion, as it was understood and acted 
upon, was an invasion of the right of pri- 
vate judgment, and that the binding obli- 
gation of the Covenants was an intellectual 
and moral absurdity, — how can a man be 
bound by an oath, solely, simply, and be- 
cause his father had sworn it, perhaps 
before he was born ? It was of great im- 
portance to have a church which always 
threw open its pulpits to ministers and 
missionaries of every evangelical denomi- 
nation, when pleading the cause of God 
and man ; and which, in so doing, never 
made any distinction as to canonical or un- 
canonical hours, on the Lord's day. The 
doctrines and practice of the Relief Church 
were as oil cast upon the stormy waters of 
controversy and dispute. Her name was 
a bond of harmony, not of discord. In all 
probability, her indirect influence was 
greater than her direct. She has had the 
satisfaction of perceiving her distinctive 
principles acknowledged to an extent, which 
could have scarcely been expected. And 



HISTORY OP THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



133 



it is no small honour to the Relief Church, 
and it is a crown which no man can take 
from her, that she anticipated the Evan- 
gelical Alliance, by nearly a hundred years. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

It may naturally be a subject of wonder 
why two churches, such as the Secession 
and Relief, so much alike in origin, consti- 
tution, and working, should have remained 
apart for any length of time. It need not 
be denied that there were on matters of 
minor detail and practice, mutual preju- 
dices and misconceptions. But these were 
gradually dispersed. The common pursuit 
of public objects of Christian benevolence, 
and the agitation of the Voluntary Contro- 
versy brought the Relief and Secession 
into more close and constant co-operation. 
Friendships sprung up, and the obligation 
of Christian union began to be more and 
more felt and acknowledged. The Relief 
Synod had for several years after 1831 
been expecting an overture on the subject 
from the Secession — and the students in 
the respective Divinity Halls warmly 
cherished the prospects of union. Negoti- 
ations were commenced between the two 
Synods in 1835, and committees were ap- 
pointed for free and friendly conversation. 
Various circumstances, however, retarded 
the progress, and it was not till 1840 that 
a scheme of union was agreed on. But 
the atonement controversy during the next 
years, occupied almost exclusively the at- 
tention of the Secession Church. At 
length, in 1847, the happy period of union 
had come. Both synods met in Edinburgh 
on the 10th of May, 1847 — and on the 
13th of that month the union was con- 
summated. The Secession Synod was 
unanimous, but two ministers dissented in 
the Relief Synod. The two Synods 
walked in procession to Tanfield Hall — the 
famed scene already of a memorable convo- 
cation and assembly. The large place of 
meeting was crowded. The Moderator of 
the Relief Synod commenced the services 
by reading the cxxxiii. Psalm, which was 
sung with peculiar majesty by the crowded 
multitude. After prayer, the clerk of the 
Relief Synod read the following minute : — 

" James Place Church, Edinburgh, 13th 
May, 1847.— The Relief Synod met and 
was constituted. The Synod having for a 
considerable number of years had the ques- 



tion of union with the Synod of the 
United Associate Synod of the Secession 
Church under consideration ; and having 
long and anxiously inquired into the extent 
of their agreement with each other, in doc- 
trine, discipline, worship, and government; 
have great satisfaction in declaring, as the 
result of their deliberations and inquiries, 
that any differences in opinion or practice 
which were formerly supposed to exist, and 
to present obstacles in the way of a scrip- 
tural and cordial union of the two bodies, 
either never had an existence, or have, in 
the good providence of God, been removed 
out of the way ; and that the Synods, and 
the Churches whom they severally repre- 
sent, are agreed in doctrine, discipline, 
worship, and government; and therefore 
that the Synods, without compromising or 
changing the principles they hold as parts 
and portions of the visible Church of Christ, 
may unite with each other in carrying 
out the great ends of ecclesiastical associa- 
tion : and considering that, in these circum- 
stances, continuance in a state of separation 
would be sinful, and union becomes their 
bounden duty ; and that a Basis of Union 
has been prepared, deliberately discussed, 
and cordially sanctioned by both Synods ; 
and that by the good hand of their God 
upon them, they have completed all other 
preparatory arrangements, this Synod do 
now, with fervent gratitude to God for his 
past goodness to the Relief Church, and 
for having led them and their brethren of 
the Secession Synod thus far, and in 
humble dependence on his gracious blessing 
in the solemn and interesting step they are 
about to take, and with earnest prayer that 
he would pour down the rich influences of 
his Spirit on the United Churches, and 
would enable their ministers, elders, and 
people, to improve the privileges they en- 
joy, and discharge the obligations devolv- 
ing on them — Resolve, and hereby record 
their resolution, forthwith to repair as a 
constituted Synod to Tanfield Hall, Canon- 
mills, in order that they may there," as ar- 
ranged, unite with their brethren of the 
Secession, and form one Synod, to be known 
by a name hereafter to be fixed, and may 
henceforth walk together in the fear of 
God, and in the comforts of the Holy 
Ghost, striving for the faith of the Gospel, 
for the purity of divine ordinances, and for 
the enlargement of the Church of Christ : 



134 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



and this Synod declare that the Synod of 
the United Church shall be considered iden- 
tical with this Relief Synod, and shall be 
entitled to, and vested in all the authority, 
rights, and benefits to which it is now, or 
may become entitled, and that each of the 
congregations under its inspection, whether 
they shall adopt a name to be hereafter 
fixed, or shall retain as they shall be per- 
mitted to do, if they shall deem it proper, 
the name by which they have hitherto been 
designated, shall not be held, though 
coming, in consequence of this union, under 
the inspection of the Synod of the United 
Church as in any respect changing their 
ecclesiastical connection, or affecting any of 
their civil rights." 

"At the call of the junior Moderator, 
the Rev. John Newlands of the Secession 
Synod, the last minute adopted by that 
body, and prepared with a view to the 
union, was read by the clerk, the Rev. 
David Donald, in the same terms, only with 
the necessary changes on the names and 
places. The following Basis of Union, 
previously adopted by both Synods, was 
then read by the clerk of the Relief Synod, 
all the members of both Courts standing. 

"ARTICLES OF THE BASIS AS ADOPTED BY 
THE TWO SYNODS. 

"I. That the Word of God contained 
in the Scriptures of the Old and New Tes- 
taments is the only rule of faith and 
practice. 

" II. That the Westminster Confession 
of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Cate- 
chisms, are the confession and catechisms 
of this church, and contain the authorized 
exhibition of the sense in which we under- 
stand the Holy Scriptures, it being always 
understood that we do not approve of any- 
thing in these documents which teaches, or 
may be supposed to teach, compulsory or 
persecuting and intolerant principles in re- 
ligion. 

"III. That Presbyterian government, 
without any superiority of office to that of 
a teaching presbyter, and in a due subordi- 
nation of church courts, which is founded 
on, and agreeable to, the Word of God, is 
the government of this church. 

" IV. That the ordinances of worship 
shall be administered in the United Church 
as they have been in both bodies of which 



it is formed; and that the Westminster 
Directory of Worship continue to be re- 
garded as a compilation of excellent rules. 

" V. That the term of membership is a 
credible profession of the faith of Christ as 
held by this church — a profession made 
with intelligence, and justified by a corres- 
ponding character and deportment. 

"VI. That with regard to those minis- 
ters and sessions who think that the 2d sec- 
tion of the 26th chapter of the Westmin- 
ster Confession of Faith authorizes free 
communion — that is, not loose, or indis- 
criminate communion, but the occasional 
admission to fellowship in the Lord's 
Supper, of persons respecting whose Chris- 
tian character satisfactory evidence has been 
obtained, though belonging to other reli- 
gious denominations, they shall enjoy what 
they enjoyed in their separate communions 
— the right of acting on their conscientious 
convictions. 

" VII. That the election of office-bearers 
of this church, in its several congregations, 
belongs, by the authority of Christ, exclu- 
sively to the members in full communion. 

"VIII. That this church solemnly re- 
cognises the obligation to hold forth, as 
well as to hold fast, the doctrine and laws 
of Christ; and to make exertions for the 
universal diffusion of the blessings of His 
gospel at home and abroad. 

"IX. That as the Lord hath ordained 
that they who preach the gospel should live 
of the gospel — that they who are taught 
in the word should communicate to him 
that teacheth in all good things — that they 
who are strong should help the weak — and 
that, having freely received, they should 
freely give the gospel to those who are 
destitute of it — this church asserts the ob- 
ligation and the privilege of its members, 
influenced by regard to the authority of 
Christ, to support, and extend, by volun- 
tary contributions, the ordinances of the 
gospel. 

" X. That the respective bodies of which 
this church is composed, without requiring 
from each other an approval of the steps 
of procedure by their fathers, or interfering 
With the right of private judgment in re- 
ference to these, unite in regarding, as still 
valid, the reasons on which they have 
hitherto maintained their state of secession 
and separation from the judicatories of the 
Established Church, as expressed in the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



135 



authorised documents of the respective 
bodies ; and in maintaining the lawfulness 
and obligation of separation from ecclesias- 
tical bodies in which dangerous error is 
tolerated; or the discipline of the church, 
or the rights of her ministers, or members, 
are disregarded. 

" The United Church, in their present 
most solemn circumstances, join in express- 
ing their grateful acknowledgment to the 
great Head of the Church, for the measure 
of spiritual good which He has accom- 
plished by them in their separate state — 
their deep sense of the many imperfections 
and sins which have marked their eccle- 
siastical management — and their deter- 
mined resolution, in dependence on the 
promised grace of their Lord, to apply 
more faithfully the great principles of 
church-fellowship — to be more watchful in 
reference to admission and discipline, that 
the purity and efficiency of their congrega- 
tions may be promoted, and the great end 
of their existence, as a collective body, may 
be answered with respect to all within its 
pale, and to all without it, whether mem- 
bers of other denominations, or ' the world 
lying in wickedness/ 

" And, in fine, the United Church re- 
gard with a feeling of brotherhood all the 
faithful followers of Christ, and shall en- 
deavour to maintain the unity of the whole 
body of Christ, by a readiness to co-ope- 
rate with all its members in all things in 
which they are agreed. 

"Mr. Auld then said, « As the Mode- 
rator of the Relief Church, I hereby, in 
terms of the resolution of that Synod, 
which has been read, declare that the Re- 
lief Synod is henceforth one with the Synod 
of the Secession Church, and that the 
United Synod shall be held identical with 
the Relief Synod, and shall be entitled to 
all its authority, rights, and privileges.' 
The like declaration having been made by 
Mr. Newlands as Moderator of the Seces- 
sion Synod, the Moderators gave to each 
other the right hand of fellowship, and 
their example was followed by the other 
members of the two Synods, the audience 
also expressing their delighted sympathy 
by saluting each other in the same way, as 
well as by repeated bursts of acclama- 
tion. " 

The United Presbyterian Church was 
now formally constituted, and the ven- 



erable Dr. Kidston,* the oldest of its min- 
isters, was unanimously chosen the Mode- 
rator of its first Synod.f 

The United Presbyterian Church holds 
by the Theology of the Westminster Con- 
fession of Faith, and of the Larger and 
Shorter Catechisms. It teaches the good 
old-fashioned doctrines of the Reformation, 
and of the days of the Covenant. It has 
no sympathy with an Arminian creed, nor 
does it fall, on the other hand, into antino- 
mian delusion. Its favourite topics are the 
"doctrines of grace" — nor does it sever 
them from the eternal and merciful purpose 
of God, nor disconnect them from the ne- 
cessity of a holy life as their fruit and 
result. It also gives special prominence to 
the doctrine of divine influence — believing 
that a saving change is effected only by the 
Holy Spirit. In its form of government 
it is Presbyterian — for it believes that such 
a mode of administration is in accordance 
with the leading features of the scheme 
contained in the New Testament. This 
representative form of government has 
been found to work well, combining happily 
popular influence with congregational sta- 
bility. None of its Courts, as they are 
called, have any other than a spiritual 
jurisdiction, and they consist of minister 
and elders assembled together for delibera- 
tion and judgment. Every congregation 
has a session, composed of elders, chosen 
by and from the church by free suffrage, 
women as well as men having full power 
to vote. Elders on being elected, and on 
their acceptance of the office, are solemnly 
set apart to it. The duty of the Session is 
toj watch over the Christian deportment 
of the members of the congregation — to 
examine and admit new members, or re- 
ceive the certificate of persons coming from 
other congregations — to grant certificates 
to members leaving the congregation — to 
fix the hours and order of public worship 
— to appoint the time of the dispensation 
of the Lord's Supper, and make provision 
for it — to appoint congregational fasts or 

* Dr. Kidston died in October, 1852, in the 
eighty-fifth year of his age, and sixty-third of 
his ministry. 

t See " Union Memorials," 1 847. 

X A large portion of these paragraphs is taken 
from the "Rules and Forms of Procedure," pub- 
lished by authority of the Synod of the United 
Presbyterian Church. 



136 



HISTORY OP THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



thanksgivings — to exercise discipline over 
the members by admonition, rebuke, sus- 
pension, or exclusion — to restore members 
who have been suspended or cut off from 
privileges — to receive and distribute such 
free-will offerings of the congregation as 
are entrusted to them — to provide for the 
necessities of the poor — to call congrega- 
tional meetings when necessary — to exam- 
ine and judge of the qualifications of 
persons elected to the eldership-^-to receive 
and judge of petitions from the members 
— to transmit petitions to the presbytery — 
and, in general, to superintend the religious 
interests of the congregation. 

A Presbytery consists of the ministers 
of the several congregations within the 
bounds fixed by the Synod, together with 
an elder from each of their sessions. The 
duty of the Presbytery is to receive and 
judge in petitions from the sessions of the 
congregations within its bounds, in com- 
plaints or appeals against their sentences, 
or in references from them — to transmit 
petitions or overtures addressed to the 
Synod — to grant supplies of sermon on 
tl^e application of persons within the dis- 
trict, or to congregations within their 
bounds, either during a vacancy, or in the 
event of illness or absence of the minister 
— to erect new congregations — to grant 
admission to the Theological Hall — to 
superintend the education of students of 
theology — to try candidates for license to 
preach the gospel — to license those who, 
after examination and the required course 
of study, are found qualified — to grant 
moderations to congregations for the elec- 
tion of a minister — to receive and sustain, 
or reject calls — to try the qualifications of 
candidates for the ministry, and ordain 
them to the pastoral office — to receive and 
judge of complaints against ministers or 
preachers — to inquire into reports affecting 
their character — to admonish, rebuke, sus- 
pend, depose, or excommunicate offenders 
— to receive demissions, and loose ministers 
from their charges, and generally to su- 
perintend the congregations and sessions 
within their bounds. 

The United Presbyterian Church, has 
no General Assembly nor Provincial 
Synods, though it ought to have them, and 
will be obliged to have them soon. It has 
one general Synod, and that Supreme 
Court is composed of all the ministers 



having charges, with an elder from each 
session, holding a commission for that pur- 
pose. Its duty is to inspect presbyteries 
— to examine their records — to divide or 
unite them, or to erect new presbyteries as 
circumstances may require — to consider 
references from presbyteries — to give ad- 
vice or instructions when required — to 
judge of complaints or appeals against 
their sentences — to aifinn, reverse, or vary 
these — to stir up, exhort, advise, or rebuke 
presbyteries when necessary — to dispose 
of overtures — to consider matters of com- 
mon concern to all the church, whether 
respecting her doctrine, worship, discipline, 
or government — to appoint days of fasting 
or thanksgiving for the whole church — to 
issue pastoral addresses — to emit testimo- 
nies in favour of truth, or against prevail- 
ing errors — to maintain correspondence 
with sister churches, either in our own 
country or abroad — to make regulations 
regarding the Theological Hall, and su- 
perintend its operations — to make rules for 
conducting the proceedings of the Synod, 
or of inferior courts — to superintend the 
missionary operations of the church, and 
to devise means for still farther dissemi- 
nating the gospel at home or abroad, — and, 
in general, to attend to all matters relating 
to the interests of the church as a whole, 
or to any part thereof. 

Such is the general machinery of the 
government of the United Presbyterian 
Church. Every member has perfect free- 
doom of action, and may have his case 
tried by three different bodies of men. 
Membership is obtained by a credible pro- 
fession of faith. Persons applying for 
admission into the fellowship of the church 
converse with the minister and the elder 
of the quarter where they reside ; and it is 
the duty of the latter to make such inqui- 
ries as may be necessary in regard to their 
moral character and Christian deportment. 
If the minister and elder are satisfied, both 
in regard to their character and knowledge 
of divine truth, they report to the session; 
and on its being agreed to admit them, 
they appear before the session, and signify 
their approbation of the principles of the 
United Presbyterian Church, and their 
readiness to submit themselves to the ses- I 
sion, as set over them in the Lord. When j 
thus admitted, they have a right to the full | 
enjoyment of church privileges, unless j 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



137 



charges are made, or reports are in circu- 
lation, of irregularities of conduct, which 
may induce the session to withhold these 
until inquiry is made, and satisfaction ob- 
tained, according to the rules of the church. 

Members in full possession of their 
privileges, and they only, have a right to 
vote at congregational meetings, whether 
in matters of an exclusively ecclesiastical 
character, such as the election of ministers 
or elders, or in the secular affairs of the 
congregation. Besides the elders, another 
body of persons, called managers, are an- 
nually chosen, to superintend the secular 
affairs of each church — money collected 
for the poor excepted. By a recent Act 
of the Legislature, 13 Vict., cap. 13, con- 
gregations can now hold property as cor- 
porate bodies, and the old mode of holding 
property has been greatly simplified. Any 
congregation may have deacons, if it judges 
a diaconate necessary. The mode of con- 
ducting public worship is that generally 
practised throughout Scotland. The 
Psalms are chiefly used in praise, but 
paraphrases, prepared many years ago by 
the General Assembly of the Church of 
Scotland, have been long employed ; and a 
new hymn-book, for the use of the United 
Presbyterian congregation, has also been 
issued this year, under the care and with the 
sanction of the Synod. The Lord's Supper 
is observed quarterly in almost all the 
churches, but in some the celebration is 
more frequent. The majority of the con- 
gregations have, at the same time, abolished 
the Scottish novelty of what is called 
" Tables/' in this ordinance, and have gone 
back to the old custom of simultaneous 
communion. Baptism is, unless in special 
exceptions, administered in the church, and 
only to children of members in full com- 
munion. Each congregation has its minis- 
ter's week-day class, and its Sabbath- 
schools. In cases of discipline, the elders 
are employed to ascertain the reality of the 
fama or charge, and the session gives its 
judgment according to proof, and pronoun- 
ces sentence according to the nature of the 
accusation. Persons found guilty of con- 
duct contrary to the law of Christ, are 
dealt with in a Christian spirit, that they 
may be restored, and if they are refractory, 
they are solemnly shut out from fellowship 
with the church. 

The United Presbyterian Church is a 



18 



voluntary church. This doctrine is not 
formally contained in any portion of her 
standards, but it is distinctly implied. She 
objects against every part of the Westmin- 
ster Confession, u which teaches, or is sup- 
posed to teach, compulsory, or persecuting, 
and intolerant principles in religion." Her 
creed is, that the exalted Jesus is the only 
King and Head of His Church, and that 
this Headship wholly supersedes the patron- 
age and endowment of the Church by civil 
rulers. She believes, indeed, that Christ 
is King of nations, and that therefore 
nations should serve God, and that all rulers 
and magistrates are bound to glorify Him 
in their respective spheres and stations. 
But such service and such glorification of 
God must be in harmony with the revealed 
mind of Christ; and the duty of endow- 
ing Christianity no where appears among 
the statutes of the New Testament. States 
which establish Christianity venture beyond 
Divine enactment, and contravene the spi- 
ritualty of that kingdom which " is not of 
this world." It is plain, too, from recent 
events in Scotland and England, that 
neither purity nor freedom can exist as 
they ought, in an Established Church. 
Spiritual independence can flourish only in 
a church which has no connection with the 
State. Ebenezer Erskine said in his day 
— " There is a great difference to be made 
between the Church of Scotland and the 
Church of Christ in Scotland ; for I reckon 
that the last is to a great extent drawn into 
the wilderness by the first ; and since God 
in his adorable, providence has led us into 
the wilderness with her, I judge it our duty 
to tarry with her for a while there, and to 
prefer her afflictions to all the advantages 
of a legal establishment." 

Christ's house, according to Ebenezer 
Erskine, is "the freest society in the 
world. It should bear no trammels, and 
it bore none for 300 years. Accordingly, 
the United Presbyterian Church is a free 
church, and will not submit to any law of 
patronage. The Belief Church had its 
origin in this grievance; and the Secession 
Church, while it had a special struggle for 
doctrine, no less distinctly vindicated the 
rights of the people. Pastors are there- 
fore chosen by the united voice of the mem- 
bers in full communion j for Christ's ordi- 
nances are meant solely for Christ's people. 
The presbytery exercises no control what- 



138 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



ever on the popular suffrage. It sends one 
of its members to moderate in the call, and 
sees that the call is gone through in a regu- 
lar way. No canvassing is allowed, and 
the whole work of the presbytery is, in 
fact, to guard and preserve purity of elec- 
tion. The presbytery sustains the call, 
after being convinced that there is nothing 
to vitiate it, as a free expression of the 
mind of the people. The minister so 
called may either be one who is, or has 
been in a charge, or he may be what is 
called a probationer. 

The vacant churches are supplied by 
these probationers — a body of men who 
have finished the educational curriculum 
appointed by the church, been examined 
by their respective presbyteries, and licensed 
as persons qualified to preach the Gospel, 
and fit, if they shall be called, to take the 
pastoral charge of a congregation. The 
probationers are thus a body of lay preach- 
ers, authorised candidates for the ministry. 
They are sent among the vacant churches 
without partiality and by rotation, that 
their gifts may be tried, and sometimes they 
are located for months together at a mis- 
sionary station. When a probationer is 
called, and accepts the call, he appears 
before the presbytery in whose bounds the 
church calling him is situated, and preaches 
what are called trial discourses. Such ap- 
pearance in the presbytery on the part of 
the pastor elect is to win the confidence of 
his brethren. After all the prescribed 
trials have been gone through and sus- 
tained, a day for the ordination is fixed. 
One of the ministers of the presbytery is 
appointed to preside and ordain, and an- 
other is appointed to preach. An edict* 
is at the same time appointed to be publicly 
served in the congregation by the officiating 
minister or preacher, at least ten days before 
the day of ordination. 



* The form of edict is as follows : — Whereas 
the presbytery of of the 

United Presbyterian Church have received a 
call from this congregation, addressed to A. B., 
preacher (or minister) of the Gospel, to be their 
minister, and the said call has been sustained 
as a regular Gospel call, and been accepted by 
the said A. B., and he has undergone trials for 
ordination ; and whereas the said presbytery 
having judged the said A. B. qualified for the 
ministry of the Gospel, and the pastoral charge 
of this congregation, have resolved to proceed 
to his ordination on the day of 



Upon the day fixed, the presbytery meets 
at the appointed time and place, and is 
constituted by the moderator. The officer 
is then sent to the assembled congregation, 
to intimate that the presbytery has met, 
and requiring all who have any valid ob- 
jections to the ordination being proceeded 
with, immediately to appear before the 
presbytery and state them. The officer 
having returned, and no objectors appear- 
ing, the presbytery then proceeds to the 
place of worship. If objections are made 
they must be decided upon before the ordi- 
nation takes place. 

After sermon, the moderator gives a 
brief narrative of the different steps of 
procedure regarding the call. He then 
calls on the candidate for ordination to 
stand up, and in presence of the congrega- 
tion puts to him the questions of the for- 
mula. But before proposing the ninth 
question, he asks the members of the con- 
gregation to signify their adherence to the 
call by holding up their right hands. These 
steps being taken, the moderator comes 
down to the platform, where the candidate 
kneels, and surrounded by the other breth- 
ren of the presbytery, he engages in solemn 
prayer, and towards the conclusion of the 
prayer, or after it is concluded, he, by the 
imposition of hands, (in which all the 
brethren of the presbytery join,) ordains 
him to the office of the holy ministry, and 
to the pastoral inspection of the congrega- 
tion, by whom he has been chosen and 
regularly called, commending him for coun- 
tenance and success to the grace of G-od, 
in all the duties incumbent upon him as a 
minister of the Gospel. 

After the ordination is thus completed, 
the members of presbytery give to the 
newly ordained pastor the right hand of 
fellowship, and appropriate addresses are 
then delivered to minister and people. 



, unless something occur which may 
reasonably impede it, Notice is hereby given to 
all concerned, that if they or any of them, have 
any thing to object why the said A. B. should 
not be ordained pastor of this congregation, 
they may repair to the presbytery which is to 
meet at on the said day of 

; with certification, that if no valid ob- 
jection be then made, the presbytery will pro- 
ceed without farther delay. 

By order of the presbytery, 

A. B. Moderat >r. 
C. D. Clerk. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



139 



These services being concluded, the mode- 
rator accompanies the newly ordained pastor 
to some convenient place, where the mem- 
bers of the congregation may acknowledge 
him as their minister by taking him by 
the right hand. The presbytery then re- 
turns to its place of meeting, when the 
newly ordained minister's name is en- 
tered on the roll, and he takes his seat 
as a member of the presbytery, on which 
the commissioners for the congregation 
crave extracts. A member of presbytery 
is also appointed to constitute the session 
of the congregation, and introduce the 
minister to his seat there. The whole pro- 
cedure of the day is entered on the pres- 
bytery's record. 

The formula put to ministers on their 
ordination is as follows : — 

1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments to be the Word 
of God, and the only rule of faith and 
practice ? 

2. Do you acknowledge the Westminster 
Confession of Faith, and the Larger and 
Shorter Catechisms, as an exhibition of the 
sense in which you understand the Holy 
Scriptures; it being understood that you 
are not required to approve of any thing 
in these documents which teaches, or is 
supposed to teach, compulsory or perse- 
cuting and intolerant principles in religion ? 

3. Are you persuaded that the Lord 
Jesus Chrst, the only King and Head of 
the Church, has therein appointed a go- 
vernment distinct from, and subordinate to, 
civil government? And do you acknow- 
ledge the Presbyterian form of government, 
as authorised and acted on in this Church, 
to be founded on, and agreeable to, the 
Word of God ? 

4. Do you approve of the Constitution 
of the United Presbyterian Church, as 
exhibited in the Basis of Union; and, 
while cherishing a spirit of brotherhood 
towards all the faithful followers of Christ, 
do you engage to seek the purity, edifica- 
tion, peace, and extension of this Church ? 

5. Are zeal for the glory of God, love 
to the Lord Jesus Christ, and a desire to 
save souls, and not worldly interests or 
expectations, so far as you know your own 
heart, your great motives and chief induce- 
ments to enter into the office of the holy 
ministry ? 

6. Have you used any undue methods 



by yourself or others, to obtain the call of 
this Church ? 

[ The members of the Church being re- 
quested to stand up, let this question be put 
to them : — 

Do you, the members of this Church, 
testify your adherence to the Call which 
you have given to Mr. A. B. to be your 
minister? and do you receive him with all 
gladness, and promise to provide for him 
suitable maintenance, and to give him all 
due respect, subjection, and encouragement 
in the Lord ? 

An opportunity luill here be given to the 
Members of the Church of signifying their 
assent to this by holding up their right 
hand.~\ 

7. Do you adhere to your acceptance of 
the Call to become minister of this Church ? 

8. Do you engage, in the strength of 
the grace that is in Christ Jesus, to live a 
holy and circumspect life, to rule well your 
own house, and faithfully, diligently, and 
cheerfully to discharge all the parts of the 
ministerial work to the edifying of the 
body of Christ? 

9. Do you promise to give conscientious 
attendance on the Courts of the United 
Presbyterian Church, to be subject to them 
in the Lord, to take a due interest in their 
proceedings, and to study the things which 
make for peace ? 

10. And all these things you profess 
and promise, through grace, as you shall 
be answerable at the coming of the Lord 
Jesus Christ with all his saints, and as you 
would be found in that happy company? 

The different funds of the United Pres- 
byterian Church are these : — (1.) The 
General Fund. (2.) The Home Fund. 
(3.) The Foreign Mission Fund. (4.) The 
Fund for aiding in the Liquidation of 
Debt, and in building places of Worship. 
And (5.) The Synod House Fund. The 
names attached to the several Funds suffi- 
ciently explain them, and they need not be 
further described. 

According to present arrangements, the 
Divinity Hall meets annually on the 1st 
Tuesday of August, and continues for 
eight weeks. Students, before admission 
into the Hall, must have finished the usual 
university course of study, on which they 
are examined by their respective presbyte- 
ries. 

There are five professors, viz. : — First, 



140 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



a professor of sacred languages and biblical 
criticism.. Second, a professor of herme- 
neutics and evidences. Third, a professor 
of exegetical theology. Fourth, a pro- 
fessor of systematic and pastoral theology. 
And Fifth, a professor of ecclesiastical 
history, comprehending the history of doc- 
trine, ritual, and government. 

During the first and second sessions of 



their attendance at the Hall, the students 
attend the professors of sacred languages, 
and of biblical literature ; during the third, 
fourth, and fifth sessions, the professors of 
exegetical theology, of systematic and pas- 
toral theology, and of ecclesiastical history. 
The following statistics are an approxi- 
mation merely — as returns from several 
churches have not been made : — 



Number of congregations, 



505 



Aggregate attendance, 400,000 

Members in full communion, 158,000 

Students of divinity, 180 

FINANCE. 

Seat rents, one year, £53,000 

Collections at church doors, , 47,000 

Subscriptions and donations, 16,000 

Contributions for Synod Missions, 16,000 

Do. to other Missions, 2,000 

Given to poor members, 4,000 

Benevolent purposes, 5,000 

Liquidation of debt on chapel buildings, 14,000 



Amount last year, £157,000 



Being very nearly on an average of £1 per 
annum for each member. 

The returns for 1850 and 1851 show 
that £23,000 of debt on buildings had 
been paid off, which, with the sum paid 
last year, shows that £36,000 of debt has 
been cancelled during the last three years. 
There are 193 manses of the annual value 
of £2,890 4s. ; average £15. Seventy- 
five congregations have expended on City 
and Town Missions £2,777 17s. 8£d., 
being an average of nearly £36. 

Thus, including children, we may say 
that nearly a third part of the population 
of Scotland is connected with the United 
Presbyterian Church. 

As a branch of the United Presbyterian 
Church, there is a large, influential, and 
growing denomination of the same name 
in Canada, originated, and still supported, 
by the Church at home. The United 
Presbyterian Church in Canada consists 
of seven presbyteries, and of fifty-eight 
churches, — some ministers, however, have 
charge of two congregations. This Church 



has also a theological seminary of its own, 
with a number of promising students. In 
connection with the United Presbyterian 
Church, there are eighteen missionary 
churches in Jamaica, and along with the 
pastors of those churches, there is a staff 
of fifteen catechists and teachers. At 
Montego Bay, there is a flourishing aca- 
demy, with a classical teacher, and a theo- 
logical tutor. In Trinidad there are two 
missionary churches, and there are several 
stations in Caffraria. At Old Calabar, on 
the west coast of Africa, there is located a 
band of four missionaries, six catechists 
and teachers, with six subordinate agents 
of various kinds. The United Presby- 
terian Church has also obtained a foot- 
ing in Southern Australia, and some 
eight or ten congregations have rapidly 
sprung into existence. The Old Tes- 
tament, translated into Persian, is under 
the charge of the United Presbyterian 
Church, and an active agent for the circu- 
lation of the Sacred volume is employed in 
Persia. 



HISTORY OP THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



141 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE CONGREGATIONALISTS 

BY THE REV. DAVID RUSSELL, 

MINISTER OF NICHOLSON STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, GLASGOW. 



The distinctive principle of Congrega- 
tionalism is, that a church, composed of 
those who give evidence to each other of 
their being Christians, is complete in itself, 
and that all questions of faith, discipline, 
and membership, are to be settled by its 
members when assembled for the purpose. 
In carrying out this principle by which 
every member has a direct voice in all eccle- 
siastical affairs, and the utmost Christian 
liberty is conferred, it is held that such 
churches have an undoubted right to deeide 
upon the credit which is due to the pro- 
fession of candidates for admission into 
their fellowship, and that to delegate that 
decision to a select few, would be to de- 
prive the rest of the only way by which 
they can individually maintain purity of 
communion. In like manner, it is held 
that all discipline, whether issuing in the 
retention or excommunication of the par- 
ties, must be administered by the Church 
as a body, in accordance with the specific 
injunction contained in 1 Cor. v. 13, 
"Therefore put away from among your- 
selves that wicked person." The modes 
of ascertaining the evidence upon which an 
intelligent judgment can be formed, either 
in admission or in exclusion, may vary, but, 
in both cases, the evidence obtained is laid 
before the Church. Generally, when any 
one applies for admission, the pastor, by 
conversation, satisfies himself as to the spi- 
ritual experience of the applicant, and 
then announces his name at a meeting of 
the Church, by whom two are appointed to 
confer with him, and institute inquiries into 
the consistency of his character with his 
profession. This having been done, the 



information thus acquired is commmuni- 
cated to the Church, who, by vote, either 
receive or reject the applicant. In cases 
of discipline a similar method is pursued. 
It is analogous to the well-known form of 
taking proofs by means of a commissioner 
instead of in open court, he being required 
to report not his opinions, but the facts 
which he has found competently proven. 
The Church decides not upon the views 
adopted by the pastor and the brethren as- 
sociated with them, but upon the evidence 
which is detailed to them. A basis is thus 
laid for mutual confidence and fellowship, 
and for the exercise of brotherly love to- 
wards those whom they have every reason 
to believe are the brethren of Christ, and 
who, consequently, form a portion of that 
great brotherhood who are enjoined to love 
one another. And when, unhappily, any 
are excluded, the grounds being stated, 
give all an opportunity of knowing that 
they are sufficient. In admitting members, 
and in discipline, the Church, as a body, is 
thus recognised from first to last, and a 
sense of personal responsibility is thereby 
created, each member feeling that he is 
called on to take care that no unworthy 
character be either received or retained. 

Congregational Churches assert their 
righfc to elect their office-bearers. They 
believe that in the New Testament Churches 
there were two classes, pastors, elders, or 
bishops over the spiritual, and deacons over 
the temporal affairs. They consider that 
the official designations — pastor, elder, 
bishop, are used interchangeably in the 
New Testament, and that the same office is 
referred to under each, Whether there 



142 



HISTORY OF THE CONGKEGATIONALISTS. 



ought to be one or more in each church, 
they do not look upon as a question Scrip- 
turally defined, but as one to be left to the 
Christian common sense of churches on 
reviewing their circumstances and neces- 
sities. The department assigned originally 
to the deacons, was to watch over the inte- 
rests of the poor. In most iustances, 
churches have also committed to them the 
care of the general finances, but this has 
been done more as a matter of convenience, 
than as a following out of a Scriptural law 
or example. Accordingly, in some churches, 
a committee of management is elected an- 
nually, to whom is entrusted the charge of 
the funds, and the deacons, as such, confine 
their attention to the poor, there being, 
however, nothing to prevent one serving in 
both capacities. 

The spiritual rule is vested in the pastor 
or pastors, and is viewed as essential to the 
office and arising out of its constitution, 
not as conferred by the Church, as coun- 
cillors are chosen by the votes of the elec- 
tors, while the authority of the magisterial 
office proceeds not from them, but directly 
from the state. They hold that the Scrip- 
tural injunctions to obey pastors, are 
equally explicit with the injunctions on 
wives to obey their husbands, children to 
obey their parents, servants to obey their 
masters, and subjects to obey their kings. 
It would be difficult to state in precise 
terms the limits of authority on thte one 
hand, and of obedience on the other, but 
not more difficult than clearly to define 
these limits in the temporal relations of 
life. Pastors can only rule in strict ac- 
cordance with the statute book. They are 
not to be " self-willed/' and members vow- 
ing allegiance to Christ while obeying a 
pastor who lays down the law of Christ for 
their guidance, are really obeying Christ 
himself. Where true piety exists on both 
sides there will be no jarring, but, without 
an honest regard to the admission of mem- 
bers, and the exclusion of the unworthy, 
endless quarrels and divisions would arise, 
the law of discipline would be trampled 
on, and instead of spiritual profit, there 
would be disorder and confusion. Such 
churches can only prosper in proportion to 
the earnest Christianity of their members, 
a promiscuous mass of mere professors 
would never act upon purely spiritual laws, 
and an enlarged piety is absolutely neces- 



sary to counteract the tendency in man to 
turn freedom into licentiousness. 

Congregationalism is sometimes called 
Independency, but there is a clear distinc- 
tion between them. The former points 
out the personal share each member of the 
community has in its affairs, the latter in- 
dicates that no foreign community can be 
permitted to control its proceedings. A 
Presbyterian Church may be Independent 
in the sense of not being subject to a 
Synod or an Assembly, but, so long as its 
discipline is conducted by a session with 
delegated powers, it cannot be Congrega- 
tional. .As to temporal arrangements, Dis- 
senting Presbyterian churches are Congre- 
gational, as to spiritual matters they are 
not; they are not Independent in any sense, 
as all decisions are subject to the review 
of the superior courts. Whereas Congre- 
gational churches, in addition to their pecu- 
liar distinction, are independent of all 
foreign control. They recognise no supe- 
rior court, there is no appeal from their 
decisions, each church is the supreme court, 
and all its proceedings are final. In cases 
involving difficulty, one church may ask 
the counsel and advice of other churches, 
but the church so soliciting counsel is lefr. 
at full liberty either to be guided by, or to 
act in opposition to it. As the judgment 
of impartial, discreet, and good men, it 
will naturally and deservedly have great 
influence on ail who are unprejudiced; but 
it is a mere recommendation, not a decree. 
In some parts of America, standing or per- 
manent councils, called "Advisory bodies" 
exist, which are composed of delegates 
from the churches within defined bounds, 
but they have no inherent powers, they do 
not even volunteer advice, they only give 
it when invited to do so. Bodies like these, 
are viewed in Britain, rather with suspicion 
than otherwise, from the dread that silently 
and imperceptibly, the liberties and rights 
of churches may be invaded, and from at- 
tachment to the firmly held conviction that 
every church should be its own judge in 
the last resort. 

Congregationalists hold that the Church 
ought not to be connected with the state, 
because they believe that such a union 
would destroy both their Congregationalism 
and their Independency. They maintain, 
in the most unrestricted sense, Christ's 
headship over his church, and cannot per- 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



143 



mit any earthly king to intefere with the 
allegiance which they owe to him. They 
are Dissenters not by the necessity of cir- 
cumstances, but of principles. 

Congregationalists believe that the New 
Testament contains, either in the form of 
express statute, or in the example and 
practice of apostles and apostolic churches, 
all the articles of faith necessary to be be- 
lieved, and all the principles of order and 
discipline requisite for constituting aud 
governing Christian churches; and that 
human traditions, fathers, councils, canons, 
and creeds, possess no authority over the 
faith of Christians. Notwithstanding this, 
Congregationalists are as much agreed in 
doctrine and practice, as any church which 
enjoins subscription, and enforces a human 
standard of orthodoxy. There are com- 
paratively few churches which would not 
avow their belief in the following declara- 
tion of faith adopted by the Congregational 
Union of England and Wales : — 

1. " The Scriptures of the Old Testa- 
ment, as received by the Jews, and the 
books of the New Testament, as received 
by the Primitive Christians from the evan- 
gelists and apostles, Congregational Churches 
believe to be divinely inspired, and of su- 
preme authority. These writings, in the 
languages in which they were originally 
composed, are to be consulted, by the aids 
of sound criticism, as a final appeal in all 
controversies ; but the common version 
they consider to be adequate to the ordinary 
purposes of Christian instruction and edifi- 
cation. 

" They believe in One God, essentially 
wise, holy, just, and good ; eternal, infi- 
nite, and immutable, in all natural and 
moral perfections; the Creator, Supporter, 
and Governor of all beings, and of all 
things. 

"3. They believe that God is revealed 
ia the Scriptures, as the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Spirit, and that to each are 
attributable the same Divine properties and 
perfections. The doctrine of the Divine 
existence, as above stated, they cordially 
believe, without attempting fully to ex- 
plain. 

" 4. They believe that man was created 
after the Divine image, sinless, and in his 
kind, perfect. 

u 5. They believe that the first man dis- 
obeyed the Divine command, fell from his 



state of innocence and purity, and involved 
all his posterity in the consequences of that 
fall. 

" 6. They believe that therefore all man- 
kind are born in sin, and that a fatal in- 
clination to moral evil, utterly incurable by 
human means, is inherent in every de- 
scendant of Adam. 

" 7. They believe that God having, 
before the foundation of the world, de- 
signed to redeem fallen man, made dis- 
closures of his mercy, which were the 
grounds of faith and hope from the earliest 
ages. 

" 8. They believe that God revealed more 
fully to Abraham the covenant of his 
grace ; and, having promised that from his 
descendants should arise the Deliverer and 
Redeemer of mankind, set that patriarch 
and his posterity apart, as a race specially 
favoured and separated to his service ; a 
peculiar church, formed and carefully pre- 
served, under the Divine sanction and 
government, until the birth of the promised 
Messiah. 

" 9. They believe that, in the fulness of 
time, the Son of God was manifested in 
the flesh, being born of the Virgin Mary, 
but conceived by the power of the Holy 
Spirit; and that our Lord Jesus Christ 
was both the Son of man, and the Son of 
God ; partaking fully and truly of human 
nature, though without sin, — equal with 
the Father, and, < the express image of his 
person/ 

"10. They believe that Jesus Christ, 
the Son of God, revealed, either person- 
ally in his own ministry, or by the Holy 
Spirit in the ministry of his apostles, the 
whole mind of God, for our salvation ; and 
that, by his obedience to the Divine law 
while he lived, and by his sufferings unto 
death, he meritoriously obtained eternal 
redemption for us / having thereby vindi- 
dicated and illustrated Divine justice, 'mag- 
nified the law/ and ' brought in everlasting 
righteousness/ 

" 11. They believe that, after his death 
and resurrection, he ascended up into 
heaven, where, as the Mediator, he 'ever 
liveth ' to rule over all, and to ' make in- 
tercession for them that come unto God by 
him/ 

" 12. They believe that the Holy Spirit 
is given in consequence of Christ's media- 
tion, to quicken and renew the hearts of 



144 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



men; and that his influence is indispensa- 
bly necessary to bring a sinner to true re- 
pentance, to produce saving faith, to regene- 
rate the heart, and to perfect our sanctifi- 
cation. 

" 13. They believe that we are justified 
through faith in Christ, as ' the Lord our 
righteousness/ and not 'by the works of 
the law.' 

" 14. They believe that all who will be 
saved were the objects of God's eternal 
and electing love, and were given by an 
act of Divine sovereignty to the Son of 
God j which in no way interferes with the 
system of means, nor with grounds of 
human responsibility; being wholly un- 
revealed as to its objects, and not a rule of 
human duty. 

" 15. They believe that the Scriptures 
teach the final perseverance of all true 
believers to a state of eternal blessedness, 
which they are appointed to obtain, through 
constant faith in Christ, and uniform obe- 
dience to his commands. 

" 16. They believe that a holy life will 
be the necessary effect of a true faith, and 
that good works are the certain fruits of a 
vital union, to Christ. 

" 17. They believe that the sanctifica- 
| tion of true Christians, or their growth in 
the graces of the Spirit, and meetness for 
heaven, is gradually carried on, through 
the whole period during which it pleases 
God to continue them in the present life j 
and that, at death, their souls, perfectly 
freed from all remains of evil, are imme- 
diately received into the presence of Christ. 

" 18. They believe in the perpetual ob- 
ligation of baptism and the Lord's Supper : 
the former to be administered to all con- 
verts to Christianity and their children, by 
the application of water to the subject, * in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost;' and the latter to 
be celebrated by Christian churches as a 
token of faith in the Saviour and of bro- 
therly love. 

"19. They believe that Christ will 
finally come to judge the whole human 
race, according to their works; that the 
bodies of the dead will be raised again; 
and that, as the Supreme Judge, he will 
divide the righteous from the wicked, will 
receive the righteous into ' life everlasting/ 
but send away the wicked into i everlasting 
punishment/ 



"20. They believe that Jesus Christ 
directed his followers to live together in 
Christian fellowship, and to maintain the 
communion of saints; and that, for this 
purpose, they are jointly to observe all 
Divine ordinances, and maintain that church 
order and discipline, which is either ex- 
pressly enjoined by inspired institution, or 
sanctioned by the undoubted example of 
the apostles and of apostolic churches." 

There is a difference between the 
English and Scotch Congregationalists 
as to the administration of the Lord's 
Supper and baptism. In England, the 
Lord's -Supper is celebrated monthly, 
while in Scotland, with the exception of 
the churches northward of Aberdeen, it is 
celebrated every Lord's day. The English 
Congregationalists baptise the children of 
converts to Christianity, meaning, thereby, 
those who are disciples, who, although unfit 
to become communicants, and even unfit to 
teach their children, are yet willing to place 
them under Christian instruction; while in 
Scotland, baptism is almost universally 
administered only to believers and their 
offspring. 

Difficult as it may seem in theory for so 
many independent sovereignties to preserve 
uniformity in doctrine, and harmony in 
practice ; yet it is believed that no denomi- 
nation, for the last two hundred years, has 
swerved less from the principles of its 
early founders, or maintained more perfect 
harmony among its members. This sub- 
stantial unity has led to the formation of 
County Associations, and also to the forma- 
tion of more extended Unions. The ob- 
jects of the Congregational Union of 
England and Wales, are to promote Evan- 
gelical religion in connexion with the De- 
nomination ; to cultivate brotherly affection 
and co-operation; to establish fraternal 
correspondence with Congregationalists and 
other bodies throughout the world; to ad- 
dress letters to the churches; to obtain 
statistical information ; to assist in building 
chapels, and to assist in maintaining the 
civil rights of Dissenters. By its consti- 
tution it is specially declared, "That 
the Union of Congregational ministers, 
throughout England and Wales, is founded 
on a full recognition of their own distinc- 
tive principle, namely, the scriptural right 
of every separate Church to maintain per- 
fect independence in the government and 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



145 



administration of its own particular affairs; 
and, therefore, that the Union shall not, in 
any case, assume legislative authority, or 
become a Court of Appeal." 

The objects of the Congregational Union 
of Scotland are more limited, viz., to afford 
to churches connected with it such pecu- 
niary aid as may enable them to maintain 
the ordinances of the Gospel, and to pro- 
mote its interests in their neighbourhood ; 
and to employ itinerants throughout the 
country. By its constitution it is provided, 
that " this Union shall not be regarded as, 
in any sense, an Ecclesiastical Court or 
Corporation, possessing, or pretending to 
possess, authority over the Churches; — all 
such authority being contrary to the first 
principles of Congregational polity; but 
simply in the light of a Church Aid and 
Home Mission Society." 

The great principles of Congregation- 
alism are found in the writings of the Re- 
formers, but they did not embody them in 
the shape of a definite Ecclesiastical polity. 
The first church formed upon Congrega- 
tional principles, of whose existence we 
have any accurate knowledge, was that 
established by Robert Brown in 1583. 
The views held by him, were far in advance 
of the time, and called forth heavy perse- 
cution. The first martyrs to them were 
two clergymen, Thacker and Cokking, who 
were executed in 1583, ostensibly for 
" denying the queen's supremacy," but, in 
fact, for dispersing Browne's tracts. Ten 
years afterwards, Henry Barrow and John 
Greenwood were put to death. Between 
1592 and 1604, fiery persecution raged, 
and many ministers were either silenced or 
exiled. It is at this period, that we first 
meet the name of John Robinson, who 
has, not inappropriately, been called the 
father of modern Congregationalism. He 
and his congregation were compelled to flee 
to Holland, and to found a church at 
Leyden. In the year 1617, Mr. Robinson 
and his church began to think of a removal 
to America, and, although he did not ac- 
company the emigrants, it should not be 
forgotten, that to him and his Church, we 
owe the rise of Congregational principles 
in New England. 

With all the persecutions which Congre- 
gationalists endured, they continued to in- 
crease in England, and they might have 
enjoyed a period of quiet, had it not been 



for the determined opposition of the Pres- 
byterians. The Westminster Assembly 
was held, in which a few Congregationalists, 
with resolute determination, maintained 
that Christianity was a question between 
God and man, with which no human power 
dare intermeddle ; that regenerated men in 
church fellowship should be left unfettered, 
and that each church should manage its 
own ecclesiastical affairs. 

During the Commonwealth, Congrega- 
tionalists stood on higher ground. Crom- 
well nominated some of their principal 
men as chaplains, and placed others 
in leading positions in the universi- 
ties. Among them were, John Owen, 
Thomas Goodwin, Gale, Howe, Charnock, 
Bridge, Nye, Caryl, and Greenhill. 

Congregationalism has continued to in- 
crease in England and Wales. There are 
now, fully 2,000 churches. 

The rise of Congregationalism in Scot- 
land, may be traced principally to John 
Glas, minister of the Church of Scotland, 
in the parish of Tealing, near Dundee, who 
formed a church there in 1725. His views 
may be learned from some of the queries 
put to him, by the Synod of Angus 
Mearns, on the 16th April, 1728 : — 

" Q. 15. Is it your opinion that there 
is no warrant for a National Church under 
the New Testament? 

A. It is my opinion ; for I can see no 
churches instituted by Christ in the New 
Testament, beside the universal, but Con- 
gregational Churches. 

Q. 17. Is it your opinion that the body 
of believers or church-members, have a 
right to determine the admission, or 
non-admission of persons to the Lord's 
table, together with the ministers and 
elders ? 

A. None can be admitted to communion 
in the Lord's Supper, with a congregation 
of Christ, without the consent of that con- 
gregation^ and there must be a profession 
of mutual brotherly love in them that par- 
take together of that ordinance. 

Q. 19. Is it your opinion that a single 
congregation of believers, with their pastor, 
are not under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
and authority of superior church judica- 
tures, nor censurable by them, either as to 
doctrine, worship, or practice ? 

A. A congregation, or Church of Jesus 
Christ, with its presbytery, is, in its dis- 



19 



146 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIOXALISTS. 



cipline, subject to no jurisdiction under 
heaven." 

These doctrines being new in Scotland, 
Mr. Glas was constrained to preach them, 
and his doing so, elicited the most deter- 
mined opposition. It was not till a con- 
siderable time had elapsed that his friends 
comprehended his sentiments, and longer 
still before they were adopted. When 
satisfied that some of his parishioners were 
of one mind with himself, he began to 
separate them from the multitude, and so 
to form a little society in his own parish, 
which soon increased, and several from dis- 
tant parishes joined it. Their number, 
according to the first roll of their names, 
which is dated Tealing, 13th July, 1725, 
amounted to nearly one hundred. At a 
meeting they agreed to join together in 
the Christian profession, to follow Christ 
the Lord, as the righteousness of his people, 
and to walk together in brotherly love, and 
in the duties of it, in subjection to Mr. 
Glas, as their overseer in the Lord. At 
this meeting, too, it was agreed to observe 
the ordinance of the Lord's Supper once 
every month. Their next meeting was 
held on the 12th of August, when several 
were added to the number. On this occa- 
sion, the law regarding private offences, in 
the eighteenth chapter of 31atthew was 
laid before them, and they professed sub- 
jection to it. On the 9th of December, 
it was agreed that, at all their public meet- 
ings, there should be a collection made for 
their own poor, and for such of the profes- 
sors of Christ's name in other places as 
were in straits ; and, at a subsequent meet- 
ing, they enjoined the brethren, who were 
nearest each other, to form themselves into 
societies, and to have a meeting weekly for 
prayer and brotherly exhortations. 

After the various requisite steps had 
been taken, Mr. Glas was deposed from the 
ministry, by the synod, on the 15th Octo- 
ber, 1728. ■ But notwithstanding many dis- 
couraging attempts, churches were soon 
formed in various towns in Scotland, and 
afterwards in England and America. In 
Scotland, these have been, from Mr. Glas, 
denominated Glassites ; but in England 
and America, Sandemanians, from Mr. 
Sandeman, who, in a series of Letters, 
published in 1757, attacked Mr. Harvey's 
doctrine in his Theron and Aspasio, and, 
through that channel, almost all the 



preachers and writers on the doctrine then 
held in the highest estimation in the reli- 
gious world. 

The Congregationalism, forming the 
Congregational Union of Scotland, trace 
their immediate origin to the missionary 
enterprises of Robert and James Haldane 
in 1798, and subsequent years. Sur- 
rounded by a band of faithful and devoted 
men, these gentlemen were intent only on 
preaching the Gospel. Originally, they 
had no idea of forming churches, but when 
God blessed their labours, their converts, 
by a sort of spiritual instinct, drew towards 
each other. On every side they were as- 
sailed by torrents of invective. The 
Church was in arms against them, and they 
sighed for a polity, not cramped by rigid 
law, in which all the talent amongst them, 
might, at once, be engaged in the cause 
of Christ. Places of worship, called 
"Meeting Houses, or Tabernacles/' were 
accordingly built in several of the large 
towns, in which churches were formed. 
The good work of the Lord went on ; and 
had it not been for separations which oc- 
curred in consequence of the Baptismal 
Controversy, the number of churches would 
have been greater than it is. In connec- 
tion with the Union, there are at present 
114 churches. 

Congregationalists, both in England and 
Scotland, are alive to the necessity of having 
an educated ministry. There are ten col- 
leges or academies, with a staff of twenty- 
six tutors, or, as they are now commonly 
called, professors. The students connected 
with these institutions maintain a high 
character. Since the establishment of the 
London University, the total number of 
degrees in Arts and Laws conferred is 
546 ; and of these, 150 have been granted 
to the alumni of Congregational colleges. 
The committees and directors, entertaining 
strongly the belief, that an unconverted 
ministry is fatal to the well-being of any 
church, are particularly careful in procuring 
evidence of the personal piety of all who 
are admitted. 

Adhering to the Congregational prin- 
ciple, the churches are under no obligation 
to restrict themselves to any class of stu- 
dents in the choice of a pastor. They may, 
and do,, select men who are self-taught, but 
who, in their estimation, possess the essen- 
tial qualifications. Generally speaking, 



HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



147 



however, students from the colleges are 
chosen, and the exceptive cases are com- 
paratively rare. 

In addition to the voluntary support of 
Gospel ordinances, Congregationalists take 
a fair share in Missionary work, both at 
home and abroad. 

The County Associations throughout 
England spend a large sum annually in 
sustaining small churches, and in providing 
Missionaries for the neglected. A general 
society, too, exists, called the Home Mis- 
sionary Society, whose object is to evan- 
gelize the unenlightened inhabitants of the 
towns and villages by the preaching of the 
Gospel, the distribution of religious tracts, 
and the establishment of prayer meetings 
and Sunday schools. 

The Irish Evangelical Society is 
designed to promote the preaching of the 
Gospel in Ireland, by assisting pastors of 
churches, and by supplying missionaries, 
itinerant preachers, aud Scripture readers. 

The Congregational Union of Scotland 
has, from its origin till now, employed a 
number of itinerants in the Highlands and 
islands, and also in the more destitute por- 
tions of the lowlands. 

The Colonial Missionary Society 
is designed to promote Evangelical religion 
among British, or other European settlers 
and their descendants, in the colonies of 
Great Britain. 

While the London Missionary Soci- 
ety is a Catholic institution, it is well 
known that the bulk of the contributions 
in Britain is raised by Congregationalists. 
The Society has 170 missionaries; — of 
whom there are, in Polynesia, 32; in 
China, 17; in India, 58; in Africa and 
Mauritius, 43 ; and in British Guiana and 
Jamaica, 20. There are 700 native 
teachers, 150 churches, 16,000 communi- 
cants, 400 day schools, containing 30,000 
scholars ; 32 boarding schools, containing 
849 male and female scholars ; and 8 in- 
stitutions for training native Evangelists, 
containing 150 students. There are 15 
printing presses. The society's Missiona- 
ries have translated the Scriptures iato the 
following languages : Chinese, Bengalee, 
Urdu, Teloogoo, Canarese, Tamil, Gooju- 
ratte, Malayilim, Buriat, Tahitian, Raro- 
tongan, Samoan, Sechuana, and Malagasy. 

The Congregational Board of Ed- 
ucation is designed to aid schools which 



a temporary assistance would place in a 
position of permanent usefulness ; to estab- 
lish schools in poor districts; to supply 
school materials, to publish works enforcing 
right views of parental responsibility, and 
bearing on the improvement of tuition; 
and to institute bursaries for the assistance 
of meritorious young persons. The Normal 
Training Institution is now in vigorous 
operation. 

In these various departments of Missions 
and Education a sum not less than £100,- 
000 is annually expended. 

Of the part taken by English Congre- 
gationalists in helping forward civil and 
religious liberty, Sir James M'Intosh, in 
his Historical fragment, thus writes : — 
" They (the Independents) disclaimed the 
qualifications of ' national' as repugnant to 
the nature of a ' church.' The religion of 
the Independents, could not, without de- 
stroying its nature, be ' established.' They 
never could aspire to more than religious 
liberty, and they, accordingly, have the 
honour to be the first, and long, the only 
Christian community, who collectively 
adopted that sacred principle. It is true, 
that in the beginning, they adopted the 
pernicious and inconsistent doctrine of 
limited toleration, excluding Catholics as 
idolaters ; and, in New England, where the 
great majority were Congregationalists, 
punishing, even capitally, dissenters from 
opinions which they accounted funda- 
mental. But, as intolerance could promote 
no interest of theirs, real or imaginary, 
their true principles finally worked out the 
stain of these dishonourable exceptions. 
The government of Cromwell, more influ- 
enced by them than by any other persua- 
sion, made as near approaches to general 
toleration, as public prejudice would endure; 
and Sir Henry Vane, an Independent, was 
probably the first who laid down with per- 
fect precision the inviolable rights of con- 
science, and the exemption of religion from 
all civil authority." 

And, on them, Lord Brougham, in his 
speech in the House of Commons, in de- 
fence of the martyred Smith of Demarara, 
pronounced this eulogium : " Mr. Smith 
is, or, as I must unhappily now say, was, 
'a minister of the Independents, that body 
much to be respected for their numbers, 
but far more to be held in lasting venera- 
tion, for the unshaken fortitude with which, 



148 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



in all times, they have maintained their 
attachment to civil and religious liberty, 
and, holding fast by their own principles, 
| have carried to its uttermost pitch, the 
: great doctrine of absolute toleration ; — 
men, to whose ancestors this country will 
ever acknowledge a boundless debt of grati- 
tude, as long as freedom is prized among 
us : for they — I fearlessly proclaim it, — 
they j with whatever ridicule some may 
visit their excesses, or with whatever blame, 
others — they, with the zeal of martyrs — 



the purity of the early Christians — the 
skill and the courage of the most renowned 
warriors, gloriously suffered, and fought, 
and conquered for England, the free con- 
stitution which she now enjoys ! True to 
the generous principles in Church and 
State, which won these triumphs, their de- 
scendants are pre-eminent in toleration ) so 
that, although in the .progress of know- 
ledge, other classes of Dissenters may be 
approaching fast to overtake them, they still 
are foremost in this proud distinction. " 



HISTOKY 



WESLEYAN METHODISM 



PREPARED BY WILLIAM L. THORNTON, M.A. 



This communion dates from a.d. 1739, 
and its origin is not a little remarkable. 
A few paragraphs from Mr. Wesley's 
" Short History of the People called Me- 
thodists," though running back to earlier 
years, may appropriately introduce the 
present article.* 

"As no other person," he writes, "can 
be so well acquainted with Methodism, so 
called, as I am, I judge it my duty to leave 
behind me, for the information of all candid 
men, as clear an account of it as I can. 
This will contain the chief circumstances 
that occurred for upwards of fifty years, 
related in the most plain and artless man- 
ner, before Him, whose I am, and whom I 
serve. 

"In November, 1727, at which time I 
came to reside at Oxford, my brother and 
I, and two young gentlemen more, agreed 
to spend three or four evenings in a week 
together. On Sunday evening we read 



* The "Short History" is, in the main, an 
abridgement of " The Journal of the Rev. John 
Wesley, A.M., some time Fellow of Lincoln Col- 
lege, Oxford." 



something in divinity ; on other nights the 
Greek or Latin classics. In the following 
summer, we were desired to visit the prison- 
ers in the Castle ; and we were so well sat- 
isfied with our conversation there, that we 
agreed to visit them once or twice a week. 
Soon after, we were desired to call upon a 
poor woman in the town, that was sick ; 
and in this employment, too, we believed 
it would be worth while to spend an hour 
or two in every week. Being now joined 
by a young gentleman of Merton College, 
who willingly took part in the same exer- 
cises, we all agreed to communicate as often 
as we could (which was then once a week 
at Christ Church) ; and to do what service 
we could to our acquaintance, the prison- 
ers, and two or three poor families in the 
town. 

"In April, 1732, Mr. Clayton of Bra- 
zennose College, began to meet with us. 
It was by his advice that we began to ob- 
serve the fasts of the ancient Church, every 
Wednesday and Friday. Two or three of 
his pupils, one of my brother's, two or 
three of mine, and Mr. Broughton, of 



HISTORY OE WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



149 



Exeter College, desired likewise to spend 
six evenings in a week with us, from six to 
nine o'clock; partly in reading and con- 
sidering a chapter of the Greek Testament, 
and partly in close conversation. To these 
were added, the next year, Mr. Ingham, 
with two or three other gentlemen of 
Queen's College ; then, Mr. Hervey ; and, 
in the year 1735, Mr. George Whitefield, 
I think at this time we were fourteen or 
fifteen in number, all of one heart and of 
one mind." 

From " this sweet retirement," as he ac- 
counted it, Mr. Wesley was suddenly called 
in the spring of the year last-mentioned 
(1735), first, to attend his dying father, 
and then to proceed to London ; where he 
was strongly importuned to leave England 
for Georgia. The trustees of that colony, 
then a new one, wished to send out clergy- 
men, both to minister to the spiritual wants 
of the colonists, and to preach to the abori- 
ginal Indians. Their attention was drawn 
to John Wesley and his Oxford friends; 
and, though the application was in the first 
instance peremptorily refused, he was at 
length constrained, by indications which 
seemed providential, to alter his purpose. 
In the autumn of 1735, accordingly, Ing- 
ham, Delamotte, and the two Wesleys, 
embarked for the Western Continent. 
Their time, during three months spent on 
shipboard, was most carefully redeemed; 
devotions, studies, and benevolent efforts on 
behalf of their fellow-voyagers, claiming 
e'ach a due portion. On reaching America, 
it was found that as yet there was no favour- 
able opportunity of going to the Indians, 
but Mr. Wesley zealously commenced his 
ministry at Savannah. A month later, he 
adopted a course, in regard to his flock at 
this place, which students of Methodism 
cannot review but with deep interest, as it 
bears on the latent history of the " United 
Societies " which were destined ere long to 
attract no small share of attention on both 
sides of the Atlantic : — 

" I now advised the serious part of the 
congregation," he says, " to form them- 
selves into a sort of little society, and to 
I meet once or twice a week, in order to in- 
struct, exhort, and reprove one another ; 
I and out of these I selected a smaller num- 
ber for a more intimate union with each 
other, in order to which I met them together 
at my house every Sunday in the afternoon. 



Again — "After the [Lord's Day] eve- 
ning service, as many of my parishioners 
as desire it meet at my house, (as they do 
also on Wednesday evening), and spend 
about an hour in prayer, singing, and 
mutual exhortation. A small number 
(mostly those who design to communicate 
the next day), meet here on Saturday eve- 
ning; and a few of these come to me on 
the other evenings, and pass half-an-hour in 
the same employment. 

" I cannot but observe that these were 
the first rudiments of the Methodist Socie- 
ties. But who could then have even 
formed a conjecture whereto they would 
grow ?" 

Finding that there was still no hope of 
preaching to the Indians, Mr. Wesley left 
Savannah, and arrived in London early in 
1738. His brother, Charles, had already 
returned. It is important here to note, 
that on the passage to America, and while 
in Georgia, Wesley had met with several 
eminently godly Moravians, and had been 
deeply impressed with their doctrine of 
justification by faith alone, and assurance 
of personal pardon, confirmed by their own 
calmness in danger, and freedom from all 
fear of death. On his homeward voyage, 
he was more fully instructed in their views 
by Bonier, a minister of the same German 
communion ; and, proving their truth in 
his own experience, he soon began to preach 
in the churches of the metropolis and other 
places, and then in rooms, fields, and streets, 
the doctrine of salvation by faith. In this, 
his brother Charles was his unwearied coad- 
jutor: and the effect was the religious 
awakening of great multitudes — in a word, 
the commencement of a revival of religion, 
which quickly spread through this kingdom, 
and of which many remote lands have par- 
taken the fruits.* 

" I came to London," says Mr. Wesley, 
" after an absence of two years and near 
four months. Within three weeks follow- 
ing, I preached in many churches, though 
I did not yet see the nature of saving faith. 
But, as soon as I saw this clearly, I de- 
clared it without delay; and God then 
began to work by my ministry as He had 
never done before." 

The first rise of Methodism, so called, 



* The Rev. George Whitefield had also entered 
upon his very eminent course of labour. 



150 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



was, as we have seen, late in 1729, when a 
few young gentlemen met together at Ox- 
ford. To these the name "Methodist" 
was given, without their apprpbation or 
consent, by a student of Christ Church j 
and this, it may be supposed, rather to 
concentrate half-playful satire upon their 
exact method of proceeding in all their en- 
gagements, than with any particular allu- 
sion to the ancient sect of physicians so 
denominated. As the question is raised, 
it seems just to the founder to quote a 
sentence or two: — "I should rejoice," 
says he, " so little ambitious am I to be at 
the head of any sect or party, if the very 
name might never be mentioned more, but 
be buried in eternal oblivion. But if that 
cannot be, at least let those who will use it 
know the meaning of the word they use. 
Let us not always be fighting in the dark. 
Come, and let us look one another in the 
face ; and perhaps some of you who hate 
what I am called, may love what I am by 
the grace of God, or rather what ' I follow 
after, if that I may apprehend that for 
which also I am apprehended of Christ 
Jesus/" It may be just stated, without 
comment, that reviving godliness in the 
Church of England has been all but sys- 
tematically marked by this epithet, which 
was first applied in scorn — not only White- 
field and the Wesleys, Fletcher and Grim- 
shaw, but also Venn and Walker, Newton 
and Hervey, Eomaine and Berridge, Adam 
and the Milners, Bobinson and Simeon, 
with a host of kindred-spirited laymen, 
having shared this harmless reproach. 
And, whatever may be thought of Wes- 
leyan Methodism in its present form, few 
will deny that the unambitious instrumen- 
tality in which it took its rise was used by 
God in giving a most salutary impulse to 
the churches of this land. On this point, 
did the limits of the present article allow, 
it would be easy to cite the testimonies of 
writers, both Conformist and Noncon- 
formist, whose candour adds a ray to the 
brightness of many other excellencies, and 
whom the respective parties rejoice to ac- 
knowledge their representatives. 

Bearing in mind the Oxford "Me- 
thodism'' of 1729, and the Savannah 
" Methodism" of 1736, let us just follow 
Mr. Wesley, after the date of his return 
from Georgia, to that which is assigned to 
the origin of the " United Society." 



"In summer," he tells us, — namely, the 
summer of 1738, — "I took a journey into 
Germany, and spent some time at Hern- 
huth, a little town where several Moravian 
families were settled. I doubt such an- 
other town is not to be found upon the 
earth. I believe there was no one therein 
who did not fear God and work righteous- 
ness. I was exceedingly comforted and 
strengthened by the conversation of this 
lovely people, and returned to England 
more fully determined to spend my life in 
testifying the Gospel of the grace of God. 

" It was still my desire to preach in a 
church, rather than in any other place ; but 
many obstructions were now laid in the 
way. Some clergymen objected to this 
• new doctrine/ salvation by faith ; but the 
far more common (and indeed more 
plausible) objection was, ' The people crowd 
so, that they block up the church, and 
leave no room for the rest of the parish/ 
Being thus excluded from the churches, 
and not daring to be silent, it remained 
only to preach in the open air; which I 
did at first, not out of choice, but necessity : 
but I have since seen abundant reason to 
adore the wise providence of God herein, 
making a way for myriads of people, who 
never troubled any church, nor were likely 
so to do, to hear that Word which they 
soon found to be the power of God unto 
salvation." 

In the beginning of the year 1739, the 
" Society" consisted of about sixty persons 
— accessions being received, however, from 
month to month. And now, also, a few 
individuals in Bristol agreed to meet like 
those in London : next, several of the 
Kingswood colliers, (a people hitherto no- 
torious for violence and crime,) beginning 
to awake out of sleep, joined together, and 
resolved to walk by the same rule; and 
these likewise swiftly increased. A few 
also at Bath began to help each other in 
running the race set before them. In fol- 
lowing months of the same year, the Me- 
thodist clergymen were preaching in Gla- 
morganshire, Monmouthshire, and . other 
districts : not, indeed, without furious op- 
position from high and low, learned and 
unlearned. Magistrates refused to protect 
what they considered so much unauthorised 
zeal. " Yet," says the leader of this reli- 
gious movement, " by the grace of God, 
we went on, determined to testify, as long 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



151 



as we could, the Gospel of God our Saviour, 
and not counting our lives dear unto our- 
selves, so we might finish our course with 

joy." 

The document now to be given remains 
in force, after the lapse of more than a 
century. Its introductory passages will 
serve to continue this sketch :— 

* RULES OP THE SOCIETY OF THE PEOPLE 
CALLED METHODISTS. 

"1. In the latter end of the year 1739 
eight or ten persons came to me in London, 
who appeared to be deeply convinced of 
sin, and earnestly groaning for redemption. 
They desired (as did two or three more the 
next day) that I would spend some time 
with them in prayer, and advise them how 
to flee from the wrath to come, which they 
saw continually hanging over their heads. 
That we might have more time for this 
great work, I appointed a day when they 
might all come together; which, from 
thenceforward, they did every week, viz., 
on Thursday in the evening. To these, 
and as many more as desired to join with 
them, (for their number increased daily,) 
I gave those advices from time to time 
which I judged most needful for them; 
and we always concluded our meetings 
with prayer suitable to their several neces- 
sities. 

"2. This was the rise of the United 
Society, first in London, and then in other 
places. Such a society is no other than 
' a company of men having the form, and 
seeking the power, of godliness; united 
in order to pray together, to receive the 
word of exhortation, and to watch over one 
another in love, that they may help each 
other to work out their salvation." 

"3. That it may the more easily be 
discerned whether they are indeed working 
out their own salvation, each society is 
divided into smaller companies, called 
classes, according to their respective places 
of abode. There are about twelve persons 
in every class ; one of whom is styled the 
Leader. It is his business, 

"(1.) To see each person in his class 
once a week, at least, in order 

" To inquire how their souls prosper ; 

" To advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort, 
as occasion may require ; 

"To receive what they are willing to 
give towards the support of the Gospel : 



'' (2.) To meet the ministers and the 
stewards of the society once a week, in 
order 

" To inform the minister of any that are 
sick, or of any that walk disorderly, and 
will not be reproved; 

" To pay to the stewards what they have 
received of their several classes in the 
week preceding; and 

" To show their account of what each 
person has contributed. 

" 4. There is one only condition previ- 
ously required of those who desire admis- 
sion into those societies; viz., 'a desire to 
flee from the wrath to come, and be saved 
from their sins/ But wherever this is 
really fixed in the soul, it will be shown 
by its fruits. It is therefore expected of 
all who continue therein, that they should 
continue to evidence their desire of salva- 
tion, 

" First, By doing no harm, by avoiding 
evil in every kind; especially that which 
is most generally practised. Such as 

" The taking the name of God in vain : 

" The profaning the day of the Lord, 
either by doing ordinary work thereon, or 
by buying or selling : 

" Drunkenness ; buying or selling spirit- 
uous liquors ; or drinking them, unless in 
cases of extreme necessity : 

" Fighting, quarrelling, brawling ; bro- 
ther going to law with brother; returning 
evil for evil, or railing for railing; the 
using many words in buying or selling : 

"The buying or selling uncustomed 
goods : 

" The giving or taking things on usury, 
viz., unlawful interest : 

" Uncharitable or unprofitable conversa- 
tion ; particularly, speaking evil of magis- 
trates or of ministers : 

" Doing to others as we would not they 
should do unto us : 

"Doing what we know is not for the 
glory of God, as, 

"The putting on of gold and costly 
apparel ; 

" The taking such diversions as cannot 
be used in the name of the Lord Jesus ; 

" The singing those songs, or reading 
those books, which do not tend to the 
knowledge or love of God : 

" Softness, and needless self-indulgence : 

" Laying up treasure upon earth : 

"Borrowing without a probability of 



152 



HISTORY OF WESLBYAN METHODISM. 



paying ; or taking up goods without a pro- 
bability of paying for them. 

" 5. It is expected of all who continue 
in these societies, that they should continue 
to evidence their desire of salvation, 

" Secondly, By doing good, by being in 
every kind merciful after their power, as 
they have opportunity; doing good of 
every possible sort, and as far as is possible 
to all men : 

" To their bodies, of the ability that 
God giveth, by giving food to the hungry, 
by clothing the naked, by helping or visit- 
ing them that are sick, or in prison : 

" To their souls, by instructing, reprov- 
ing, or exhorting all we have any inter- 
course with ; trampling under foot that 
enthusiastic doctrine of devils, that ' we 
are not to do good, unless our hearts be 
free to it/ 

" By doing good, especially to them that 
are of the household of faith, or groaning 
so to be; employing them preferably to 
others, buying one of another, helping 
each other in business ; and so much the 
more, because the world will love its own, 
and them only. 

" By all possible diligence and frugality, 
that the Gospel be not blamed. 

" By running with patience the race that 
is set before them, denying themselves, 
and taking up their cross daily; submit- 
ting to bear the reproach of Christ; to be 
as the filth and offscouring of the world; 
and-looking that men should say all manner 
of evil of them falsely, for the Lord's sake. 

u 6. It is expected of all who desire to 
continue in these societies, that they should 
continue to evidence their desire of salva- 
tion. 

" Thirdly, By attending upon all the or- 
dinances of God : such are 

" The public worship of God ; 

" The ministry of the word, either read 
or expounded ; 

"The supper of the Lord; 

" Family and private prayer 

" Searching the Scriptures ; and 

" Fasting or abstinence. 

"7. These are the general rules of our 
societies : all which we are taught of God 
to observe, even in His written Word, — 
the only rule, and the sufficient rule, both 
of our faith and practice. And all these 
we know His Spirit writes on every truly 
awakened heart. If there be any among 



us who observe them not, who habitually 
break any of them, let it be made known 
unto them who watch over that soul, as 
they that must give an account. We will 
admonish him of the error of his ways : 
we will bear with him for a season. But 
then, if he repent not, he hath no more 
place among us. We have delivered our 
own souls. 

" John Wesley, 
" Charles Wesley. 

"May 1, 1743." 

Henceforth the " Society" received large I 
and almost continual additions; but any 
historical notices of its progress, to be ad- 
mitted here, must be of the briefest kind. 
In September, 1741, it appears there were 
" about a thousand members" in London. 
About the same time, John Nelson (of 
whom Southey declares, that he had as 
brave a heart as ever beat in any English- 
man) was calling on sinners to repentance, 
with remarkable success, in the West 
Riding of Yorkshire. Thither Mr. Wesley 
went, on Nelson's repeated invitations; 
and he was drawn further north by a de- 
sire, which he had long warmly cherished, 
to visit the poor colliers on the banks of 
the Tyne. He preached again and again 
in the poorest and lowest part of New- 
castle ; and there, as he himself testifies, 
" it pleased God so to bless His Word, 
that above eight hundred persons were now 
joined together in His name; besides 
many, both in the towns, villages, and lone 
houses, within ten or twelve miles of the 
town." Societies were formed also in 
many other parts of England, extending 
to Cornwall, where, indeed, one or two 
little companies had been for some time 
meeting on Dr. Woodward's plan. The 
influence and historical importance of Me- 
thodism in Cornwall may justify the inser- 
tion of Mr. Wesley's notices respecting its 
introduction in the west of that county : — 
"It pleased God, the seed which was then 
sown has since produced an abundant 
harvest. Indeed, I hardly know any part 
of the three kingdoms, where there has 
been a more general change. Hurling, 
their favourite diversion, at which limbs 
were usually broken, and very frequently 
lives lost, is now hardly heard of: It 
seems, in a few years it will be utterly 
forgotten. And that scandal of humanity, 
so constantly practised on all the coasts of 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



153 



Cornwall — the plundering vessels that 
struck upon the rocks, and often murdering 
those that escaped out of the wreck — is 
now well-nigh at an end ; and if it is not 
quite, the 'gentlemen/ not the poor tinners, 
are to be blamed. But it is not harmless- 
ness or outward decency alone which has 
within a few years so increased; but the 
religion of the heart, faith working by 
love, producing all inward as well as out- 
ward holiness." 

Meanwhile, the same work spread in the 
English army abroad. From Ghent Mr. 
Wesley received, in the latter end of 1774, 
an encouraging report to this effect; the 
writer (who afterwards fell at Fontenoy) 
beginning thus : — " We make bold to 
trouble you with this, to acquaint you with 
some of the Lord's dealings with us here. 
We have hired two rooms; one small, 
wherein a few of us meet every day ; and 
another large one, wherein we meet for 
public service twice a-day, at nine and at 
four. And the hand of the omnipotent 
God is with us, to the pulling down of the 
strongholds of Satan." Other communi- 
cations followed. Great excitement was 
still attending Mr. Wesley's course in Great 
Britain and Ireland ; the religious services 
he held at five in the morning, as well as 
at more indulgent hours, being daily 
crowded. But, the detail being left for 
those who will refer to the " Journal," and 
other acknowledged writings of the Me- 
thodist body, it must suffice to observe, in 
genera], that this modern evangelist seems 
from the beginning to have been moved by 
the charity which seeks that which is lost, 
and to have adopted a maxim which, having 
taken the form of a permanent rule, still 
directs his sons and successors to " go not 
only to those that want them, but to those 
that want them most." About once in two 
years he travelled through Great Britain 
and Ireland. In 1781, we find him refer- 
ring to " a hundred and thirty" of his 
" fellow-labourers," and adding the sub- 
joined observations : " We all aim at one 
point, (as we did from the hour when we 
first engaged in the work,) — not at profit, 
any more than at ease, or pleasure, or the 
praise of men ; but to spread true religion 
through London, Dublin, Edinburgh, and, 
as we are able, through the three king- 
doms; that truly rational religion which is 
taught and prescribed in the Old and New 



20 



Testament; namely, the love of God and 
our j neighbour, filling the heart with 
humility, meekness, contentedness ; and 
teaching us, on the one hand, whatever we 
do, to do it all to the glory. of God; and, 
on the other, to do unto every man what 
we would he should do unto us. This is 
our point. We leave every man to enjoy 
his own opinion, and to use his own mode 
of worship ; desiring only that the love of 
God and his neighbour be the ruling prin- 
ciple in his heart, and show itself in his 
life by a uniform practice of justice, mercy, 
and truth. And, accordingly, we give the 
right hand of fellowship to every lover of 
God and man, whatever his opinion or 
mode of worship be, of which he is to give 
an account to God only. This is the way 
(called heresy by Dr. Maclaine* and others) 
according to which we worship the God of 
our fathers ; and we have known some 
thousands who walked therein till their 
spirits returned to God. Some thousands, 
likewise, we now know, who are walking 
in the same path of love, and studying to 
have a conscience void of offence towards 
God and towards man. All these, as they 
' fear God/ so they 'honour the king/ who 
'is the minister of God unto them for 
good/ They ' submit themselves to every 
ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. 7 
Meantime they expect that men should say 
all manner of evil against them, for their 
Master's sake. But they have counted the 
cost, and are willing to be as ' the filth' and 
' offscouring' of the world. Yea, they have 
many times shown that they ' counted not 
their lives dear' unto themselves, so .they 
might 'finish their course with joy, and 
testify the Gospel of the grace of God.' " 
— At the time of Mr. Wesley's death, 
(March, 1791,) the Societies in connexion 
with him in Europe, the States of America, 
and the West Indies, amounted to 80,000 
members. 

Evidence is already before the reader, 
that the leaders in early Methodism did not 
aim at commencing a secession from the 
Church established within these realms; 
but at promoting, within its borders, a re- 
vival of earnest Christianity. The influ- 
ence of strong clerical prejudices in favour 
of that elder communion, may be distinctly 
traced in the records of this movement; 



* Translator of Mosheim. 



154 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



and the advocates of Methodism have not 
failed to point to this, in vindicating the 
position which, as a seceding body, they 
have slowly but firmly taken. They are 
wont to reason thus : — " The early Metho- 
dists did not aim at setting up a new sect ; 
they were strongly attached to the Estab- 
lishment; and it was only when smitten 
with dread of l fighting against God/ that 
they tolerated any departure from that fel- 
lowship. They stand, therefore, before all 
men, clear of that causeless, or presumptu- 
ous, or hostile separation from an existing 
church, which involves the guilt of schism. 
It is needless to say, that we have no sym- 
pathy with those who — losing the sub- 
stance in the shadow — expound the unity 
of Christ's disciples in any sense approach- 
ing the Romanist dogma. Yet, let it be 
conceded, the visible unity is not to be 
lightly broken. In this one aspect, we 
confess to a certain satisfaction in tracing 
Mr. Wesley's strong preferences. Many 
will call to mind what he writes under date 
of March 31st, 1739 : ' In the evening I 
reached Bristol, and met Mr. Whitefield 
there. I could scarce reconcile myself at 
first to this strange way of preaching in the 
fields, of which he set me an example on 
Sunday; having been all my life, till very 
lately, so tenacious of every point relating 
to decency and order, that I should have 
thought the saving of souls almost a sin if 
it had not been done in a church.' Mind- 
less of the practice of the Apostles, or 
fancying it unsuitable to his da} T , he had 
held his prejudices up to that time invio- 
late; but then, to use his own words, he 
' submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed 
in the highways the glad tidings of salva- 
tion, speaking from a little eminence in a 
ground adjoining the city, to about three 
thousand people.' The scruples with which 
he subsequently drew back from the 'ir- 
regularity' of lay-preaching, in the first 
instance of Thomas Maxfield, are also in 
point. And, once again (to quote a sen- 
tence from a living author), * these preachers 
held themselves wholly clear of the fatal 
error of making it a preliminary to their 
own ministrations to assail, and to endea- 
vour to overthrow, the ecclesiastical system 
under which the people of England had 
lapsed into heathenism, or a state scarcely 
to be distinguished from it.' 

" There are writers, quite innocent of 



our argument, who bring proof that any 
man, willing to found a new system on the 
failures and abuses of an old one, could 
hardly have had a more tempting opportu- 
nity. But the leader of the second He- 
formation called on his audiences, not to 
condemn the Church, or any other com- 
munion, — (his references to the Noncon- 
forming bodies are few and gentle,) but to 
examine themselves. When the cavils of 
opposers, or the duty of asserting truth 
and liberty, required him to allude to 
prevalent darkness and irreligion, he gloried 
not in the exposure ; but (if we may bor- 
row a comparison from Burke) approached 
the faults of the Church 'as the wounds 
of a father, with pious awe and trembling 
solicitude.' 

"Yet, we must ever believe that One 
infinitely greater than the human founder 
had other designs as to the rising cause. 
Few thoughtful readers of Mr. Wesley's 
Journal will fail to see that, though all un- 
consciously, he was laying the basis on 
which new churches were to rise. The 
inconsistency, which may appear on the 
surface, yields to a deeper consistency."* 

The case was this : — The effect produced 
by the exertions of the two brothers and 
their friends in various parts of the king- 
dom, and these frequently the rudest and 
most populous, rendered it needful to call 
out preachers to their assistance ; and the 
more so because the clergy generally op- 
posed, rather than encouraged, the new and 
active measures for a national reformation. 
These preachers were not the nurslings of 
science, but a race "of rougher front;" 
generally most reluctant to take so public 
a part, but qualified for the occasion by 
hardy simplicity and energy. The message 
they proclaimed was not unfrequently an 
earnest recital of their own conversion and 
experience. By " the foolish things of the 
world" God again deigned to "confound" 
some of "the wise." The employment 
of this class of auxiliaries led to an annual 
meeting of ministers, known as " the Con- 
ference." Of these assemblies, the first 
was held in 1744, when Mr. Wesley met 
his brother, two or three other clergymen, 
and a few of " the preachers," whom he 
had summoned from various parts, for the 
sake of conversing with them on the affairs 



* Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, April, 1852. 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



155 



of the Societies. " Monday, June 25," he 
says, a and the five following days, we spent 
in conference with our preachers, seriously 
considering by what means we might the 
most effectually save our own souls, and 
them that heard us ; and the result of our 
consultations we set down to be the rule 
of our future practice." Since that time a 
conference has been annually held : Mr. 
Wesley lived to preside at forty-seven. 
Subjects of deliberation were proposed in 
the form of questions, which were amply 
discussed; and the questions, with the an- 
swers agreed upon, were subsequently 
printed under the title of " Minutes of 
several Conversations between the Rev. 
Mr. Wesley and others," commonly called 
Minutes of Conference. 

As the kingdom had been divided into 
" circuits," to each of which several 
preachers were sent for one or two years, a 
part of the work of each annual assembly 
was to arrange these appointments and 
changes. At the early Conferences various 
subjects of theology were argued, with 
reference to the agreement of all the par- 
ties in a common standard ; and when this 
was settled, and the doctrinal discussions 
were discontinued, new regulations of an- 
other kind were from year to year adopted, 
as the state of the Societies, and the en- 
larging opportunities of doing good, seemed 
to require. The character of all who were 
fully engaged in the ministry was also an- 
nually examined; and those who had 
passed with honour the appointed term of 
probation were solemnly received into the 
body of ministers. All the preachers were 
itinerants; and, animated by the example 
of Mr. Wesley, they went through great 
labours, and endured many hardships. 

In regard to theology, this body professes 
to agree, substantially, with the faith of 
those churches which are by common con- 
sent pronounced orthodox, Protestant, and 
evangelical ; specifically, with the Articles 
of the church in which its great leaders 
were born. Hence from the beginning of 
the controversies to which this question 
gave rise, it was maintained that Methodism 
is "the old religion," "the religion of the 
Bible," " the religion of the primitive 
Church," "the religion of the Church of 
England." It may, therefore, seem need- 
less to dwell on the great catholic faith of 
the Divine Trinity in Unity — or on the 



kindred doctrines regarding the eternal Son 
of God, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds 
from the Father and the Son — or on vari- 
ous other matters of divinity, which the 
Methodists hold to be vital, and for which 
they are ready to contend with all earnest- 
ness. Whatever of a doctrinal kind is 
contained in the " Three Creeds," (see 
Article viii.,) they heartily subscribe. Some 
of them might, indeed, hesitate to affirm 
those Athanasian clauses which have been 
styled "damnatory;" but by no means on 
account of any scepticism as to the Trini- 
tarian teaching which pervades that con- 
fession. " That we worship one God in 
Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither con- 
founding the Persons nor dividing the 
Substance," is the tenet of this body, — 
which thus claims to be equidistant from 
Sabellianism and from Tritheism. 

The Articles of the English Church, 
like the liturgical and other formularies 
with which they are connected, were framed 
on a basis of comprehension ; and the Me- 
thodists accept them in the Arminian sense. 
The seventeenth Article they collate with 
certain expressions in the first sentence of 
the thirty-first; and with others which 
occur in strictly devotional parts of the 
Prayer-book. Thus they humbly and 
gratefully acknowledge, in the words of the 
inestimable office for the Communion, that 
our heavenly Father of His tender mercy 
gave His " only Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer 
death upon the cross for our redemption ; 
who made there (by His one oblation of 
Himself once offered) a full, perfect, and 
sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, 
for the sins of the whole world/' And, 
referring to infinitely higher authority, they 
plead that a conditional election plainly 
harmonizes with scriptures which assert a 
ransom for all, while (in their judgment, at 
least) those scriptures cannot be made to 
accord with the notion of limiting and irre- 
versible decrees. It appears to them, in 
brief, that the same terms are used by in- 
spiration to describe the extent of human 
sin, and the extent of the Saviour's gra- 
cious purpose ; and they ask in vain for a 
single text which intimates that Jesus died 
for a part only of Adam's race. Many of 
their opponents are found, indeed, admit- 
ting, or seeming to admit, in their best 
practical writings, the main point in debate; 
and it is but due to add, on the other hand, 



156 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



that the Wesley an Methodists set forth the 
doctrine of universal atonement, and the 
allied views of human freedom and respon- 
sibility, as one part of a theological system 
which ascribes the undivided glory of our 
salvation to grace. Maintaining the total 
fall of man in Adam, and his utter ina- 
bility to recover himself, or to take one 
step towards his recovery, " without the 
grace of God preventing him, that he may 
have a good will, and working with him 
when he has that good will;" they teach, 
nevertheless, that this grace is free, in the 
sense of extending itself freely, in its pro- 
visional dispensation, to all. 

Their preachers and theologians have 
, given prominence to that which bears di- 
rectly on A PERSONAL interest in the 
blessings purchased by the blood of the 
cross. All our salvation (they declare) is 
of God, through Christ : The mode of re- 
ceiving this unspeakable gift is an humble, 
penitential, self-renouncing faith, or trust, 
in the atonement made for sinners by the 
incarnate Son of God : That faith itself, in 
its grace and power, is a Divine gift ; while 
yet man is responsible for the act of be- 
lieving. This point being gained, Me- 
thodism holds that it is the common privi- 
lege of believers to be assured of accept- 
ance with God, and adoption into His 
family, implying the free and full remission 
of sins. This assurance, wrought by the 
Holy Spirit, who " beareth witness with 
our spirits that we are the children of 
God," (Rom. viii. 16.,) at once produces 
love to our adorable Benefactor. This love 
is the great element of the new nature ; 
and thus pardon and regeneration go to- 
gether. 

Not now to enter on minute discrimina- 
tion of the terms," pardon" and "justifi- 
cation," the Methodists take them as im- 
porting, in substance, the same blessing. 
In regard to a doctrine which Wesley, no 
less than Luther, held to be cardinal, — 
articulus stantis vel cadentis ecclesise, — 
take his own words : — " Justification some- 
times means our acquittal at the last day ; 
Matt. xii. 37 : but this is altogether out 
of the present question; for that justifica- 
tion whereof our Articles and Homilies 
speak signifies present' forgiveness, pardon 
of sins, and consequently acceptance with 
God, who therein declares His righteous- 
ness, or justice, and mercy, by or for the 



remission of sins that are past, (Rom. iii- 
25,) saying, * I will be merciful to thy un- 
righteousness, and thine iniquities I will 
remember no more.' I believe the condi- 
tion of this is faith : (Rom. iv. 5, et sea. :) 
I mean, not only that without faith we 
cannot be justified; but also, that as soon 
as any one has true faith, in that moment 
he is justified. Faith, in general, is a 
divine supernatural evidence or conviction 
of things not seen, not discoverable by our 
bodily senses, as being either past, future, 
or spiritual. Justifying faith implies not 
only a divine evidence, or conviction, that 
1 God was in Christ reconciling the world 
unto Himself/ but a full reliance on the 
merits of His [Christ's] death; a sure 
confidence that Christ died for my sins, — 
that He loved me and gave Himself for 
me : and the moment a penitent sinner be- 
lieves this, God pardons and absolves him." 
This faith, Mr. Wesley affirms, "is the 
gift of God. No man is able to work it 
in himself. It is a work of omnipotence. 
It requires no less power thus to quicken a 
dead soul, than to raise a body that lies in 
the grave. It is a new creation ; and none 
can create a soul anew but He who at first 
created the heavens and the earth. It is 
the free gift of God, which he bestows not 
on those who are worthy of his favour, not 
on such as are previously holy, and so fit 
to be crowned with all the blessings of His 
goodness; but on the ungodly and unholy, 
on those who till that hour were fit only 
for everlasting destruction ; those in whom 
is no good thing, and whose only plea was, 
' God be merciful to me a sinuer V No 
merit, no goodness in man, precedes the 
forgiving love of God. His pardoning 
mercy supposes nothing in us but a sense 
of mere sin and misery ; and to all who 
see and feel and own their wants, and their 
utter inability to remove them, God freely 
gives faith, for the sake of Him in whom 
He is always well pleased. Good works 
follow this faith, (Luke vi. 43,) but cannot 
go before it; much less can sanctification, 
which implies a continued course of good 
works, springing from holiness of heart." 
As to repentance, he insisted that it is con- 
viction of sin ; and that repentance, and 
works meet for repentance, go before justi- 
fying faith : but he held, with the Church 
of England, that all works before justifi- 
cation "have the nature of sin;" and that, 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



157 



as they have no root in the love of God, 
which can arise only from a persuasion of 
His being reconciled to us, they cannot 
constitute a moral worthiness preparatory 
to pardon. That true repentance springs 
from the grace of God. is most certain; 
but, whatever fruits it may bring forth, it 
changes not man's relation to God. He is 
a sinner, and is justified as such: "it is 
not a saint, but a sinner, that is forgiven, 
and under the notion of a sinner." God 
justifies the ungodly, not the godly. Re- 
pentance, according to Mr. Wesley's state- 
ment, is necessary to true faith ; but faith 
alone is the direct and immediate instru- 
ment of pardon. 

That comfortable persuasion of God's 
favour, resulting from the witness of the 
Holy Spirit, for which the Methodists con- 
tend, they distinguish from an assurance 
of final salvation. It is, simply, a persua- 
sion of present pardon and acceptance. 
How, they ask, shall a sinner know that 
he is justified ? And to them it seems 
plain that nothing less than the testimony 
of the Most High can suffice. Without 
this, say they, we cannot love God, and 
therefore cannot yield those fruits of righte- 
ousness which indicate a state of grace and 
safety. The induction thus supposes the 
antecedent "witness," as truly as lunar 
beams give evidence of the power and 
brightness of the sun. Where the attest- 
ing Spirit dwells, He produces the graces 
which are enumerated in Holy Scripture; 
and thus arises what has been called (per- 
haps not very accurately) a " second wit- 
ness," to ratify and confirm to us the first. 
Accordingly we read, in the standards of 
Methodist theology, — " How am I assured 
that I do not mistake the voice of the 
Spirit? Even by the testimony of my 
own spirit, by ' the answer of a good con- 
science toward God.' Hereby you shall 
know that you are in no delusion, that you 
have not deceived your own soul. The 
immediate fruits of the Spirit ruling in the 
heart are love, joy, peace, bowels of mer- 
cies, humbleness of mind, meekness, gen- 
tleness, long-suffering. And the outward 
fruits are, the doing good to all men, and 
a uniform obedience to all the commands 
of God." 

Comparing many texts of Holy Scrip- 
ture which are addressed to those who are 
" in Christ," — and of which the burden is, 



to urge each to "cleanse" themselves 
" from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God," — 
the Methodists infer that in this life the 
Christian man may be "sanctified wholly;" 
and that his "whole spirit and soul and 
body" may " be preserved blameless unto 
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." It 
is probable that the views put forth in 
reference to this one subject, more than 
anything else in their creed, have drawn 
down upon them the severe animadversion 
of fellow-Christians beyond their pale. Let 
us listen then, the rather, to their own ex- 
position of a vexed question: — "Neither 
we nor our fathers," they protest, "have 
ever represented this privilege as excluding 
infirmity, or temptation, or error, or the 
danger of falling, or the obligation of con- 
tinual advancement in grace. What we 
plead for is a perfection in love — the ripe- 
ness of Christian virtues — full consecration 
to God — a heart cleansed from sin, renewed 
in the image of Christ." And they go on 
to say that this is the gift of free and 
boundless grace ; that it implies a ceaseless 
dependence on Christ, magnifies His power, 
and humbles man in the dust. In their 
apprehension, the question is, whether the 
great Restorer is able and willing now to 
renew a fallen human being? They ob- 
serve that among excellent writers and 
Christians who dissent from their own con- 
clusion, there are many who urge, never- 
theless, that purity of heart is to be con- 
tinually sought, though they do not believe 
that it can be found before the hour of 
death. Further, they do not regard them- 
selves by any means as alone in defending 
the entire doctrine. It is their custom to 
appeal to a host of divines, ancient and 
modern, whose recorded sentiments they 
allege to be in substantial agreement with 
their own. This is the case also in their 
pleadings for the Witness of the Spirit. 
At the same time they are distinguished 
from the Calvinistic schools, as in other 
points of the quinquarticular controversy, 
so by allowing that it is fearfully possible 
to fall from a state of grace, and even to 
perish at last after having " tasted of the 
heavenly gift," and having been "made 
partakers of the Holy Ghost," 

That maturity in grace — that participa- 
tion of the Divine nature — which excludes 
sin from the heart, and fills it with perfect 



158 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



love to God and man, the Methodists have 
often denominated by terms which have 
been keenly censured. The reply they 
give is, that this very phraseology is copied 
from " the true sayings of God." As to 
the sense they assign to that expression 
which has fallen under most frequent criti- 
cism, let Mr. Wesley speak : — " Christian 
perfection does not imply an exemption 
from ignorance or mistake, infirmities or 
temptations; but it implies the being so 
crucified with Christ, as to be able to tes- 
tify, 1 1 live not, but Christ liveth in me.' " 
Again : " To explain myself a little farther 
on this head : 1. Not only sin, properly so 
called, that is, a voluntary transgression 
of a known law, — but sin, improperly so 
called, that is, an involuntary transgression 
of a divine law, known or unknown, — needs 
the atoning blood. 2. I believe there is 
no such perfection in this life as excludes 
these involuntary transgressions, which I 
apprehend to be naturally consequent on 
the ignorance and mistakes inseparable 
from mortality. 3. Therefore, 'sinless 
perfection is a phrase I never use, lest I 
should seem to contradict myself. 4. I 
believe a person filled with the love of God 
is still liable to these involuntary trans- 
gressions. 5. Such transgressions you 
may call sins, if you please : I do not, for 
the reasons above mentioned." 

It has been remarked, that the Metho- 
dist divines and apologists have commonly 
allowed the metaphysical argument to go 
by. They rest, doubtless, in the simple 
tenet, that the liberty of human actions is 
essential to a true responsibility. This 
proposition they find affirmed by the suf- 
frages of most men, and by the practice of 
all. But, it has been said, the intellect de- 
cides against them, though the favouring 
sentiment of the human race is their 
stronghold. On their part it is rejoined, 
that there must be a fallacy in arraying 

| one of these powers against the other ; that 
to claim the intellect on the side of " ne- 

I cessity" involves an assumption which will 
be strongly contested, — namely, that mo- 
tives compel the will ; and, above all, that 
Revelation (which comes from Him who 
has impressed on the mind of humanity 
certain ineffaceable characters, and awaken- 
ed a universal conscience) speaks to the 
masses of our race, and is therefore un- 
likely to need an elaborate, or scholastic, 



or " metaphysical" expounding of its first 
principles. — The term " Arminian" having 
occurred in a foregoing paragraph, it ought 
to be stated, that, while the Theological 
Professor of Leyden* stands in high esti- 
mation with the body of Methodists, they 
do not place any of his writings among 
their standards. This rank is assigned 
only to fifty-three of Mr. Wesley's Dis- 
courses, and to his Notes upon the New 
Testament. From these, therefore, the 
denominational creed is to be candidly and 
intelligently collected. The " Theological 
Institutes" of a later authorf have also at- 
tained high and commanding influence in 
the body ; and, far beyond its limits, this 
work has been hailed as exhibiting the 
evidences, doctrines, morals*, and institu- 
tions of Christianity, in a form suited to 
the use of young ministers, and divinity- 
students ; and as supplying — what its very 
able author intended — "the desideratum 
of a body of Divinity adapted to the 
present state of theological literature; 
neither Calvinistic on the one hand, nor 
Pelagian on the other."! 

H The communion of saints," it is almost 
superfluous to say, is one of the articles of 
the Methodist belief. But in their arrange- 
ments for carrying this into effect, some of 
the chief characteristics of this people may 
be found. The class-meeting was unpre- 
meditated. As we have already seen, a 
few persons, awakened and anxiously in- 
quiring, besought Mr. Wesley's counsel 
and prayer. The number increased; and 
for economy of time, as well as for mutual 
benefit of the applicants, they were told to 
come at one appointed hour. It was an 
after-thought that some practice of the like 
kind may have existed among Christians 
of old, and that several Scriptural allusions 
make this opinion not improbable. At 
least, they who incline to it have asked, 
how can we so readily " exhort and edify 
one another?" or "bear one another's bur- 
dens, and so fulfil the law of Christ?" or 
"rejoice with them that clo rejoice, and 
weep with them that weep ?" The feature 
which distinguishes these classes, and some 
other kindred but larger meetings for fel- 



* See article in this Cyclopaedia, Arminius. 
t Richard Watson. 

X Advertisement to " Theological Institutes," 
a.d. 1823. 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



159 



lowship, is, the free and simple communi- 
cation of religious experience; opportunity 
being thus gained for kindlj^ familiar, and 
personal instruction. It is easier to treat 
this matter with scorn, than to reply to 
those great practical divines who admonish 
us, in writings which date long before Me- 
thodism, that reserve and silence on the 
subject of spiritual exercises are often most 
prejudicial; that many of Satau's devices 
gain strength by concealment ; and that no 
small advantage is connected with hearing 
and telling of God's dealings with the soul. 
A "watchnight" is observed in the prin- 
cipal Methodist Chapels, on the eve of the 
new year ; and the religious engagements, 
which are of the most solemn kind, are 
then continued till midnight. These ser- 
vices are attended by many myriads ; and 
of late they have been more or less closely 
imitated by Christians of other names, 
both in the Establishment and -out of it. 
At an earlier date it was necessary to vin- 
dicate them against the strangest misrepre- 
sentations. On the great point, Mr. Wesley 
speaks thus to an Irish clergyman : — '.' You 
charge me with holding c midnight assem- 
blies.' Sir, did you never see the word 
Vigil in your Common-Prayer-Book ? Do 
you know what it means ? If not, permit 
me to tell you that it was customary with 
the ancient Christians to spend whole 
nights in prayer, and that these nights 
were termed VigiHse, or Vigils. There- 
fore, for spending a part of some nights in 
this manner, in public and solemn prayer, 
we have not only the authority of our own 
National Church, but of the universal 
Church, in the earliest ages." The " Co- 
venant Service/ ' which is now held in the 
beginning of each year, may be sufficiently 
illustrated by one quotation from Mr. 
Wesley : — " August 6, 1755. I mentioned 
to our congregation in London a means of 
increasing serious religion, which had been 
frequently practised by our forefathers, — 
the joining in a covenant to serve God 
with all our heart and with all our soul. 
I explained this for several mornings fol- 
lowing; and, on Friday, many of us kept 
a fast unto the Lord ; beseeching Him to 
give us wisdom and strength, that we 
might ' promise unto the Lord our God and 
keep it.' On Monday, at six in the even- 
ing, we met for that purpose at the French 
Church in Spitalfields. After I had recited 



the tenor of the covenant proposed, in the 
words of that blessed man, Richard Al- 
leine, all the people stood up, in token of 
assent, to the number of about eighteen 
hundred,* Such a night I scarce ever 
knew before. Surely the fruit of it shall 
remain for ever." 

The rules of the Methodist Societies are 
already before the reader; but, in order to 
give a general view of their ecclesiastical 
economy, it must be remarked that a 
number of these "Societies" together form 
what is called a (e circuit." This generally 
includes a considerable market-town, and 
the circumjacent villages to the extent of 
ten or fifteen miles. To one circuit two, 
three, or four ministers are appointed, one 
of whom is styled the " superintendent;" 
and this is the sphere of their labour for at 
least one year, or not more than three 
years. Once a quarter the ministers visit 
all the classes, in order to speak personally 
to every member. All who have main- 
tained a consistent walk during the preced- 
ing three months, then receive a ticket. 
These tickets resemble in some respects the 
symbols or tesserse of the ancients, and 
serve in place of the commendatory letters 
of which St. Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 
iii. One of their main uses is to prevent 
imposture. After the visitation of the 
classes, a circuit meeting is held, which 
consists of ministers, stewards, leaders of 
classes, lay preachers, &c. The stewards 
then deliver their collections to a circuit- 
steward, and every thing relating to the 
financial support of the ministry is thus 
publicly settled. This business is con- 
ducted simply on the principle of supplying 
the wants of those who are "separated 
unto the Gospel of God," that they may 
give an undistracted attention to their holy 
function. Accordingly, the Methodist min- 
istry enriches no man. Candidates for the 
sacred office are proposed at the Quarterly 
Meeting, just described : the presiding 
minister nominates them, and it rests with 
the members to approve or negative the 
nomination. A similar balance of power 
is maintained in the Leaders' Meeting, in 
regard to various affairs of the particular 
society to which it belongs. Many of 
these meetings are attended by one minister 



* It is not the uniform practice to stand up on 
this solemn occasion. 



160 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



only, or, at the most, by two or three; 
while the lay members are very numerous. 
No leader, or other society-officer, is ap- 
pointed but with the concurrence of a 
leaders' meeting; no circuit steward, with- 
out that of the quarterly meeting. 

A number of the circuits — from ten to 
twenty, more or fewer, according to their 
extent — form a "District;'' the ministers 
of which meet, at least, annually. Every 
District has a " chairman" or president. 
These assemblies have authority, 1. To 
examine candidates for the ministry, and 
probationers; also, to try and suspend 
ministers who are found immoral, erroneous 
in doctrine, unfaithful to their ordination- 
vows regarding the maintenance of order 
and discipline, or deficient in ability for the 
work they have undertaken. 2. To de- 
cide preliminary questions concerning the 
building of chapels. 3. To review the 
demands from the less wealthy circuits, 
which draw upon the public funds of the 
Connexion, for aid in supporting their min- 
isters. 4. To elect a Representative, who 
is thus made a member of a committee ap- 
pointed to sit previously to the meeting of 
the Conference, in order to prepare a 
draught of the stations of all the ministers 
for the ensuing year ; regard being had to 
the wishes of the people, in the allocation 
of individual pastors. The judgment of 
this "stationing committee" is conclusive 
until Conference, to which an appeal is 
allowed in all cases, either from ministers 
or people. — Before leaving the " District 
Meeting," which is in fact a committee of 
the Conference, it may be well to add a 
single remark : — Circuit stewards and other 
lay gentlemen attend all its sittings for 
financial and public business, taking part 
equally with ministers in all that affects 
the general welfare of the body. 

Strictly speaking, the Conference consists 
of one hundred ministers, mostly seniors, 
who have been introduced according to ar- 
rangements prescribed in a Deed of Decla- 
ration, executed by Mr. Wesley, and en- 
rolled in chancery. But the Representa- 
tives just named, and all the ministers 
allowed by the district committees to attend, 
(who may or may not be members of the 
legal conference,) sit and vote usually as 
M one body; the "one hundred" confirming 
u their decisions. In this clerical assembly, 
1 1 every minister's character undergoes re- 



newed and strict scrutiny; and, if any 
charge be proved against him, he is dealt 
with accordingly. The proceedings of the 
subordinate meetings are here finally re- 
viewed, and the- state of Methodism at 
large is considered. Candidates for the 
ministry are publicly and privately exam- 
ined, and their ordination takes place 
during the second week of session.* 

A question has been raised, whether the 
Methodists can be regarded as a Church, 
or a Connexion of Churches? No reader 
of the preceding pages can fail to mark the 
almost constant use, in their earlier annals 
and documents, of a different phraseology. 
They long called themselves " Societies," 
and "United Societies;" and it was not 
until stirring events had concurred to im- 
pose on a reluctant body of preachers the 
duty of administering the sacraments of 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper, that any 
of them thought of taking a higher eccle- 
siastical name. It is steadfastly believed, 
moreover, to this day, that the vocation of 
Methodism is far more extensive than are 
the limits which enclose its own particular 
domain ; though within these, naturally 
enough, its care is now first bestowed, and 
I too often absorbed. The question returns 
! — What is a Church ? and there is no un- 
! willingness to take the definition supplied 
j in the nineteenth Article, with a very little 
amplifying: "A congregation of faithful 
men, in the which the pure word of God is 
| preached, and the sacraments be duly ad- 
| ministered, according to Christ's ordi- 
nance ;" — these terms being understood to 
imply an order of men set apart for the 
service of the sanctuary, and also such ar- 
rangements as are needful for Christian 
fellowship. Here, then, is the rule. But, 
glancing at the history of the past, and at 
their present position, the Methodists say 
to any frank inquirer — Pause, before you 
insist on a complete agreement with the 
rule in every case : think whither this will 
carry you. In many of the congregations 
gathered by the Wesleys and their 
preachers, it is quite patent that " the sa- 
craments" were not "duly ministered;" 
but neither was "the pure word of God 
preached" in many other congregations. 



* Most of the statements in the three para- 
graphs foregoing are taken from the Rev. Richard 
Watson's " Biblical and Theological Dictionary." 



Both cases fail of normal perfection ; but 
is it necessary therefore to deny them a 
church-existence ? And if so, may not an 
equal award be demanded ? It is certain 
that multitudes, whose holy living and tri- 
umphant dying none can dispute, were at- 
tached to no ecclesiastical fold on earth, 
but that into which the great Shepherd 
and Bishop of souls had mercifully ga- 
thered them by means of Methodism : but 
is not that an iron logic which would there- 
fore exclude them from all church-mem- 
bership ? The distinction between a " So- 
ciety" and a " Church" seems, in truth, to 
have been pushed to an illusory and peril- 
ous extreme. — So much for the past. As 
to the present, it is strongly affirmed that 
these " Societies" entirely comply with the 
definition in Article xix. " Those among 
us," say their responsible advocates, in a 
document already cited, " Those among us 
who dispense Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper have been set apart to the pastoral 
work. With us, as with other churches, 
ministers formally confer this appointment, 
— in solemn testimony of believing the 
candidate to have received a divine call. 
The imposition of hands (though a most 
impressive and beautiful form, hallowed by 
primitive example, and latterly adopted 
among ourselves,) is regarded but in the 
light of a circumstance ; so that neither 
was the earlier ordination less valid, nor is 
the later more valid, on this account." 

There have been various secessions from 
the parent Methodism. Nearly all of these 
bear the same general feature. Mr. Wesley 
was inevitably led to take the direction of 
the " Societies" that arose under his care ; 
and their spiritual supervision he be- 
queathed to the Conference. This is the 
only church-meeting, recognised by Metho- 
dism, in which ministers sit alone ; a main 
reason for the non-admission of laymen 
being, that the personal character and pro- 
ceedings of every minister, and of every 
preacher on trial for ordination, are here 
faithfully and searchingly reviewed. Alter 
the constitution of that court, it is argued, 
and the guards of discipline are weakened. 
The presence of any parties who do not 
submit to the like ordeal would tend, in 
the nature of things, to lower the standard 
of examination. Yet this entire arrange- 
ment has been made matter of complaint, 
if not among the masses of the people, 



21 



yet on the part of not a few official lay- 
men. 

Now, just premising that, when new 
sects took the name of Methodist, the ori- 
ginal body became distinguished by the 
prefix Wesleyan, — though not by any 
choice of its own, — let us inquire, a little 
more exactly, what gave rise to these se- 
cessions. It may be sufficient to note down 
two or three particulars : — 

1. A respectful affection (cherished not- 
withstanding many discouragements, and 
some provocations to the contrary,) for the 
Church of England; which the old Me- 
thodists show by abstaining from assaults 
on that Establishment, (as, indeed, it is 
their acknowledged maxim to be " the 
friends of all, the enemies of none,") — and 
also by the use of the English liturgy ; the 
Morning Service being read in many of 
their chapels, and the Sacramental Offices 
being required in all. In regard to the 
abstract question of church and state con- 
nexion, the opinions of the body are, no 
doubt, divided ; but the Conference, which 
may be allowed to represent the judgment 
of the great and influential majority, has 
always taken the ground occupied once by 
illustrious fathers of nonconformity, and 
latterly by the Free Church of Scotland. 

2. An attachment to certain points of 
order and decorum, held by the Wesleyan 
Methodists to be of weight, often on their 
own account, and always as contributing to 
public reputation and influence. 

3. The responsibility, in the spiritual 
discipline of the body, assigned to its min- 
isters. The spiritual discipline, be it ob- 
served; for, of all the revenues obtained 
in Britain from pew-rents of chapels, not a 
sixpence is at the disposal of the Confe- 
rence, or of its members ; nor is there one 
connexional fund that is not confided, in 
great part, to the management of laymen. 
In matters of a purely spiritual kind, — 
e. g., the admission of church-members, 
the reproof of erring brethren, suspension 
or expulsion from communion, &c, — the 
ministers of Wesleyan Methodism are made 
to bear the main weight of duty, and to 
act the leading part. For this, they are 
of opinion, there is ample scriptural war- 
rant. To confound a due and measured 
pastoral authority with the sin of assuming 
to be "lords over God's heritage/' they 
account a mere sophism. They are con- 



162 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



vinced that ministers have a special and 
incommunicable charge. The theories 
which offer them relief from this sacred 
burden they cannot accept, inasmuch as 
these appear to rest on no higher authority 
than that of man. In regard to the most 
painful of their duties, — the excision of 
unworthy members, — they put the matter 
thus : — Law, violated and disowned, cuts 
off the transgressor; and the administration 
is left, with the guards that long experi- 
ence has suggested, in the hands of men 
who are distinctly called to " take care of 
the church of God."' (1 Tim. iii. 5.) The 
guards to which allusion is made include 
the conviction of the offender by votes of 
assembled lay-officers. As to the reserving 
of the sentence, it is pleaded that there are 
obvious and momentous reasons for this ar- 
rangement, even if the scriptural argument 
(on which they primarily rely) were ignored. 
Ministers, (say they,) while faithful to 
their trust, are of necessity inured to re- 
flection and patience. They cannot but be 
most deeply interested in carrying with 
them the approval of the church at large. 
They are the parties most likely to be free 
from local and secular bias. They are most 
naturally anxious to rescue any that are in 
error, and to restore the fallen. And, in 
the ecclesiastical system now under review, 
they are liable (far more so than any 
general corporation or meeting could be) to 
the speedy revision and correction of any 
erroneous award. 

As to legislation, they say, briefly, that 
where Christ's word is the acknowledged 
code, there can be little room for it; and 
that any minor rules, economical or other- 
wise, properly issue from that assembly in 
which alone the congregations and churches 
at large are pastorally represented ; a check 
being provided, however, in favour of the 
people, — whose rights and privileges the 
Conference has uniformly declared to be 
held as dear and sacred as the inalienable 
trusts of the ministry. Such being, on 



the whole of this question, the belief of the 
Wesleyan Methodists, (while they are quite 
willing, and even desirous, to have all meet 
checks and guards unimpaired and opera- 
tive,) they decline to have the pastoral 
responsibility transferred. For this reason, 
they have often been exhibited as main- 
taining " a hierarchy ;" but they 



satisfied themselves with the answer, that 
their ministers have sought and claimed no 
power but that of executing the weighty 
and solemn commission with which their 
Master in heaven has entrusted them. At 
the same time, Methodism has multiplied 
lay-office-bearers in the church to an unpre- 
cedented extent; and it is notorious that 
many of its censors have fixed on this as a 
part of its economy specially vulnerable. 
The abuse of such provision, it must be 
granted, has proved the occasion of succes- 
sive troubles. 

The forms adopted by the seceding 
bodies are more popular in appearance; 
but, the Wesleyan Methodists argue, not 
truly or beneficially so. And it is matter 
of contemporaneous history, that, with 
scarcely an exception, the more democratic 
parties have failed to keep up any great 
numerical importance. 

Among the marked features of modern 
church-history, few will deny that the 
spread of this cause is prominent. In 
Great Britain, it numbers nearly 300,000 
church-members; in Ireland, 20,000; in 
Foreign and Colonial Stations, more than 
100,000 ; — to which must be added nearly 
j 30,000, who are under the care of the 
| Wesleyan Conference in Canada in con- 
| nexion with the British Conference. Of 
! ministers, there are in Great Britain, 
1 1,200 ; in Ireland, 156 ; in the Foreign 
Stations, 460; and 211 in Canada. It 
may not be uninteresting to see how 
the numbers reported in the Foreign or 
Missionary department, (amounting, in 
the aggregate, to 101,338,) are distri- 
buted : — 



In Germany, France, Switzerland, and Gibraltar, 1,882 

In Continental India and Ceylon, ....„ 2,040 

In Australia, Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, Friendly Islands, and Feejee, 18,938 

In Africa, (Southern, 4284; Western 7284,) 11,568 

In the West Indies,. 49,410 

In British North America (exclusive of Domestio Missions in Western Canada, 17,500 

Increase abroad during the last twelve months, a. d. 1851 to 1852, 3,327 

On Trial for Church-membership, abroad, as far as ascertained, 5,499 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



163 



The annual income of " The Wesleyan 
Methodist Missionary Society'' has latterly 
exceeded £100,000. In its wide-spread 
fields of exertion, it occupies considerably 
more than 3,000 chapels and other preach- 
ing-rooms. Its ordained missionaries and 
assistant-missionaries, as already stated, are 
under 500 ; but other stipendiary agents — 
as Catechists, Interpreters, Day-school 
Teachers, &c. — are nearly 800 ; and those 
who labour gratuitously exceed 8,000. 
There are about 80,000 scholars in the 
Mission-Schools. Eight printing-establish- 
ments are supported. 

At home the Methodists have two theo- 
logical colleges for the training of minis- 
ters ; one situated on Richmond Hill, Sur- 
rey ; the other at Didsbury, South-Lanca- 
shire. To these may be added the edifices, 
bearing the Wesleyan name, at Sheffield 
and Taunton, — colleges of the London 
University, for more general learning : 
also, the Schools of New-Kingswood, Bath, 
and Wood-house-G-rove, near Bradford, 
Yorkshire, — in which the sons of ministers 
are educated : also, the large Normal 
Training Institution, Westminster, which 
is fitted to receive 100 students, and 1000 
children. Several academical establish- 
ments are, in like manner, sustained 
abroad; particularly in Canada, Western 
Africa, New Zealand, and the eastern de- 
pendencies of the British Empire. 

The Methodist Book-Room is situated in 
City-Road, London. Its publications, great 
and small, are issued by hundreds of thou- 
sands monthly. Considering the magni- 
tude of the body, some will think its emi- 
nent names in theological literature few. 
The explanation is, in part, that active 
exertions of another class have well nigh 
absorbed its energies \ and -preaching has 
always been considered the greatest work 
of its ministers. Yet, it may not be in- 
consistent with humility to say, a few names 
arise to illuminate the record of a people 
whose first century has but lately closed. 
The Wesleys, Fletcher, Benson, Clarke, 
Moore, Watson, Drew, Edmoudson, Sut- 
cliffe, Jackson, Treffry, Rule, Nichols, 
Smith, Etheridge, and other writers, are 
not unknown to readers of English divinity. 

In the United States of America, this 
body is styled " The Methodist Episcopal 
Church." Its rise and progress there may 
be ascertained, in a degree sufficient for our 



immediate purpose, if we avail ourselves 
of a sketch furnished some time ago, by 
Dr. Bangs of New York, for a Cyclopaedia 
like this. Such information as we gather 
from that paper, we may take the liberty 
of compressing. The main particulars are 
these : — 

" The first Methodist Society in America 
was established in the city of New York, 
in the year 1766. A few pious emigrants 
from Ireland, who, previously to their re- 
moval, had been members of the Methodist 
Society in their own country, landed in 
this city. Among their number was Mr. 
Philip Embury, a local preacher. Coming 
among strangers, and finding no pious asso- 
ciates with whom they could confer, they 
came very near making ' shipwreck of 
faith and a good conscience.' In this state 
of religious declension they were found the 
next year on the arrival of another family 
from Ireland, among whom was a pious 
1 mother in Israel,' to whose zeal in the 
cause of God, they were all indebted for 
the revival of the spirit of piety among 
them. Embury was especially roused ; and 
he preached his first sermon, 'in his own 
hired house,' to five persons only. This, 
it is believed, was the first Methodist 
sermon ever preached in America. 

"As they continued to assemble together 
for mutual edification, so their numbers 
were gradually increased, and they were 
comforted and strengthened by ( exhorting 
one another daily.' They were led to rent 
a room of larger dimensions in the neigh- 
bourhood, the expense of which was paid 
by voluntary contributions. An event 
happened soon after they began to assemble 
in this place, which brought them into 
more public notice. This was the arrival 
of Captain Webb, an officer of the British 
army, at that time stationed in Albany, in 
the State of New York. He had been 
brought to the knowledge of the truth, 
under the searching ministry of the Rev. 
John Wesley, in the city of Bristol, 
England, about the year 1765 ; and, though 
a military man, such was his thirst for the 
salvation of immortal souls, that he was 
constrained to declare unto them the 
loving-kindness of God. 

"His first appearance as a stranger 
among the < little flock' in the city of New 
York, in his military costume, gave them 
some uneasiness, as they feared that he had 



164 



HISTORY OF WESLETAN METHODISM. 



come to interrupt them in their solemn 
assemblies ; but when they saw him kneel 
in prayer, their fears were exchanged for 
joy, and on a further acquaintance they 
found Captain Webb had < partaken of like 
precious faith' with themselves. He was 
accordingly invited to preach. The novelty 
excited no little surprise. This, together 
with the energy with which he spoke in 
the name of the Lord Jesus, drew many 
to the place of worship; and hence the 
room in which they now assembled, soon 
became too small to accommodate all who 
wished to assemble. But what greatly en- 
couraged them was, that sinners were 
awakened and converted to God, and added 
to the little society. 

" Captain Webb made excursions upon 
Long Island, and even went as far as 
Philadelphia, preaching, wherever he could 
find an opening, the Gospel of the Son of 
God ; and success attended his labours. 

" The first meeting-house was erected for 
a Methodist congregation in America in the 
year 1768; and the first sermon was 
preached in it, October 30, 1768, by Mr. 
Embury. 

"While this house was in progress, 
feeling the necessity of a more competent 
preacher, they addressed a letter to Mr. 
Wesley, urging upon him the propriety of 
sending them the needful help. 

" Mr. Wesley immediately adopted mea- 
sures for complying with their request; 
and two preachers, namely, Richard Board- 
man and Joseph Pillmoor, volunteered 
their services for America. Mr. Wesley 
sent with them fifty pounds as l a token of 
our brotherly love.' These were the first 
regular itinerant preachers who visited this 
country. They immediately entered upon 
their Master's work, Mr. Boardman taking 
his station in New York, and Mr. Pillmoor 
in Philadelphia, occasionally exchanging 
with one another, and sometimes making 
excursions into the country. Wherever 
they went, multitudes flocked to hear the 
word, and many were induced to seek an 
interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

"About the same time that Mr. Embury 
was thus laying the foundation for this 
spiritual edifice in New York, and Captain 
Webb was, to use his own words, ' felling 
the trees on Long Island,' Mr. Robert 
Strawbridge, another local preacher from 
Ireland, settled in Frederick county, Mary- 



land, and commenced preaching 'Christ 
and Him crucified' with success, many 
sinners being reclaimed from the error of 
their ways by his instrumentality. After 
spending some time in Philadelphia, 
preaching with great fervour and acceptance 
to the people, Mr. Pillmoor paid a visit to 
Mr. Strawbridge, in Maryland, and endea- 
voured to strengthen his hands in the Lord. 
He also went into some parts of Virginia 
and North Carolina ; and wherever he went 
he found the people eager to hear the 
Gospel. On his return to Philadelphia, 
under date of October 31, 1769, he ad- 
dressed an encouraging letter to Mr. Wes- 
ley, in which he states that there were 
about one hundred members in the society 
in that city. 

" Mr. Boardman, on his arrival in New 
York, found the society in a prosperous 
state under the labours of Mr. Embury. 
On the 24th of April, 1770, he addressed j 
a letter to Mr. Wesley, in which he in- 1 
forms him that c the house' would contain ; 
about 700 people, and that he had found a 
most willing people to hear, and the pros- 
pect every where brightening before him. 
Other local preachers occasionally came 
over, and were employed with various de- 
grees of usefulness. 

" From this encouraging representation 
of things, Mr. Wesley was induced to 
adopt measures for furnishing additional 
labourers in this part of the Lord's vine- 
yard. Accordingly, the next year, 1771, 
Mr. Francis Asbury and Mr. Richard 
Wright offered themselves for this work, 
were accepted by Mr. Wesley, and sent 
with the blessing of God to the help of 
their brethren in America. 

" On his arrival, Mr. Asbury, who had 
been appointed by Mr. Wesley to the 
general charge of the work, commenced a j 
more extended method of preaching the 
Gospel, by itinerating through the country, 
as well as preaching in the cities. 

"In the year 1776, after the revolu- 
tionary contest had commenced, persecution 
against the Methodist missionaries found a 
pretext in the fact, that most of them were 
from England, and that some of them had 
manifested a partiality for their king and 
country, and moreover that they were all 
under the direction of a leader who had 
written against the American principles 
and measures. In consequence of this, all 



HISTORY OF WESLEYAN METHODISM. 



165 



the English preachers, except Mr. Asbury, 
returned home before the close of the year 
1777 ; and, early in the year 1778, he was 
obliged to seclude himself from public ob- 
servation, which he did by retiring to the 
house of Judge White, a pious member of 
the society, in the State of Delaware, where 
he remained, occasionally preaching pri- 
vately. 

"During the war of the revolution, as 
might be expected, the preachers and 
people had to contend with a variety of 
difficulties ; some places, particularly New 
York and Norfolk, had to be abandoned 
entirely, and others were but partially 
supplied. Yet they held on their way, and 
God owned and blessed their pious efforts ; 
so that at the conference of 1783, at the 
close of this conflict, they had 43 preachers, 
and 13,740 private members. 

u We come now, in 1784, to a very im- 
portant era in the history of Methodism. 
The independence of the United States had 
been achieved, and acknowledged by the 
powers of Europe; and the churches in 
this country had become totally separated 
from all connexion with England. Mr. 
Wesley now felt himself at fuli liberty to 
set apart men whom he judged well quali- 
fied for that work, to administer the sacra- 
ments to the Methodists in America. Ac- 
cordingly, on September 2, 1784, assisted 
by other presbyters, he appointed Thomas 
Coke, LL. D.j a presbyter in the Church 
of England, as a superintendent, and or- 
dained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas 
Vasey to the office of elders, and sent them 
over to America, with instructions to or- 
ganize the Societies there into a separate 
and independent church. 

" In organizing the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, the parties did not separate from 
the English or the Protestant Episcopal 
Church ; for the former had no existence 



in America, and the Methodist Episcopal 
Church was organised three years before 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States. 

" In 1819, the Missionary Society of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church was formed. 
Its object was * to assist the several annual 
conferences to extend their missionary 
labours throughout the United States and 
elsewhere/ This Society has contributed 
much to diffuse the work of God, in the 
poor and destitute portions of our own 
country, among the aboriginal tribes of the 
United States and territories, and among 
the slaves of the south and south-west. 
It has sent its missionaries to Africa, South 
America, and beyond the Rocky Moun- 
tains ; and latterly to China, &c. 

" The Book Establishment is under the 
control of the General Conference, who 
elect the agents and editors, and appoint 
the Book Committee. Here are published 
a great variety of books on theological, his- 
torical, scientific, and philosophical subjects, 
Bibles, commentaries upon the Holy Scrip- 
tures, a quarterly review, and a weekly 
religious journal, Sunday School books, 
and tracts, — all of which have an extensive 
circulation throughout the United States 
and territories. 

"There is also a branch at Cincinnati,Ohio, 
where all the works issued at New York are 
sold, and some of them re-published. 

" There are many weekly papers. These, 
it is believed, are exerting a highly favour- 
able influence on the community." 

The great object of this Book Establish- 
ment, as of the one in England, is to 
spread the knowledge of Christ; and the 
profits of both are devoted to sacred objects. 
Transatlantic Methodism has a university, 
many colleges and schools, several thou- 
sands of ordained ministers, and far above 
a million of church-members. 



166 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



HISTORY 



THE BAPTISTS. 



BY F. A. COX, D.D., LL.D. 



The two great peculiarities of the Baptist 
denomination respect the mode and sub- 
jects of baptism. In the former they differ 
from the Independents, or, as they are con- 
troversially called, the Paedobaptists ; in 
the latter with the communions that agree 
with the Church of England, in thinking 
that children ought to be "discreetly 
dipped." 

In support of their views respecting the 
mode, they maintain that the Greek word, 
of which baptism is but the English form, 
properly and exclusively signifies immer- 
sion, and that, consequently, the command 
to baptize can only be fulfilled in this 
manner. Hence the idea entertained by 
many that the application of water in any 
way, by sprinkling, pouring, or plunging, 
as equally legitimate, according to the de- 
sign of the institution, they entirely repu- 
diate. In the critical discussion of the 
subject, some of their body also zealously 
argue that immersion is not at all a mode 
of baptism, but is baptism itself; on the 
same ground that to represent immersion 
as a mode of immersion would be a palpable 
absurdity; and this would seem obvious 
enough if it be admitted that the Greek 
term can only be represented by the word 
immersion. In proof of this, the Baptists 
allege — 

1. That the term is used in the sense 
of immersion throughout the whole extent 
of Greek literature, as the dipping of a 
pitcher in water, dipping an arrow in poi- 
sonous matter, dipping a pen in ink ; that 
persons the most profoundly skilled in the 
original language of Scripture, and the 
history of the Christian Church, have ad- 
mitted this to be the primary signification 



and the primitive practice; and that the 
use of the term in the modern Greek cor- 
roborates this translation. 

2. That the circumstances attending the 
administration of the ordinance of baptism 
at the introduction of Christianity, as re- 
corded in the New Testament, are equally 
significant and conclusive. They remark 
that persons were " baptized in Jordan," 
(Matt. iii. 6; Mark i. 9:) "in the river 
Jordan/' (Mark i. 5 ;) that baptize cannot, 
therefore, mean to pour, because to pour 
applies to the element, not to the person ; 
and in that case the water would be said 
to be poured upon the person, not the 
person poured in or into the water ; nor can 
it mean to sprinkle, for it is evidently need- 
less to place a person in a river to sprinkle 
a little water upon him, nor is it ever done 
by those who maintain that sprinkling is 
baptism. The Baptists also remark that 
Jesus, after having been baptized, "went 
up straightway out of the water/' (Matt, 
iii. 16 ;) that " both Philip and the eunuch 
went down into the water ;" that the latter 
was baptized while there, and that they 
both came "up out of the water/' (Acts 
viii. 38, 39 ;) circumstances which plainly 
show that to baptize is to dip under water; 
they also refer to the expression, " buried 
with Christ by baptism," as implying that 
in baptism persons were " buried" in the 
water; and that when the gift of the 
Spirit on the day of Pentecost, (Acts i. 5,) 
is called a baptism, and our Lord says of 
his last agony, "I have a baptism to be 
baptized with," (Luke xii. 20;) there is an 
evident allusion to the fulness of that gift, 
and the depth of those sufferings, both of 
which find an emblem in immersion, but 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



167 



none in the use of a little water, as in 
pouring or sprinkling. 

But as it regards the mode of baptism, 
this body of Christians contend that they 
are not distinguished from the vast mass of 
the Christian world. They appeal to the 
testimonies of eminent divines, not of their 
own body, and to the practices of the 
Catholic, the old English Episcopal Church, 
and to the Greek and Armenian Churches 
of the present day. The following may 
be regarded as a specimen of such Psedo- 
baptist evidence on the subject : — " They 
(the primitive Christians) led them into 
the water, and with no other garments but 
what might serve to cover nature, they at 
first laid them down in the water as a man 
might be laid in a grave, and then they 
said these words, 'I baptize or wash thee 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost.' Then they raised 
them up again, and clean garments were 
put on them : from whence came the 
phrases of being baptized into Clwist's 
death ; of being buried with him by bap- 
tism into death ; of our being risen with 
Christ, and of our putting on the Lord 
Jesus Christ; of putting off the old man 
and putting on the new. (Rom. vi. 3-5; 
Col. ii. 12, iii. 1-10; Rom. xiii. 14." — 
Bishop Burnet, Ex. xxxix. Art., p. 374. 
"To baptize signifies to plunge, as is 
granted by all the world." — Bishop Bos- 
suet. "The word baptize signifies to im- 
merse, and the rite of immersion was 
observed by the ancient church ; and from 
these words it may be inferred that baptism 
was administered by plunging the whole 
body under water. — Calvin. Obs. on John 
iii. 23. "The custom of the ancient 
churches was not sprinkling, but immer- 
sion." — Bishop Taylor. Duct, dubit. B. iii. 
" The person baptized went down into the 
water, and was, as it were, buried under it." 
— Bishop Pearce. Note on 1 Cor. xv. 29. 
"We grant that baptism, then, (in the 
primitive times,) was by washing the whole 
body. Though we have thought it lawful 
to disuse the manner of dipping, and to 
use less water, yet we presume not to 
change the use and signification of it." — 
Baxter. On Matt. iii. 6. The same writer 
says, " Therefore, in our baptism, we are 
dipped under water, as signifying we are 
dead and buried to sin." — On Rom. vi. 4. 
"It being so expressly declared here (Rom. 



vi. 4, and Col. ii. 12) that we are buried 
with Christ in baptism, by being buried 
under water, and the argument to oblige us 
to a conformity to his death by dying to 
sin being taken hence, and this immersion 
being religiously observed by all Chris- 
tians for thirteen centuries, and ap- 
proved by our church, and the change of 
it into sprinkling, even without any allow- 
ance from the Author of the institution, or 
any license from any council of the church, 
being that which the Romanist still urgeth 
to justify his refusal of the cup to the 
laity, if it were to be wished that this 
custom might again be of general use." — 
Whitby. Note on Rome vi. 4. " In Eng- 
land, of late years, I ever thought the 
parson baptized his own fingers, rather than 
the child."— Selden. " It is certain that, 
in the words of Rom. vi. 3, 4, there is an 
allusion to the manner of baptism, which 
was by immersion." — Whitefield. Eigh- 
teen Sermons. u ' Buried with him in 
baptism.' It seems the part of candour 
to confess that here is an allusion to the 
manner of baptizing by immersion, as most 
usual in those early times." — Doddridge. 
The same excellent writer, noticing the 
case of Philip and the eunuch, says, " It 
would be very unnatural to suppose that 
they went down into the water, merely that 
Philip might take up a little water in his 
hand to pour on the eunuch." u Mary 
Welsh, aged eleven days, was baptized, ac- 
cording to the first church, and the rule of 
the Church of England, by immersion." 

— Wesley. Journal of the time he passed 
in Georgia. 

It would be exceedingly easy to add to 
these statements multitudes of similar tes- 
timonies ; such as that of 

Beza. — "Christ commanded us to be 
baptized, by which word it is certain im- 
mersion is signified ;" — or, 

Vltringa. — " The act of baptizing is the 
immersion of believers in water; this ex- 
presses the force of the word ; thus also it 
was performed by Christ and his apostles;" 

— or, 

Salmasius. — " Baptism is immersion, 
and was administered in ancient times ac- 
cording to the force and meaning of the 
word;"— or, 

Archbishop Tillotson.-— "Anciently, those 
who were baptized were immersed and 
buried in the water, to represent their 



168 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



death to sin, and then did rise up again out 
of the water, to signify their entrance upon 
a new life, and to these customs the apostle 
alludes, Romans vi. 2-6 ;" — or, 

Dr. Campbell — "The word baptize, 
both in sacred writers and classical, signi- 
fies to dip, to plunge, to immerse." 

The words of Martin Luther are remark- 
able : — "I could wish that such as are to 
be baptized should be completely immersed 
into water, according to the meaning of the 
word, and the signification of the ordi- 
nance; not because I think it necessary, 
but it would be beautiful to have a full 
and perfect sign of so perfect and full a 
thing ; as also, without doubt, it was insti- 
tuted by Christ." 

"With regard to the subjects of baptism, 
the distinction of the Baptists from other 
denominations of Christians is, that they 
require a personal profession of faith in 
Christ as an indispensable requisite to the 
ordinance. They insist on the absolutely 
personal nature of true religion, which in 
none of its acts can be performed by proxy, 
or that those who are unconscious, as in- 
fants, of what is done can be members of 
the Christian Church, or competent to its 
institutions ; that, in fact the concurrence 
of the sanctified mind is the essential ele- 
ment of all Christian obedience. One of 
their writers asks, as all do in one form of 
expression or another, " Ought the profes- 
sion of Christianity to be a matter of mere 
imposition, or a matter of free conviction 
and choice ? and if religion be personal, 
all religious acts and ordinances must be 
so ? It is plain that acts and ordinances 
of a different description would be out of 
harmony with the character of religion 
itself." .... "Believers, and believers 
only," it is further said, "who have been 
convinced by the Word and Spirit of God 
that they are in a sinful and dangerous 
condition, and who have been guided by the 
same Word and Spirit to the Lord Jesus 
Christ, as a Redeemer able and willing to 
forgive, and sanctify, and save them ; these, 
and these only, are the proper subjects for 
the significant and solemn ordinance of 
baptism." 

The Baptists plead the various instances 
recorded in the New Testament as confirm- 
atory of their views of what they distinc- 
tively denominate " belie vers' baptism," as 
exclusively theirs. 



Those baptized by John confessed their 
sins. (Matt. iii. 6.) The Lord Jesus 
Christ gave the command to teach and 
baptize. (Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Mark xvi. 15, 
16.) At the day of Pentecost, they who 
gladly received the word were baptized, and 
they afterwards continued steadfastly in 
the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship. 
(Acts ii. 41, 42, 47.) At Samaria, those 
who believed were baptized, both men and 
women. (Acts viii. 12.) The eunuch openly 
avowed his faith, (in reply to Philip's state- 
ment — If thou believest with all thine 
heart thou mayest,) and went down into 
the water and was baptized. (Acts viii. 35, 
39.) Saul of Tarsus, after his sight was 
restored, and he had received the Holy 
Ghost, arose and was baptized. (Acts ix. 
17, 18.) Cornelius and his friends heard 
Peter, received the Holy Ghost, and were 
baptized. (Acts x. 44-48.) Lydia heard 
Paul and Silas ; the Lord opened her heart, 
and she was baptized, and her household. 
Paul afterwards went to her house and 
comforted the brethren. (Acts xvi. 14, 15, 
40.) The jailor, and all his house, heard ' 
the word, and were baptized, believing and 
rejoicing in God. (Acts xvi. 32, 34.) Cris- 
pus, and all his house, and many Corin- 
thians, heard, believed, and were baptized. 
(Acts xviii. 8.) The disciples of Ephesus 
heard and were baptized. (Acts xix. 5.) 
The household of Stephanus, baptized by 
Paul, were the first fruits of Achaia, and 
addicted themselves to the ministry of the 
saints. (1 Cor. i. 16; xvi. 15.) 

In opposition to many who deny the per- 
petuity of baptism, the Baptists maintain 
that the ordinance is as obligatory at the 
present time as it was at its first institu- 
tion ; assigning the following reasons for 
this persuasion : — 

1. That baptism was divinely instituted 
as an ordinance of the Christian religion, j 
and administered by inspired apostles to 
both Jews and Gentiles, is plain from the 
preceding remarks. 

2. There is no intimation that the law j 
of baptism was designed to be restricted to I 
any nation, or limited to any period of time, j 
It is a general law, without any restriction, j 
except that which refers to character — "he 
that believeth." 

3. A Divine law must continue obliga- 
tory until it is repealed by Divine autho- 
rity. There is no intimation in the Scrip- 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



169 



tures that the law of baptism has been re- 
pealed, and therefore there is no reason to 
suppose its obligation has ceased. 

4. The permanent duration of the ordi- 
nance is plainly implied in the promise, 
" Lo, I am with you always, even to the 
end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) 
This important promise was given at the 
time the ordinance was instituted, and it 
plainly supposes the continuance of bap- 
tism " even to the end of the world." 

5. Baptism is connected with the most 
important doctrines, duties, and privileges 
of the Gospel. The Saviour connects it 
with the doctrine of the Trinity ; preaching 
and believing the Gospel; fulfilling all 
righteousness; and the promise of salva- 
tion. (Matt. iii. 15 ; xxviii. 19 ; Mark xvi. 
16.) Paul connects it with the death, 
burial, and resurrection of Christ; with 
the believer's dying unto sin, living unto 
God, and putting on Christ. (Rom. vi. 3, 
4 ; Gal. iii. 27.) He connects it also with 
" one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, 
one faith, one God and Father of all." 
(Eph. iv. 4-6.) Peter connects it with 
the "remission of sins." (Acts ii. 38.) 
And also with salvation and a good con- 
science. (1 Peter iii. 21.) To discontinue 
the ordinance would be to dissolve its con- 
nection with all these doctrines, duties, and 
privileges. And who, without authority 
from the Divine Author of the institution, 
can do this with impunity ? 

6. Baptism answers all the purposes at 
this day which it answered in the first age 
of Christianity, and these are as needful 
now as they were then. No reason can be 
assigned for the observance of the ordi- 
nance in the Apostles' days, which will not 
apply in all its force to believers in every 
age of the Christian Church. 

7. The above considerations afford in- 
contestable proof of the -perpetuity of Chris- 
tian baptism, and show that its observance 
is as obligatory at present as it was in the 
days of the Apostles ; and that it will con- 
tinue to be as obligatory until the consum- 
mation of all things. 

8. It being thus evident from the Scrip- 
tures that baptism is designed by the Head 
of the Church to be co-existent with the 
Gospel system, as a constituent part of it, 
and co-extensive with repentance toward 
God and faith toward the Lord Jesus 
Christ; it is manifestly a great error to 



22 



imagine that the obligation to baptism has 
ceased. There is not. the slightest founda- 
tion for such opinion ; against it there is 
the strongest evidence. Should this fall 
into the hands of any who dispute this 
statement, we would entreat them seriously 
to consider whether they are not, through 
their mistaken opinions regarding the per- 
petuity of water baptism, doing great dis- 
honour to the Saviour by disobeying his 
command, and to the Holy Spirit, by re- 
jecting his written will, in setting aside 
what the Scriptures so plainly teach to be 
binding on all believers to the end of the 
world. 

9. To suppose that the necessity of water 
baptism is superseded by the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost, is manifestly erroneous on 
two accounts : — 

First : There is now, in the Scriptural 
sense of the words, no baptism of the 
Spirit. No miraculous gift, no converting 
operation, no sanctifying influence of the 
Spirit, is ever, by the inspired writers, 
called the baptism of the Holy Ghost, ex- 
cept what took place on the day of Pente- 
cost, and at the first calling of the Gentiles 
in the house of Cornelius. On these two 
occasions the promise of baptism in the 
Holy Ghost was fulfilled, and in reference 
to no other events do the sacred writers 
speak of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
The bestowment of the Spirit on these two 
occasions is quite different from every 
former and every subsequent bestowment 
of the Spirit, so far as our knowledge ex- 
tends. As the Word of God mentions no 
other baptism in the Holy Ghost than what 
took place at Pentecost, and in the house 
of Cornelius, we have no warrant to expect 
the Scriptural baptism of the Spirit in the 
present day. We may, indeed, experience 
the converting and sanctifying influences 
of the Holy Spirit, but these influences 
are not the Scriptural baptism of the 
Spirit, nor ought we to call them the bap- 
tism of the Spirit. But if there is now, 
in the Scriptural sense, no baptism of the 
Spirit, how can we reasonably suppose that 
baptism in water is rendered unnecessary 
by our being baptized in the Spirit ? 

Secondly : But supposing every believer 
was as truly baptized in the Holy Ghost 
as Cornelius was, this would in no wise 
diminish his obligations to be baptized in 
water. Did not the Apostle Peter com- 



170 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



mand the Pentecostal converts to be bap- 
tized ? And is it not expressly recorded 
that they were baptized? Did not the 
same inspired Apostle command Cornelius 
and his friends to be baptized in water, and 
assign their being baptized in the Holy 
Ghost as a reason for being baptized in 
water ? " Can any man forbid water, that 
these should not be baptized, who have 
received the Holy Ghost as well as we V 
Is it not passing strange that what an in- 
spired Apostle urged as a reason for the 
observance of water baptism, should be ad- 
duced by some professing Christians as a 
reason for their neglect of that baptism. 

Having stated the principles, we proceed 
to a brief history of the Baptists. They 
claim for themselves the highest antiquity, 
inasmuch as they plead apostolic authority 
and practice, and find multitudes from the 
earliest times who have maintained their 
sentiments, and administered the ordinances 
of religion in the same manner. Mosheim 
states that the "true origin of that sect 
which acquired the denomination of Ana- 
baptists, is hidden in the depths of anti- 
quity;" and Cardinal Hosius, chairman of 
the Council of Trent, in 1555, says, "if 
the truth of religion were to be judged of 
by the readiness and cheerfulness which a 
man of any sect shows in suffering, then 
the opinions and persuasions of no sect can 
be truer or surer than those of the Ana- 
baptists ; since there have been none for 
twelve hundred years past, that have been 
more grievously punished." Bishop Bur- 
gess remarks, that the early British 
churches bore a striking resemblance to 
the model institution at Jerusalem." 

It must be observed that the denomina- 
tion of Baptists as at present existing, 
regard the term Anabaptists as a term of 
reproach, because it seems to identify them 
with the Anabaptists of Munster, who were 
guilty of great excesses at the time of the 
Reformation in Germany, and adopted sen- 
timents which they entirely disclaim. The 
only point in which there seems to be an 
agreement, is that of the rejection of infant 
baptism. The Baptists only baptize those 
.whom they conceive to have been unbap- 
tized before, because they deny the validity 
of any baptism which is not practised by 
immersion, and on a personal profession of 
faith in Christ. 

Christianity was introduced into Britain 



in the first century, probably by Claudia, a 
lady of Wales, who was converted by Paul 
at Borne ; and during the second century, 
it made considerable advances. Several 
churches were formed which suffered se- 
verely from the persecuting edicts of Dio- 
cletian. They maintained however their 
Christian integrity and purity ; but under 
the patronage of the State in the person 
of Constantine, they became corrupt and 
relapsed into Pelagianism. A considerable 
number however were reclaimed through 
the labours of two Welchmen, and were 
rebaptized in the river Allen, near Chester, 
about a.d. 410. Thirty years afterwards, 
immorality prevailed to such an extent, 
that the more pious withdrew into solitudes, 
while the rest united their system with 
that of Druidism. The main body of the 
Christian church, as Dr. Thomas Fuller 
relates, was located in Wales. 

Such was the general condition of eccle- 
siastical society when Austin reached 
Britain, by whose influence ten thousand 
persons were converted to that church, and 
on Christmas Day, a.d. 598, were baptized 
in the river Swale, near York. In this 
there was no compulsion, each one being 
left to act voluntarily. Austin sent into 
Wales to the original pastors and churches, 
but after several conferences, they declined 
his proposal to baptize children or minors. 
Many of the Welch churches were de- 
stroyed by military force, and a fierce con- 
troversy arose between the ancient British 
Christians and the converts of Austin, on 
the proper subjects of baptism, which was 
of long continuance. Neither Constantine, 
nor the sons of Sebert, the Christian king 
of the East Saxons, were baptized in in- 
fancy. The history of the first baptism in 
England by Bede, is an exact counterpart 
of the histories of baptisms in the East, 
when converts were immersed in rivers or 
in the sea. Neither Gildus nor Bede 
furnish evidence of infant baptism for the 
first six centuries. 

Saxon Christianity relapsed into all but 
Paganism; but after three centuries, the 
Baptists again emerged from obscurity. 

Collier tells us that the confused state 
of the country allowed some of the Wal- 
denses or Albigenses of the eleventh cen- 
tury to visit it. They were so successful 
among all classes, that William the Con- 
queror became alarmed, and decreed, says 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



171 



Newton, " that those who denied the Pope 
should not trade with his subjects." 

Another colony of people, belonging to 
a numerous sect of fanatics, says Lingard, 
"who infested the north of Italy, Gaul, 
and Germany, and who were called Puri- 
tans," is said to have come into England. 
Usher calls them Waldenses, from Aqui- 
tain; Spelman calls them Publicans, (Pau- 
licians,) but says they were the same as the 
Waldenses. They gained ground, and 
spread themselves and their doctrines all 
over Europe. They laboured to win souls 
to Christ, and were guided only by the 
Word of God. They rejected all the 
Roman ceremonies, refused to baptize in- 
fants, and preached against the Pope. 
Thirty of these were put to death near Ox- 
ford. The remainder of them worshipped 
in private, until Henry II. came to the 
throne, in 1158, when, from the mildness 
of his measures, they appeared again 
publicly. It was now discovered that these 
people had several houses of the Albigen- 
sian order in England. Collier observes, 
wherever this heresy prevailed, the churches 
were either scandalously neglected or pulled 
down. Infants, Hoveden tells us, were not 
baptized by them. The conflicts between 
the sovereigns of this kingdom and the 
archbishops, during the twelfth and thir- 
teenth centuries, permitted the Baptists to 
propagate their sentiments very extensively, 
unmolested. The sword not being in the 
hand of the clergy, they employed the 
friars to preach down heresy ; but their 
conduct disgusted the people. 

The English Baptists were much revived 
and increased by the visit of Walter Lol- 
lard, a Dutchman. " He was remarkable," 
says Mosheim, "for his eloquence and 
writings." He was an eminent barb or 
pastor among the Begherds, in Germany, 
who, Dr. Wall says, baptized anew all who 
came over to their party. He was in sen- 
timent the same as Peter de Bruis. About 
this period, 1338, colonies of weavers, 
Waldenses, came into the county of Nor- 
folk. These people made little noise, 
though they existed in almost all the coun- 
tries of Europe. Although the same in 
religious views as the Paterines, Picards, 
and Waldenses, they were now, says 
Hallam, called Lollards. There had ap- 
peared in England, up to this time, about 
twenty good men, preachers of the Gospel, 



so that the soil- was prepared, Sir James 
Mackintosh says, for after reformers. The 
Baptists now adopted a plan of dropping 
their written sentiments against popery in 
the way of the members of Parliament, 
In 1368, thirty errors in matters of reli- 
gion were charged on the people in the 
neighbourhood of Canterbury; one was, 
Du Pin tells us, that children could be 
saved without water baptism ; but none, 
says Fox, gave baptism to children at this 
time hut for salvation. 

Their numbers and decided hostility to 
the hierarchy aroused their adversaries to 
adopt severe measures ; and in 1400, a law 
was passed, sentencing Lollards to be 
burned to death. In Norfolk they 
abounded, and there they suffered severely. 
Bonner asked where the church was before 
Luther? Fox says, the answer might 
have been, "Among the Lollards in the 
diocese of Norwich/' The first martyr 
under this law was Sir William Sawtre, 
who was of Baptist sentiments. Still the 
Bible-men increased, and became dangerous 
to the Church. It is said they amounted 
to one hundred thousand. 

The printing of the Scriptures called 
forth Colet, Latimer, and others, to preach 
publicly, which aided the Bible-men, and 
led the way to the changes made by Henry 
VIII. Tyndale's New Testament threw a 
flood of light upon the English nation. 
The king's misunderstanding with the Pope 
led him to relieve and encourage the Lol- 
lards everywhere ; and their brethren, with 
foreigners of every sentiment, flocked into 
England to enjoy liberty, and strengthen 
true religion. A book of the Lollards, 
entitled "The Sum of the Scriptures," 
was examined by the archbishop ; he con- 
demned the party who circulated it, for 
denying the baptism of the Church. Four- 
teen Mennonite brethren suffered death 
cheerfully; and the reproach of Anabap- 
tism now supplanted that of the word Lol- 
lardism. These martyrdoms did not check 
their sentiments, but rather led men to in- 
vestigate them; and such was the alarm 
of the clergy, that a convocation was called, 
seventy-six of their alleged errors con- 
demned, and measures devised for their 
suppression. 

Under Edward, the penal laws were re- 
pealed; the prisons were thrown open; 
and many who had expatriated themselves 



172 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



returned. The island was now divided 
into three religious sections, the Baptists, 
the Episcopalians of Rome, and the rigid 
Reformers from Geneva; these all had 
liberty to speak and print. The Baptists 
were soon charged with proselytizing ; and 
they became, Bishop Burnet says, very 
numerous in England. The clergy, not 
having the control of the sword, published 
their views on baptism ; but the Baptists 
replied, " Children are of Christ's kingdom 
without water/' (Luke xviii. 16.) So nu- 
merous were the Baptists, that in one town 
five hundred were said to live; and, as 
books did not answer the intended purpose, 
a commission was intrusted to Cranmer for 
their suppression, which entailed sufferings 
on many. The general pardon of 1550 
again excepted the Baptists ; the churches 
in Kent were disturbed, and some eminent 
men suffered. 

On Queen Mary's accession to the throne, 
all statutes in favour of the Protestant re- 
ligion were repealed. Many Nonconformists 
left the kingdom, but some exposed, to use 
Calvin's language, the fopperies of the 
hierarchy of England, which awakened the 
revenge of Mary's council. Measures were 
devised to stay Anabaptism ; these brethren, 
notwithstanding, boldly declared, 1st, — 
That infant baptism was anti-Scriptural. 
2d, — That it originated with popery; and 
3d, — That Christ commanded teaching to 
go before baptism. Mary's anger spent 
itself more particularly on the reformers. 

Elizabeth's reign promised liberty, but 
the conflicting opinions of the nation on 
the subject of religion reflected, she 
thought, on her prerogative. Not having 
succeeded in silencing the Baptists by pro- 
clamation, she commanded all Anabaptists 
to depart out of the kingdom within twenty- 
one days. 

On Queen Elizabeth's demise, James, 
king of Scotland, was welcomed to the 
throne. In Scotland he had experienced 
interruptions in his councils from the na- 
tional clergy; and in his new situation 
many of these refused subscription to his 
articles of religion. To these indomitable 
spirits, James observed, "Your scruples 
have a strong tincture of Anabaptism." 
The king subsequently refused all conces- 
sions to Nonconformists. 

The misrepresentations by which the 
Psedobaptists assailed the sentiments of 



the Baptists at this period in reference to 
infant salvation were well calculated to 
prejudice their cause. The Mennonite 
brethren, or family of love, who had for 
half a century maintained their position in 
the kingdom, memorialized the king on 
these misrepresentations, hoping, from his 
inaugural declaration, to obtain protection; 
but their prayer was disregarded, and their 
situation became increasingly critical. Mr. 
Wightman, a Baptist, was convicted of 
divers heresies, December 14th, 1611, and 
was burnt soon after. Thus the first and 
the last martyrs in England were Baptists. 
Mr. Smyth, a leading minister among the 
Baptists, and his brethren, were the first 
to publish a work against persecution. It 
was entitled " Persecution Judged and 
Condemned." This book was dedicated 
" to all that truly wish Jerusalem's pros- 
perity and Babylon's destruction." It is 
well written : it mentions the long and 
harassing sufferings which the Baptists 
had been exposed to, and the patience with 
which they had endured them. In further 
vindication of their views, a Dutch work 
was translated, entitled, " A plain and well- 
grounded Treatise concerning Baptism." 
The contents of this little book occasioned 
considerable alarm, and the council was 
prevailed on to issue a proclamation against 
the Baptists and their books. They once 
more appealed to the king ; avowed nobly 
their peculiarities, represented the hard- 
ships and grievances they had endured 
under his government, and entreated some 
mitigation of his measures. Their appeal, 
however, proved of no avail. 

Charles the First, in 1625, succeeded to 
the throne of his father. Many Baptists, 
among others, who are usually denominated 
The Puritan fathers, had already left 
England, and fled to America. 

" Early in the sixteenth century," writes 
Mr. Magoon, " in England, Sir Edward 
Coke, being in Church, where lawyers 
went in those early times, he one day dis- 
covered a lad taking notes during service. 
Being pleased with the modest worth of 
the lad, he asked his parents to permit 
him to educate their emulative son. Coke 
sent him to Oxford University. He drank 
from the fountains of knowledge, and in 
those draughts he found 

' The sober certainty of waking bliss.' 






HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



173 



"'As the heart panteth for the water- 
brooks/ he longed for the wisdom that 
rouses the might which so often and so 
long slumbers in a peasant's arm. He 
communed with the past and with his 
own startling thoughts. He summoned 
around him the venerable sages of an- 
tiquity, and in their presence made a feast 
of fat things. 

* A perpetual feast of nectared sweets, 
Where no rude surfeit reigns.' 

" At the fount of holiest instruction he 
cleared his vision ; and from the mount of 
contemplation, breathed in worlds to which 
the heaven of heavens is but a veil. 

" But his soul was too free for the peace 
of his sycophantic associates ; his principles 
were too philanthropic for the selfishness 
of that age ) the doctrines which he scorned 
to disavow, were too noble for Old Eng- 
land, — and he sought an asylum among 
the icy rocks of this wilderness world. He 
came, and was driven from the society of 
white men, through wintry storms and 
savages more lenient than interested fac- 
tions, to plant the first free colony in Ame- 
rica. That boy was the founder of Rhode 
Island ; that man was the patriot who 
stooped his anointed head as low as death 
for universal rights, and ever 
'Fought to protect, and conquered but to bless;' 

that Christian was Roger Willams, the 
first who pleaded for liberty of conscience 
in this country, and who became the pio- 
neer of religious liberty for the world/' 

Governor Hopkins, every- way qualified 
to speak on this subject, says : — 

" Roger Williams justly claims the 
honour of having been the first legislator 
in the world, in its latter ages, that fully and 
effectually provided for and established a full, 
free, and absolute liberty of conscience." 

The late Dr. W. E. Channing passed the 
following eulogium upon him : — 

" Other communities have taken pride 
in tracing their origin to heroes and con- 
querors. I boast more of Roger Williams, 
the founder of my native State. The tri- 
umph which he gained over the prejudices 
of his age was, in the view of reason, more 
glorious than the bloody victories which 
stain almost every page of history ; and his 
more generous exposition of the rights of 
conscience, of the independence of religion 
on the magistrate, than had been adopted 



before his time, gives him a rank among 
the lights and benefactors of the world. 
When I think of him as penetrating the 
wilderness, not only that he might worship 
God according to his own convictions of 
truth and duty, but that he might prepare 
an asylum where the persecutedof all sect3 
might enjoy the same religious freedom, I 
see in him as perfect an example of the 
spirit of liberty as any age has furnished. 

" Venerable confessor in the cause of 
freedom and truth ! May his name be 
precious and immortal! May his spirit 
never die in the community which he 
founded ! May the obscurest individual, 
and the most unpopular sect or party, never 
be denied those rights of free investigation, 
of free utterance of their convictions, on 
which this state is established !" 

Roger Williams was born in W r ales, about 
the year 1599, of humble parentage. His 
education, under the patronage of Sir Ed- 
ward Coke, has been already referred to : 
he received ordination in the Church of 
England, but having embraced Puritan 
principles, and therefore become opposed to 
all ecclesiastical tyranny, he sailed with 
his wife to this country, December 1, 1630, 
and arrived at Nantasket, February 5th 
following. He was soon after invited to 
become an assistant minister at Salem ; and 
commenced his ministry in that town. 

When it became known that he had 
embraced the views of the Baptists, he was 
banished ; and sought from the Indians the 
rights denied to him by Christians. In 
Rhode Island he established the first State 
in the world founded on the broad princi- 
ples of full religious freedom. He had been 
previously accused of "embracing princi- 
ples which tended to Anabaptism ;" and in 
March, 1639, he was baptized by one of 
his brethren, and then he baptized about 
ten more. Here was formed the first Bap- 
tist church in America. 

In the third volume of the American 
Christian Review, the object of the writer 
is to show the influence exerted by the 
Baptist denomination on the extension of 
religious liberty. Having shown the intol- 
erance of very many of the first Puritan 
fathers, the nature of the charter which Wil- 
liams obtained for Rhode Island, and the 
noble course of conduct which the early 
inhabitants of that State pursued, he goes 
on to say : — 



174 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



"In February, 1785, a law for the esta- 
blishment and support of religion was 
passed in Georgia, through the influence 
of the Episcopalians. It embraced all 
denominations, and gave all equal privi- 
leges ) but in May, the Baptists remon- 
strated against it, — sent two messengers to 
the Legislature, and the next session it was 
repealed. In both ministers and members, 
they were much more numerous than any 
other denomination. Their preachers might 
have occupied every neighbourhood, and 
lived upon the public treasury ; but no, — 
they knew that Christ's " kingdom is not 
of this world/' and believed that any de- 
pendence on the civil power for its support 
tends to corrupt the purity and pristine 
loveliness of religion. They therefore pre- 
ferred to pine in poverty, as many of them 
did, and prevent an unholy marriage be- 
tween the Church of Christ and the civil 
authority. The overthrow of all the above- 
named odious laws is to be attributed to 
their unremitting efforts: they generally 
struck the first blow, and thus inspired the 
other sects with their own intrepidity. It 
is owing to their sentiments, chiefly, as the 
friends of religious liberty, that no law 
abridging the freedom of thought or opin- 
ion, touching religious worship, is now in 
force to disgrace our statute books. It is 
not here asserted, that but for their efforts, 
a system of persecution, cruel and relentless 
as that of Mary of England, or Catherine 
de Medicis of France, would now have 
obtained in these United States; but it is 
asserted that the Baptists have successfully 
propagated their sentiments on the subject 
of religious liberty, at the cost of suffering 
in property, in person, in limb, and in life. 
Let the sacrifice be ever so great, they have 
always freely made it, in testimony of their 
indignation against laws which would fetter 
the conscience. Their opposition to tyranny 
was implacable, and it mattered not whether 
the intention was to tax the people without 
representation, or to give to the civil magis- 
trate authority to settle religious questions 
by the sword : in either case, it met in 
every Baptist an irreconcilable foe. 

" The question may be asked, how should 
this denomination, in its sentiments of reli- 
gious liberty, be so much in advance of the 
age? The form of church government 
established by the Puritans, was a pure 
democracy, and essentially that of the Bap- 



tists. True ; but in the reception of mem- 
bers, the two denominations differ widely : 
while a large portion of the former come 
into the church by birth, the latter enter 
on their own responsibility. They feel that 
they have rights, and prize them. One 
feature in the polity of the former renders 
it a kind of parental government, authorized 
to mould the opinions of its subjects before 
they are able to discern them. But, from 
the first, the Baptists seem to have per- 
ceived the truth on this subject. Whether 
they derived it from particular texts, or 
from the general principles of the Bible, it 
is not now for us to inquire. Their know- 
ledge on this subject is coeval with their 
existence as a distinct people. Religious 
liberty is a Baptist watchword, a kind of 
talisman, which operates like a charm, and 
nerves every man for action. 

" Involuntary respect goes forth to the 
man who brings to light some great and 
useful truth in the sciences or in the arts. 
Such was the discovery of the art of print- 
ing, — the power and uses of steam, — the 
true theory of the solar system : but what 
are these in comparison with the great moral 
truth which the Baptists have held forth be- 
fore the public eye for centuries ? — a truth 
without which life would be a burden, and 
civil liberty but a mockery. Nor is this all. 
While the Baptists have always defended 
the principles of religious liberty, they 
have never violated them. They have had 
but one opportunity of forming a system 
of civil government, and they so formed it 
as to create an era in the history of civiliza- 
tion. In the little Baptist State of Rhode 
Island was the experiment first attempted 
of leaving religion wholly to herself, un- 
protected and unsustained by the civil arm. 
The principles which were here first 
planted, have taken root in other lands, and 
have borne abundant fruit. The world is 
coming nearer to the opinions of Roger 
Williams : and so universally are his sen- 
timents now adopted in this country, that, 
like other successful philosophers, he is 
likely himself to be lost in the blaze of his 
own discovery." 

The Baptists never persecuted any for 
holding sentiments different from their 
own. The people who could furnish such 
men as Roger Williams, a man who could 
persuade even Charles I. to favour tolera- 
tion, and to charter entire freedom — who 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



175 



could furnish a General Harrison to Crom- 
well's army, and induce Baxter to tell us 
" the Anabaptists were Oliver's favourites 
in conflict, and they are a godly set of 
men" — who could provide one of their 
members to give, in the British House of 
Commons, the casting vote which sent for 
William III. of Orange, and thus produced 
the Kevolution of 1688 ; — and as the Bap- 
tist congregation who gave to Jefferson the 
idea of the mode of governing the United 
States, — can never be likely to be other- 
wise than the friends of liberty, civil and 
religious. 

The Baptists constitute the largest sec- 
tion of the ecclesiastical body in the United 
States, but both there and in England re- 
tain their entire independency as individual 
churches. Nothing that professes the 
character of ecclesiastical authority, as 
councils and synods, is admitted amongst 
them ; but in America they have conven- 
tions, besides annual associations, and in 
England, associations. Conventions are 
larger gatherings than associations, and 
consist of meetings of ministers and dele- 
gates from churches, associations, and 
public societies, sometimes from every part 
of an entire State, and sometimes from 
other States. A series of meetings is then 
held for the transaction of business relating 
to public societies and institutions. Ser- 
mons are preached, platform meetings held, 
various committees formed, and reports 
prepared and read. For more than thirty 
years the Baptists held a Triennial Con- 
vention, by delegates from every part of 
the United States, professedly to transact 
the business of the Foreign Missions ) but 
the growth of the body, the vast extent 
of the country, and other circumstances, 
have occasioned their discontinuance, and 
all the societies now arrange for annual 
associations, in which each settles its own 
affairs. Associations, as held in England, 
consist of meetings of churches by delega- 
tion, once a year, chiefly for the purpose 
of mutual edification and Christian inter- 
course, to furnish accounts of the society, 
increase or decrease of churches, and to 
provide certain sums for distribution among 
the poorer pastors. These are properly 
district meetings, comprising in each from 
eight to twelve or fifteen churches. 

There has been formed in England 
within the present century (in 1812) what 



is termed the " Baptist Union." It con- 
sists of upwards of a thousand churches, 
in nominal connection with each other; 
that is, of such as subscribe their names, 
and, so far as can be obtained, small sums 
of money, to promote, as often as the ne- 
cessity may arise, any great public object 
that affects the denomination, or that has 
a bearing upon the general interests of non- 
conformity. The whole is represented by 
a committee, and a general meeting con- 
vened once a-year. A manual of the sta- 
tistics of the denomination, and other 
matters belonging to their religious history, 
is published annually. 

In addition to the various indications of 
religious activity common to other denomi- 
nations of Christians, such as Bible, tract, 
and Sunday-school societies, a "Baptist 
Building Fund" has been very recently 
established, the immediate object of which 
is to erect new places of worship in those 
parts of the metropolis or its suburbs 
which, on account of the denseness of the 
population and the religious destitution, 
seem to require it. Subscriptions have 
been raised to a considerable amount, and 
a committee of management has been 
formed, both vigilant and vigorous. 

The general literature of this denomina- 
tion, till of late years, must be regarded 
as on the whole somewhat inferior. The 
reason of this may be traced to the un- 
happy fact, that learning has been generally 
undervalued. High Calvinistic sentiments 
have been so predominant, that classical 
attainments have been viewed as repugnant 
to spiritual religion, and the ministry itself 
supposed to be deteriorated rather than 
benefited by the alliance. But the mani- 
fest improvement which has taken place 
in the theology of the denomination has 
elevated the standard of taste, and led to a 
just appreciation of the value of knowledge. 
Instead of one academy or college, in which 
only about twenty students for the ministry 
were formerly educated, there are at present 
three principal ones, namely, at Bristol, 
Bradford, and Shepney, besides educational 
efforts of a more private character. Many, 
also, of their ministers have eagerly sought 
instruction in the Scotch universities, 
among whom the writer of this was one. 
After a few years, being impelled not only 
by his own convictions, but by an assurance 
of the enlarged sentiments of his own and 



176 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS. 



other Nonconformists, he united with Mr. 
(now Lord) Brougham, Thomas Campbell 
the poet, and some others, at first by pri- 
vate conference, and then by a public meet- 
ing in 1825, to found that important 
literary institution which was originally 
designated the London University, but is 
now known as University College. 

Although, as it has been intimated, the 
Baptist denomination in general was indif- 
ferent, and even hostile, to learning, yet a 
few bright stars shone forth even in the 
night of their ignorance. They shone, 
however, it must be admitted, not so much 
as individuals illustrious in their general 
learning, as distinguished for the classical 
use of the term which distinguished their 
body, and sustained their religious practice, 
and for their controversial aptitude in de- 
fending their opinions. Hence, though 
learning and theological science have not 
pervaded the masses of their community, 
they have produced a few who rank high, 
and some of them amongst the highest, 
of great men. Gale and Carson for Greek 
scholarship; Gill, for Hebrew knowledge 
and Rabbinical lore; Carey, for Oriental 
research, which opened hidden mines of 
literature, and rendered him illustrious as 
the great producer of the grammars of 
language, and translations of the Scrip- 
tures ; Fuller, for deep theological wisdom, 
controversial acuteness, and the creator of 
right sentiment in his denomination ; 
Hughes, for the union of elegant taste and 
public zeal in the formation of the Bible 
and Tract Societies ; Foster for the reach 
and profundity of his mind ; and Hall, as 
the most chaste and beautiful of writers, 
and, perhaps, the greatest of English 
preachers, can never be forgotten. Truth 
requires us thus to honour the dead, and, 
with forbearance, may prevent our advert- 
ing to the living. One remark may suffice. 
If gigantic qualities are now less concen- 
trated and brilliant, eminent talents and 
attainments are more widely diffused, and 
marked by a more immediate utility. 

The " Baptist Missionary Society" was 
formed at Kittering, in Northamptonshire, 
in the year 1792 ; remarkable alike for the 
smallness of its beginning and the great- 
ness of its results. In fact, it gave the 
first impulse to missionary spirit in modern 
times which has been aroused in every 
denomination of Christians, and is now 



exerting its untiring energies to evan- 
gelize the world. Nursed in the cradle 
of storms and oppositions, it has proved 
a moral Hercules in strength, and as- 
cending, like the Apocalyptic angel, on the 
wings of holy zeal, it has been, ever since 
that period, flying through the midst of the 
heavens, and distributing the " everlasting 
Gospel" to the nations. In the first in- 
stance, William Carey went, under the au- 
spices of a few poor ministers and pious 
laymen, from the humblest condition in 
life, to India, where he acquired very many 
of its languages and dialects, and translated 
the Scriptures into them. These labours 
have been since sustained by worthy and 
efficient successors. Subsequently, the 
Society occupied two other very important 
spheres of labour — the one in Jamaica, 
and in the other West India islands, where 
its agents, Knibb and Burchell, in particu- 
lar, contributed essentially to the other- 
throw of slavery, and the wide diffusion of 
a religious influence ; the other in Africa, 
in the island of Fernando Po and the neigh- 
bouring continents.* 

In 1842, they celebrated the Jubilee of 
the Society, when it appeared that the men 
who had excited no small share of ridicule 
and contempt, had the high gratification of 
reporting that, up to 1841, they had trans- 
lated the Holy Scriptures, wholly or in 
part, into forty-four languages or dialects 
of India, and had printed of the Sacred 
Scriptures alone nearly half a million copies; 
that in their 204 schools they numbered 
nearly 22,000 scholars ; that they had 168 
missionary stations, 191 missionaries, and 
over 25,000 members. Their annual in- 
come then exceeded 110,000 dollars; and 
the extra fund raised for important spe- 
cific purposes, as a Jubilee gift, exceeded 
160,000 dollars. Their income and success 
are both happily increasing. 

Nor have the Baptists of the United 
States been behind their British brethren 
in the holy enterprizes of the day. The 
direct missionary efforts of the American 
Baptists originated in 1814, after the Rev. 
Dr. Judson and the Rev. L. Rice had be- 
come Baptists in India, and appealed to the 
denomination in the United States for aid. 



* The writer begs to refer the reader for full 
information to his w History of the Baptist Mis- 
sion," in 2 vols. 12rao. 



HISTORY OP THE BAPTISTS. 



177 



THE SCOTCH BAPTISTS. 



In Scotland a particular class of Baptists 
has long existed under the name of Scotch 
Baptists. With the exception of baptism, 
they are nearly allied in sentiment to the 
old Scotch Independents — the followers 
of David Dale. Mr. Carmichael, who had 
been pastor of an Antiburgher congregation 
at Cupar, in Angus, having altered his 
views, was baptized in 1765 by Dr. Gill in 
London, and may be regarded as the founder 
of this sect. Upon his return to Edinburgh, 
he administered that ordinance to five 
others. In 1769 he was joined in the pas- 
torship by Mr. M'Lean, who afterwards 
became distinguished as a theologian and 
controversialist, particularly in measuring 
swords with the Kev. Andrew Fuller on 
the subject of faith, which he maintained 
to be in its nature simple belief, indepen- 
dently of the exercise of the affections. 

Various internal dissensions disturbed 
the small communities formed in a few 
places for some years, in which Mr. M'Lean 
bore an important part, by writing against 
Sabellianism and other errors. After great 
depression, the churches in Edinburgh, 
Glasgow, and Dundee, gathered strength 
and influence. In 1795 several small 
societies were formed on the same princi- 
ples in the north of England. Mr. M'Lean 
and Mr. Henry David Inglis became emi- 
| nently useful by annual itineracies to 
preach the Gospel, the former through 
various parts of England, the latter in 
Scotland. Mr. Braidwood also was much 
distinguished as an elder of the same 
church. 

As a general description of their theolo- 
gical sentiments, the Scotch Baptists may 
be said to be Calvinists; their disagree- 
ment with their denomination in England 
relating chiefly to church order. They 
consider themselves as strictly congrega- 
tional ; but a plurality of elders or pastors 
in every church is a distinguishing feature 
in their order. In a paper drawn up by 
Mr. M'Lean, he stated that "they continue 



steadfastly every first day of the week in 
the Apostles' doctrine, that is, in hearing 
the Scriptures read and preached, and in 
the fellowship, or contribution, and in 
breakiny of bread, or the Lord's Supper, 
and in prayers and singing of psalms, 
hymns, and spiritual songs. The prayers 
and exhortations of the brethren are also 
admitted in their public meetings. They 
observe the love-feast, and upon certain 
occasions the kiss of charity, and also wash 
one another's feet when it is really service- 
able, as an act of hospitality. They abstain 
from eating blood and things strangled, 
that is, flesh with the blood thereof, be- 
cause these were not only forbidden to 
Noah and his posterity, when the grant of 
animal food was first made to man, but 
also under the Gospel they are most sol- 
emnly prohibited to the believing Gentiles, 
along with fornication, and things offered 
to idols. They think that a gaudy exter- 
nal appearance in either sex, be their sta- 
tion what it may, is a sure indication of the 
pride and vanity of the heart ; that women 
professing godliness are not to adorn them- 
selves with plaited or broidered hair, or 
gold, or pearls, or costly array; but with 
modest outward apparel, as well ls with 
the inward ornament of the mind; also, 
that it is a shame for a man to have long 
hair, however sanctioned by the fashion. 
As to marriage, though they do not think 
either of the parties being an unbeliever 
dissolves that relation, when once entered 
into, yet they hold it to be the duty of 
Christians to marry only in the Lord. 
They also consider gaming, attending plays, 
routs, balls, and some other fashionable 
diversions, as unbecoming the gravity and 
sobriety of the Christian profession." 

Farther information may be obtained 
from the works of M'Lean, Inglis, Braid- 
wood, and Jones, and from their great op- 
ponent, Andrew Fuller, especially his trea- 
tise on Sandemanianism, which displays 
great argumentative skill. 



23 



178 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHUECH 

BY THE REV. FERGUS FERGUSON, B.A. 

MINISTER OF BLACKFRIARS'-STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, GLASGOW. 



The religious body designated " Evan- 
gelical Union/' took its rise in Scotland 
about eighteen years ago. At that time 
considerable excitement prevailed in the 
country on the subject of religious revivals, 
occasioned both by cheering intelligence 
received from America, and by the reports 
of remarkable spiritual awakenings at 
home, in Kilsyth, and elsewhere. Mr. 
James Morison, son of the Rev. Robert 
Morison, minister of the United Secession 
Church in Bathgate, had just finished his 
curriculum of study at the Edinburgh 
University, and the Divinity Hall, with 
great success and eclat. At this juncture 
he was visited with a very serious affliction, 
so that for many months he daily expected 
death, and was led hourly to realize his 
possible nearness to an eternal world. 
When, by the mercy of God, he was raised 
from that bed of sickness, and was sent 
forth as a licentiate of the United Seces- 
sion Church, his mind was deeply imbued 
with an earnest desire to call upon perish- 
ing men to "flee from the wrath to come." 
His first appointments as a probationer 
were to the. North of Scotland. When 
supplying a rural station in Ross-shire, he 
became deeply impressed with the idea that 
he did not know the Gospel in its simpli- 
city, notwithstanding all his earnestness of 
spirit, and the ardent desires after personal 
holiness which glowed within him. His 
perusal of Finney's "Lectures on Re- 
vivals" had contributed to .produce this 
conviction, — but more especially the con- 
trast which irresistibly forced itself upon 
his mind between the rustic appearance of 
his auditory and the ornate and finished 



discourses which he had brought with him 
from the South. He was brought in his 
outlandish and solitary dwelling to the firm 
belief that the Lord Jesus Christ had made 
atonement on the cross for the sins of all 
men without distinction and exception, and 
therefore for his sins in particular; and 
that this doctrine that Jesus had thus 
borne the sins of' mankind was the Gospel 
calculated to impart immediate peace to a 
troubled conscience, of which, up to that 
time, he felt himself to have been ignorant. 
This great truth he now burned with an 
eager desire to communicate to his fellow- 
men. W 7 herever he went, great excitement 
was produced — many anxious and convicted 
souls asked the way to salvation — and 
many professed to find peace and joy in 
believing that Jesus " had loved them, and 
given himself for them." Chiefly at Nairn, 
Tain, Forres, and Lerwick, were these im- 
portant results produced. A tract was 
published at Nairn by Isaac Ketcher, Esq., 
dated Aug. 14, 1840, giving a calm and 
deeply interesting account of the astonish- 
ing awakening Mr. Morison was the means 
of effecting there. When he returned 
from his labours in the North, he threw 
himself with heart and soul into the Re- 
vival movement, which was then being 
carried on so energetically, and in which 
many ministers and preachers of the Se- 
cession Church shared and rejoiced. His 
correspondence, however, with the converts 
and inquirers he had left behind him at his 
former stations became so voluminous, that 
he conceived the idea of writing a tract for 
their direction, which would embody the 
leading truths he had found to be so much 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



179 



blessed of God. It was accordingly pub- 
lished under the title, " The Question, 
What must I do to be Saved ? answered 
by Philanthropos." The principal topics 
treated in this publication, which afterwards 
became so famous, and in a few years ran 
through eleven editions, were, the malig- 
nity of sin, the good tidings of salvation, 
the suitableness of the Gospel for each in- 
dividual sinner, the simplicity of faith and 
repentance, together with replies to the 
difficulties which the author had found 
most commonly lodged in the minds of in- 
quiring sinners. Within the compass of 
the same year, (1840,) Mr. Morison was 
called to take the pastoral oversight of the 
United Associate, or Secession Church, as- 
sembling in Clerk's Lane, Kilmarnock. 
Meanwhile, the tract above referred to, had 
been extensively circulated, especially in 
the North of Scotland; and, on the day 
appointed for his ordination, two members 
of the Kilmarnock Presbytery, expressed 
themselves to be so much dissatisfied with 
certain statements therein made, that they 
could not heartily join in setting him apart 
to the work of the ministry. Mr. Morison 
explained, that he did not hold the Rowite 
heresy with which they suspected he was 
tinged, nor did he hold 'universal salva- 
tion/ but simply salvation for every man 
u possible before faith ," but "certain after 
faith." He further explained, that he 
never could, and never would preach any 
other doctrine ; but that, since certain ex- 
pressions in his tract were offensive to 
members of Presbytery, he would suppress 
its circulation. On this arrangement, his 
ordination was proceeded with, the audience 
having been kept waiting in suspense for 
upwards of an hour. 

Mr. Morison, however, continued to give 
great prominence in his weekly ministra- 
tions to those striking views concerning 
the atonement of Christ, faith, and assu- 
rance, which had been blessed to the salva- 
tion of so many sinners, and had awakened 
the suspicions of certain of his co-presby- 
ters. It would appear, moreover, that this 
little tract which had done so much good 
on the one hand, and had caused so much 
annoyance on the other, was not to lie hid 
under a bushel, although its author had 
been pledged to its suppression. A Con- 
gregational minister in London, who highly 
approved of it, and had found it to be very 



useful among his people, wrote Mr. Morison, 
to the effect, that he wished to re-publish 
it in the metropolis. Mr. M. replied, that 
he could not consent to take any steps 
himself towards its re-issue, nor give any 
formal permission for it, considering the 
pledge he had taken ; but that he would 
not visit any party who might reprint it, 
" with pains and penalties." In this way 
a London edition was published, followed 
speedily by one in Dunfermline, and two 
in Kilmarnock, also by neutral and respon- 
sible parties. Matters being in this posi- 
tion, Mr. Morison, without any private re- 
monstrance, was summarily arraigned before 
the bar of the Kilmarnock presbytery, 
charged both with heresy in doctrine, and 
disingenuousness in conduct. Under the 
first head, (erroneous doctrine,) the charges 
were — 1st, That he taught, that the object 
of saving faith to any person, was, that 
Christ made atonement for the sins of that 
person, as he made atonement for the sins 
of the whole world, and that the seeing 
this statement to be true was in itself saving 
faith; 2d, That all men were able of them- 
selves to believe the Gospel; 3d, That no 
person ought to be directed to pray for grace 
to help him to believe ; 4th, That repent- 
ance in Scripture, meant only a change of 
mind, but not godly sorrow for sin ; 5th, 
That justification is not pardon, but 
that it is implied in pardon; 6th, That 
election comes, in the order of nature, 
after the purpose of atonement; 7th, That 
there were in his publications many 
unwarrantable expressions regarding the 
atonement; and 8th, that he taught that 
men could not be deserving of eternal death 
on account of Adam's sin. To these charges j 
Mr. Morison replied, 1st, That the object 
of saving faith is the Gospel : and the Gos- 
pel is this — " Christ died for our sins, 
according to the Scriptures," of course im- 
plying that he died for all sinners, since all 
men are commanded to believe ; that saving 
faith in its nature is "a setting to one's 
seal that God is true," in the record he has 
given concerning his Son ; that whosoever 
believes a truth is conscious of believing it, 
and that, consequently, whoever believes 
the truth as it is in Jesus, must be con- 
scious that he believes it; 2d, Men are able 
to believe the Gospel, because God has 
already given them strength. We are not 
required to do more than we have strength 



180 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



do ; and if we were, we would not be re- 
sponsible for not doing it; 3d, He main- 
tained, that it is the duty of all men to 
pray, but it is their duty first of all to be- 
lieve in Jesus, and that no prayer is accept- 
able to God, or accepted by God, save that 
which is offered up in the exercise of faith 
in Christ ; 4th, That the Greek word, ren- 
dered repentance, (jxttwova), always means 
change of mind, but that this change of 
opinion always produces a corresponding 
emotion, such as sorrow for sin, love to 
Christ, love for holiness, &c. ; 5th, Justifi- 
cation is not pardon, for a person can be 
only once justified, whereas he may be 
often pardoned; 6th, He maintained eter- 
nal, personal, and unconditional election; 
but urged, that since the elect are said to 
be " chosen in Christ," the purpose of elec- 
tion did not precede the purpose of atone- 
ment, but vice versa; 7th, He defended or 
explained the reprehended statements ; and, 
8th, He held that all men are guilty of 
Adam's first sin, if by guilt be meant mere 
obligation to punishment, and that it was 
certain that no man would suffer eternal 
death merely on account of Adam's sin. 
But it was quite well known that the 
" head and front" of Mr. Morison's offend- 
ing was, that he ever maintained that Christ 
died upon the cross equally for all men, and 
therefore in his defence he addressed him- 
self at great length to prove that the atone- 
ment was a remedial measure, not per se 
securing the salvation of sinners, but merely 
providing it, to be subsequently applied by 
faith in each individual case; and also 
demonstrated, by an imposing collation of 
Scripture texts, that the Bible teaches that 
Christ died for all men, without distinction 
and without exception. " He strengthened 
his position by quotations from orthodox 
writers in the Christian church, both an- 
cient and modern, who held the same views 
on the atonement. On the charge of 
alleged disingenuousness of conduct, he 
submitted that he never used any active 
measures to circulate the tract, but deci- 
dedly regretted that he did not use active 
measures to prevent others from circu- 
lating it. 

On the 9th of March, 1841, in the 
midst of great excitement in the town of 
Kilmarnock, he was suspended from the 
ministry. Against this decision he pro- 
tested, and appealed to the Synod, being 



the supreme court of that church, which, 
we may here observe, in conjunction with 
the body then called " The Relief," now 
forms " The United Presbyterian Church 
of Scotland." While these ecclesiastical 
proceedings were pending, Mr. Morison's 
ministration during the first months of his 
pastorate, notwithstanding all the charges 
of unsoundness which had been brought 
against him, had been signally owned of 
God to the conviction and conversion of 
many souls. The chapel in Clerk's Lane, 
capable of containing about 800 persons, 
which had been very thinly attended before 
his ordination, became so crowded that 
standing room could not be procured. 
Hundreds of persons professed to come to 
a saying and sanctifying acquaintance with 
the Saviour. Numerous bands of eager 
worshippers flocked to the chapel where he 
ministered from all the towns and villages 
for ten miles round. It will not therefore 
be matter of surprise that, with the excep- 
tion of a very small minority, the church in 
Clerk's Lane adhered to their beloved min- 
ister after his suspension, joined in his 
protest and appeal, and appointed commis- 
sioners to represent them at the approach- 
ing Synod. 

That reverend body met in Glasgow, on 
June 7, 1841. On June 8, Mr. Morison's 
protest was taken up, and occupied the 
court almost exclusively during eleven 
anxious and protracted sederunts. The 
case excited the most profound interest, not 
only in the city of Glasgow, but also 
throughout the country. Mr. Morison was 
heard at great length in his own defence, 
then the members of the Kilmarnock Pres- 
bytery; and again Mr. Morison was heard 
in reply. His speeches were most conclu- 
sive and thrillingly eloquent, so much so 
that they elicited the eulogy even of those 
who were his theological adversaries, and 
more than once the sympathizing plaudits 
of the listening hundreds. At length, on 
the 11th June, a motion, made by Dr. 
Heugh, was carried, to the effect that the 
suspension of the Kilmarnock Presbytery 
be continued. Against this decision Mr. 
Morison protested in the following terms : — 
" Seeing the Supreme Court has given sen- 
tence against me, even to my suspension 
from the ministry, on most inadequate 
grounds, I protest against the decision, and 
1 shall hold myself at liberty to maintain 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



181 



and preach the same doctrines as if no such 
decision had been come to." Dr. Brown 
of Edinburgh, who, during the debate, had 
thrown his ample shield around his young 
friend and pupil, homologating his doctrines, 
although not all his expressions, at a subse- 
quent sederunt entered his dissent against 
the deed of the Synod in Mr. Morison's 
case, and read his reasons of dissent. At 
a later meeting, however, the matter 
dropped, as Dr. Brown did not insist that 
his reasons of dissent should be entered on 
the minutes. It is of importance, however, 
to notice that, in the estimation of that 
eminent theologian, the opinions of Mr. 
Morison in 1841 were not deserving of 
ecclesiastical censure. At the same meet- 
ing of Synod, Rev. Robert Walker, then 
of Comrie,nowof Dunfermline, was charged 
with holding and preaching doctrines simi- 
lar to Mr. Morison's, but his explanations 
were deemed by the Synod so satisfactory, 
that an amicable adjustment was effected. 

But the atonement controversy in the 
Secession Church did not end with the 
expulsion of Mr. James Morrison. The 
Rev. Robert Morison, at the tenth sederunt 
of the Synod, in June, 1841, read a paper 
containing his reasons of dissent from the 
deed of the court which had continued the 
suspension of his son. His case came be- 
fore the meeting of Synod in May, 1812. 
In the pleadings connected with it we see 
clearly that the chief interest centred around 
the question whether or not Christ's atone- 
ment had a special reference to his people 
and secured their salvation. Mr. Morison 
maintained that the blood of Christ was 
shed for all men alike — that as an atone- 
ment it secured the salvation of none, while 
it provided salvation for all, and that the 
salvation of God's people was secured by 
the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit 
ordained in the order of nature subsequent 
to the purpose of atonement. The Synod, 
on the other hand, maintained that while 
the atonement of Christ opened the door 
of salvation for all, it at the same time bore 
a special reference to God's people, whose 
salvation it finally secured. On this simple 
point of difference, Mr. Morison, sen., was 
thrown out in May, 1842, as also were the 
Revs. A. C. Rutherford of Falkirk, and 
John Guthrie of Kendal, in May, 1843. 
These two eminent and popular ministers 
had embraced the opinions of the Morisons, 



and preferred even to suffer excision from 
the church in whose pale they had been 
brought up, had studied, and had min- 
istered, rather than deny or hide un- 
der a bushel what they conceived to be 
Christ's precious Gospel of Salvation. 
The precise complexion of the question 
at this stage, as distinctly exhibited by 
Mr. Guthrie in his reasons of dissent from 
the decision of the Synod in Mr. Ruther- 
ford's case, will be apparent from the fol- 
lowing extract from the History of the 
Atonement Controversy, by the Rev. A. 
Robertson of Stow, (p. 173.)— "The Rev. 
John Guthrie of Kendal having dissented 
from the decision affirming Mr. Ruther- 
ford's suspension, his case was also taken 
up by the Synod at this time, and disposed 
of in a similar manner. His reasons of 
dissent were the following : — " Because the 
alleged error, on the ground of which Mr. 
Rutherford was suspended by this Synod, 
is not an error ; for if the atonement, as 
an atonement, secures the salvation of one, 
it must, as an atonement for all, secure the 
salvation of all. But it does not secure 
the salvation of all, there being many for 
whom it was made who finally perish. 
therefore the atonement, as an atonement, 
cannot strictly be said to secure salvation 
to any. 2d. Because Mr. Rutherford dis- 
tinctly admitted, in his Reasons of Dissent, 
given in at last meeting of Synod, and 
subsequently in his statement of doctrine 
laid upon the table of his presbytery, and 
further in his pleadings at the bar of the 
Synod, at its present meeting, that, viewed 
in connexion with the Divine purpose of 
application, the atonement does secure the 
salvation of all who shall ultimately be 
saved.' " 

Nor did the agitation in the Secession 
Church end here. As Dr. Brown of Edin- 
burgh, Professor of Exegetical Theology, 
had indicated in no equivocal terms his 
sympathy with the opinions of the Rev. 
James Morison, and had even proceeded so 
far as to enter his formal dissent from the 
decision of the Synod in his case, suspi- 
cions became prevalent that he and Dr. 
Balmer, his professorial colleague, were 
really unsound on the doctrine of the atone- 
ment, judging by the standard the Synod 
had set up. Accordingly, judicial investi- 
gations were made into their exact opinions, 
before the conclusion of which, however, 



182 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



Dr. Balmer died. Ultimately Dr. Brown 
alone was libelled by Drs. Marshall of 
Kirkintilloch, and Hay of Kinross, on the 
ground of alleged heterodoxy; but at 
length, after the most intense excitement 
and anxiety throughout the denomination, 
was acquitted by the vote of the Synod, 
which met at Edinburgh, in July, 1845. 
This procedure finally issued in the with- 
drawment of Dr. Marshall of Kirkintilloch 
from the church. 

These four ministers who had thus been 
"cast out," were followed by almost all 
the members of their congregations in the 
spheres where they respectively laboured. 
Meanwhile, the excitement throughout the 
country had been maintained, not merely 
by the proceedings in the church courts 
against them, and by their own zealous and 
well nigh ubiquitous ministrations in the 
cities, towns, and villages of Scotland, but 
also by the learned, thrilling, but withal, 
clear and practical publications which they 
issued in numerous editions from the press. 
Besides his first publication, " What must 
I do to be saved?" Mr. James Morison 
published tracts on "The Nature of the 
Atonement," " The Extent of" the Atone- 
ment," "Saving Faith," "Not quite 'a 
Christian," — all of which were circulated 
most extensively and relished by multi- 
tudes, and savingly blessed to grateful 
hundreds. His father's chief works were 
— "Defence of Christ's Trust," "Difficul- 
ties connected with a Limited Atonement," 
" Gospel Peace essential to Righteous- 
ness;" Mr. Rutherford's — "Letters on the 
Extent of the Atonement, to the Rev. Mr. 
Fraser of Alloa," "New Views not new 
but old and sound;" and Mr. Guthrie's — 
" New Views True Views," and " New 
Views as old as the Word of God." The 
consequence was that the religious tenets 
for which they had so publicly striven and 
suffered, had found intelligent adherents in 
almost every parish and town in the country. 
Naturally anxious that their churches 
should not remain altogether isolated and 
disconnected, these brethren met with 
others, principally elders and delegates from 
Christian churches, in Kilmarnock, on 
May 16th, 17th, and 18th, 1843, (immedi- 
ately after the meeting of Synod at which 
Messrs. Rutherford and Guthrie had been 
suspended,) and formed the Evangelical 
Union, " the objects of which were," (as 



stated in a paper inserted in the " Ayr Ad- 
vertiser," and separately printed,) " mutual 
countenance, counsel, and co-operation in 
supporting and spreading the glorious, 
simple, soul-saving, and heart-sanctifying 
' Gospel of the grace of God.' " At the 
end of this published statement of princi- 
ples they said, " In conclusion, we cannot 
but deem it important to constitute our- 
selves into a Union, for the purpose of 
countenancing, counselling, and otherwise 
aiding one another; and also for the pur- 
pose of training up spiritual and devoted 
young men to carry on and to carry forward 
the work and ' pleasure of the Lord.' " It 
is worthy of remark that in this document 
issued in Kilmarnock, in 1843, we have 
the first indication of the advance made by 
Mr. Morison and his brethren beyond the 
position which they defended at the bar of 
the United Associate Church. Up to this 
time, although firmly maintaining that 
Christ had made atonement for the sins of 
every human being, that every Gospel 
hearer was already endowed with the power 
to believe the Gospel, and that any man 
might immediately pass from death to life 
by the exercise of simple faith in the God- 
given testimony ; they had nevertheless 
held the doctrine that God had determined 
from all eternity to apply this redemption 
savingly only to some men. But in this 
document they approximate more fully 
towards the sentiments of Wesley and 
others — alleging that the influence of the 
Spirit is universal and resistible — that the 
election of God's people is according to 
fore-knowledge and not according to the 
absolute fore-ordination of certain indi- 
viduals to special grace, — and that, in fact, 
all who comply with the Gospel call, believe 
upon Jesus and are led by the Spirit, are 
the elect of God. Such are the opinions 
now publicly avowed by the body, as will 
be shown in the sequel. 

About this time it began to be apparent 
that, in so far as unanimity of sentiment, 
brotherly co-operation, and identification in 
the eyes of the public were concerned, this 
young communion was to receive an im- 
portant accession from another denomina- 
tion in Scotland, — even as one rural stream 
when winding to the sea is sometimes 
joined by another of nearly equal size and 
volume. The Independents in Scotland 
had always been known as zealous preachers 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



183 



of a free Gospel, and Dr. Wardlaw, in his 
published writings about the time of the 
Rowite controversy, had maintained and 
defended the doctrine of universal atone- 
ment. Hence, during Mr. Morison's trial 
and the subsequent proceedings, the accused 
brethren met with no small share of sym- 
pathy from the ministers and members of 
the congregational churches. Some of 
these ministers had even exchanged pulpits 
with them after their excision, and had 
heartily co-operated with them in the " pro- 
tracted meetings" for the revival of reli- 
gion, which were then so common in the 
land. This sympathy and co-operation, 
however, began to be confined to a more 
limited number of the Gongregationalists, 
when the Calvinistie doctrines of eternal 
unconditional election and special grace 
began to be questioned by the Morisons 
and their co-adjutors. In fact, some of 
the Congregationalists themselves appear 
to have doubted and controverted these 
tenets sooner than their Presbyterian 
friends and fellow-labourers. In the year 
1842, the Rev. John Kirk of Hamilton 
published the first edition of " The Way 
of Life made plain, being twelve discourses 
on important subjects." In this little 
volume, which caused no small stir, and 
raised much acrimonious opposition, while 
at the same time it was blessed to do much 
good, he very strongly asserted the doc- 
trines of universal atonement, man's ability 
to believe the Gospel, and the universality 
and resistibility of the Spirit's operations. 
In a subsequent publication, entitled 
" Light out of Darkness," he inveighed 
more strongly against the Calvinistie views 
of election, fore-ordination, and predestina- 
tion. A considerable party among the 
Independents sympathized with these views, 
but the more numerous and influential por- 
tion of the connexion were dissatisfied with 
them. However, although some private 
correspondence took place, no public or 
formal deliverance was given on the dis- 
puted points till the year 1844. Several 
of the students of the Theological Academy 
in Glasgow, under the superintendence of 
Dr. Wardlaw; were suspected of being 
tinged with what began at length to be 
called, "New Views." The subjects of 
their annual discourses were so selected as 
to elicit their opinions distinctly and de- 
cidedly. Nor were they at all backward in 



expressing these opinions. The result was, 
that three questions were proposed to each 
student to which written answers were re- 
quired, against the annual meetings of the 
Congregational Union, which were to be 
held in Dundee on that year. The follow- 
ing were the questions thus proposed by 
Dr. Wardlaw : — " 1. Are your sentiments 
on the subject of Divine influence the same 
now as they were when you were examined 
by the committee and admitted into the 
institution? 2. Do you hold or do you 
not, the necessity of a special influence of 
the Holy Spirit, in order to the regenera- 
tion of the sinner or his conversion to God, 
destined from the influence of the Word or 
of providential circumstances, but accom- 
panying these means and rendering them 
efficacious? 3. Are your sentiments set- 
tled on the subject of the preceding query, 
or are you in a state of indecision and de : 
sirous of time for further consideration and 
inquiry?" Of about twenty regular stu- 
dents, replies of ten were deemed unsatis- 
factory by the Academy committee, which 
met at Dundee, and consequently these 
young men were cited for examination and 
remonstrance before a special committee 
appointed to sit in Glasgow, at the close 
of April. The position which they main- 
tained both in their answers to the queries, 
and verbally, when interrogated before the 
committee, was this, that they held most 
firmly the necessity of a Divine influence 
in order to the conversion of the ginner, 
but that this influence operated on the 
sinner's mind proximately through the 
truths of the Gospel — that it was resistible, 
and that it was exerted upon every Gospel 
hearer. They supported their views by 
such texts as " My Spirit shall not always 
strive with man." (Gen. vi. 3.) " Ye do 
always resist the Holy Ghost." (Acts vii. 
51.) They urged it as their' main argu- 
ment, and their main difficulty, that "if 
God were withholding necessary grace from 
any sinner, how could He say complain- 
ingly "Why will ye die?" and "What 
could have been done more to my vineyard 
that I have not done in it ?" (Ezek. xxxiii. 
11, Isa. v. 4.) and how could they, the 
preachers of the Gospel, call upon sinners 
to exercise immediate faith in the Re- 
deemer if they at the same time held that 
no one of their audience ever would believe 
unless God had determined from all eter- 



184 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



nity to impart the irresistible grace ?" One 
student gave satisfaction to the committee 
and was retained. Nine were expelled 
from the Academy for these sentiments, on 
1st May, 1844; of whom the following 
still labour in connexion with the move- 
ment, Revs. William Bathgate, Forres; 
James Samson, Blennerhasset, Cumber- 
land ; Ebenezer Kennedy, Paisley ; Gilbert 
M'Allum, late of Neilston ; and Fergus 
Ferguson, Glasgow. As it was well known, 
however, that several churches with their 
pastors in the neighbourhood of Glasgow 
held the very same views on the work of 
the Spirit, the four Congregational churches 
in the city of Glasgow, under the pastoral 
charge of Revs. Dr. Wardlaw, Messrs. 
Thomson, Russel, and Ingram, entered 
into a friendly correspondence with them, 
no other mode of discipline being open to 
them, owing to their ecclesiastical polity. 
The questions put by the Glasgow churches 
were quite similar to those addressed to 
the students, with this addition, that the 
doctrine of eternal and unconditional elec- 
tion was more plainly and pointedly referred 
to. The result was that the Glasgow 
churches disowned and intimated the cessa- 
tion of "all intercourse with these five 
churches, viz., in Hamilton, Bellshill, Cam- 
buslang, Bridge ton, and Ardrossan, with 
their pastors, Revs. Messrs. Kirk, Fergu- 
son, sen., M'Robert, Simpson, and Mather. 
This occurred in the year 1845. Four 
churches in the north of Scotland were at 
the same time, similarly dealt with by their 
neighbours, viz., those in Blackhills, Cotton, 
Forres, and Fraserburgh. 

All these ministers and churches began 
immediately to co-operate with the brethren 
of the Evangelical Union, although some 
years elapsed before any of them formally 
joined it. Yet they contributed to the 
funds of the same academy, held the same 
theological opinions, were designated by 
one name, and assumed the appearance of 
one denomination in the eyes of the public. 
The calls for labourers were so numerous, 
that all the students who had been cut 
off from the academy in Glasgow, were 
soon employed at flourishing preaching- 
stations. 

Towards the close of 1844, the Rev. 
William Scott, of Free St. Mark's, Glas- 
gow, appeared before his Presbytery, 
charged with preaching, that the sinner is 



not regenerated before believing the Gospel, 
but by means of the Gospel believed. In 
April, 1845, he was suspended from the 
ministry, against which decision he pro- 
tested, and appealed to the General As- 
sembly of the Free Church, held in Edin- 
burgh, in May of that year. He defended 
himself with great ability at their bar, but 
the sentence of the Presbytery was con- 
firmed. Although he gave in his resignation, 
his final separation was formally proceeded 
with in Glasgow in June following. The 
great bulk of his congregation adhered to him, 
and have, since that time, built a handsome 
and commodious chapel in Glasgow. He 
also unhesitatingly co-operated with the 
brethren of the Evangelical Union, and the 
Congregationalists above referred to. 

The Rev. John Hamilton, of the Relief 
Church, Lauder, also spontaneously joined 
the movement towards the close of 1844. 

Since that time, the religious views em- 
braced by these churches, have gained 
many fresh adherents, and the churches 
themselves have been increased and con- 
solidated. The only point of difference 
that subsists between the brethren who 
left the United Associate, or Secession 
church (now the United Presbyterian,) and 
those who left the Congregational Union, 
is on church-government. While both 
parties hold, that any external judicial au- 
thority, such as that exercised by Presby- 
teries, Synods, or Assemblies, over indi- 
vidual churches, is not countenanced by 
Scripture, nor by the practice of the primi- 
tive churches, the Congregationalists still 
transact their church business in their 
weekly or ordinary church-meetings, while 
the Presbyterians commit ecclesiastical af- 
fairs to a body of elders, of whom they 
appoint a plurality in each church. Both 
parties are Independents, or Congregation- 
alists, viewed externally; but, in their in- 
ternal government, there is the difference 
just indicated. Their real union and har- 
mony of feeling are not, however, thereby 
impaired. 

The Evangelical Union takes no cogni- 
zance of the internal affairs of the separate 
churches. The brethren, in forming it, 
chose the name of a Union, as contradis- 
tinguished from an authoritative judica- 
tory, and this they called Eoavgelical, in 
contradistinction to Congregational, Bap- 
tist, or other terms of the kind, to intimate 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



185 



that the basis of their union was theolo- 
gical rather than ecclesiastical, and in no 
respect interfered with the liberty of the 
several churches, to adopt whatever form 
of ecclesiastical polity they might prefer. 
Hence, " The Evangelical Union " is com- 
posed, indiscriminately, of ministers and 
churches holding both the Presbyterian and 
Congregational form of church-government, 
although the former preponderate. Its 
annual conferences are held in the begin- 
ning of October, immediately after the 
Academy's sittings. When the delegates 
from the several churches meet, they simply 
report to one another how the Lord's work 
prospers in their respective localities, and 
consult for the general good of the connex- 
ion, by appointing committees to attend to 
the interests of the Academy, for the Home 
Mission, Foreign Mission, &c, without, in 
any degree, intermeddling with the internal 
affairs of individual churches. Neither all 
the churches nor all the ministers have 
seen fit to join this Union, although all co- 
operate as Christian brethren, contribute to 
the support of the Academy, and are really 
one in sentiment and effort. 

About forty ministers, and a considerably 
larger number of young churches and sta- 
tions, are comprised in the body. 

The Rev. James Morison, now of Glas- 
gow, formerly of Kilmarnock, and the Rev. 
John Guthrie, now of Greenock, formerly 
of Kendal, act as professors in the Academy, 
the former of Exegetical, the latter of Sys- 
tematic Theology. A third chair, to be 
devoted to Old Testament Exegesis, is at 
present in contemplation, to be supplied as 
soon as circumstances will permit. The 
annual session of this institution is held for 
two months in autumn. Upwards of twenty 
students are in attendance. 

A prominent feature of the movement, 
is the transfusive influence it has exerted, 
and is still exerting, beyond its own denomi- 
national pale. This holds especially true 
of England, where, by means partly of 
revival efforts, in which the Rev. J. H. 
Rutherford, late of Kelso, has borne a prin- 
cipal share, and partly by the periodicals 
and other publications of the body, these 
religious views have made rapid and exten- 
sive progress, particularly in Newcastle, and 
other districts in the north of England. 

The energies of the ministers having been 
naturally engrossed in multifarious efforts 



for the maintenance of their position, and 
the dissemination of their views, there is 
little as yet to point to, in the shape of 
denominational literature, except the mas- 
sive and learned work of Mr. Morison, 
entitled, An Exposition of the Ninth Chap- 
ter of the Epistle to the Romans. During 
the progress of the atonement controversy, 
in which the movement originated, an im- 
mense number of pamphlets issued from 
the press, a complete set of which, on both 
sides, has been collected and bound into 
volumes, and is preserved in the library of 
the Theological Academy. The tracts and 
books of smaller size are many and various ; 
and prodigious numbers of these have been 
circulated in the course of the movement. 

It is specially worthy of notice, that a 
printing and publishing establishment, enti- 
tled, from the two principal periodicals, 
The Christian News and Day- Star Office, 
was commenced by private parties connected 
with the movement in 1846, and is in 
active operation at the present day. This 
office is in Glasgow, and from it there are 
issued a weekly newspaper, entitled The 
Christian News, which was commenced in 
1846, a small monthly magazine called The 
Day-Star, which was started the year pre- 
ceding, and has a very large circulation, 
besides other periodicals, and an immense 
number of tracts and minor treatises, exhi- 
biting, in various forms, the distinctive 
tenets of the denomination. 

As to these distinctive tenets, they may 
be regarded as centring in the cardinal doc- 
trine of WORLD-WIDE UNIVERSALITY OF 

the atonement. This doctrine, which, 
as Mr. Morison and his brethren conceive, 
lies in the heart of the gospel (1 Cor. xv. 
1-4), involves, it is contended, as cognate 
doctrines, the universality of the love of the 
divine Father, and the parallel universality 
of the indispensable influence of the divine 
Spirit. The universal love of the divine 
Father is regarded as the fountain whence 
the whole evangelical scheme of mercy, in 
all its manifold bearings on the human 
race, proceeded. The universal propitiation 
of the divine Son, is regarded as the chief 
expression of the Father's love to mankind, 
and as that perfect satisfaction for the sins 
of sinful men which makes it consistent for 
the divine Father, as the moral governor 
of the universe, to extend to all who, under 
the guidance of the Spirit, assume a certain 



186 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



spiritual attitude, pardon and purity, and 
ultimate glory. The universal influence 
of the Divine Spirit is required, to exhibit 
to men the love of the Father, and the 
Propitiation of the Son ; and, from the fact 
that it is universal, it is regarded as resist- 
ible. The resistibility of the influence of 
the Spirit is looked upon as necessarily co- 
related with the essential and therefore 
indestructible freedom of the will of man ; 
and, as it is only in the abuse of this free- 
dom that human sin is realised, so it is only 
in the legitimate use of it that that faith is 
experienced which is the conditio sine qua 
non at once of safety, sanctification, and 
ultimate glory. This freedom of the human 
will, whether in sin on the one hand, or in 
faith and holiness on the other, is looked 
upon as the turning-point of man's moral 
accountability, and as, indeed, the very 
essential principle of his moral nature. 
This being the case, original sin is not re- 
garded as an innate moral corruption of the 
soul. It is looked upon as exhausted in 
the imputation of Adam's first sin ; while 
the idea of an innate moral corruption of 
the soul is looked upon as based on one of 
two untenable assumptions, — the assump- 
tion of a traducian propagation of souls, or 
the assumption of the possibility of filial 
guilt Being involved in an independent 
parental delinquency, with which the chil- 
dren did not, and could not, comply. The 
same view of the essential freedom of the 
human will, finds other embodiments in the 
doctrine of limited fore-ordination, or the 
absolute fore-ordination on God's part not 
of all the actions of men, but only of his 
own acts (but coupled with universal 
prescience of all human actions), and in 
the doctrine of temporaneous and condi- 
tional election to forgiveness, holiness and 
glory. In short, the religious views which 
are generally designated " Morisonian," 
may be thus summed up : — That God the 
Father regarded mankind-sinners with an 
eye of compassion, and wished " all men to 
be saved;" that God the Son became "a 
propitiation for the sins of the whole 
world ;" that God the Spirit has been 
"poured out upon all flesh," and "strives" 
with all the irregenerate, and "dwells" 
in all believers ; that all those who, " led 
by the Spirit," " yield themselves unto 
God," are his chosen people, " elect accord- 
ing to fore-knowledge;" and that those who 



remain finally unsaved, and are thus the 
non-elect and reprobate, have themselves to 
blame for their infatuated "resistance" of 
the Holy Ghost; that for the conversion 
of any soul, all the glory is to be given to 
God, who " quickens " the dead, while over 
every soul that perishes, Jehovah complain- 
ingly cries, " why will you die ?" that 
although all men in their natural state are 
depraved and love sin, yet they possess the 
power to obey the command to believe the 
gospel — a power bestowed by God, and 
not destroyed by the fall ; that every sinner 
who believes the good news of salvation is 
conscious of the act, and " being justified 
by faith, has peace with God through Jesus 
Christ our Lord;" that Christ is " made " 
to every believer " wisdom, and righteous- 
ness, and sanctification, and redemption ;" 
and that before the finally impenitent and 
" the faithful unto death " there lies, re- 
spectively, either a miserable or glorious 
immortality. 

For an exhibition of the alleged Scrip- 
ture proofs, and a more complete view of 
all the subordinate doctrinal dependencies 
of these tenets, we must refer to the publi- 
cations of the denomination. 

The candid reader will now be fully 
able to judge, whether or not, this body 
be worthy of the sweeping denunciations 
which, of late years, have been hurled 
against them, over the length and breadth 
of the land. 

One of the most common modes of re- 
presenting their opinions is, that they teach 
that the sinner is " able to save himself/' 
and that they thus seek to rob the Eternal 
Jehovah of the glory that is his due, and 
confer it upon poor hell-deserving man. 
Does the sinner save himself when he 
simply tastes the food that has been pro- 
vided for him — when he simply opens the 
door at which God may have knocked for 
many a year — when he " looks unto God 
and is saved," in compliance with the Di- 
vine entreaty ? How can God be robbed 
of his glory, when it is admitted that, but 
for the sovereign interposition of the 
Father, the race must have irretrievably 
perished — that we were altogether "with- 
out strength,'' that is, without ability to 
atone for our sins, and procure a merito- 
rious righteousness, when, "in due time, 
Christ died for the ungodly," and thus re- 
moved for ever the otherwise insuperable 



HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL UNION CHURCH. 



187 



legal barriers that frowned in our way; 
and when it is admitted that, without the 
blessing of the Holy Spirit, the mere 
preaching of the Gospel would be no more 
efficacious for the actual saving of the soul, 
than the sowing of the seed in the soil 
would issue in the expected harvest, with- 
out the blessing of the God of Nature? 
Some are, indeed, startled by the state- 
ment, that the sinner is able to believe the 
Gospel when it is preached ; but when it 
is remembered that this power is God-con- 
ferred and God-sustained, a candid inves- 
tigator will eonfess, that the Divine being 
is in no wise, by such a view of truth, 
robbed of his glory. On the other hand, 
we hold that the opposite opinion derogates 
from the glory of God, viz., that the 
sinner is commanded to receive a gospel 
which he is confessedly unable to receive, 
and ultimately visited with a " much sorer 
punishment" for not receiving it. 

Again we are very generally charged 
with denying the doctrine of Election, and 
with explaining away rashly and daringly 
those portions of the Word of God which 
do not tally with our own opinions. The 
candid reader will perceive from the fore- 
going statement that we do not deny the 
doctrine of Election, but simply a particular 
view of it. We hold that God, according 
to his eternal foreknowledge and purpose, 
chooses those who believe in his Son — that 
men are not chosen according to their own 
works, but according to God's wondrous 
plan of saving men in Christ. (See 2 
Tim. i. 9, 10 j 1 Pet. i. 2; Eph. i. 4, also 
Rom. chap. ix. — the key to the proper un- 
derstanding of which is furnished by the 
apostle in the concluding verses, viz., that 
those who believe in Christ, as the Gentiles 
did, are the saved, and therefore the elect, 
whereas those who reject Christ, and 
" stumble at that stumbling stone," as the 
Jews did, are the reprobate or non-elect.) 
And we rejoice in this view of election, 
not only as that which is taught in Scrip- 
ture, and which reflects especial glory on 
the character of God, but as that which is 
beautifully reconcileable with the rest of 
God's revealed will. The grand difficulty 
with multitudes is to reconcile the doctrine 
of eternal and unconditional election with 
the calls to immediate faith which are ad- 
dressed to all sinners indiscriminately in 
the Word of God. But the view of elec- 



tion just indicated exactly harmonizes with 
the great New Testament decree, " He that 
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ; 
and he that believeth not the Son, shall 
not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth 
on him," and also with God's solemn as- 
severation, " As I live, saith the Lord God, 
I have no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked," and the unqualified declaration 
of the apostle, " Who will have all men to 
be saved, and to come unto the knowledge 
of the truth." 

It has further been alleged against us 
that we deny altogether Original Sin, and 
the depravity of man's nature. As has 
just been stated, while we deny such an 
imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, 
as would render them liable to eternal pun- 
ishment on account of it ; and such a view 
of the corruption of our fallen nature as 
would warrant the application of the epi- 
thet "sinful" to infant children, and render 
them obnoxious to hell-fire, we nevertheless 
maintain that Adam's sin has been so im- 
puted to the whole race, that they suffer 
temporal death on account of it, (Rom. v.) 
and we also hold that there is what may be 
called a tendency in every man who is born 
into the world to sin, owing to the biassing 
influence which the deteriorated flesh (crapf-) 
exerts upon the originally pure and God- 
given soul, and the evil influences where- 
with he is surrounded in the world without. 
And viewing adults in their natural un- 
converted state, we yield tc* none in the 
strength of the expressions which may be 
employed to designate the inveteracy, cul- 
pability, and hopelessness of their depra- 
vity and love of sin. The lusts of the 
flesh hold a proud and uncontrolled sway 
where the supreme love of God does not 
reign. And even after conversion the re- 
mains of corruption annoy him who " walks 
after the spirit," and involve him in a har- 
assing warfare, as the apostle abundantly 
shows in the seventh chapter of the epistle 
to the Romans. 

We have been charged with denying the 
work of the Holy Spirit. It will be ap- 
parent from the foregoing statement that 
this charge is unfounded. We firmly be- 
lieve in the personality of that Divine 
Agent; and of his gracious work in the 
salvation and sanctification of sinners, we 
hold sentiments which, in our estimation, 
reflect upon Him peculiar glory. We be- 



188 



HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



lieve that his love to mankind is co-equal 
with that of the Father and of the Son. 
He too regards the sinner with pitying eye, 
and whether by the monitions of conscience, 
the dispensations of providence, or the 
preached Gospel, does all that in the cir- 
cumstances can be done to bring him to 
repentance. And even, as the pious hus- 
bandman depends upon the blessing of the 
God of Nature, and, although he be con- 
vinced that according to a pre-established 
law, the physical influence of God co-ope- 
rates with his labours towards the produc- 
tion of an abundant harvest, yet does he 
pray for the needful assistance, — in like 
manner, although we be persuaded that the 
Divine blessing ever goes forth with the 
Gospel faithfully preached, we pray unto 
him to continue to pour out in augmented 
degree that Divine aid notwithstanding all 
our unworthiness and sin. "Without Him 
we can do nothing." 

We ever give prominence in all that we 
say and write to the great fact, that " with- 
out holiness no man shall see the Lord." 

Such being our theological creed, it has 
oft-times been matter of surprise to us 
that we have been judged so hardly by 
other denominations of Christians. With 
all genuine Protestants we say — "Let all 



the glory be to God, and none to man." 
With them we hold that salvation, or 
eternal life, is a gift, and not to be obtained 
by works ; and if we add that this gift is 
"unto all," and that man is able to take 
the gift which God presses upon his ac- 
ceptance, wherein do we seriously depart 
from the orbit of orthodoxy ? We desire 
union with all evangelical Christians. If 
any deserve the epithet evangelical more 
than others, we unostentatiously claim to 
be that party. We love The Gospel ; we 
have suffered for The Gospel ; and we ever 
give it an unrivalled prominence in all our 
ministrations. 

We are well aware that the number of 
those in other denominations who admire 
and hold our views, is far greater than that 
of those who are in actual fellowship with 
us. Nor do we wonder at this, believing, 
as we do, that their symmetry, consistency, 
and harmony with God's Word, must com- 
mend themselves to the conscience of every 
man who will candidly consider them. 

Even although we should be frowned 
upon, misrepresented, and disowned, we 
will still claim to be really one in heart, 
in aim, and in the estimation of the Master 
himself, with all who love the Lord Jesus 
in sincerity and in truth. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH 



BY A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH. 



This is the designation usually given to 
certain congregations of Christians which 
have been formed in England, Scotland, 
Ireland, America, Germany, France, Swit- 
zerland, &c. The following article has 
been written at our request by a gentleman 
officially connected with them : — 



The religious movement, erroneously ( 
named Irvingism by those who are igno- 
rant of its nature, is not the springing up ! 
of another in addition to the already num- 
berless sects into which, through our sin 
and the sin of our fathers, the one body of 
the baptized, the one Church of Christ, is 



HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



189 



rent asunder and torn to pieces. It is a 
development of a wholly opposite charac- 
ter. Its idea and practical effect are to 
heal, bind up, and make one, all the broken 
parts of our common laeerated Christian- 
ity — striving to restore the unity of the 
Spirit in the bond of peace. Its labour is 
to reproduce amongst all baptized persons 
the realization that there is " one body and 
one Spirit, even as we are called in one 
hope of our calling" — "one Lord, one 
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of 
all;" and to develop the worship of 
Almighty God in its living integrity, after 
the Divine pattern which He Himself has 
given to men; purged from superstition 
and idolatry with which it has been defiled 
on the one hand, and rescued on the other 
from the more subtle but not less deaden- 
ing sway of mere reason, which robs the 
holy sacraments of all their mystery and 
power, and resolves faith in God into mere 
assent to an intellectual proposition. Its 
object and aim are that the whole Church 
should be prepared as a chaste virgin bride 
to be presented to the Lord at his coming, 
which coming is expected shortly. All 
this it is believed the Lord Jesus Christ by 
the Holy Ghost, through his ministries 
ordained at the beginning for this purpose, 
can alone, but will assuredly, accomplish in 
all who have faith in him for that end. 

It follows from these premises that the 
creeds of the Catholic Church are the only 
creeds recognised. After the great schism, 
which was intended at first to be a reforma- 
tion of the evils that had crept into the 
Church, every sect made additions to those 
creeds, that of England adding thirty-nine 
articles, another setting up an additional 
creed at Augsburg, another at Westmin- 
ster, another at Trent : all such additions 
are rejected because they are sectarian and 
uncatholic. 

The forms of worship are those which 
have been used in all ages in the Catholic 
Church. The first and last hours of every 
day are devoted to Divine service — the 
matins and vespers of our fathers. Prayers 
are made also at nine and at three o'clock. 
The Holy Eucharist is offered and the com- 
munion administered every Lord's day. 
The form of the buildings, the furniture of 
the same, the vestments of the clergy, are 
in like manner those that were devoted to 
the worship of God in Catholic times. Li- 



turgies appropriate to each service as they 
were of old, cleansed from the mixture of 
idolatrous invocations of dead men and 
women, are employed. All these practices 
are still used in the greater part of Chris- 
tendom, but they are become mere mum- 
meries, because the true significance of them 
is forgotten and unknown. 

The labors of the students of prophecy 
in many sects, especially in Great Britain, 
have shown that there is reason to trust 
that the great hope of the Church is about 
to be realized, and that the Lord Jesus 
Christ will shortly appear to translate the 
living and to raise those who sleep in him, 
before his great judgment upon apostate 
Christendom. The political aspect of affairs 
justifies this ecclesiastical expectation. At 
no time in the history of Christianity was 
Europe bound as one under such despotism 
as at the present moment. Before the 
revolution of 1794, Venice, Genoa, the 
Hanse Towns, Holland, Hungary, Cracow, 
and other places, were free, while even the 
larger states had some forms by which the 
opinions and feelings of the people might 
be expressed. Now an iron autocracy is 
alone supreme. But the form of govern- 
ment in the Kingdom of Heaven is hierar- 
chical and subordinate; and a despotism 
which tramples on the people is as contrary 
to God's mind as a democracy, which tram- 
ples down the rulers He has appointed. 
The people will now burst their fetters, and 
the land which professes to have the Gospel 
of love for its law will see tl every man fall 
by the hand of his brother." 

Amongst the many blessings which God 
has revealed to his Church, one of the 
greatest is the re-establishment of deacons to 
take care of the temporal concerns of the 
people ; to relieve the wants of the poor ; 
and to be the channels of communication 
for the superfluities of the rich members to 
their less prosperous brethren. Had the 
Church remained as she was at first esta- 
blished, extreme poverty and destitution 
would not have prevailed. Thus is the 
Church a witness for God that by ordi- 
nances of his appointment alone, the world 
can be blessed. 

Let it not be supposed, however, that 
this word is the production of clever and 
learned men, employing their wit and 
industry to the development of a precon- 
ceived ecclesiastical theory. The indi- 



190 



HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



viduals through whom the work appears in 
its present condition were ignorant of the 
things which were continually elaborated 
by them. The restoration of the ministries 
enumerated of old in the New Testament, 
of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pas- 
tors and teachers, has been the means by 
which the result has been brought about. 
Prophecy giving light to the rulers has 
enabled these latter to order the work 
aright. The separation of one class of min- 
isters for the government of each church in 
a given locality independent of all others, 
whilst the aggregate of all these separate 
churches are kept in unity through minis- 
ters of the Universal Church, exclusively 
devoted to that end, has proved the only 
true method of unity ; the former being as 
the officers of the regiments, whilst the 
latter are the staff of the army of the Lord 
of Hosts. 

The proposed object of every sect is to 
teach men the knowledge of God, and to 
make them walk in all holiness of life : the 
peculiar object of this work over and in 
addition to that which it has in common 
with all who profess to love and serve God, 
is to prepare a people for the coming of the 
Lord. This preparation is not merely by 
making men individually religious and vir- 
tuous ; but by making them well instructed 
in the laws and method of rule in Christ's 
kingdom, so that when he comes, he may 
find a people ready to unite with him in 



For the following additional information 
we are indebted to the London Watchman, 
the newspaper organ of the Wesleyan Me- 
thodists : — 

The modern "Apostolic Church" being 
very imperfectly known to the generality 
of Christians, and as correct information 
respecting it is somewhat difficult to be ob- 
tained, we have thought it expedient to 
present our readers with a brief sketch of 
that religious community, in doing which 
we shall speak of it as it is — we shall 
" nothing extenuate," for that would defeat 
our intention, "nor set down aught in 
malice," to which certainly we have neither 
inducement nor inclination. 

The germ of the modern "Apostolic 
Church" was brought into being about 
thirty-two years ago. In the winter of 
1829-30, the Kev. Edward Irving de- 
livered a series of discourses in the Scot- 



taking possession of his kingdom, assuming 
the government, and commencing his 
reign. The members of the bride of the 
Lamb are a definite number ; the ministers 
of the King of heaven and of earth are a 
definite number: the number of per- 
sons to attain the first resurrection is a 
definite number : the number who meet 
the Lord and stand with him on Mount 
Zion is a definite number; — those per- 
sons are all sealed by the imposition of 
the hands of apostles, and when they have 
finished that work, then cometh the end. 

As the commission to Ezra and Nehe- 
miah of old was, not to build a new temple, 
but to restore the old, and to put into their 
respective places all the different parts that 
had fallen down, so the commission of the 
master-builders under Christ now is, not to 
form a new sect, but to replace in their due 
order all the ordinances which have been 
overthrown. The priesthood of the Epis- 
copalian sects is recognized, and the min- 
istry of those office-bearers in the sects 
which have rejected Episcopacy is ad- 
mitted; hence it is not from morbid fas- 
tidiousness, nor from vanity, but because it 
is the plain truth, that all those connected 
with this work reject the imputation of 
sectarianism, and declare that it is, and 
that nothing else is or can be, the union 
without confusion of every thing that is 
perfect in the One Holy, Catholic, and 
Apostolic Church. 



tish Church, Regent-Square, London, on 
the subject of Spiritual Gifts, the object 
of which was to examine, by the light of 
Scripture, whether those supernatural gifts 
which were conferred on the early Chris- 
tian Church were intended to remain only 
during a certain period, or to be continued 
throughout the present dispensation. The 
result was, he was led to conclude that they 
were given, not for a season merely, but as 
the Church's inalienable endowment during 
her present state ; that those gifts had not 
been withdrawn by her Lord, but had been 
lost through her own sinful neglect. While 
those discourses were being delivered, ru- 
mours were heard of manifestations of 
supernatural power among a small body of 
Christians at Port-Glasgow, in the west of 
Scotland — miraculous acts of healing were 
reported to have taken place, and extraor- 
dinary gifts of utterance, as in the first age 



HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



191 



of the Church, to be in exercise. This 
produced great excitement among the mem- 
bers of Mr. Irving's church and congrega- 
| tion, some of whom visited Port-Glasgow, 
and readily recognised the work to be of 
God. And others, who were prevented by : 
circumstances from judging of it personally 
and for themselves, received gladly the 
report given of it by their brethren. Of 
this latter class Mr. Irving was among the 
first to express himself satisfied regarding 
the character of the work ; and he subse- 
quently invited Mrs. Caird, one of the 
most highly "gifted" persons of the little 
community at Port-Glasgow to visit London. 
This lady was introduced to the members 
of his church; and such as believed the 
work to be of God continued to meet for 
prayer, that like gifts might be bestowed 
upon them. When "the power" came 
upon some of those who thus assembled 
together, Mr. Irving recognised their utter- 
ances to be the voice of the Lord, and ac- 
knowledged that God was in them of a 
truth. These manifestations were confined 
to private meetings, until one of the gifted 
persons interrupted, by an utterance the 
Sabbath morning service in Regent-Square 
Church, when Mr. Irving, addressing the 
congregation, explained to them the nature 
of the occurrence, stated that he could no 
longer restrain the Lord's voice, in His own 
house, and that, henceforth, those persons 
who possessed spiritual gifts should be per- 
mitted freely to exercise them in the public 
services of the sanctuary. From this 
period the subject of supernatural endow- 
ments almost entirely engrossed Mr. Ir- 
ving's attention, and he expended the whole 
power of his persuasive eloquence in pro- 
moting the work whieh was thus begun. 

Thenceforward there was an abundant 
flow of "utterances" both at the public 
services of the church in Regent-Square, 
and in private meetings for prayer and 
reading the Scriptures. Those utterances 
were of two kinds, — " speaking in tongues" 
and "prophesying," and were viewed as 
identical with those in the early Church, 
mentioned 1 Cor. xiv. The former was, 
at first, supposed to be some foreign lan- 
guage, and the gift to be similar to that 
conferred upon the disciples on the day of 
Pentecost, when men out of every nation 
under heaven heard in their own tongues 
the wonderful works of God. But after 



much diligent inquiry, no satisfactory evi- 
dence could be discovered that it was a 
real language spoken by any portion of 
mankind. It was then concluded to be, 
in the literal sense of the expression, an 
" unknown tongue" and viewed merely as 
" a sign" of the Holy Ghost, who declares 
His presence (say they) " by using the 
tongue of man in a manner which neither 
his own intellect could dictate, nor that of 
any other man comprehend !" And such 
it is still considered to be. The "pro- 
phetic utterances," however, were attended 
with much less difficulty, being in the 
English language, and, consequently, intel- 
ligible to all. They consisted, principally, 
of exhortations to holiness, interpretations 
of Scripture, openings of prophecy, and 
explanations of symbols. 

The general purport of the prophetic ut- 
terances, until towards the end of the year 
1832, was to show the need of a body, in 
which the Holy Ghost might dwell, as in 
a temple, and by which He might speak 
and act; that the tabernacle erected by 
Moses was the shadowing forth of eternal 
realities to be manifested in the Church as 
the body of Christ; that the ministries — 
of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor 
— which God gave at the beginning, were 
as necessary now as ever they were, and 
should be restored to the Church ; that the 
proper mode of ordination was by the im- 
position of apostles' hands, on those who 
had been called to the ministry by the 
word of a prophet; and that none should 
take upon themselves to serve in holy 
things, unless thus called and ordained. 

The circumstances under which the apos- 
tleship was, according to their idea, revived 
and developed, were as follows: — At a 
meeting for prayer, one of those present 
was declared by the word of a prophet, to 
be — "an apostle," and exhorted to the ex- 
ercise of his office "in conveying the Holy 
Ghost, by the laying on of hands." Some 
time subsequently, a person who had been 
previously called to be an "evangelist," 
received apostolic ordination; and, on the 
day following, by the concurrent action of 
apostle and prophet — the one calling _ for 
the ordination, and the other effecting it — 
an " angel" was ordained over the church 
at Albury. At this period, the Rev. Ed- 
ward Irving, who had already been deposed, 
on the charge of heresy, from ministerial 



192 



HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



office in the Church of Scotland, was for- 
bidden, by the "gifted" individuals whose 
guidance he could not then but follow, to 
administer the sacraments, or to fulfil any 
"priestly function." He was directed to 
confine himself to the work of a preacher 
or deacon ; in obedience to which, he ceased 
from his ordinary duties, until he was called 
by a prophet, and ordained by an apostle, 
as "angel," or chief pastor, of the church 
in Newman-Street. Such was the origin, 
and such the early exercise, of the modern 
apostleship. 

' In the year 1835, the number of apos- 
tles, designated "by the word of pro- 
phecy," amounted to twelve, and consisted 
of two ministers of the Church of England, 
one of the Church of Scotland, four private 
gentlemen, and five others belonging to the 
legal and medical professions. After 
having been set apart to their vocation, 
they withdrew to Albury Park, an estate 
belonging to one of them, where, in com- 
pany with seven prophets, they spent 
twelve months studying the Scriptures, 
communicating their thoughts one to an- 
other on various subjects presented to their 
consideration, and seeking to acquire the 
knowledge of the fundamental principles 
by means of which the Church was to be 
edified. At the expiration of this period 
of seclusion, they were directed to separate, 
and to distribute themselves over Christen- 
dom, in order to make themselves fully 
acquainted with the state of all the 
| churches, and to deliver a testimony to 
those set over them, beginning with the 
Pope. The performance of the latter part 
of this mission must have been a work 
attended with considerable difficulty, as 
those sent upon it were endued with no 
supernatural powers whereby to accredit 
their claim of acting by Divine authority. 
The primitive apostles could refer such as 
called in question their high commission, 
to " signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds," 
and could say, " truly the signs of an 
apostle were wrought among you," (2 Cor. 
xii. 12). The dozen gentlemen, however, 
who give themselves out as their successors, 
after a standing of twenty years, can do 
nothing of the kind; nor is it deemed 
needful, by those who acknowledge them, 
that they should do so, for this reason — 
the mission of the first Apostles (say they) 
was to convert an unregenerate world, in 



which the moral sense and spiritual facul- 
ties had not been awakened, and which, 
therefore, needed miracles addressed to the 
outer senses ; whereas, the mission of 
apostles in the last days is of a different 
nature — it is to seal the 144,000 (Rev. 
vii. 4), — to separate the spiritual from the 
unspiritual, the wise virgins from the 
unwise. 

Notwithstanding that the modern apos- 
tles perform no miracles, properly so called, 
they are declared to be invested with spi- 
ritual prerogatives. They are the link 
between Christ in heaven and the Church 
on earth. To them the mysteries of God 
are revealed, and by them communicated 
to the Church. They only are competent, 
authoritatively and certainly, to prove, 
discern, and give the true meaning of 
" prophetic utterances ;" and to them the 
" angels " are required to transmit such 
utterances as occur in their respective 
churches, for interpretation. It is their 
function also to communicate the Holy 
Ghost by the laying on of hands. They 
entered on the performance of this part of 
their vocation in the year 1847, when all 
sustaining office in the apostolic churches 
in England — angels, priests, and deacons — 
are said to have received this gift. At the 
same time, the members of the different 
churches, presented by their respective 
angels, likewise passed under the hands of 
an apostle, and were " sealed with the seal 
of the living God in their foreheads" 
And since that period, all who have attained 
the age of twenty, and professed their 
determination to dedicate themselves to the 
Lord, have been sealed in like manner. 
We are, moreover, told that the laying on 
of the apostle's hands is no empty cere- 
mony, but a mighty reality, frequently 
attested by such visible signs as " speaking 
with tongues and prophesying," and that, 
when unattended with any visible manifes- 
tations, the fact of its being " the sealing 
unto the day of redemption " is scarcely 
less certain to the faith and experience of 
the recipient. On those occasions, the apos- 
tle lays his hands on each, and says : — 

" Keceive the Holy Ghost, in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. God the Father Almighty, 
confirm and perfect thee ; seal thee [here 
he signs him on the forehead] with the seal 
and signet of the Lord; and anoint thee 



U 



with the ointment of salvation, unto eternal 
life." 

And, after all have received the laying 
on of hands, he says : — 

" Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye 
are anointed with the unction from the 
Holy one. In the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 

Of the claims of the modern apostolate 
to those high functions we shall speak 
anon. 

As respects the organisation of "the 
apostolic churches," persons become dea- 
cons by the choice of the congregation, 
ratified by the apostles. From the dia- 
conate to the priesthood there are three 
steps — the offering to serve God in that 
office, the voice of prophecy signifying 
God's acceptance of the offer, and the impo- 
sition of the hands of apostles. The office 
| of angel, or chief pastor, is attained in a 
! similar manner. The ministers of a church 
coDsist of an angel with six ruling presby- 
ters; various assistant ministers, deacons, 
and deaconesses ; evangelists, to gather in 
those who are without; and the "gifted" 
members, who may be either men, women, 
or children. The ministers of the apostolic 
church are supported by tithes. It is re- 
quired by the people to dedicate a tenth of 
their income to God, who gives it to the 
priesthood for their support. 

Ecclesiastical matters are managed by a 
council, consisting of ministers of all classes, 
so arranged as to afford an idea of the rela- 
tions and adjustment of the different parts 
of the machinery of " the apostolic church." 
This council was shown, at the time of its 
formation, by " the word of prophecy," to 
have been shadowed in the construction of 
the Mosaic tabernacle. The forty-eight 
boards of that structure, it was said, typified 
the six elders from each of the seven 
churches in London, together with six of 
the apostles ; the five bars which upheld 
all the boards represented a ministry com- 
mitted to other five of the apostles, whose 
duty it is to instruct the council in the 
principles upon which counsel is to be 
given; the two tenons with their sockets 
of silver for each board, had reference to 
the diaconal ministry, through which the 
eldership is rooted in the love of the people ; 
two elders appointed to act as scribes of the 
council have their shadow in the two corner 
boards of the tabernacle ; the heads of the 



25 



four-fold ministry — apostle, prophet, evan- 
gelist, and pastor — correspond to the four 
pillars between the most Holy and the Holy 
Place; five evangelists, to the five pillars, 
at the entrance; the seven angels of the 
churches, to the lights of the candlestick ; 
and sixty evangelists are the antitypes of 
the sixty pillars of the court, four of whom 
form the outer door of entrance. This 
council is declared to be the model accord- 
ing to which God's purpose is to be effected 
in every land. It is, moreover, asserted 
that a council adequately representing the 
whole Church, and presided over by a com- 
plete apostolate of twelve, and in perfect 
unity, would be infallible. This unity, 
however, does not, at present, exist, one of 
the apostles having withdrawn himself! 

The ministers of " the apostolic church " 
have, of late years, adopted priestly vest- 
ments, in which to perform their respective 
functions. These consist of alb and girdle, 
stole and chasuble, for services connected 
with the altar; a cope for the presiding 
angel; and a surplice, rochette, and mo- 
sette for preaching and other offices. The 
different colours of those vestments are not 
mere decorations, but emblems of spiritual 
realities ; — the purple, of apostolic dignity 
and rule; the azure blue, of prophecy; the 
crimson, of that blood-shedding which it is 
the special office of the evangelist to an- 
nounce ; and the white, of the pure relation 
between the pastor and flock. 

Regarding the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper, " the apostolic church " hold that 
a real change takes place in the bread and 
wine through the act of consecration, where- 
by they become the body and blood of 
Christ ; that this ordination is not only a 
communion feast, but also a sacrifice and an 
oblation ; that the elements should be used 
not only for communion, but also for purposes 
of worship, prayer, and intercession ; and 
that they ought always to be present upon 
the altar when the church is engaged in 
these acts. They also hold that, where 
the sacrament of the body and blood of 
Christ is, " his whole human nature — his 
soul as well as his body — and himself in 
his Divine personality, are not absent." 
Consecrated bread and wine are, therefore, 
reserved, and kept continually in a recep- 
tacle upon the altar, as a symbol of the 
Lord's presence, and a means of exciting 
awe in those who draw near to worship. 



194 



HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



The teaching of the "chief of the apos- 
tles" on this subject, is as follows : — 

" Where the spiritual nature of the sa- 
crament and the mystery contained in it, 
are devoutly believed, the reservation of it 
in the most sacred part of the Church, must 
be a powerful means of exciting, in those 
who draw near to worship before God, the 
holy awe which becomes his presence, and 
of increasing faith in him, assurance of his 
grace, joy, love, adoration, and worship of 
him who vouchsafes to dwell in the midst 
of the congregation of his saints." (Redd- 
ings upon the Liturgy. Part iii., p. 414.) 

Ministers and people, accordingly, turn 
towards the sacramental bread and wine 
thus reserved as a symbol of the Lord's 
presence, and reverently bow, on entering 
and leaving the church. Such are the 
teaching and practice relating to the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper — both of which 
we repudiate as the germ of all idolatry. 

The Apostolical Church attaches a high 
degree of importance to symbolical repre- 
sentations of spiritual objects. Towards 
perfecting their outward ceremonial, two 
lights have recently been introduced at the 
altar, to symbolise the presence of God in 
His two witnesses, Apostle and Prophet; 
seven lights before the altar, emblematic 
of His enlightening power when shining 
in the Word through the sevenfold elder- 
ship; and the burning of incense, while 
the prayers of the faithful are ascending 
up unto God. Moreover, the people are 
taught to expect that " as the Church ad- 
vances in the development and perfection 
of its outward ordinances, so all those sa- 
cramental rites will be developed, by the 
instrumentality of which every remedy for 
the soul, and even for the body, shall be 
administered, and the full grace of God 
laid up in Christ shall be poured out like 
ointment, and every faithful member of 
His mystical body shall be filled with the 
benediction of God. Thus are the chan- 
nels of ritualism, which have been hitherto 
found so empty and dry — so void of 
spiritual blessings — to become filled to re- 
pletion through the modern apostles and 
prophets." It is, moreover, worthy of 
remark, that the modern "Apostolic 
Church" condemns the Reformation as 
schism, speaks contemptuously of Pro- 
testantism, of Bible societies, and of the 
circulation of the Scriptures ; and strongly 



sympathises with the Roman and other 
apostate Churches. 

The Apostolic Church is said to be in a 
more prosperous condition at the present 
time, than at any former period of its his- 
tory. In England, during the last five 
years, the number of communicants has 
been increased by one-third. In America, 
which was recently visited by an apostle, 
several of the Episcopal clergy and Congre- 
gational ministers, it is reported, " have 
become obedient to the faith," and con- 
siderable bodies of communicants have 
been gathered, both in Canada and in the 
United States. In Prussia many churches 
have been formed, and angels ordained 
over them. At Berlin, the number of 
communicants is said to be very large. 
And we have just been informed that 
Thiersch, the Church historian, and one 
of the most learned men in Germany, has 
embraced the opinions of the modern 
apostolic school, and is become an angel of 
one of the churches. 

From what we have stated regarding the 
origin of the modern apostleship, our 
readers will have observed that its claims 
are based solely upon " the prophetic ut- 
terances." Now, as regards these utter- 
ances, there are circumstances connected 
with their early history which go far to 
test their character, two of which we shall 
just mention. The "prophetic utterances" 
were, at the period of their first appearance, 
intimately connected with Mr. Irving's er- 
roneous views respecting the humanity of 
Christ, and were appealed to by him as 
affording a Divine testimony to the sound- 
ness of those views, when they were con- 
demned as anti-Scriptural by the General 
Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 
There remain hearers of Mr. Irving who 
have a personal knowledge of this matter, 
and well remember that he made such ap- 
peals when preaching in Regent-Square 
Church. 

Another circumstance which we would 
mention as connected with the history of 
those " utterances," is well known to such 
as were members of the Newman-Street 
Church, at the time of its occurrence. 
About the year 1834, a person introduced 
himself to Mr. Irving as the pastor of a 
church in America, told him that a similar 
work had commenced among his people, 
and that being at a loss how to proceed 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



195 



with it, he had come to see the order ob- 
served in the church at Newman-Street. 
He and his wife received a most hearty 
welcome, and were entertained with all 
Christian hospitality by Mr. Irving and the 
members of his church. " Prophetic ut- 
terances" directed that certain persons 
should visit the church in America, of 
which this individual gave himself out as 
the pastor. He accordingly furnished them 
with letters of introduction to one or more 
of his elders. On their arriving in Ame- 
rica, however, no such church was to be 
found. It was discovered that Mr. Irving 
and his people had been grossly deceived 
by an arrant impostor, who had lived 
among them for some months, telling them 
lies daily. How very different this from 
the occurrence mentioned Acts v. 1—11, 
respecting Ananias and Sapphira, who, 
in their attempt to deceive the early Chris- 



tian Church, were instantly detected, and 
visited with condign punishment by the 
Apostle ! 

In conclusion, we must remark, that we 
cannot look upon this modern Church 
system, which arrogates to itself the title 
of " Apostolic," otherwise than as a strong 
delusion, whereby many are being deceived, 
and led into pernicious and soul-destroying 
error. And whereto will it tend ? Them- 
selves do not know, for the " prophetic ut- 
terances" may lead them into inextricable 
labyrinths and indefinite developments. 
Whatever system places human utterances 
on a par with the authentic revelations of 
Deity, does, in fact, instead of raising what 
is human, degrade what is Divine; and 
when once the standard of truth is debased 
by such alloy as we have seen, there can 
be no ascertainable limit imposed against 
further vitiation of it. 



HISTORY 



OF 



UNITARIANISM 



BY THE REV. DR. BEARD, 



MANCHESTER. 



Unitarianism is the name taken by 
those who bear it, in order to declare their 
belief in the strict and unqualified unity 
of God both in essence and in person. The 
designation had its origin in the sixteenth 
century, among the Unitarians of Poland, 
who, in order to distinguish themselves 
from believers in Monotheism in general, 
added the epithet, Christian, and so de- 
clared that they were " Christian Unita- 
rians." These terms are sometimes reversed ; 
whence comes the denomination of " Uni- 
tarian Christians." The title " Unitarian " 
has also its negative side, being assumed in 



opposition to "Trinitarian," used to desig- 
nate those professors of Christianity who 
hold the doctrine of a " Trinity in unity." 
Thus viewed, " Unitarian " is equivalent to 
" Anti-Trinitarian," by which name, also, 
the Polish Unitarians were accustomed to 
designate themselves. The Polish Unita- 
rians were disciples of Laelius and Faustus 
Socinus, and the masters of other Unita- 
rians in different parts of the world. The 
connection, imperfect and loose though it 
was, occasioned the name, " Socinian," 
which was given to Unitarians by their 
opponents, which has become, in some 



196 



HISTORY OF TJNITARIANISM. 



measure, a term of reproach, and which 
Unitarians warmly and steadfastly repu- 
diate, on the ground, mainly, that in reli- 
gion they follow no human authority. 

It is not easy to expound, in general 
terms, and with exactitude, the doctrine of 
the Unitarians. The difficulty arises, in 
part, from the fact, that it is only in a 
qualified sense that they exist, or can be 
spoken of, as a body. Strictly speaking, 
they have no corporate capacity, but exist 
as individuals and in churches, with such 
partial combination and unity of action, as 
may be called forth by local circumstances, 
or the maintenance of religious liberty may 
seem to require. 

In a body thus loosely compacted, diver- 
sities of opinion are inevitable. Such 
diversities are not regarded by Unitarians 
with disapprobation or alarm. Denying 
that salvation depends on the reception of 
any forms of opinion, they prefer a free 
mind to a stereotyped creed ; and holding 
that the only faith which is of value before 
God, is the faith which is the result of indi- 
vidual inquiry, simplicity of purpose in a 
pure love of truth, and holiness of life in 
accordance with the laws of Nature and the 
spirit of the Bible, they encourage unre- 
stricted freedom of thought and speech, and 
regard the consequent diversities with tole- 
ration, if not complacency, as the appro- 
priate and inevitable results of their funda- 
mental principles. 

While these facts and tendencies make 
it difficult to lay down, in set forms of 
speech, the tenets held by Unitarians, they 
serve also to supply features for our por- 
trait, and, at the same time, relieve the 
responsibility which the writer has assumed, 
in undertaking to speak for others. In a 
few points Unitarian Christians are of one 
mind. All Unitarians recognise the autho- 
rity of the sacred Scriptures, as containing 
" the sole and sufficient guide in faith and 
morals. " All Unitarians hold, that the 
universe, as the handiwork of God, and the 
temple of God's Spirit, is replete with 
Divine truth and religious impulse. All 
Unitarians believe that the human soul, as 
created in the Divine image, is capable of 
receiving religious impressions, and forming 
religious convictions ; and that while in its 
lower tendencies it is carried away from 
God, and led into sin, in its higher aptitudes 
and longings it is borne towards its Creator, 



and has no rest until it has become one 
with Him. 

Again, all Unitarians solemnly profess, 
and earnestly maintain, a belief in one only 
God, that august Being who, in the New 
Testament, is designated " the God of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory." 
(Ephes. i. 17.) By this they mean, that 
"the Father" of the Scriptures is the 
Creator, the Governor, and the Benefactor 
of all worlds and all men. Consequently, 
they deny all heathen divinities; they also 
deny the supreme deity of the Son and the 
Holy Ghost, considered as separate hypo- 
stases or persons in the trinity. The 
notions — the state of mind — out of which 
grew the metaphysical formulae of the Atha- 
nasian creed, were, they affirm, long poste- 
rior in date to the days of Jesus and his 
Apostles j and find no justification, still less 
any counterpart, in the teaching of the New 
Testament. Those teachings are strictly 
monotheistic, and, by anticipation, anti- 
Trinitarian. Proclaiming the sole Deity 
of God the Father, the Scriptures disown 
the alleged deity of any other being, and, 
at least, by implication, condemn the scho- 
lastic speculations respecting the essence 
of God, which came into repute, and re- 
ceived a definite form and an ecclesiastic 
sanction, in later and degenerate ages. 

In their maintenance of the unity of God, 
and their denial of the trinity, as being a 
doctrine of the schools, Unitarians find their 
point of union and co-operation. This is 
their characteristic tenet. By this they 
are distinguished from other professors of 
Christianity. All are Unitarians who be- 
lieve in the personal and essential oneness 
of God. The diversities to which we have 
referred, as existing among Unitarians, 
touch not this fundamental doctrine, the i 
maintenance of which, in its integrity, is 
the condition, and the sole condition, of the 
permanent existence of Unitarianism. 

Regarding the person of Christ, various 
opinions are held by Unitarians — opinions 
as various as are compatible with the reten- 
tion of the title, Unitarian. These opinions 
range from the high Arianism of Milton, to 
the simple Humanitarianism of Belsham, 
corresponding alike to the pre-existent 
logos of John, and the " man approved of 
God " of Luke. (Acts ii. 22.) There are 
other Unitarians who decline speculating 
on the point. Holding that the purpose 



HISTORY OF UNITAMANISM. 



197 



of God, in the gift of his Son, was not to 
make theologians, but Christians — not to 
set forth the incomprehensibilities of nature 
and essence — not to fix the psychological 
position in the universe of the Lord Jesus 
Christ — but to expound the eternal truths 
which concern man's relations to Gk>d, and 
exhibit God's disposition towards man; 
and to offer, in the life of his Son our Lord, 
a great remedial, restorative, and uplifting 
power, by which man may be drawn and 
raised to himself, many Unitarians do not 
feel themselves required to dogmatise as to 
the person and nature of the Saviour, the 
rather that they discover diverse views 
thereon, even within the New Testament 
itself; out finding in him a great human 
soul and a Divine power, the two combining 
to form the holiest, most lofty, most wise, 
and most benign being that ever trod the 
earth, they regard it as their duty, and 
make it their aim, to study, with profound 
attention, the sublime character of Christ, 
with a view of entering, by sympathy, into 
its spirit, and receiving, by love, the essence 
of that spirit into their own souls, that, 
seeing spiritual realities as he saw them, 
they may be raised to live in his sphere of 
thought, while they are still occupied here 
below in his sphere of duty. 

The Holy Spirit, Unitarians hold to be, 
God himself, regarded in that spiritual in- 
fluence by which the Creator communicates 
with man, and keeps up and strengthens 
that union with man which had its origin 
in man's creation, and still has a link in 
every individual soul, from the first moment 
of existence to the last. Thus regarded, 
God is very nigh to man. Nigh unto man 
in the wonders of creation, the mysteries 
of life, the teachings of the Bible, and the 
grandeurs of Christ, God is still nearer to 
man in virtue of his Holy Spirit, in and by 
which he is even in man I in a deeper and 
more spiritual sense than that general one 
which is implied in the fact that " in Him 
we live, move, and have oilr being;' 7 for as 
"God was in Christ reconciling the world 
unto himself," so is Godf in the soul of 
every true disciple of Christ, guiding him, 
strengthening him, comforting him, winning 
over his will, purifying his motives, refining 
his character, and withal deepening and 
brightening the fountains/ of his happiness. 

Believing that human beings are born 
men, not Christians, and that Christian is 



the highest style of character to which man 
can attain, Unitarians hold that a second 
birth is necessary in order to enter into the 
high spiritual life of the Gospel. In agree- 
ment with the teachings of Jesus, they 
maintain that all men must be born again. 
But they do not feel at liberty to define or 
restrict the mode of the Divine operation in 
this spiritual, any more than in that natu- 
ral, birth. Recognising as of indispensable 
necessity the hand of God in both, they 
know and acknowledge that "the wind 
bloweth where it listeth," and consequently, 
that now a child of God may be raised and 
trained under the gentle care of a Christian 
mother's hourly love, and now may be 
brought forth amid the throes and pangs 
of the terror and distress of a conscience 
smitten by sudden calamity, or by the 
truthful words of a mighty " man of God." 
Howsoever it may be, they hold that the 
way of Nature, and the way of God therein, 
are not heterogeneous and conflicting, but 
that the hand that made the heart, and 
daily fills it with blessings, can, and when 
He pleases does, effectually smite the rock 
and make it gush with its own pure stream. 
Regeneration, in their opinion, is not coer- 
cion, nor supereession ; but a stage in moral 
growth, a process of spiritual development, 
a revival of dormant energies, a renewal of 
suspended life. 

Regeneration has its perfect work in 
salvation. By salvation, Unitarians do not 
mean any thing merely negative, such as 
redemption from curse, or escape from hell. 
Regarding such views as only rudimental, 
and such results as nothing more than first 
steps in the Divine life, they place salvation 
in the utter extinction of sin in the soul, 
and in the establishment there of the king- 
dom of God, in its true power and glory. 
According to them, a man is saved when 
the purposes of God are fulfilled in him, 
both for the life that now is and that which 
is to come. Those purposes are all pur- 
poses of infinite wisdom, and boundless 
love. Not always clear, those purposes are 
always good. Going forward sometimes in 
cloud and mystery, they ever advance, like 
the darkened sun toward the meridian, and, 
when at their zenith, pour down streams of 
joy into the human soul. Always to be 
loved and revered, they are also always to 
be followed; and they reward a simple, 
earnest, childlike obedience, by carrying 



198 



HISTORY OF TJNITARIANISM. 



man into the bosom of God, and making 
him the undying possessor of the peace of 
God. Salvation therefore is not only free- 
dom from sin, but it is the perfection of 
virtue : in other words, it is humanity in- 
structed, enriched, refined, and elevated to 
its highest pitch, in virtue of the power, 
and after the model, of Christ. 

The ordinary views of Atonement are 
denied by Unitarians. Regarding God as 
an essentially loving and merciful being, 
they see in the Atonement of the New 
Testament a display of love, which, origi- 
nating in the goodness of God, was effected 
by the benignity of Christ, and will issue 
in the happiness of man. So far was God 
from being placated, that his kindness and 
compassion was the fountain and the 
moving cause of u the redemption which is 
in Christ Jesus." And so far was the 
death of his Son from being the vicarious 
penalty, that death was the special ground 
of God's complacency towards Christ (John 
x. 17), and of Christ's elevation to the 
right hand of God. (Phil. ii. 9.) It is 
not denied that sacrificial language is ap- 
plied in the New Testament to the passion 
of the Saviour. But that language, it is 
maintained, had parted with its primary 
import, while the strictly vicarious suffer- 
ings and literal atonements of heathenism 
were unknown in the Hebrew Church. 
The general idea of atonement, it is thought, 
passed, in the religious history of man, 
through several stages. In the rudest reli- 
gious conceptions, sacrifices were vicarious 
means of appeasing the Divinity, and so 
averting the consequences of his displeasure 
and wrath. Here we have the offender, 
man ; the being offended, God ; and the 
atoning medium, the most precious of man's 
possessions, — his substance, his captive, his 
child. By the Mosaic law, God was set 
forth as essentially good, and surpassingly 
merciful, willing therefore to accept man's 
offerings, not so much as means of appease- 
ment on his part, as tokens of a submissive, 
grateful, and obedient heart on the part of 
the repentant sinner; consequently atone- 
ment in the Hebrew Church was a system 
of covering, and as of covering, so of oblite- 
ration for sin, a system by which God 
threw a veil over human transgressions, 
and, receiving marks of man's homage, 
graciously remitted the sin, and forewent 
the penalty. Another stage in the concep- 



tion is found in the prophetic view of 
atonement, which, based on the internal 
nature of religion, the necessity of internal 
obedience, and the abuses to which the 
externalities of sacrificial observauces had 
been found to lead, disallowed, and even 
severely reprobated all outward oblations, 
and propitiatory tokens whatever, declaring 
that God could accept only a pure 'heart 
and a benevolent life. (Is. i. 11 ; Amos 
v. 21; Micah vi. 7; Jer. vi. 20; vii. 22.) 
The final step in this process of revelation 
and of spiritual refinement was set by the 
Lord Jesus Christ, when teaching men to 
regard God as the Father of all, especially 
of those who believed (1 Tim. iv. 10), he 
taught them also to consider his own suffer- 
ings as an expression and exemplificatiom 
of love — of "everlasting, unpurchased, and 
unprompted love — on the part of the 
Father, and of pity, and the widest and 
most generous philanthropy on his own 
part. Coming, however, as he did to put 
away sin by the voluntary sacrifice of him- 
self (Heb. ix. 26), he became the great 
sacrifice — the ideal atonement — the com- 
pletion and the fulfilment of all divinely- 
recognised sacrificial ideas, types, and ob- 
servances, — so that, while all the phrase- 
ology connected therewith was applicable, 
and in its highest import applicable, only 
to him, that import was not physical, not 
material, but, divested of all merely human 
and earthly elements of wrath, equivalence 
and propitiation, had risen into pure spirit- 
uality, and represented, as its essential 
ideas, sin and suffering on man's part, love 
on the part of God and Christ, and such 
a remedy emanating from the latter as 
would inevitably cover, obliterate, and re- 
move the former. Thus eliminating all the 
gross conceptions which had their reason, if 
not their origin in low states of moral 
culture, and early periods of civilisation, 
the Gospel presents in its atonement "a 
new and better way" — a way in which 
mercy triumphs' over justice, love has 
"free course a:ad is glorified;" and, 
while sin is subdued and extirpated, the 
sinner is redeemed, restored, renovated, 
and made everlastingly happy, by becom- 
ing essentially holy. 

The entertainm-ent of such views is, Uni- 
tarians think, a sufficient answer to the 
charge that theirs is a system of morality 
rather than religion. A moral life they do 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



199 



consider an indispensable part of the duty 
they owe to God. But, cultivating mo- 
rality as of Divine obligation, and not 
merely as a matter of utility, interest, or 
expediency, they hold that morality is not 
only inseparable from religion, but in truth 
is a part of religion, is religion itself in 
one of its aspects, is religion in motive and 
in act, viewed in regard to God as its 
source, and earth as its arena. But mo- 
rality in their opinion is not religion ; for 
religion is something more than morality. 
And specially do they identify the Gospel 
with religion, regarding the Gospel as a 
divinely-given remedy for human sins and 
woes, and recognising in it, especially as 
embodied in the all-powerful life of Christ, 
a restorative agency, a developing and up- 
lifting agency, sufficient to save the- world 
notwithstanding its numerous and terrible 
evils. The sceptre has been given to tlie 
Son, and he will reign until he has van- 
quished all enemies. 

Nor can Unitarians, as they themselves 
think, be justly charged with making light 
of sin. Sin they account the source of all 
human woe Without indulging in specu- 
lations respecting the origin of sin, they 
recognise and bewail its virulence and 
terror. They are equally convinced that 
sin is as hateful to God as it is baneful to 
man. And it is, they think, because sin 
is so antagonistic to the will and purposes 
of God, and so destructive, so ruinous to 
man, that the Almighty Father has taken 
such special pains in alike u the law, the 
prophets," and the Gospel, to aid his 
children in the terrible conflict, and enable 
them to "come off more than conquerors 
through him who loved them, and gave 
himself for them." Sin they look upon 
as the occasion of the atonement which is 
in Jesus Christ. On account of sin, Christ 
came, suffered, and died. By sinful lips 
was his saintly life aspersed; by sinful 
hearts was he hunted up and down the 
land; and by sinful hands was he taken 
and put to an ignominious death. The 
malignity of sin, the inveteracy of sin — 
its perverseness, its pollutedness, its reck- 
lessness — were exemplified in the death of 
Jesus, in colours of the darkest hue, in 
shapes of the most frightful proportions, — 
colours and shapes never before or since 
seen on earth, and fitted, if any can, to 
make the heart weep in sympathy, and 



glow with indignation and sorrow for its 
own sinfulness in a truly godly sort. 

The Scriptures of the Old and New Tes- 
tament are generally received by Unita- 
rians, and acknowledged as the source of 
their belief, and the standard of their 
practice. Believing that the Bible was 
given in order to teach men their relation 
and their duty to God, and to lead men, in 
the observance of its holy teachings, to 
duty, peace, and eternal life, they study 
the Bible, in order to discover the will of 
God, and with a view to submit themselves 
implicitly to His laws. It is, therefore, as 
a religious manual, that they receive and 
revere the Bible. Other subjects, found 
in the Scriptures, they regard as incidents 
and channels for the conveyance of reli- 
gious truth, and do not consider that the 
statements or implications connected with 
them, have any other authority than be- 
longs to the opinions of the age in which 
they were uttered. In history they know 
that the Bible contains not only the most 
ancient, but the most trustworthy records. 
Its geolog3 r , however, and its astronomy, 
they consider local and temporary. Equally 
has its legislation — pre-eminently exalted 
as was its general tenor — no binding au- 
thority now, since Christ, in establishing 
his church, put an end to the Mosaic insti- 
tutions. Of the religion of the Bible, it 
may also be added, that it appears, in an 
historical form, and under historical de- 
velopments ; consequently, though ,its pri- 
meval revelation of God, and some other 
central truths, are disclosures for all time, 
and for all social conditions, yet even here 
the idea of infinite power, or Elohim, ex- 
panded, and rose into the idea of self- 
existence, or Jehovah ; which, in its turn, 
was, by " the great Teacher," carried out 
into the grand, elevated, and endearing 
representation of Father — -spiritual Father 
-7- the Father of our spirits. In other re- 
spects, religious ideas and obligations were, 
under the providence of God, widened and 
refined, so that when at last the Messiah 
came, he, in the authority with which he 
was invested, " took away the first, that he 
might establish the second;" (Heb. x. 9, 
compare Matt. v. 21;) and who, in fulfill- 
ing the aim and spirit of the Mosaic dis- 
pensation, (Matt. v. 17,) set aside the letter 
which killeth, in order to bring in the 
spirit which giveth life, (2 Cor. iii. 6,) and 



200 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



so accomplish the prophetic word, in 
making " the glory of the latter house 
greater than of the former." (Haggai ii. 
9.) During the execution of his office, 
Jesus, having to address Jews filled with 
I opinions and theological notions of a mere 
I earthly and transient character, in speaking 
| so as to be listened to — so as to be under- 
stood — of a necessity accommodated him- 
self to his auditors, and, therefore, took up 
into his words many elements which form 
no part of his religion, and are in no way 
obligatory on his followers in a remote 
generation. These uncongenial and tem- 
porary materials are, however, easily dis- 
cernible, and may, with due care, be sepa- 
rated from the everlasting truth which, in 
his word and in his life Christ brought 
from God, to be the great religious treasure, 
and the great religious remedy of the 
world. Local and peculiar in their primi- 
tive form, the principles of Christ's reli- 
gion, if few, are clear, distinct, compre- 
hensive, and of great efficacy; and they 
are all summed up and embodied in his 
life ; whence it came to pass that the first 
teachers of the Gospel preached Christ 
rather than Christianity, leaving us an ex- 
ample which we cannot neglect without 
serious detriment. 

The life of Christ, including his affec- 
tions and his aims, as well as his acts, was 
God's great word to man. As such, it 
contains the element of inspiration in its 
purest and loftiest form. With such a 
standard and such a test, the religiously 
disposed student of the Bible has no diffi- 
culty in ascertaining what those writings 
were which Paul characterised as " divinely 
inspired;" (2 Tim. iii. 15-17;) while the 
gradual development of religious truth, 
and the refinement and elevation of the 
religious sense, suffice to show that inspira- 
tion is rather a Divine operation to lift men 
into a higher sphere, in co-operation with 
their own efforts, than a mere passive com- 
munication of light, or a guarantee of 
dogmatic infallibility. The grand purpose 
of the religion of the Bible, is the advance- 
ment of human perfection; and alike in 
the general tenor of Divine revelation, and 
in the particular influence which theolo- 
gians term " inspiration," God appears 
there always working side by side with 
man, and in harmonious union with those 
laws, ordinances, impulses, and obligations 



of our nature, which have emanated from 
his will, and were designed equally as they 
are fitted, to carry forward our education, 
and perfect alike the individual and the 
species, so as to secure the full realization 
of God's wise and most loving intentions. 

If we cast our eye back on the statements 
that have been made, we may recognise a 
two-fold division, and be led to dwell a 
little on the the matter considered, first re- 
ligiously, and then theologically. These 
terms imply a distinction as between religion 
and theology. A similar distinction between 
religion and morality has already been 
spoken of. Now, as we have denied that 
religion excluded morality, or morality ex- 
cluded religion, so here let it be remarked, 
that religion and theology, though different, 
do in no way deny or set aside each 
other. Theology, by its very name, is the 
science of God. Hence, theology is an 
affair of the head. Theology is human 
reason applied to Divine things. As such, 
theology may have in it much that is 
human, and little that is Divine. At any 
rate, theology is man's word concerning 
God's doings — it is man's interpretation 
of the universe and its government — it is 
a key to the Bible, devised and fabricated 
by man. Being so radically human, it must 
largely and deeply partake of human quali- 
ties. And being the thought of a finite 
being, it must fall very far, inconceivably, 
short of the thoughts of the Divine mind. 

So far then as the views now expounded 
are purely theological, so far are they of 
only small aud relative value. They can 
pretend to no authority beyond the autho- 
rity of the individuals by whom they have 
been tbrmed and are entertained. Satis- 
factory to them, they will be satisfactory 
also to persons like-minded with them; 
aud may possibly possess germs of living 
truth, which will bear the test of time and 
experience. 

Different is it with the religion of the 
preceding observations. Religion, looked 
at also etymologically, is that which is obli- 
gatory. It is the binding power — the 
expression and the source of human obliga- 
tion. As such, it has its origin in God, 
whose mind is the seat, and whose word is 
the herald of obligation. Those eternal 
laws of right and duty have their counter- 
parts in the deep and indelible impressions 
of the human soul, and find a voice in those 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



201 



instinctive loves, fears, and hopes, which are 
inwrought in our frame, and have ever 
proved themselves the great moving powers 
of human life. There, in consequence, re- 
latively to man, is the source of religion. 
Now, those impressions, and those instinc- 
tive emotions, are no less universal in their 
prevalence, than they are Divine in their 
origin. Religion, accordingly, is natural 
to man — as natural as is reason, or family 
love, or hunger, thirst, sleep. If so, reli- 
gion is an inevitable necessity of our nature, 
and no fears need be entertained of the dis- 
appearance of religion. But religion, like 
ail our natural affections, requires cultiva- 
tion. It must be accompanied with instruc- 
tion, be regulated by prudence, be strength- 
ened by exercise, be enlarged and softened 
by general culture, and be refined and 
elevated by revelation. 

What, however, we chiefly wish to mark 
is, that religion has vouchers far superior 
to the vouchers of theology. The vouchers 
of religion are God and humanity — the 
Being who moulded the human soul, and 
the human soul itself. The vouchers of 
theology are the reasoning powers of indi- 
viduals. The vouchers of religion are the 
Bible in its general tenor, and the universe 
in its general influence. The vouchers of 
theology are the text-books of the schools, 
and the climate of particular zones of the 
globe; the Summa of Thomas Aquinas; 
the Institutes of Calvin and Priestley ; the 
Maliabarata and Ramayana of Hindostan. 
Hence is it that we have so many theolo- 
gies; quot homines, tot sententise. But, 
properly speaking, religion is one, and there 
is but one religion — one power under 
many forms; the forms very diverse, the 
power ever the same ; just as we have one 
sun and many climates. These forms are 
no less variable than diverse ; and as being 
diverse and variable, they come and go — 
they are born and perish. But, partaking 
of the general law of mundane things, they 
undergo a slow, but certain, process of im- 
provement; and so the forms of religion 
ever draw nearer to the substance of reli- 
gion ; and the sign, and the thing signified, 
| tend to become one. In the consummation 
of that result, religion and theology will be 
the same — the shadow will be lost in the 
substance. Not within reaches of time, 
which we should venture to mark, will that 
I result be accomplished. Meanwhile, we 



26 



may possess our souls in patience, if we 
carefully separate the tares from the wheat ; 
and while we take into our closest embrace, 
and trust, as our surest and dearest friend, 
the religion of God and man, we hold 
loosely, and estimate not unduly, the the- 
ologies of the schools. 

Guided by sentiments such as these, in- 
dividual Unitarians attempt to combine a 
settled and stationary religion with a free 
and progressive theology. An assailant of 
the Gospel took for the title of his work — 
" Christianity as Old as the Creation." 
There is truth in the motto, however per- 
versely the motto was used. Religion cer- 
tainly is as old as the creation. Beligion 
came in with time, and it will not go out 
until time shall be no more. And in the 
great realities of the outer and inner life of 
Christ, religion found its only true and 
perfect utterance. Beligion is, and must 
remain what it was in Christ. Christianity 
is a fixed, as well as a determinate quantity. 
The exponent of its quality, as well as its 
value, is the Son of God himself. In him 
power from on high, and aptitude from 
below — the Divine and the human -7- met 
in perfect harmony, and the fullest propor- 
tions. The mind of Christ, therefore, is 
the will of God ; and the word of Christ is 
God's word. In general, the Son revealed 
the Father. Consequently, in the Son is 
the Father seen. Christ himself is the 
Christian decalogue. In him duty is de- 
clared, and obligation is both exemplified 
and enforced. In him is the law of God, 
and the exposition of that law. In him is 
there light for our steps, and a staff for our 
hands. Specially in him is there every 
affection, every sympathy, and every 
charity — devotion, love, pity, that enters 
into the religion of our hearts ; and in him 
so do those high realities, those touching 
and lovely qualities exist, that while they 
sanction, they encourage, call forth, and 
elevate every corresponding germ in our 
souls. And thus Christ's religion being in 
Christ's sublime life, the Gospel finds at 
once its vouchers and its victories in our 
hearts, and in our conversation ; Christ and 
Christians, united in sympathy of feeling 
and aim, at length become one in mind, 
will, and effort. Here is certainty — the 
greatest certainty attainable by man ; and 
if this is not certain — if this Gospel is not 
true — if these vouchers are not reliable — 






202 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



if this gift and this work are not of God — 
if this result is not good, desirable, pre- 
cious, Divine — then are all marks and 
criteria of truth gone from earth, if ever 
any existed here ; then man is the dupe of 
his own fancies ; he is given up to delu- 
sions ; for the clearest, most definite, most 
distinct, and the most benign and pleasing 
voices of his intelligence are falsities — 
sounds without value, mere cyphers and 
counters invested by imagination with the 
attributes of reality; then belief in self 
vanishes with belief in God, and while we 
lose faith and hope, we lose charity also. 
But if such a denudation of the heart is 
impossible ; if even with violent hands we 
are unable to throw overboard this freight 
of our souls, in its loves, and its hopes, 
and its fears ; therewith are we compelled 
to retain religion ; therewith will the 
Gospel remain behind; therewith does, 
and must, Christ appear in the tossing 
bark, saying, " It is I, be not afraid." 
(Matt. xiv. 27.) 

A warm and practical religion, combined 
with a free theology, implicates mental 
freedom. And Unitarians are wont to en- 
force* with special iteration and emphasis, 
those indefeasible rights and unavoidable 
obligations which God's own hand wrought 
into man's intelligent nature, in giving him 
a head to think, a heart to love, and a will 
to obey. In consequence, Unitarians have 
been, and are, friends of the largest and 
fullest toleration. Regarding religion as em- 
phatically a solemn concern between each 
man and his Creator, they disallow all hu- 
man interference and control ; and hold that 
man can justifiably offer to man, in regard 
to religion, nothing more than genial sympa- 
thy or brotherly admonition. Dictation and 
( coercion they, therefore, regard as positively 
irreligious ; and to persecute, or in any way 
injure or disqualify a man for his religious 
sentiments, is to assail religion in its own 
name, and make war upon it under its own 
banner. Actuated by these views, Unita- 
rians do more than claim toleration ; they 
do more than assert liberty of conscience, 
they proclaim, avouch, and defend mental 
liberty, in the fullest sense of the word — 
liberty of thought, liberty of speech, and 
liberty of worship. And this liberty they 
maintain as well for those who believe less, 
as for those who believe more than them- 
selves. The right depends not on the 



number of the articles of our faith, but on 
the imprescriptible attributes of the soul. 
The right, consequently, is co-extensive 
with the possession of intelligence. Valid 
for the believer, it is valid for the unbe- 
liever. Orthodoxy and heresy are here on 
the same ground. Questions of more and 
less have no place in an issue where God 
and man stand face to face in awful soli- 
tude. 

The system of thought which has now 
been described, has of course run in the 
channels, and come out of the channels, in 
which within the last century have flowed 
the great current of European thought. 
In its more recent origin, Unitarianism was 
essentially rationalistic. As it appeared in 
its powerful champion, Dr. Priestley, it was 
an appeal of what was called " common 
sense," against what was called " the cor- 
ruptions of Christianity." Our business 
here is to report, and not to discuss. In 
attempting to report truly, we are compelled 
to declare, that in this stadium, Unitari- 
anism appeared divested of some of the 
features of the Gospel, and, losing its warm 
and mellow light, seemed disposed to find 
a home in what has been termed " natural 
religion." Yet this result ensued with the 
followers of Priestley, rather than with 
Priestley himself, who ever remained deeply 
convinced of, and strongly attached to, 
Christianity as a system of divinely re- 
vealed truth, promulgated by Jesus, and 
evidenced by the "signs and wonders" 
which he performed. 

A more spiritual, that is, a more truly 
religious, tone of thought and feeling, has 
its representative, and in part its author, 
in Dr. Channing, formerly of Boston, in 
New England. The chief fountains of 
this system are however to be found in 
Coleridge and his scholars in England, and 
in Kant the master, not only of Coleridge, 
but of a school of continental philosophy 
which has coloured the entire current of 
European thought. Without attempting 
to describe, even in outline, the particular 
phase of that philosophy which has modi- 
fied existing Unitarianism, we may observe 
that its essential inwardness; its distinct 
apprehension of the grounds of human 
knowledge in individual consciousness ; its 
comprehensive generalisations, and its mas- 
terly reduction of all categories to two, 
"myself, and what is not myself;" and 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



203 



hence the simplicity of its procedure, and 
the certainty of its great results, have pro- 
i duced corresponding effects, not only in 
Unitarianism, butm all the more thoughtful 
religious operations and manifestations of 
the day, and promise to bring about a new 
era of religious light, if not to send forth 
a new display of religious power. Mean- 
time, like other great movements of the 
human mind, this movement has had, and 
still has its extravagancies. Only two can 
be here adverted to. In theology the 
movement has been not only free, but de- 
structive. The pendulum seems about to 
settle in a safe medium between unwar- 
rantable claims, and equally unwarrantable 
denials. In speculation, the movement has 
hurried towards the thick mists of pan- 
theism, where it has lost distinctness of 
form, clearness of apprehension, and pre- 
cision and vigour of thought. Happily 
the mind of Europe is linked to the Bible. 
Drawn downward to the solid ground by 
that golden chain, the mind of Europe, 
and the thought of the world, already give 
signs of becoming more sensible without 
being less spiritual, and acknowledging the 
essential conditions of human existence, 
will, as we trust, soon no longer attempt to 
comprehend the infinite, and define the in- 
definable ; but leaving reason to speculate, 
will also permit the heart to love, and the 
soul to adore. 

As may appear from what has gone be- 
fore, Unitarians claim for their view of 
Christianity an antiquity coeval with the 
Gospel, and regarding the Old dispensation 
as the precursor of the New, they carry 
back their characteristic doctrine of the 
strict and proper unity of God to the days 
of Moses and Abraham, the earliest known 
monotheists. Without here entering on 
Scriptural controversy, we may safely affirm 
that Unitarianism, if not, as Unitarians 
believe, of apostolic origin, certainly had 
an existence in the earliest Christian 
churches of which history has left any dis- 
tinct record. This leaven made itself 
manifest by clear and undeniable signs 
during the three first centuries, when those 
who entertained the highest form of Uni- 
tarianism were called Monarchists, because 
they asserted the monarchy, or sole deity 
of God the Father. At the same time a 
gradual change was proceeding which led 
from the simplicity of the earliest forms 



of opinion regarding the person of Jesus, 
to his complete deification, and the associa- 
tion with Him and his Father of another 
person, the Holy Spirit, in one triune God. 
The change, as the Unitarians affirm, was 
slow and gradual, nor was it completed 
without conflict with the less sophisticated 
members of the church, whose orthodoxy 
consisted in a pious and benevolent life, 
equally remote and alien from the philo- 
sophy and the disputation of the schools. 

Continued and propagated during the 
dark ages under the form of Arianisrn, 
which at one time seemed likely to become 
the established faith of the Western Em- 
pire, Unitarianism revived at the dawn of 
the Reformation from Popery, and coming 
into active and energetic life in Italy, 
thence, notwithstanding the most rigorous 
measures of suppression, propagated itself 
into Poland, Transylvania, Germany, the 
Low Countries, and even as early as the 
reigns of Edward and Elizabeth, put forth 
shoots in our own land. In Poland it was 
taken into favour by the civil power; and 
when, on a change of measures with a 
change of dynasty, it was bitterly perse- 
cuted there, it found a refuge and a home 
in Transylvania, where it subsists unto this 
day. Not under its own name only, but 
in connection with rationalising and Ar- 
minian divines, did Unitarianism long con- 
tinue on the continent, to exert a great 
influence on the general tone of theological 
opinion, as is evidenced by the voluminous 
and learned writings which pass under the 
name of the Bibliotheca Fratrum Foh- 
norum, as well as by the influential works 
of Grotius and Episcopius. The tone of 
thought which hence emanated paved the 
way for the reconstruction of theology, 
which has been effected in Germany during 
the last century, and for the formation 
there of a school of moderate divines, 
equally removed from the full forms of the 
old orthodoxy, and the attenuated forms 
of the new rationalism. This medium di- 
rection of theological thought, has modified 
doctrinal opinions in most Protestant 
churches in -the world, and having brought 
some moiety of French Protestantism to 
Unitarian views, is gradually attenuating 
the creeds of our own country. 

During the partial religious freedom of 
the commonwealth, John Biddle, "the 
father of English Unitarianism/' founded 



204 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



a society of Unitarians in the city of Glou- 
cester, and, in union, though without con- 
cert, with other learned men, sowed the seeds 
of Unitarianistn in the county of that name, 
and in various parts of England. The pub- 
lications, known by the name of the " Soci- 
nian tracts," which Biddle and his fellow- 
labourers put forth, introduced the Arianism 
of the old Presbyterian congregations, and 
prepared the way for the humanitarianism 
which ensued in them, under the impulses 
of Priestley, Lindsey, and Belsham. The 
result of this movement has been the trans- 
mission of Unitarianism in many old non- 
conformist churches, the establishment of it 
in new societies, with new places of wor- 
ship, and the diffusion of Unitarianising 
tendencies in the Episcopal, as well as the 
Congregational bodies. Unitarians, alleging 
that their real strength, both socially and 
religiously, is greater than would appear 
from the number of their congregations, 
report, as Unitarian churches, in 

England 216 

Wales 31 

Scotland 6 

Ireland 45 

298 

making a total of 298 separate societies in 
Great Britain and Ireland, independently 
of a large number known as " Christian 
Brethren," who belong to societies in differ- 
ent parts of England, especially Lancashire 
and Yorkshire. In popular education, 
English Unitarians are allowed to discharge 
their full share of duty. Many writers 
connected with the periodical press of the 
country, are of Unitarian sentiments ; and, 
in the highest literature of England, Uni- 
tarianism is not unrepresented. For the 
purposes of collegiate education, whether 
with a view to the pulpit, the bar, or com- 
merce, young men of the Unitarian persua- 
sion repair to the Manchester New College ; 
to the Owen's College, Manchester; to the 
Presbyterian College, Caermarthen ; to 
University College, London ; to University 
Hall, London; to the Queen's College, 
Belfast; and to the universities of Edin- 
burgh, Glasgow, Berlin, &c. 

In the United States of America, Unita- 
rianism has spread extensively among many 
denominations, and exists in four separate 
forms or bodies. 1st, The Unitarians, pro- 
perly so called, whose societies have, to a 



great extent, been formed out of the old 
congregationalist churches. 2d, The Uni- 
versalists, who make the doctrine of the 
final restoration of all men to holiness and 
bliss, their characteristic tenet; but who, 
without exception, now hold Unitarian 
opinions. 3d, A considerable portion of 
the Quaker body, who, moved by the 
general spirit of the age, some time since 
formed, under the influence of Elias Hicks, 
a separate body of such as worshipped God 
the Father exclusively ; and lastly, a very 
numerous and increasing denomination, 
gathered from all sects, as well as from the 
world, and mostly among the humbler 
classes, known by the name simply of 
Christians, "the Christians." With the 
number of Quaker Unitarian congregations 
in the United States, we are not acquainted ; 
but in the year 1846, the following were 
the numbers of the churches in the other 
three bodies : — 

Unitarians 300 

Universalists 1194 

Christians 1500 

Unitarian churches in the U. S., 2994 

Further information, with many minute 
statistical details, and a systematic exhibi- 
tion of views, as entertained by the several 
Unitarian churches here spoken of, as well 
as others, may be found in " Unitarianism 
Exhibited in its Actual Condition;" con- 
sisting of essays by several Unitarian min- 
isters and others, illustrative of the rise, 
progress, and principles of Christian anti- 
trinitarianism in different parts of the world : 
edited by the Rev. J. B. Beard, D. D. 
London : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. Price 
10s. 6d. At the same publishers may be 
obtained other works by Dr. Beard, in 
which Christianity and Christian theology, 
as held by a Unitarian, are fully expounded : 
" Historical and Artistic Illustrations of the 
Trinity," showing the Bise, Progress, and 
Decline of the Doctrine, with Elucidatory 
Engravings, 8vo., price 8s. " The People's 
Dictionary of the Bible," profusely illus- 
trated with Maps and Engravings, with a 
List of Books for Theological Study, in 2 
vols., 8vo., 1268 pages, neatly bound in 
cloth, £1 Is. " A Biblical Beading Book 
for Schools and Families" (second edition), 
containing, with Illustrative Sketches in 
Sacred Geography, History, and Antiqui- 
ties, a Life of Christ. 12mo., 4s. "A 



HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM. 



205 



Biblical Primer/' Vol. I. in 2 Parts, con- 
taining Old Testament Narratives, in the 
words of Scripture, with an Introduction 
and Illustrative Remarks, 2s. 6d. " Illus- 
trations of the Divine in Christianity," 8vo., 
bound in cloth, 10s. 6d. " A Critical 
History of Rationalism in Germany;" 
translated from the French of Amand 
Saintes, 8vo., price, bound in cloth, 10s. 
6d. " An Introduction to the Books of the 
Old and New Testament ;*' translated from 
the German of A. Schumann, 8vo., price, 
bound in cloth, 10s. 6d. " The Voices of 
the Church, in Reply to Strauss's Leben 
Jesu," 8vo., price, bound in cloth, 12s. 
" Scripture Illustrated " from Recent Dis- 
coveries in the Geography of Palestine; 
with a Map, showing the different levels 
of the Country, 2s. " Scripture Vindicated 
against some Perversions of Rationalism," 
in an Investigation of the Miracles, " Feed- 
ing the Five Thousand," and " Walking on 
the Water j" with a Map of the Sea of 
Galilee, 2s. 6d. 

Among other works expository of Chris- 
tian doctrine, duty, and hope, as understood 
by Unitarians, the following may be advan- 
tageously consulted. 

" Dr. Channing's Works and Memoir." 
" Life of the Rev. Robert Arpland," by his 
son, the Rev. R. B. Arpland, M. A. " The 
Life and the Writings of the Rev. Dr. 
Ware, Jun., of Boston, New England. 
"Lives of Eminent Unitarians," by the 
Rev. W. Turner, M. A. " Dr. Lant Car- 
penter's Memoir and Works." " Wilson's 
Scripture Proofs of Unitarianism." " Rev. 
R. Wallace's Anti-Trinitarian Biography." 
"Norton's Statement of Reasons for not 
believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians." 
"Unitarianism Defended," by Martineau, 
Thorn, and Giles. " Belsham's Memoir of 



,) Christian Aspects of Faith and 
" Thorn's (Rev. J. H.,) St. Paul's 



Lindsey." "Williams' Memoir of Bel- 
sham." " Martineau's Endeavours after 
the Christian Life." " Tayler's (Rev. J. J., 
B. A. 
Duty. 

Epistles to the Corinthians, their Spirit and 
Significance." " Priestley's Works," edi- 
ted by Rutt. " Lardner's Credibility of 
the Gospel History, and other Works." 
" Wicksteed's Commentary on Matthew." 
"Livermore's Commentary on the Gos- 
pels." " Livermore's Commentary on the 
Acts." " Yates' Vindication of Unitarian- 
ism." " Wellbeloved's Translation of the 
Historical Books of the Old Testament." 
" Racovian Catechism," translated by Rees. 
" Norton's Evidences of the Genuineness 
of the Gospels." 

Periodicals connected with the Unitarian 
Denomination : — 

" The Christian Reformer," edited by 
Rev. R. B. Arpland, was established in 
1824. E. T. Whitfield : London. In the 
volumes of this Magazine are embodied the 
history of the Unitarians of England, their 
literature, opinions, institutions, and biogra- 
phies of their eminent men. They also 
contain large and valuable contributions to 
the history of Protestant and Unitarian 
Dissent in their rise and early progress. 
"The Inquirer," a Weekly Newspaper, 
devoted to Liberal Politics and Unitarian 
Christianity; Office, Green Arbour Court, 
Old Bailey, London. "The Prospective 
Review," a Quarterly Journal of Theology 
and Literature, edited by Revs. Jas. Mar- 
tineau, J. H. Thorn, John James Tayler, 
and Charles Wicksteed. J. Chapman : 
London. "Sunday School Penny Maga- 
zine," published by the Manchester District 
Sunday School Association. E. T. Whit- 
field: London. 



CONDITION OF RELIGIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN.* 

Church Statistics of England and Wales in March, 1851. 



NAMES OF CHURCHES AND SECTS. 



CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

WESLEYAN METHODISTS Original Connection , 

New Connection 

Primitive Methodists 

Bible Christians 

Wesleyan Methodist Association... 

Independent Methodists 

Wesleyan Reformers 

CALYINISTIC METHODISTS Welsh Methodists 

Huntingdon Society..... 

INDEPENDENTS, OR CONGRE- ) 

. GATIONALISTS J ' 

BAPTISTS General Baptists (Arminian) , 

" " (New Society)... 

Particular " (Calvinistic) 

Seventh-Day Baptists 

Scotch Baptists 

Miscellaneous 

SCOTCH PRESBYTERIANS 

Church of Scotland 

United Presbyterian Church... .... 

Presbyterian Church in England. 

UNITARIANS 

MORAVIANS 

FRIENDS 

PLYMOUTH BRETHREN 

SANDEMANIANS 

SWEDENBORGIANS 

IRVINGITES 

SMALLER SECTS 

ROMAN CATHOLICS 

MORMONS 

JEWS 



FOREIGN CHURCHES.. 



.Lutheran 

Reformed 

German Catholics 

Swede Lutheran Church.. 

Reformed Dutch 

French Protestants 

Italian Reformers , 

Greek Church 



Total. 



Places of 
Worship. 



14,077 

6.579 

297 

2.871 

'482 

419 

20 

339 

828 

109 

3,244 

93 

182 

1,947 

2 

15 

550 

160 

18 

66 

76 

229 

32 

371 

132 

6 

50 

32 

539 

570 

222 

53 

5 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

3 



34,536 



Accommoda- 
tiou. 



5,317,915 

1,447.580 

96,964 

414.430 

66.832 

98,813 

2,263 

67,814 

211.951 

38,727 

1,063,136 

20,539 

52,604 

582,953 

390 

2,547 

93.316 

86,692 

13,789 

31.351 

41,552 

68,554 

9.301 

9L599 

18,529 

956 

12,107 

7,437 

104.481 

186,111 

30,783 

8,438 

2,406 

200 

300 

20 

350 

560 

150 

291 



10,225,558 



Attendance. 



1,773,474 
907!313 

61.319 
266,555 

38,612 

56,430 
1.659 

53,494 
151,046 

29,679 

793,142 

12.323 

40,027 

471,283 

52 

1.246 

63.047 

60J31 

8,712 

23.207 

28,212 

37,156 

7,364 

18,172 

10.414 

'587 

7,082 

4.908 

6^572 

15,393 

18,800 

4,150 

1,184 

140 

567 

100 

70 

291 

21 

240 



7,267,694 



Difference in Church Attendance in City and Country Districts. 



LOCALITY AND CHURCHES. 


Morning. 


Afternoon. 


Evening. 


Per cent, of population. 




A. M. 


P.M. 


Evening. 




2,202,943 
2,444.539 
2.541,244 
707.921 
524612 
360,806 
252,783 


970,140 

1,213.995 

1,890,764 

645,895 

232,285 

224,268 

53,967 


4,960,329 

6,205,737 

860.543 

1,063,537 

457,162 

345,116 

76.880 


23.9 
28.9 


10.5 
25.5 










15.3 




19.8 










Roman Catholic 





Progress of the Free Churches in England. . 





Population. 


National Church. 


Wesleyans. 


Independents. 


Baptists. 




Churches 


Seats. 


Churches 


Seats. 


Churches 


Seats. 


Churches 


Seats. 


1801 

1811 

1821 

1S31 

1841 

1S51 


8,892,536 
10,164,256 
12.000,236 
13.896,797 
15.914,148 
17,927,609 


11,379 
11,444 

11,558 
11.883 
12.668 
14,077 


4,289,883 
4,314,388 
4,357.366 
4,481,891 
4.755,836 
5,317,915 


825 
1.485 
2.748 
4,622 
7.919 
11,007 


165.000 
296.000 
549,600 
924,400 
"1.563,800 
2.194,298 


912 
1.140 
1,478 
1,999 
2,606 
3,244 


299.792 
373,920 
484,784 
655.672 
854,768 
1,067,760 


652 
858 
1,170 
1,613 
2,174 
2,789 


176,692 
232.548 
347.070 
437.123 
5S9.154 
752.343 



* The following Statistics have heen taken from No. Tin. of " Translation of Herzog's Theological Encyclo- 
pedia," edited by Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, D.D., Philadelphia: published January, 1859. 



207 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



Statistics of the Smaller Branches of the Methodist Connection, for the Year 1854. 



DENOMINATIONS. 



i England 

New Connection.... < Ireland 

( Canada 

Primitive Methodists 

Wesleyan Reformers 

" Methodist Association. 
Bible Christians 



Chapels 

and 
Stations. 



291 
116 
468 
5,220 
1,453 
480 
482 



Circuit 
Preachers 



Local 
Preachers 



9,834 
2,963 
93 I 1,017 
62 1,249 



Missions. 


Members. 


Sunday- 
Schools. 


Teachers 


Scholars. 




16.001 


280 


7,199 


44,515 


ii 


674 


10 


114 


877 


51 


4,466 


87 


457 


2,997 




107,913 


1,550 


22,934 


123,341 




49,082 


779 


13,573 


80,000 




18,373 


294 


6,503 


40,328 


88 


15,614 




4,046 


17,167 



Summary of Catholicity in England and Scotland, in 1854. 



DIOCESES 



ENGLAND:— 

Westminster 

Southward 

Hexham 

Beverley 

Liverpool...... 

Salford 

Shrewsbury 

Newport and Menevia , 

Clifton 

Plymouth , , 

Nottingham 

Birmingham 

Northampton 

SCOTLAND: — 

Eastern District 

Western " 

Northern " 

St. Mary's College, Blairs.. 

Total 



Arch- 
bishops. 



Bishops. 



Vicars 
Apostolic. 



12 



812 



113 

74 
73 
90 

139 
70 
46 
26 
50 
27 
53 

133 
28 



Religious Houses. 



17 



Grand Total of Priests in Great Britain 
are 11 Catholic Colleges. In Scotland, 



itain, including Bishops and Priests unattached, 1126. 
d, 1 College, viz., St. Mary's, Blairs, Kincardineshire. 



In England, there 



Summary of Catholicity 


in Ireland, in 


1854 










DIOCESES. 


a, 
o 
JS 

2 

JS 

p 
< 


b3 


.2 

Hi 




CO 

1 

O 


72 

a 

S3 
o 


i/5 

1 
a 


* to • 

N 

o oc« 


bo 

V 

o 


a £ 

^2 u~3 
&»° 


Armagh, (Archdiocese) 

Meath 

Derry 

Clogher 


1 

...... 

...... 

""l 


...... 

2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

""i 

i 

i 

...... 

i 
i 
i 
i 

2 
....„ 

1 

1 

" "i 
l 


54 

66 

37 

35 

30 

42 

41 

38 

16 

48 

45 

36 

37 

46 

33 

51 

44 

42 

36 

51 

49 

21- 

22 

41 

18 

12 

20 


64 
72 
64 
45 
28 
19 
44 
53 
13 
143 
72 
60 
59 
59 
45 
44 
38 
56 
70 
78 
58 
15 
23 
51 
9 
17 
17 


126 

142 

72 

78 

46 

84 

90 

61 

39 

130 

113 

94 

100 

90 

84 

120 

93 

»93 

76 

124 

113 

44 

44 

81 

36 

14 

40 


4 
2 

....„ 

"To 

2 
4 
3 
5 
5 
1 
2 
5 
5 
5 
2 
4 
1 
3 
1 
5 


2 
4 

2 

"'"i 

35 
11 
3 
6 
3 
8 
2 
9 
4 
10 
....... 

1 
1 

2 
1 
5 


1 
4 

"l 

2 

10 

2 

....... 

4 
10 

2 
2 
16 
22 
7 
12 

...... 

2 


1 

2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

'" "i 

8 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 

'""i 

"'"i 

i 

l 

....„ 


10 

26 








""4 

4 

106 

20 

22 

20 

20 

30 

10 

2 

16 

30 

6 

6 

14 

4 

6 








KlLDARE AND LEIGHLIN 




Cashsl and Emly, (Archdiocese). 




















KlLMACH AND KlLFENORA 


'"'ii 


KlLLALA. 


Total 


4 


24 


1,011 


1,316 


2,227 


78 


114 


109 


28 


387 



208 



STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



Statistics of the English, or Episcopal Church, in Great Britain and her Colonies. 



DIOCESE. 



Canterbury, England 

York 

London 

Durham 

Winchester 

Bangor 

Bath and Wells 

Carlisle 

Chester 

Chichester 

Ely 

Exeter 

Gloucester and Bristol 

Hereford . 

Litchfield 

Lincoln 

Llandaff 

Manchester 

Norwich 

Oxford 

Peterborough 

RlPON 

Rochester 

Salisbury 

St. Asaph 

St. David's 

Worcester 

Sodor and Man 

Armagh, Ireland 

Dublin 

Meath 

Derry and Raphoe 

Cashel, Emly, Waterford and Lismore 

Cork, Cloyne and Ross 

Down, Connor and Dromore 

Killaloe, Kilfenora, Clonfert, Kllmacdaugh 

kllmore, elphlv and ardagh , 

Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe , 

Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin , 

tuam, klllala and achonry , 

Edinburgh, Scotland 

Aberdeen , 

Argyll and Isles , 

Brechin 

Glasgow and Galloway 

Moray and Ross , 

St. Andrew's, Dunkeld and Dunblane , 

Trinity College, Glenalmond 

Nova Scotia, British Possessions 

Newfoundland 

Frederickton 

Quebec 

Montreal. 

Toronto 

Rupert's Land 

Jamaica 

Barbadoes 

Antigua , 

Guiana 

Gibraltar 

Calcutta 

Bombay 

Madras 

Colombo 

Sydney 

Newcastle, N. S. W 

Melbourne , 

Adelaide, Australia 

New Zealand 

Christ Church, N. Z 

Tasmania 

Victoria, China 

Cape Town, Africa 

Graham's Town , 

Natal '. 

Sierra Leone 

Labuan 

Mauritius 

Perth, West Australia 

Huron, Canada West 

Jerusalem , 

Total 



Arch- 
bishops. 



Bishops. 



Clergy. 



518 

739 

592 

351 

808 

289 

675 

289 

594 

439 

711 

933 

631 

456 

790 

1,106 

319 

501 

1,274 

831 

720 

561 

804 

660 

216 

527 

616 

41 

223 

299 

135 

157 

196 

264 

210 

140 

185 

165 

271 

91 

24 

24 

22 

17 

34 

18 

31 

5 

72 

53 

55 

41 

54 

58 

17 

116 

79 

35 

33 

35 

125 

37 

96 

38 

61 

29 

45 

28 

49 

57 

14 
38 
26 
7 
21 
12 



6 19,939 13,568 



352 
554 
324 
242 
523 
129 
462 
261 
436 
311 
529 
673 
442 
358 
536 



317 
910 
584 
536 
412 
564 
464 
176 
412 
417 

27 
144 
185 
115 
120 
130 
172 
145 

88 
118 
131 
185 

56 



Glebe 
Houses. 



257 
344 
177 
178 
489 

77 
372 
170 
310 
218 
435 
544 
361 
281 
312 
577 
122 
142 
615 
465 
465 
291 
475 
376 
134 
150 
275 

19 



107 



Retired 
Bishops. 




•8'V 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



OF 



THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



From, REV. WM. J. R. TAYLOR, Minister of the Third Eef. 
Dutch Church, Philadelphia. 

" The History of Religious Denominations " presents, in 
popular form, a greater mass of valuable, historical, and 
statistical information, than any other work of the kind 
that I have seen. The plan upon which it has been pre- 
pared, and the fact that it brings its statements down to the 
latest practicable period, the handsome style in which it is 
issued, and the fulness of its matter, entitle it to a very 
large circulation. Believing that it will, under the blessing 
of God, be a useful work, I cheerfully recommend it to those 
who desire reliable information of the great subjects of 
which it treats. 

From REV. C. W. SCHAEFFER, Pastor of the Ev. Lutheran 
Church, Harrisburg. 

The design and object of this book are commendable. Its 
plan is intelligent, comprehensive and impartial. It will 
certainly be a volume of great value in the estimation of 
all who are interested in the Religious History of the 
United States. _____ 

From RIGHT REV. J. B. PURCELL, Bishop of Cincinnati. 

I have looked over " The Religious Denominations in the 
United States," and found the article on the Roman Catho- 
lic Church, by Professor W. J. Walter, as far as it goes, a 
faithful exponent of Catholic doctrine and discipline. The 
entire work is presented to the public in the most authentic 
and attractive form, and exhibits a practical commentary 
on the facility and confidence with which the most various 
and conflicting theories can be deduced from the Bible. 



From REV. A. ATWOOD, Pastor of the, Methodist E. Cliurch, 
Harrisburg. 

This is a book much needed, and will supply a lack long 
felt in the community. The statements being furnished 
directly by distinguished persons in the several churches re- 
presented, must be correct, if there be truth in human tes- 
timony. I therefore wish you great success in your enter- 
prise. 

From REV. ALEX. CAMPBELL, President of Bethany 
College. 

In this beautiful octavo, are fifty original histories of fifty 
different religious persuasions, each one of which has been 
written by some intelligent and distinguished member of 
the community. It is, therefore, authentic in the highest 
degree, as far as it goes. It gives their history, their pecu- 
liar and their general views, and frequently a portion of 
the evidence on which they rest ; it gives their statistics as 
&r as they could be collected ; and is, therefore, worthy of a 
place in everv library of a religious or ecclesiastical cha- 
racter. 



From REV. DAVID WINTERS, Pastor of German Reformed 
Church, Dayton, Ohio. 
I believe this work will be interesting to all such as wish 
to derive a correct knowledge of the various denominations, 
they being, in this work, all permitted to speak for them- 
selves. 

From REV. J. W. HALL, Pastor of the Third Street Presby- 
terian Church. 
I concur with the Rev. Mr. Winters in the opinion which 
he has expressed with regard to " The Religious Denomina- 
tions in the United States," and would recommend it as an 
impartial and useful book. 

From BUY. JOHN F. IMMANUEL TAFEL, D.D., Librarian 
of the University of Tubingen. 
The compiling of such a work was certainly a very good 
idea. Nothing could be more fair than this, letting every 
denomination tell its own story ; and, so far as our know- 
ledge extends, the Editor of the work has evinced the 
strictest impartiality, and the sternest integrity in carrying 
its plan out. 

From the Christian Chronicle. 

The publisher of this work deserves great praise for the 
effort to present, at one view, and in a narrow compass, a 
history of all the religious denominations. He has secured 
articles from the pens of eminent Divines and members of 
the different denominations, as far as possible. The plan is 
an admirable one. We sincerely hope that this work will 
secure a wide circulation among all denominations. 



From the Church Review, New Haven, Connecticut. 

It was a happy thought that led to the production of the 
present work. That each denomination of Christians 
should be represented by some prominent member of its 
own body, telling their own story in their own words, was 
an important idea; and if a judicious selection of writers 
has been made, the result must be a work, which, for fair- 
ness, fulness, and accuracy, is without a parallel. We be- 
lieve the work to be as well executed as happily conceived, 
— and that, considering the authoritative nature of its con- 
tents, it will be found a most valuable contribution towards 
the religious history of the country. 

• From the Lutheran Observer. 

We esteem this volume as an exceedingly valuable acces- 
sion to the ecclesiastical literature of our country. As a 
book of reference in relation to the history, doctrines and 
statistics of the religious denominations in the United 
States, it is decidedly the best that has been presented to 
the American public. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



From the Presbyterian. 
The title expresses the character of the work. In looking 
over the volume, it appears to us that the writers generally 
have displayed much research and ability in their articles, 
and making a very natural allowance for their partialities, 
they have, we should judge, given very fair accounts. The 
account of the Presbyterian Church (Old School) is prepared 
hy J. M. Krebs, D. D., of New York, and is well executed, 
evincing attention and labor on the part of the writer. We 
are pleased that the duty was entrusted to such ahle hands. 
The history of the New School Presbyterian Church is writ- 
ten by Joel Parker, D. D., of Philadelphia. He goes over 
much the same ground with the preceding, but viewed with 
a different eye. The article is skilfully drawn up. We re- 
gard the volume as valuable in its details, and as the best 
reference hook for information, on the subject treated, that 
we possess. 

From the Christian Observer. 
As a comprehensive history of the Religious Denomina- 
tions in our country, and as a book of reference on all ques- 
tions connected with their origin, doctrinal sentiments, go- 
vernment, and numbers, it will no doubt be regarded as a 
valuable work. It occupies a place — a vacuum — in our re- 
ligious literature, for which there is no substitute. And as 
there are very many who desire the information it contains, 
it will receive, we presume, an extensive patronage. 

From The Friend. 
We have not had time to enter into a close, critical ex- 
amination of the work, but so far as respects our own reli- 
gious society there can be no cause of complaint, this part 
having been prepared for the occasion by a competent hand, 
one of our own members, and, as we understand, obtained 
the sanction of our Meeting for Sufferings, previous to 
being forwarded for publication. 

From the Friends' Weekly Intelligencer. 
The plan of this work gives it much superiority over most 
others of the kind, and guards it from the injurious carica- 
tures with which they abound. The view of each sect is 
given by one of its own members, and may be presumed to 
present, in a favorable light, the grounds on which each 
places its reliance. Believing, as we do, that the barriers of 
separation held up between the different religious denomi- 
tions, and the consequent ignorance of each other's convic- 
tions, are the unfortunate causes of much of the prejudice 
and animosity now, and heretofore existing in professing 
Christendom, we look with satisfaction on every new facility 
for becoming better acquainted with each other — and we 
are glad to find, from a hasty glance at the contents of this 
book, that so many of the writers seem willing to let the 
public judge of their principles without attempting to ap- 
propriate to themselves merit, at the expense of others. 
Both divisions of the society of Friends are represented— 
ours by Dr. Gibbons, the other by Thomas Evans. 

From the Banner of the Cross, (Episcopal.) 
Of the great convenience and utility in some respects of 
a work like this, there can be but one opinion ; and if it 
does not please everybody, the fault is certainly not the pro- 
jector's, who "has done his part in giving each sect an op- 
portunity of telling its own story, and in its own way." 

From W. M. FAHNESTOCK. 
I am much gratified to hear of your enterprise, to pre- 
sent The Whole Church of the United States from authentic 
sources. A work much needed. 



From the Baptist Record. 

The compiler of this history could not have performed a 
"better service to the religious community. It fills a chasm 
which has long, remained open. It occupies a field of in- 
quiry and usefulness that has ere this been destitute. As a 
book of reference, it is invaluable, and we now possess a 
volume which enables us to examine the history and creeds 
of all the known denominations of Christians in this coun- 
try at a single glance, without having to consult and pore 
over various authors, and puzzle our brains to know where 
or how we shall obtain a true account of this, that, or the 
other sect. We have not a single doubt but that this work, 
hy its ready sale, will run through several editions. Every 
Christian family should have a copy. 

From the Catholic Herald. 

The statement concerning Roman Catholics is from the 
pen of Professor W. Joseph Walter, who, we doubt not, has 
given a faithful sketch of our history in the United States, 
and of our real principles. The plan adopted by the com- 
piler is the only just one, by which the tenets of the various 
societies can be known. 

From the Religious Telescope. 

This work is made up of articles entirely original, writ- 
ten by ministers and laymen of various denominations in 
the United States, setting forth, in a concise manner, the 
origin, doctrines, church government, statistics, &c, of the 
various churches to which they severally belong. The 
work will be one of great utility to the inquirer after truth. 
There the reader may have at one glance a concise view of 
the entire church — he can view the peculiarities of each, 
and draw his own conclusion. This book should have a 
place in every man's library, and should be regarded as a 
standard Ecclesiastical Dictionary. 



Extract from the Minutes of the Scioto Conference of the 
United Brethren in Christ. 

Resolved, That we recommend the "History of Denomina- 
tions," to our church members as a work worthy a place in 
their libraries, as containing a fair, though not full, repre- 
sentation of the origin, doctrine, discipline, statistics, &c, 
of our church. 

Extract from the Correspondence of the Christian Messenger. 

This work is a good one, and will doubtless do much to- 
ward making the sentiments of each sect more generally 
and more correctly known. It will, undoubtedly, become a 
standard work, and should be in every theological student's 
library. 

From E. YEATES REESE. 

I approve heartily of your intended publication. There 
can be little doubt of its success. It ought to succeed cer- 
tainly. 

From JARED SPARKS. 

I think your plan a judicious one, of having the account 
of each denomination written by one of its own members. 



From ISAAC N. WALTER. 

I hope you will succeed well in the new edition of your his- 
tory. No work could possibly be more desirable to me than 
the one you contemplate publishing. We are in want of 
such a work, and hundreds can be sold. I wish you much 
success in circulating it. I will do all in my power for you. 



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Of the fitness of Mr. Lord to prepare such a historv. some opinion am 
se formed from a perusal of the English and American testimonials**, hi* 
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HISTORICAL SERIES. 



LORD'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



A New History of the United States of America, 

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS. 

BY JOHN LORD, A.M., 

AUTHOR OF A MODERN HISTORY FROM THE TIME OF LUTHER TO THE 
FALL OF NAPOLEON. 

This work is written in the attractive style for which the author is so 
noted, and is admirably calculated to produce in the minds of pupils who 
shall use it a love for the study. 

It is beautifully illustrated with numerous fine Engravings, and contains 
an excellent coloured Map of the United States, and several additional 
maps showing the position of various battle-fields and noted places in our 
history. 

NOTICES. 
From the Philadelphia American Courier. 

This may very safely be pronounced a much needed and at the same 
time a most admirably executed volume for the schools of the country, 
and for which we unhesitatingly predict great popularity and an immense 
demand. The great leading facts in our national history are presented in 
plain, well expressed terms, without verboseness or ambiguity, by one 
who has proved himself to be an able scholar, a just historian, and a pa- 
triot of enlarged, liberal views. It is just the work to give the youthful 
mind right and lasting impressions of the history of the country. 
From the New York Evening Mirror. 

It is not only an excellent School History, but an excellent general his- 
tory, that may be perused with profit by readers of all ages and acquire 
ments. 

From the Philadelphia City Item. 

This book will supply a deficiency long acknowledged in school litera- 
ture. We doubt if any other man in the country is so well calculated to 
write this history. Mr. Lord is a great favourite of ours. His style ia 
eminently lucid, vigorous, and comprehensive. We think we can, with- 
out fear of contradiction, pronounce him a master of the English tongue. 
With a wealth of language known to but few, he is singularly simple i*» 
his choice of words. His sentences are direct and to the point, and his 
matter is always the gist of the story. These are rare qualifications, and 
almost indispensable in a historian. We shall be mistaken if this work 
is not at once hailed with acclamation as by far the best school history in 
the United States yet published U should at once be introduced into oui 

Public Schools. 

vl6) 



SARGENT'S STANDARD SPEAKER. 

JUST PUBLISHED, 
In one demi-ociavo volume of 558 pages. 

THE STANDARD SPEAKER, 

CONTAINING 

€mmn in $rasc nnir !{hi\i% 

FOR DECLAMATION IN SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES, LYCEUMS, COLLEGES. 

Sewly translated or compiled from celebrated Orators, Authors, and populaf 

Debaters, ancient and modern. 

A TREATISE ON ORATORY AND ELOCUTION, 

WITH NOTES EXPLANATORY AND BIOGR* PHICAL. 
BY EPES SARGENT. 



This work has been compiled with great care, and conta _is a majority of 
rew pieces. It is far more comprehensive than any similar work, and is 
adapted for use not only as a Speaker, but to the general reader, as a coLlec- 
tion containing many new, rare, and elegant extracts. 

From among a great number of commendatory notices received from 
essayists, the press, and teachers of elocution, a few are subjoined. 



From E. P. Whipple, Esq., the xoell-known Essayist and Critic. 

We have no hesitation in saying that this is the best compilation of tha 
kind, in the variety and in the comprehensiveness of its selections, which 
has been made on either side of the Atlantic. The various pieces are selected 
with great judgment from a long array of celebrated orators and writers. 
A good portion of the work is devoted to extracts from late speeches in 
France, England, and America, which have never before appeared in a col- 
lection of the kind; and the works of the great masters of eloquence, 
Chatham, Burke, Pitt, Fox, Grattan, Emmett, Shiel, and Webster, have been 
carefully studied for new specimens. The original translations from the 
French are admirably executed, and add a novel feature to the work. The 
amount of editorial labor expended on the whole compilation must have 
been very great — greater, we think, than that of any other Speaker. 

The introductory treatise on Oratory and Elocution is a model of con- 
densation, full of matter, clear, sensible, and available in every part. Not 
only is the volume admirably adapted to serve its primal purpose as a 
Speaker, but to the general reader it will be found to be a most stimulating 
and attractive book, better than any work of "elegant extracts" we have 
seen. 

(19) 



SARGENT'S STANDARD SPEAKER. 

From the Knickerbocker (N. Y.) Magazine. 
While lie (the compiler) has retained all the indispensable masterpieces, 
and restored many that have been omitted from the collections the last 
twenty years, he has given an amount of fresh, new, and appropriate mat. 
ter, that will astonish and delight the youthful prize-seeking orators of otu 
academies and schools. He has translated from Mirabeau and Victor Hugo 
a number of speeches of appropriate length, that will become as familiar as 
the " Give me liberty or give me death" speech of Patrick Henry. 

from E. S. Dixwell, Esq., late Principal of the Public Latin School, Boston. 
The volume seems to me to be a very valuable one, and to contain more 
Available matter than any book of the kind I ever saw. Beside the old 
standard pieces, you have given us a great many new ones, and, to my sur- 
prise, have put a new vigor into some of the old translations, which makes 
them quite new and redolent of their originals. 



From the Lowell Courier. 
The whole range of ancient and modern oratory, pulpit, forensic, or occa- 
sional, as well as of poetry, dramatic, lyrical, or epic, has been explored, and 
the choicest gems from each brought together into this literary casket. The 
volume should be on the table of every friend of elegant letters, as a collec- 
tion of rare and beautiful extracts, to be read and read again. 



From the Boston Daily Advertiser. 
The volume deserves to be, what its title claims, a " Standard 
Speaker." 



From the New York Express. 
The Standard Speaker is one of the most superbly executed works that 
ever emanated from the American press, and is the best book for the pur- 
poses for which it was designed, ever issued in the language. It must 
become a standard school-book, wherever reading and elocution are taught. 



From the New York Home Journal. 
The chimerical "systems," through which a short cut tc the attainment 
af good elocution is promised, are set down at their true value. All the 
available information on the subject is here summed up. The principal de- 
partment is the Senatorial; and tbis is much more full and satisfactory than 
anything of the kind that has yet appeared in any elocutionary collection. 



It is adapted to the wants of the whole Union, and not of a section.— New 
Orleatu Picayune. 

(20) 



WORKS ON THE NATURAL SCIENCES. 




PARTICULAR ATTENTION 

IS INYITED TO 

SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS 
UPON THE NATURAL SCIENCES. 

AMONG THEM ARE 

JOHNSTON'S SERIES. 
JOHNSTON'S TURNER'S CHEMISTRY. 

A MANUAL OF CHEMISTRY, 

811 THE BASIS OF DR. TURNER'S ELEMENTS OF CHEMISTRY, CONTAINING, TS A 

CONDENSED FORM, ALL THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS AND PRINCIPLES 

OF THE SCIENCE. DESIGNED ASA TEXT-BOOK IN COLLEGES 

AND OTHER SEMINARIES OF LEARNING. 

A NEW EDITION. 

BY JOHN JOHNSTON, A.M., 

Professor of Natural Science in Wesleyan University. 

JOHNSTON'S TURNER'S ELEMENTARY CHEMISTRY 

FOR THE FSE OF COMMON SCHOOLS. One Tol. 18mo. 



JOHNSTON'S SERIES. 




JOHNSTON'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 

RXHTXSSD EDITION. 
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED. 

51 3fianttfll nf Jfahtral f jjilnHnpjuj, 

COMPILED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, AND DESIGNED AS A TEXT- 
BOOK IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. 

BY JOHN JOHNSTON, A.M., 

PROFESSOR OF NATURAL SCIENCE IN THE WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY. 

The above valuable series of books were prepared by John Johnston, 
A.M., Professor of Natural Science in the Wesleyan University, Middle* 
town, Ct. The Chemistry is the standard text-book of many of the lead- 
ing Colleges and prominent Medical Institutions of the country. The 
Elementary Chemistry, very recently published, has been adopted in 
many High Schools and Academies, in all parts of the country. 

The present edition of Johnston's Natural Philosophy will be found 
much enlarged and improved. Exact in its definitions, original in its 
illustrations, full and familiar in explanation, the publishers are assured 
it will require oniy to be examined to be approved. It has been recently 
recommended by the Board of Education of the State of New Hampshire 
for the use of the Common Schools of the State; it has also been adopted in 
the High School of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in many Academies and 
Schools in various sections of the country. 

A few notices of the series, from among many -which have been received. 
tre appended: 

(26) 



WORKS OJN THE NATURAL SCIENCES. 

Extract from the Proceedings of the School Commissioners of the State of 
New Hampshire. 

At a meeting of the Commissioners of Common Schools for the State of 
New Hampshire, held in Concord, August, 1851, it was, on motion of Mr. 
Whidden, of Lancaster, Coos county, 

Voted, To recommend "Johnston's Natural Philosophy" to be used in the 
Common Schools of the State. 



From M. J. Williams, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, 

South Carolina College, Columbia, S. C. 
I consider Johnston's Manual of Natural Philosophy a good text-book for 
elementary instruction in schools and academies. 



Extract from the Record of the Proceedings of the Board of Visitors of the 
Natchez Institute, Natchez, Miss. 
At a meeting of the Board of Visitors of the Natchez Institute, John- 
ston's Natural Philosophy, and Johnston's Elements of Chemistry, were 
unanimously adopted as text-books for the use of the pupils. 

Signed, L. M. PATTERSON, Secretary. 



Fiom Prof. Booth, of the High School, Philadelphia. 
1 find, upon a careful examination of Johnson's Manual of Chemistry, 
that it is extremely well adapted to the objects for which it is designed. 
As a text-book, I regard it as superior to Turner's Chemistry, on which 
it is based, being more condensed and practical, and yet sufficiently and 
equally presenting the late rapid advancement of the science. 



Extract from a Letter of F. Merrick, Professor of Chemistry in the Ohio 
Wesleyan University and Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio. 
Having carefully examined Johnston's Turner's Chemistry, without 
epecifying its particular excellencies, I am free to say that I regard it as 
an excellent text-book. Indeed to most students in the higher seminarieB 
of learning, I know of no book upon the subject, which I would recom- 
mend in preference to it. 

From John F. Fraser, Professor of General Chemistry in the Franklin 

Institute, Philadelphia. 

I find it to be a carefully compiled and well digested Treatise, and, as 1 

believe, well adapted to serve the purpose of a text-book. 

This work has been introduced into many Academies and several Col 

leges, and is held in the highest estimation. 

(27) 



WORKS ON THE NATURAL SCIENCES. 



GUY'S ASTRONOMY, 

AND 

KEITH ON THE GLOBES. 

GUY AND KEITH. 

GUY ON ASTRONOMY, AND KEITH ON THE GLOBES: 

Boy's Elements of Astronomy, and an Abridgment of Keith's New Treatise on the Globes. 

THIRTEENTH AMERICAN EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS, 

AND AN EXPLANATION OF THE ASTRONOMICAL PART OF THE AMERICAN 

ALMANAC. 

Sllttfitrahir mitjr dKgjitm tyhin, 

DRAWN AND ENGRAVED ON ST^L, IN THE BEST MANNER. 

A volume containing Guy's popular Treatise of Astronomy, and Kejtb 
en tke Glebes, having been submitted to us for examination, and carefully 
examined, we can without any hesitation recommend it to the notice and 
patronage ot parents and teachers. The work on Astronomy is clear 
intelligible, and suited to the comprehension of young persons. It com- 
prises a great amount of information and is well illustrated with steei 
engravings. Keith on the Globes has long been recognised as a standard 
school book. The present edition, comprised in the same volume with the 
Astronomy, is impio-'cd by the omission of much extraneous matter, and 
the reduction of size aid price. On the whole, we know of no school 
oook which comprised wo much in so little space as the new edition of 
cruy and Keith. 

THOMAS EUSTACE, CHARLES MEAD, 

JOHN HASLAM, BENJAMIN MAYO, 

W. CURRAN, HUGH MORROW, 

SAMUEL CLENDEMN, J. H. BLACK. 



The following teachers of Baltimore, concur iu the opinion above ex- 
pressed : 

E. BENNETT, O. W. TREADWELL, 

C. F. BANSEMAR, JAMES SHANLEY, 

E, R. HARNEY, , DAVID KING, 

ROBERT O'NEILL, ROBERT WALKER, 

N. SPELMAN, D. W. B. McCLELAN. 
e2 (29) 



MATHEMATICAL WORKS. 
VIRGINIA MILITAaY INSTITUTE 

MATHEMATICAL SERIES, 

BY COL. FRANCIS H. SMITH, 

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. 

INTRODUCTION TO SMITH AND DUKE'S 
ARITHMETIC. 



AMERICAN STATISTICAL ARITHMETIC. 

DESIGNED FOR ACADEMIE8 AND SCHOOLS. 

BY FRANCIS H. SMITH, A.M. 

Superintendent and Professor of Mathematics in the Virginia Military Institute; lata 
Professor of Mathematics in Hampden Sydney College, and formerly Assistant 
, Professor in the United States Military Academy, West Point; 

And R. T. W. DUKE, 

Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the Virginia Military Institute. 
THIRD EDITION. 



KEY TO SMITH AND DUKE'S AMERICAN 
STATISTICAL ARITHMETIC. 

PREPARED BY WILLIAM FORBES, 

Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the Virginia Military Institute. 



SMITH'S ALGEBRA. 

AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON ALGEBRA, 

PREPARED FOR THE USE OF THE CADETS OF THE VIRGINIA MILITARY 
INSTITUTE, AND ADAPTED TO THE PRESENT STATE OF MATHE- 
MATICAL INSTRUCTION IN THE SCHOOLS, AC ADEMIES, 
AND COLLEGES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

BY FRANCIS H, SMITH, A.M. 

This work is designed to present as complete an Elementary course oi 
Algebra, as the time devoted to the study of Mathematics in the Colleges 
of our country will allow; while it will be equally within the camprehca- 
*icn of the pupil of the High School or Academy. 






HAMILTON AND LOCKE AND CLARK'S 
SYSTEM 

OF 

CLASSICAL INSTRUCTION. 

PUBLISHED BY CHARLES DESILVEE, 

714 CHESNUT ST., PHILADELPHIA. 



We do amiss to spend seven or eight years merely scraping together so 
much miserable Latin and Greek as might foe learned otherwise easily and 
delightfully in one year. — Milton. 



VIRGIL: interlinear translation by Hart and Osborne — 1 vol. royal 

12mo, half Turkey - Price, $1.50 

C2ESAR : interlinear translation by Hamilton and Clark — 1 volume, 

royal 12mo, half Turkey Price, $1.50 

HORACE: interlinear translation by Stirling, Nuttall, and Clark — 

1 vol. royal 12mo, half Turkey Price, $1.50 

CICERO: interlinear translation by Hamilton and Clark — 1 volume, 

royal 12mo, half Turkey Price, $1.50 

SALLTJST: interlinear translation by Hamilton and Clark — 1 vol. 

royal 12mo, half Turkey Price, $1.50 

CLARK'S PRACTICAL AND PROGRESSIVE LATIN GRAMMAR: 

adapted to the Interlinear Series of Classics, and to all other 

systems — 1 vol. royal 12mo, half Turkey Price, $1.00 

The plan of this Grammar is altogether of a practical nature ; for, while the 
scholar is learning the declensions and conjugations, he has them exemplified in 
lessons extracted from the Classics. Where this method has been properly applied, 
a more rapid and thorough knowledge of the elements of Latin has always been 
the result. 

in preparation: 

OVID : interlinear translation by Hamilton and Clark. 

XENOPHON'S ANABASIS: interlinear translation by Hamilton and 

Clark. 
HOMER'S ILIAD: interlinear translation by Hamilton and Clark. 

To be followed by School Editions of the other Classic Writers, on tlie same plan. 

The plan of these works is not new. It is merely the adaptation of the experience 
of many of the best and most inquiring minds in educational pursuits — method- 
izing what was Tague and loose. When the Latin tongue was the only language 
of diplomacy and scientific international communication, to acquire a knowledge 
of it was considered of more importance than now. This method was then recom- 
mended by Cardinal Wolsey, John Ascham, Latin Secretary to Queen Elizabeth, 
and by the best Latin scholar and writer of his time, John Milton ; and in testimony 
of it John Locke says : — " When, by this way of interlining Latin and English one 
with another, he has got a moderate knowledge of the Latin tongue, he may then 
be advanced a little further. Nor let the objection that he will then know it only by 
rote, fright any one. Thi', when well considered, is not of any moment against, 
but plainly for, this way of learning a language. The languages are only to be 
learned by rote; and he that speaks them well has no other rule but that." Id 
classes by oral dictation, these works present advantages that no others do, 






PUBLISHER, PHILADELPHIA. 

From the Saturday Courier, Philadelphia. 

Horace and CLesar. — Ccesar. First five books by Hamilton, sixth 
and seventh by Clark. Clark's translation being more on the plan 
of Locke, which is by many teachers most approved of. The trans- 
lation is as literal as possible, without being unintelligible. This 
edition exhibits the plan of both Hamilton and Locke. 

Horace. This edition is carefully revised' and collated by Thomas 
Clark. 

Both books are evidently the result of much care, study, and re- 
search ; and the getting-up of them reflects the highest credit upon 
the enterprising publisher. 



From the Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia. 

Horace and Cesar. — We have already expressed ourselves em- 
phatically, as to the advantage to be derived from the use of inter- 
linear translations. 

Every school-boy and collegian should use them. 

As respects the translations, they are excellent in every respect. 

The typographical execution of the works is admirable. 



From the Public Ledger, Philadelphia. 

Some of the best minds deem interlinear translations best adapted 
for /earning the Classics. 

These two volumes, Horace and Caesar, are produced with great 
care, and in a style which will commend them to every student. 
They are well got up, and free from typographical errors. 



From the Philadelphia Evening Journal. 

There are few to whom such adequate translations do not prove 
valuable, while to others they are not only valuable, but indis- 
pensable. 

It would be idle to commend such works, for no one can be igno- 
rant of their worth and importance. 



From the New York Sun. 

The names of the most eminent scholars in the world are given, 
with testimonials in favor of interlinear translations of the Classics. 

Horace Interlinear. — This work is published in the same neat 
and beautiful style as Virgil and Caesar. 

The complete collection should be in the hands of every classical 
student. 



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